WHEREAS Section 941 of the Local Government Act requires that owners of land being subdivided must, at their option, provide parkland in an amount and location suitable to the local government, or pay to the local government an amount equal to the market value of the land required for parkland purposes; AND WHEREAS the amount of land that may be required for parkland, or used for establishing the amount of cash in lieu payable, may not exceed 5 of the land being proposed for subdivision; AND WHEREAS the need for public park space is increasing and a local governments ability to acquire land for parks is impacted by the increase in land values: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that provincial legislation be changed to increase the amount of land that may be required for parkland dedication or a minimum of cash in lieu to 10.
MINISTRY OF COMMUNITY SERVICES Increasing the parkland dedication requirement to 10 would be a significant consideration for local government, the Province of British Columbia and the development community. After consultations with the Development Finance Review Committee the Ministry of Community Services is not proposing to increase the parkland dedication requirement to 10. A number of other financial tools are available to acquire parkland in addition to the parkland dedication. Development Cost Charges DCCs can be used in combination with the 5 dedication to acquire parkland or parkland improvements, although a municipality must be careful to avoid double charging developers and owners for the same acquisition. Density bonusing can also be used to secure natural areas, environmentally sensitive areas or other forms of public open space. The Ministrys Parkland Acquisition Best Practices Guide available online was specifically designed to include considerations for collecting parkland through dedication and DCCs.