View - The Municipality of Lambton Shores

THE MUNICIPALITY OF LAMBTON SHORES
CL Report No. 83-2012 Wednesday, July 4, 2012
TO:
FROM:
RE:
Mayor Weber and Members of Council
Carol McKenzie, Clerk
Building Permit – Greenhouse Operation – Northville Road
RECOMMENDATION:
For Council’s consideration
REPORT
At the July 9, 2010 meeting, Council will hear a delegation from the owner of property
on Northville Road that is planning the construction of a greenhouse that will be used to
grow red peppers for the wholesale market.
As noted in the attached letter, the current Lambton Shores building permit fee for
agricultural buildings is calculated on the gross floor area of the building and is charged
at $ 2.00 a square metre, which is considerably less than the $ 9.00 per square metre
for residential, commercial and industrial buildings. When the $ 2.00 per square metre is
used for this project, the permit fee is over $ 45,000.00 for the 22, 590 square metre
building.
The property owner is requesting relief from the building permit charge, and noted that
the building plans are stamped by an engineer, which takes some of the responsibility
from the municipal staff as the engineer is required to ensure that the building is
constructed as per the drawings.
Included in the submission is sample permit fees from other municipalities and the fees
range from $ 400.00 to $ 6,620.00. Fees charged in the Municipality of South Huron
were investigated, and the most recent greenhouse permit fee was $.10 per square
foot, which equates to approximately $ 1.07 per square metre, which for this project
would see a permit fee of $ 24,171.36.
The purpose of the permit fee is to cover the time expended by municipal staff for the
project, and this staff time includes not only that of the building inspector, but also the
administrative staff that prepare the permit and undertake the mandatory reporting, and
the Treasury staff that follow up to ensure that the building is assessed in a timely
manner.
It is acknowledged that the current permit fee for agricultural structures when applied to
this size of a structure is excessive for the staff time required for the project. One
suggestion for a more equitable fee for greenhouses and other similar engineered
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