Kingsville Council is the latest to eliminate some municipal development fees.
Over the next two years, Mayor Nelson Santos says developers looking to build on industrial land won't have to pay up. Industrial land is limited in Kingsville, and town council hopes to attract development spurring activity across the board.
"That may be an opportunity where a business or industrial company comes in (and) makes an opportunity for local jobs," says Santos. "Those local jobs in turn create greater taxation than what we have with the vacant land. Those with the local jobs may invest in local properties."
Santos says the town won't turn any development away but notes supporting the greenhouse industry or local manufacturing would be preferable.
Unlike some other towns in Essex County, Santos says Kingsville will leave its residential development fees alone. "In the last four years, we've had over 220 homes built in Kingsville and obviously development charges over the past four years haven't been seen as a deterrent."
Last year, only one company qualified for development charges under the bylaw accounting for only 3% of revenue from the fees.
