Central Huron Council Approved Increase In Planning Application Fees

by Bob Montgomery

Central Huron council has approved an increase in planning application fees.

Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn says the planning application fees are usually reviewed every five years, and weren't scheduled to be reviewed until 2026, but the county's Planning Department felt they were falling too far behind in their pricing for that service. The feeling on the part of the Planning Department is that if a developer comes to them with a plan of subdivision, that developer should cover the cost to the Planning Department, because the developer is the one making a profit on the project, so the cost shouldn't have to be born by the taxpayer.

Ginn says the increase will be significant and there was a concern on the part of some of their councillors that that might discourage some developers from building in Huron County, but the increase was eventually approved by a five to three vote. The increase is consistent throughout Huron County but Ginn says he doesn't know at this time what other counties are doing.