A decision on the contentious issue of development cost charges (DCC) was deferred by council Monday to a committee of the whole.
The key issue of DCCS is whether to make developers pay up front for future infrastructure needs.
Coun. Kathy Wallace suggested the deferral, saying that DCCs are a complex matter.
“They’ve certainly generated significant contention in the community in the past and I would like to avoid them generating significant contention in the near future,” she explained.
Wallace said that since she couldn’t see any imminent need or emergency to deal with the matter quickly, council and the public could use more information on the matter.
“Council needs to understand what is presented in these reports, the community needs to understand what is presented here,” she said.
Wallace said that council members have already started to receive public question on the matter.
“We’ve already started to receive questions on why is council against DCCs? Why does council not want developers to pay? We’re already starting to hear that kind of talk,” she said, adding that there needs to be a clear understanding of the decision council makes, whatever it may be.
The rest of council agreed that the committee of the whole meeting would benefit the new councillors and the public.