The moral case for growth

In the first three months of 2015, just five new-home permits were issued by the County’s planning department. At that rate, the municipality was on track for its worst new-home construction performance since it began keeping records. A healthy second quarter, however—fuelled by strong numbers in May and June—helped stabilize what appeared to be a devastating year. A still better performance in July suggests home building in 2015 could outpace last year’s 91 new homes. This is good news.

But not for everyone. There is a tendency to resist change. It is human to be wary particularly when it is our neighbourhood or a familiar landscape that is at risk of being altered. This is particularly so where our surroundings largely define our love of the place. We live here or have been attracted to the County because of its intrinsic charms—natural beauty, architectural heritage and human scale. The place isn’t overwhelmed by buildings, traffic or noise

Growth threatens that. Development you can see out your kitchen window risks taking that all away. At least that’s how it feels.

No words will ease this anxiety. Perhaps they can, however, enable us to summon the grace so that we may see that absence of growth and development is a more destructive force in the lives those who live on the margins in our community.

Since amalgamation the tax levy—the amount the County collects in property taxes each year—has tripled. User fees have risen even faster. Waterworks bills have skyrocketed for those on municipal services. Yet the population has pretty much remain unchanged for the past 17 years.

That means the burden on County residents has grown exponentially heavier. For those on fixed incomes, the rising costs of municipal services means sacrificing something else—heat, food, perhaps the cab ride to visit the doctor. So heavy has the burden become, that many have been forced to move away—away from their home, from the County. We know this because every week new folks arrive to live here, yet the population remains unchanged.

Shire Hall has made it clear more increases in tax, user fees and waterworks bills are coming. Our infrastructure is old and decaying. We will be paying more. The strain on those on the edge will grow.

No growth or low growth has the most profound impact on the less well off. Without new residents to pay property taxes, garbage fees or water bills the rising cost of these services weigh heavier on those struggling to get by or those on fixed incomes. The County risks becoming an enclave for the wealthy—those for whom a tripling of the tax rate is meaningless.

Furthermore, no growth means we must forgo development charges that produce vital revenue used to fund the escalating costs of libraries, parks, arenas and emergency services.

In this context, the price point of a new home being developed matters little. What matters is that it is built—that the tax base grows, development charges are paid and user fees flow toward Shire Hall. In fact, if price matters at all in this context, it is that more expensive homes produce a stronger new revenue stream.

All this makes last week’s Planning committee’s debate, about affordable housing in the context of a new development proposed in Wellington, border on the absurd. Not only has Shire Hall confused its reading of the Provincial Policy Statement in regards to affordable housing, it is at risk of losing sight of the most effective way it can help alleviate the burden on County families, that is, attracting more folks to build and live here.

None of this means the County need abandon its efforts to encourage and attract affordable housing. But we must understand, as the province does, that in a market building fewer than 100 homes a year, we have few bargaining chips to entice builders to construct anything that doesn’t deliver a reasonable return on investment.

What is clear, however, is that if our municipality is sincere in reaching out to those struggling to keep their heads above water in our community, the answer isn’t to block new development or put absurd hurdles in the way.

Instead, it should welcome new development and encourage further growth. This risks altering the landscape for some and abutting the backyards of others. But growth can, and should, be accomplished thoughtfully and respectful of the traditions, values and intrinsic charm of Prince Edward County. To do otherwise is to condemn some to leave the place they call home.

rick@wellingtontimes.ca