Subdividing property within District of Clearwater should become simpler once a proposed Development Cost Charge Bylaw comes into effect.
Town council gave three readings to the bylaw during its Oct. 7 meeting.
The measure now goes to Victoria for approval before it returns to council for final adoption.
A developer presently must deal with five or six bylaws in order to subdivide, said chief administrative officer Leslie Groulx.
These were inherited from the Thompson-Nicola Regional District and the former Clearwater Improvement District when Clearwater incorporated.
The new bylaw is intended to consolidate those several bylaws into one. It also should better insure that those subdividing property pay their fair share of any additional water, sewer, park and road infrastructure needed to service their subdivision.
A bylaw from the former CID has allowed the District to recover costs for additional water and sewer, but not for roads, Groulx noted.
Development cost charges would only be imposed for those portions of the municipality where the service is provided, or is expected to be provided in the near future.
For example, charges for sewer would only be levied in that portion of Clearwater that is serviced by town sewer (basically the Weyerhaeuser subdivision and nearby area), plus those areas, such as around Dutch Lake, that are anticipated to get sewer service during the next few years.
The charges would help cover the cost of connecting the sewer system plus pay a portion of planned improvements, such as standby power for sewage lift stations.
Development cost charges for a low density residential subdivision would total about $7,800 per dwelling unit if water, sewer, roads and parkland have to be paid for.
This is somewhat less than the average of $9,500 charged by a list of municipalities in B.C.
It is a great deal less than the $22,000 charged by Vernon, but considerably more than the $1,900 charged by Elkford.