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Cutting red tape: City of Red Deer eases policies to spur more development

Developers will gain flexibility under new rules
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Local developers who are doing building upgrades or new construction will face less land servicing costs and gain some flexibility. (File photo by Advocate staff)

The City of Red Deer is cutting red tape and adjusting policies to reduce development costs and spur more growth.

Local developers who are doing building upgrades or new construction will face less land servicing costs and gain some flexibility.

Changes were made to city policies, stemming from administration’s Leading Forward report.

Under the revised municipal policies, developers will no longer have to hire the City of Red Deer to perform all service installations and repairs. They will be able to decide who to hire for service installations.

The use of external contractors could give greater flexibility in scheduling than the City of Red Deer can offer — which could lead to significant savings.

“In the past, it was required that the city do any service installations,” said Konrad Dunbar, engineering manager. “In speaking with developers, we heard common challenges working around the city’s schedule.”

Most developers would prefer to hire an external contractor to do the installations at a date that was more convenient, he told council on Tuesday.

“While the up-front cost could increase, the scheduling flexibility reduces impacts on their overall construction schedule, resulting in longer-term cost savings for the developers.”

This change takes effect immediately.

Developers still have the option to hire the city for service installations if they choose. And the city will continue to work with them to ensure quality control of any service installation.

Mayor Tara Veer said these changes connect directly to the city’s Strategic Plan objectives to fuel local economic development.

They “will not only afford cost-savings for our development community, but will give… more flexibility in scheduling services,” added Veer.

“We expect this will not only prove useful for existing developments, but will help to spur additional development activity in our community.”



lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com

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