Development Agreements, Front Ending and Cost-Sharing Agreements
Wood Bull has extensive experience advising clients on all types of land development agreements, including front-ending agreements under the Development Charges Act, 1997, cost sharing agreements, and other types of development agreements that may be entered into between a landowner and a municipality or between two or more landowners as a consequence of proposed development.
Municipalities often enter into development agreements with owners and developers of property as a condition of approval. These agreements are used to ensure that the landowner fulfills conditions imposed by the municipality in granting the development approval. These agreements include site plan and subdivision agreements, bonusing (section 37) agreements, front-ending agreements, easement agreements, and conditional building permit agreements, and relate to the provision of municipal services and infrastructure, amongst other things. Two or more landowners in an area may also enter into cost sharing agreements to address the provision of services and infrastructure and to allocate the related costs of development among the landowners.
Wood Bull provides strategic advice to clients in negotiating the terms of the different development agreements that may be required throughout the land use planning and development process. We also assist our clients with the preparation of such agreements. We have acted for landowner groups in regard to cost sharing agreements.