Town, Honda keeping development charges issue confidential

Posted October 25, 2024

 

New Tecumseth council is scheduled to meet Monday afternoon in camera to deal with development charge (DCs) calculation related to Honda's multi-billion dollar expansion in Alliston.

 

The Town is invoking "a trade secret or scientific, technical, commercial, financial or labour relations information, supplied in confidence to the municipality or local board, which, if disclosed, could reasonably be expected to prejudice significantly the competitive position or interfere significantly with the contractual or other negotiations of a person, group of persons, or organization" to keep the negotiations confidential.

 

DCs from the Honda expansion could be worth millions of dollars, not including building permit and other construction related fees payable.

 

Normally, DCs would be payable at building permit issuance, or, at the earliest of date of first occupancy or occupancy permit.

 

There are exemptions to DCs including for new hospitals, government agencies, education institutions, places of worship, agricultural uses, garden suites, temporary structures, hospice dwellings,  while conditional exemptions are available for housing intensification and industrial expansion.