To say the report to council by North Cowichan CAO Ted Swabey about the municipality's infrastructure was sobering is an understatement.
It was closer to gobsmacking.
There's been a lot of tension of late in the municipality over the pace and location of development, but Swabey's message that North Cowichan quite literally does not have the infrastructure to handle even half of the 10,000 (good grief!) proposed new housing units that have applications in to the municipality at present was breathtaking.
It has always seemed like the only question was whether the municipality wanted to curb sprawl and maintain its urban containment boundaries, with some councillors wanting to approve all comers while others were more cautious.
For reference, Swabey said current capacity will only allow 4,200 new units. And the 10,000 new housing units with applications in would double the number of households presently in the municipality.
But Swabey's presentation made it clear that the major issue is really, if all this development moves forward, who's going to pay for all the new infrastructure needed? Which also raises questions of how much development does the municipality really want, and how fast should it move forward?
These are fundamental questions at stake.
North Cowichan has never faced this kind of explosive growth in recent memory, perhaps ever. The 4,200 units that could be accommodated by the current infrastructure represents 20 years of growth based on historical patterns, according to Swabey.
At the same time, we clearly need more housing for people, and we need it relatively quickly. The provincial government is encouraging it. Notably, they're not offering to pay, though. At present, nobody is. So who pays? The already beleaguered taxpayer? The developers?
In recent years other municipalities have also taken stock of their infrastructure and come up with enormous numbers of what it's going to take to keep it all going.
The City of Duncan recently found out that much of their water, sewer and other infrastructure is more than halfway through its useful life, and the city is facing a possible 100-year funding gap of about $490 million.
Lake Cowichan is also facing infrastructure pressures, as is Ladysmith and the Cowichan Valley Regional District.
The City of Duncan is facing numerous large development applications representing hundreds of new units. It's fair to imagine other communities in Cowichan are also facing a substantial increase in development applications, though none have publicly quantified it the way North Cowichan has.
It's not a simple formula of adding new taxpayers to the rolls to increase income. There are also going to be costs.
It certainly puts a whole new perspective on the development questions that are going to be coming before our various boards and councils.
