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The Corporation of the Municipality of Trent Hills
By-law No. 2024-026
A By-law to Establish a Development Charge for
Library Services
Whereas the Council of the Corporation of the Municipality of Trent Hills (hereinafter
referred to as "the Council") anticipates that the Corporation of the Municipality of Trent
Hills (hereinafter called "the Municipality") will experience additional development,
including redevelopment throughout the Municipality in the next ten years and Council
further anticipates that this development will increase the need for sen/ices;
And Whereas Council desires to ensure that the capital cost of meeting growth-related
demands for or burden on municipal services does not place an excessive financial
burden on the Municipality or its existing taxpayers while at the same time ensuring new
taxpayers contribute no more than the net capital cost attributable to providing the
current level of municipal services;
And Whereas the Development Charges Act, 1997 (the "Act") provides that the council
of a municipality may by by-law impose development charges against land to pay for
increased capital costs required because of increased needs for sen/ices;
And Whereas a development charge background study has been completed in
accordance with the Act;
And Whereas the Council of The Corporation of the Municipality of Trent Hills has
given notice of and held a public meeting on the 9th day of January, 2024 in accordance
with the Act and the regulations thereto;
Now Therefore the Council of the Municipality of Trent Hills hereby enacts as follows:
1. Definition and Uses
1.1. In this By-law, unless a contrary intention appears, a term has the same
meaning as that which exists in the Act or any Regulation made pursuant to
Section 68 of the Act, both as amended from time to time.
1.2. In this By-law:
i. "Act" means the Development Charges Act, as amended, or any successor
thereof;
Page 1 of 16
ii. "accessory use" means where used to describe a use, building, or structure
that the use, building or structure is naturally and normally incidental,
subordinate in purpose of floor area or both, and exclusively devoted to a
principal use, building or structure;
iii. "apartment unit" means any residential unit within a building containing four
or more dwelling units where access to each residential unit is obtained
through a common entrance or entrances from the street level and the
residential units are connected by an interior corridor. Notwithstanding the
foregoing, an apartment unit includes a stacked townhouse dwelling unit.
iv. "bedroom" means a habitable room larger than seven square metres,
including a den, study or other similar area, but does not include a
bathroom, living room, dining room or kitchen;
v. "benefiting area" means an area defined by map, plan or legal description
in a front-ending agreement as an area that will receive a benefit from the
construction of a semce;
vi. "board of education" has the same meaning as set out in the Education
Act, R.S.O. 19990, Chap. E.2, as amended, or any successor thereof;
vii. "capital cost means costs incurred or proposed to be incurred by the
municipality or a local board thereof directly or by others on behalf of and
as authorized by the municipality or local board,
viii. "capital cost" means costs incurred or proposed to be incurred by the
municipality or a local board thereof directly or by others on behalf of and
as authorized by the municipality or local board,
L to acquire land or an interest in land, including a leasehold interest,
ii. to improve land,
iii. to acquire, lease, construct or improve buildings and structures,
iv. to acquire, construct or improve facilities including,
1. furniture and equipment other than computer equipment, and
2. material acquired for circulation, reference or information
purposes by a library board within the meaning of the Public
Libraries Act;
v. rolling stock with an estimated useful life of seven years or more;
and
vi. including interest on borrowing for those expenditures under
clauses i. to iv. above that are growth-related;
Page 2 of 16
ix. "Council" means the Council of the municipality;
x. "Development" means the construction, erection or placing of one or more
Buildings on land or the making of an addition or alteration to a Building
that has the effect of increasing the size thereof, and includes
Redevelopment;
xi. "Development Charge" means a charge calculated in accordance with the
rules set out in the Development Charges Act, 1997 and imposed against
development in the Municipality as set out in this By-law;
xii. "duplex dwelling" means a residential building that is divided horizontally
into two dwelling units;
xiii. "Dwelling Unit" means one or more rooms used, designed or intended to
be used as a residence and which has exclusive use of culinary and or
sanitary facilities;
xiv. "existing" means the number, use and size that existed as of the date this
by-law was passed;
xv. "Farm Building" means any part of a building which is not used for
residential purposes and which building is located on 3 or more hectares of
land and which building is used solely for farm and farm related activities
carried out on the same farm and includes barns, implement sheds,
seasonal roadside stands and silos but does not include processing or year
round wholesale or retail facilities;
xvi. "Grade" means the average level of finished ground adjoining a building or
structure at all exterior walls;
xvii. "Green Energy" means lands, buildings or structures that that are not of an
accessory use and that:
i. form, support or accommodate a system or utility used, designed or
intended to convert wind or solar energy into electricity and feed it
into the general power grid, and includes such systems or utilities
that are subject to the Green Energy Act or are participating or
intended to participate in the Independent Electricity System
Operator's Feed-ln Tariff Program, or successor thereof, or similar
program; and
Page 3 of 16
xviii. "Gross Floor Area" means the total floor area, measured between the
outside of exterior walls or between the outside of exterior walls and the
centre line of party walls dividing the building from another building, of all
floors above the average level of finished ground adjoining the building at
its exterior walls;
xix. "industrial" means lands, buildings or structures used or designed or
intended for use for manufacturing, processing, fabricating or assembly of
raw goods, warehousing or bulk storage of goods, and includes office uses
and the sale of commodities to the general public where such uses are
accessory to an industrial use, but does not include the sale of
commodities to the general public through a warehouse club or self-storage
facilities;
xx. "institutional development" means development of a building or structure
intended for use,
i. as a long-term care home within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of
the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007;
ii. as a retirement home within the meaning of subsection 2(2) of the
Retirement Homes Act, 2010;
iii. by any of the following post-secondary institutions for the objects of
the institutions:
1. a university in Ontario that receives direct, regular and
ongoing operating funding from the Government of Ontario
2. A college or university federated or affiliated with a university
described in subclause 1.19.3.2; or
3. An Indigenous Institute prescribed for the purposes of
section 6 of the Indigenous Institutes Act, 2017
iv. as a memorial home, clubhouse or athletic grounds by an Ontario
branch of the Royal Canadian Legion; or
v. as a hospice to provide end of life care
Page 4 of 16
xxi. "Local Board" means a school board, public utility, commission,
transportation commission, public library board, board of park
management, local board of health, board of commissioners of police,
planning board, or any other board, commission, committee, body or local
authority established or exercising any power or authority under any
general or special Act with respect to any of the affairs or purposes,
including school purposes, of the Municipality of Trent Hills or any part or
parts thereof;
xxii. "local services" means those services, facilities or things which are under
the jurisdiction of the municipality and are related to a plan of subdivision or
within the area to which the plan relates in respect of the lands under
Sections 41, 51 or 53 of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 19990, Chap. P.13, as
amended, or any successor thereof;
xxiii. "multiple dwellings" means all dwellings other than single-detached, semi-
detached, stacked townhouse, and apartment unit dwellings
xxiv. "non-residential development" means development other than residential
development as defined herein, and includes development for commercial,
farm, industrial and institutional uses;
xxv. "Owner" means the owner(s) of land, or a person who has made
application for an approval for the development of land upon which a
Development Charge is imposed;
xxvi. "Place of Worship," means that part of a building or structure that is exempt
from taxation as a place of worship under the Assessment Act, R.5.0.,
1990, as amended;
xxviL "rate" means the interest rate established weekly by the Bank of Canada
based on Treasury Bills having a term of 91 days;
xxviii. "Redevelopment" means the construction, erection or placing of one or
more Buildings on land where all or part of a Building on such land has
previously been demolished, or changing the use of all or part of a
Building from a Residential purpose to a Non-residential purpose or from a
Non-residential purpose to a Residential purpose, or changing all or part
of a Building from one form of Residential Development to another form of
Residential Development or from one form of Non-residential
Development to another form of Non-residential Development;
xxix. "Rental Housing Development means development of a building or
structure with four or more residential units all of which are intended for
use as rented residential premises;
Page 5 of 16
xxx. "regulation" means any regulation made pursuant to the Act
xxxi. "residential" means designed, adopted or used as a home or residence of
one or more individuals who reside or dwell there permanently or
seasonally and includes single detached dwellings, semi-detached
dwellings, row dwellings, duplex dwellings, triplex dwellings, apartment
buildings, and seasonal dwellings;
xxxii. "row dwelling" means a residential building containing not less than three
units with each unit separated by a common or party wall or walls with a
separate outside entrance to each unit;
xxxiii. "seasonal dwelling" means a single detached dwelling occupied on a non-
permanent basis, the owner(s), occupant(s), having another permanent
address, but does not include nursing homes, hotels, motels, tourist
homes, bed & breakfast establishments, student residences, barracks, or
any other development of an institutional nature and included in the
Municipality's Zoning By-law as a non-residential use;
xxxiv. "semi-detached dwelling" means a residential building that is divided
vertically into two or more dwelling units, each dwelling unit having one or
two vertical walls, but no other parts attached to another structure;
xxxv. "service" means a service designed in Section 3 of this By-law, and
"sen/ices" shall have a corresponding meaning;
xxxvi. "single detached dwelling" means a residential building consisting of one
dwelling unit and not attached to another structure;
xxxvii. "stacked townhouse" means a building, other than a duplex, row dwelling,
or back-to-back townhouse, containing at least 3 dwelling units; each
dwelling unit separated from the other vertically and/or horizontally and
each dwelling unit having a separate entrance to grade;
xxxviii. "triplex dwelling" means a residential building that is divided into three
dwelling units;
xxxix. Use" means occupation and utilization for a particular purpose, practice or
benefit; and
xl. "Wind Turbine" means a rotary engine that extracts energy from the flow of
wind, converts it to mechanical energy by causing a bladed rotor to rotate,
and further converts it to electrical energy through an electrical generator.
Page 6 of 16
2. Designation of Services
2.1. The category of services for which development charges are imposed under this
By-law is Library Service
3. Application of By-law Rules
3.1. Development charges shall be payable in the amounts set out in this By-law
where:
L the lands are located in the area described in section 3.2; and
ii. the development of the lands requires any of the approvals set out in
subsection 3.4.
Area to Which By-law Applies
3.2. Pursuant to Section 2(7) of the Act, this By-law applies to all lands within the
geographic limits of the Corporation of the Municipality of Trent Hills, whether or
not the land or use is exempt from taxation under Section 13 of the Assessment
Act, R.5.0., 1990.
3.3. Notwithstanding clause 3.2 above, this by-law shall not apply to lands that are
owned by and used for the purposes of:
i. the municipality or a local board thereof;
ii. a board of education;
iii. the Corporation of the County of Northumberland or a local board thereof; or
iv. Landed vested in or leased to a university that receives regular and ongoing
operating funds from the government for the purposes of post-secondary
education if the development is intended to be occupied and used by the
university.
Approvals for Development
3.4. Development charges shall be imposed on all lands, buildings or structures that
are developed for residential or non-residential uses if the development requires:
i. the passing of a zoning by-law or of an amendment to a zoning by-law under
section 34 of the Planning Act;
ii. the approval of a minor variance under section 45 of the Planning Act;
iii. a conveyance of land to which a by-law passed under subsection 50(7) of
the Planning Act applies;
Page 7 of 16
iv. the approval of a plan of subdivision under section 51 of the Planning Act;
v. a consent under section 53 of the Planning Act;
vi. the approval of a description under section 50 of the Condominium Act,
R.S.O. 1990, Chap. C.26, as amended, or any successor thereof; or
vii. the issuing of a permit under the Building Code Act in relation to a building
or structure
3.5. No more than one development charge for each service designated in
subsection 2.1 shall be imposed upon any lands, buildings or structures to which
this By-law applies even though two or more of the actions described in
subsection 3.4 are required before the lands, buildings or structures can be
developed
3.6. Despite subsection 3.5, if two or more of the actions described in subsection 3.4
occur at different times, additional development charges shall be imposed if the
subsequent action has the effect or increasing the need for services
Exemptions
3.7. Notwithstanding the provisions of this By-law, development charges shall not be
imposed with respect to:
i. an enlargement to an existing dwelling unit;
ii. a second residential unit in an existing detached house, semi-detached
house or rowhouse on a parcel of land on which residential use, other than
ancillary residential use, is permitted, if all buildings and structures ancillary
to the existing detached house, semi-detached house or rowhouse
cumulatively contain no more than one residential unit.;
iii. a third residential unit in an existing detached house, semi-detached house
or rowhouse on a parcel of land on which residential use, other than
ancillary residential use, is permitted, if no building or structure ancillary to
the existing detached house, semi-detached house or rowhouse contains
any residential units;
iv. one residential unit in a building or structure ancillary to an existing detached
house, semi-detached house or rowhouse on a parcel of urban residential
land, if the existing detached house, semi-detached house or rowhouse
contains no more than two residential units and no other building or
structure ancillary to the existing detached house, semi-detached house or
rowhouse contains any residential units; or
Page 8 of 16
v. in an existing rental residential building, which contains four or more
residential units, the creation of the greater of one residential unit or one per
cent of the existing residential units.
3.8. Notwithstanding the provisions of this By-law, development charges shall not be
imposed with respect to the creation of additional dwelling units in proposed new
residential buildings, including structures ancillary to dwellings, subject to the
following restrictions:
i. A second residential unit in a new detached house, semi-detached house or
rowhouse on a parcel of land on which residential use, other than ancillary
residential use, is permitted, if all buildings and structures ancillary to the
new detached house, semi-detached house or rowhouse cumulatively will
contain no more than one residential unit;
ii. A third residential unit in a new detached house, semi-detached house or
rowhouse on a parcel of land on which residential use, other than ancillary
residential use, is permitted, if no building or structure ancillary to the new
detached house, semi-detached house or rowhouse contains any residential
units; or
iii. One residential unit in a building or structure ancillary to a new detached
house, semi-detached house or rowhouse on a parcel of urban residential
land, if the new detached house, semi-detached house or rowhouse
contains no more than two residential units and no other building or
structure ancillary to the new detached house, semi-detached house or
rowhouse contains any residential units.
Exemption for Industrial Development:
3.9. Notwithstanding any other provision of this by-law, no development charge is
payable with respect to an enlargement of the gross floor area of an existing
industrial building where the gross floor area is enlarged by 50 percent or less.
3.10. If the gross floor area of an existing industrial building is enlarged by
greater than 50 percent, the amount of the development charge payable in
respect of the enlargement is the amount of the development charge that would
otherwise be payable multiplied by the fraction determined as follows:
i. notwithstanding section 3.10, if the gross floor area is enlarged by more than
50 percent (50%), development charges shall be payable and collected and
the amount payable shall be calculated in accordance with s.4(3) of the Act.
Page 9 of 16
3.11. For the purpose of sections 3.9 and 3.10 herein, "existing industrial
building" is used as defined in the Regulation made pursuant to the Act.
3.12. The exemption for an existing industrial building provided by sections 3.9
and 3.10 shall be applied to a maximum of fifty percent (50%) of the gross floor
area before the first enlargement for which an exemption from the payment of
development charges was granted pursuant to this by-law or its predecessor.
Other Exemptions
3.13. Notwithstanding the provisions of this By-law, development charges shall
not be imposed with respect to:
i. Non-profit housing development;
ii. Residential units that are affordable housing units required to be included in
a development or redevelopment pursuant to a by-law passed under section
34 of the Planning Act to give effect to the policies described in subsection
16(4) of that Act;
iii. Buildings or structure used as farm buildings;
iv. Buildings or structures to be used as hospitals as governed by the Public
Hospitals Act, R.S.O., 1900; and
v. Solar Energy Projects with a nameplate generating capacity less that 100
kilowatts
Other Reductions
3.14. Notwithstanding any other provision of this by-law, development charges
for rental housing development shall be reduced in accordance with the
following:
i. A development charge for a residential unit intended for use as a rented
residential premises with three or more bedrooms shall be reduced by 25
per cent;
ii. A development charge for a residential unit intended for use as a rented
residential premises with two bedrooms shall be reduced by 20 per cent;
and
iii. A development charge for a residential unit intended for use as a rented
residential premises not referred to in paragraph 1 or 2 shall be reduced by
15 percent.
Page 10 of 16
4. Amount of Charges
Residential
4.1. The development charges set out in Schedule A shall be imposed on residential
uses of lands, buildings or structures, including a dwelling unit accessory to a
non-residential use and, in the case of a mixed-use building or structure, on the
residential uses in the mixed-use building or structure, according to the type of
residential unit, and calculated with respect to each of the semces according to
the type of residential use.
Non-Residential
4.2. The development charges described in Schedule A to this by-law shall be
imposed on non-residential uses of lands, buildings or structures, and, in the
case of a mixed-use building or structure, on the non-residential uses in the
mixed-use building or structure and calculated with respect to each of the
services according to the gross floor area of the non-residential use.
4.3. The development charges described in Schedule A to this by-law shall be
imposed on non-residential Green Energy uses of lands, with respect to the
number of wind turbines for Wind Turbine developments and the kilowatts of
nameplate generating capacity for Solar Energy developments.
Reduction of Development Charges for Redevelopment
4.4. Despite any other provisions of this By-law, where, as a result of the
redevelopment of land, a building or structure existing on the same land within
24 months prior to the date of payment of development charges in regard to
such redevelopment was, or is to be demolished, in whole or in part, or
converted from one principal use to another principal use on the same land, in
order to facilitate the redevelopment, the development charges otherwise
payable with respect to such redevelopment shall be reduced by the following
amounts:
i. in the case of a residential building or structure, or in the case of a mixed-
use building or structure, the residential uses in the mixed-use building or
structure, an amount calculated by multiplying the applicable development
charge under subsection 4.1 by the number, according to type, of dwelling
units that have been or will be demolished or converted to another principal
use;and
Page 11 of 16
ii. in the case of a non-residential building or structure or, in the case of mixed-
use building or structure, the non-residential uses in the mixed-use building
or structure, an amount calculated by multiplying the applicable
development charges under subsection 4.2, by the gross floor area that has
been or will be demolished or converted to another principal use;
provided that such amounts shall not exceed, in total, the amount of the
development charges otherwise payable with respect to the redevelopment.
4.5. Notwithstanding section 4.4 the replacement of a building destroyed by fire or
similar unintended action shall be exempt from payment of a Development
Charge so long as the replacement occurs within five (5) years and the
replacement is for the same number of residential units or for a non-residential
building of the same floor area. Additional residential units or non-residential
floor area shall be subject to the normal provisions of this by-law.
Time of Payment of Development Chames
4.6. Development charges imposed under this By-law are calculated, payable, and
collected upon issuance of a building permit for the development.
47. Despite Section 4.6, Council from time to time, and at any time, may enter into
agreements providing for all or any part of a development charge to be paid
before or after it would otherwise be payable, in accordance with section 27 of
the Act.
4.8. Notwithstanding Sections 4.6 and 4.7, development charges for rental housing
and institutional developments are due and payable in 6 installments
commencing with the first installment payable on the date of occupancy, and
each subsequent installment, including interest, payable on the anniversary date
each year thereafter.
4.9. Where the development of land results from the approval of a Site Plan or
Zoning By-law Amendment received on or after January 1, 2020, and the
approval of the application occurred within 2 years of building permit issuance,
the Development Charges under Section 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3 may be calculated on
the rates set out in Schedule "A" on the date of the planning application,
including interest. Where both planning applications apply, Development
Charges under Sections 4.1,4.2 and 4.3 may be calculated on the rates,
including interest, set out in Schedule "A" on the date of the later planning
application.
Page 12 of 16
Page 13 of 16
4.10.
Interest for the purposes of Sections 4.8 and 4.9 shall be determined as
the base rate plus 1%
i.
The base rate shall be equal to the average prime rate on:
1. October 15 of the previous year, if the adjustment date is January 1,
2. January 15 of the same year, if the adjustment date is April 1,
3. April 15 of the same year, if the adjustment date is July 1, and
4. July 15 of the same year, if the adjustment date is October 1.
4.11.
The average prime rate, on a particular date means, the mean, rounded to
the nearest hundredth of a percentage point, of the annual rates of interest
announced by each of the Royal Bank of Canada, The Bank of Nova Scotia, the
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the Bank of Montreal and The Toronto-
Dominion Bank to be its prime or reference rate of interest in effect on that date
for determining interest rates on Canadian dollar commercial loans by that bank
in Canada.
Credits
4.12.
Credit for previous Development Charge Payments and lot levies credit
shall be applied to the Development Charge calculated in Subsections 4.1, 4.2,
and 4.3 above for any previous Development Charge or lot levy payment. The
onus shall be upon the owner/applicant to provide proof of earlier payments.
5. Payment by Services
5.1. Despite the payment required under subsections 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3, Council may,
by agreement, give a credit towards a development charge in exchange for work
that relates to a service to which a development charge relates under this By-law
6. Indexing
6.1. Development charges imposed pursuant to this By-law shall be adjusted
annually, without amendment to this By-law, on February 20th of each year, in
accordance with the prescribed index in the Act.
7. Schedules
7.1. The following schedules shall form part of this By-law:
i. Schedule A - Residential and Non-Residential Development
Charges - Library Services
8. Conflicts
8.1. Where the Municipality and an owner or former owner have entered into an
agreement with respect to land within the area to which this By-law applies, and
a conflict exists between the provisions of this By-law and such agreement, the
provisions of the agreement shall prevail to the extent that there is a conflict.
8.2. Notwithstanding section 8.1, where a development which is the subject of an
agreement to which section 8.1 applies, is subsequently the subject of one or
more of the actions described in subsection 3.4, an additional development
charge in respect of the development permitted by the action shall be calculated,
payable and collected in accordance with the provisions of this By-law if the
development has the effect of increasing the need for semces, unless such
agreement provides otherwise.
9. Building Permit Issuance
9.1. Where Development Charges apply to land in relation to which a building permit
is required, unless an agreement is entered into pursuant to subsection 4.7
above, the building permit shall not be issued until the Development Charge has
been paid in full.
10. Refunds
10.1. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a Development Charge is paid at the time
a building permit is issued and no building proceeds pursuant to the said
permit and the building permit has expired, the registered owner may apply
to the Treasurer of the Municipality for a refund of the Development Charge
paid at the time the building permit was issued within one year of payment
to the Municipality provided the building permit is surrendered with the said
refund application, if not already surrendered.
Page 14 of 16
11. Severability
11.1. If, for any reason, any provision of this By-law is held to be invalid, it is
hereby declared to be the intention of Council that all the remainder of this
By-law shall continue in full force and effect until repealed, re-enacted,
amended, or modified.
12. Date By-law In Force
12.1. This By-law shall come into effect at 12:01AM on February 20, 2024.
12.2. This By-law will expire at 12:01 AM on February 20, 2033 unless it is
repealed by Council at an earlier date.
By-law read and passed this 13th day of February, 2024.
Robert fcrat6, WIayor
J. C/ouglW^in, Clerk
Page 15 of 16
Schedule "A"
to By-law No. 2024-026 for
The Corporation of the Municipality of Trent Hills
Schedule of Development Charges - Library Services
RESIDENTIAL
Service/Class of Service
Single and Semi-
Detached Dwelling
Other Multiples
Apartments - 2
Bedrooms +
Apartments"
Bachelor and 1
(per sq.m. of Gross
Floor Area)
NON-RESIDENTIAL
Green Energy (per
500 kW nameplate
generating capacity
of Solar Energy
Developments)
Green Energy (per
wind turbine for
Wind Turbine
Developments)
Library Ser^'ces
Page 16 of 16