City of Cambridge Punishes Condominiums with Fire Hydrants for $9000/Year

Cambridge, Ontario, has placed a $9000/year charge on condominiums with a fire hydrant or other “big pipe”, a cost which is charged on top of the water and sewage costs each owner individually bears. The water and sewage, up 10% in January, are scheduled to almost double by 2019.

Condominiums offer great boons to a municipality – they create a high density residential area, forming an environmentally responsible, affordable and sustainable municipality. Edward Glaeser sets out this argument in his February 2011 The Atlantic article “How Skyscrapers Can Save the City”

Eric Jaffe points out in his article “The Case for a D.C.-Baltimore Mega-Region” that higher density will save about $1.5 billion a year in spending on roads, schools, and other infrastructure. Residents would also save about $400/year if only 1/4 of the region’s planned low density becomes high-density.

Calgary, Alberta, Canada has recently completed a study that shows dense city development moving forward will save 33% in total capital costs, and 14% less in operating costs, then current density levels.

It is without argument that condominiums contribute significantly to the fiscal wellbeing of municipalities. But instead of rewarding owners in such developments, municipalities punish them with additional costs – often to the benefit of unsustainable low-density zoning and development.

Regarding water, sewage, and condominiums – the municipal cost for supplying and maintaining kilometres and kilometers of piping are saved with high density living. That should be recognized by the municipality, not punished.