Stories we tell ourselves

Are 11,000 new homes about to burst out of Prince Edward County soil? Are thousands of new homes ready to emerge clustered around Picton and Wellington? Remember when Shire Hall was ready to spend upwards of $300 million to ensure these folks had water when/if they arrived?

Few believe this story any longer. Most never did. The claim seems silly now, in the context of an anemic new homebuilding market, a declining population in Canada and Toronto (and possibly the County), and the bounty of existing homes currently on offer. The context has changed globally.

Yet some folks continue to cling to the story—folks who stand firm in their faith that the County is sitting at the precipice of a Great Population Boom.

The true believers include a handful of County council members.

“Growth is coming,” assures Councillor Bill Roberts with the quiet certainty of an evangelical pastor.

“Growth is happening. That is a given,” echoes Councillor John Hirsch. Mayor Steve Ferguson and Councillor Sam Grosso murmur similar incantations.

What is the source of their faith? What supports their conviction? What do they see that no one else does? Who are they listening to?

Developers are the source of their wisdom. Developers say growth is coming, so it must be true. That is how they know. That is the basis for the need for unprecedented infrastructure investment in Prince Edward County.

Developers have the ears of these council members and are filling their heads with pictures of sprawling neighbourhoods and flowing rivers of development charges and property taxes. These council members hear what they want to hear.

“When I look at what the development community is planning, and it is backed up by the professionals at the Quinte Home Building Association, it suggests much better than one per cent growth,” Councillor Hirsch told a council committee meeting in June.

If only the municipality were to spend hundreds of millions, it would unleash untold growth and wealth for the municipality. (I pray the councillor doesn’t receive a proposal from a Nigerian prince.)

It seems bizarre to have to write these words, but it must be repeated: developers have a direct financial incentive to persuade Council to build infrastructure to their lands. It makes their holdings more valuable. It improves their capital structure. It makes them money.

When municipal infrastructure is extended to a farm field on the edge of town, it is suddenly worth a great deal more than the hay or beans it might be yielding today. (Indeed, you can continue to harvest hay and beans for decades while still reaping the reward of capital appreciation.) It is a gift. Bestowed upon them by the residents of this community.

Andrew Eldebs represents Cachet Homes, which owns about 200 acres in Wellington, west of Consecon Street. He told Council last month it should:

1. Push ahead with infrastructure spending “without hesitance”;
2. Apply for more provincial and federal funding, while simultaneously;
3. Advocating to the province to lower development charges (the primary source of funds we need to fund this infrastructure), and;
4. It should act now, because time is running out.

It doesn’t mean developers are lying or attempting to deceive anyone—but rather it means their interests are different from Council. Their interests are different from Shire Hall and massively different from County water ratepayers.

Shiny new infrastructure near developers’ land makes it worth more. To the extent they can persuade municipalities to fund it—up front—and build it, the better it is for their bottom line. The better it is for their story.

For some developers, it is the business model. They have never built a home, and never will. Their business is simply converting green fields into plans of subdivision— turning the edge of town into a story. To be sold. And sold again. It is how they create value for their shareholders.

To do this, however, requires pliant and trusting municipalities. There are fewer of those left in Ontario.

rick@wellingtontimes.ca