Building boom taxing district staff

Jan 22, 2024 | 5:00 AM

Coldstream is seeing a boom in building activity which is stretching staff resources to the limit.

A staff report to Coldstream council says the district saw “remarkably high building permit activity” in 2023, on the heels of a strong year in 2022.

The district said 117 permits valued at $54 million were issued, which included 169 residential units. About $910,000 in fees were paid for building permits.

“This is up sharply from 2022, when 105 permits valued at $32.8 million were issued, generating $511,000 in fees. The previous high was in 2014, when permits valued at just over $38 million were issued,” Ryan Roycroft, director of development services, said in the report.

Roycroft said the robust activity is taxing staff resources and capacities.

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“On top of increasing permit complexity and expectations, the Building Department is facing pressures from new requirements in real estate agreements,” he stated.

The newest standard contracts for real estate deals require that realtors review all municipal files, meaning that any land sale requires that realtors request files from the municipality.

Roycroft said those requests consumed 63 staff hours in 2023, or just under two full weeks of staff time.

“These requests are time sensitive, and delays have resulted in instances of aggression towards staff, particularly from real estate agents,” the director remarked.

Roycroft is recommending that options be considered for short term capacity support for the building services function to be funded by money from the province’s housing initiative (Homes For People) program ($203,000).

“With council support, administration could provide some options to alleviate capacity concerns using a portion of the funding, rather than taxation. While staff have been able to maintain a reasonable service level, it has come at the consequence of increased errors in permits, a growing lack of filing and organization, and a worrying lack of “bench strength,”‘ Roycroft explained.

Roycroft added an unexpected illness or retirement would leave the organization “flailing and a cessation of building permit issuance.”

The director said while there is no budget for additional staffing or technology in the 2024 budget, council may eventually look at investing in limited part-time staff support, a digital records management system, or resources to properly organize and file paper records.

The report will be received at council’s meeting Jan. 22.

by Pete McIntyre

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