In its draft long-term plan, the Gore District Council proposes to extend the urban boundary to the south of the town to Racecourse Rd and Raceway Lane; to the west to include Eversfield Rise and part of Charlton Rd, as well as a block to the west of Broughton and Waimea Sts to State Highway 94; and to the north to take in McKinnon Rd and part of Knapdale Rd.
The boundary changes would also affect Mataura, with an area to the east of State Highway 1, at the northern end of Selbourne St, for inclusion in the rural rating area.
Levies for parks and reserves and the ward-based valuation rate differed between rural and urban rating areas.
A rural property with a capital value of $250,000 would pay an extra $45.29 in the urban area, while a property with a capital value of $500,000 would pay $141.22 extra.
Gore Mayor Tracy Hicks said the council had flagged the review in its 2009 long-term council community plan.
"It takes in residential and lifestyle development that has occurred in recent years close to the existing boundary."
He said the revised boundaries were more consistent with the situation in Mataura where significant areas of lifestyle blocks were incorporated in the urban rating area.
Council chief executive Steve Parry said the proposal was about fairness, where properties close to urban amenities pay urban rates.
Water and sewerage was rated on a user pays basis, and if the service was not received, it was not rated for, he said.
"The exception is where a property is capable of being connected to one of the reticulated networks."
Mr Parry said the expanded urban boundary would "catch up" with residential development that has occurred since the district was formed in 1989. It would also future-proof the urban area and avoid the need for further review in the short term, he said.
The proposed change will affect rates but will not affect zoning, so rural properties remain zoned rural. Any review of zoning would be the subject of a separate process under the Resource Management Act.
Submissions to the Gore District Council's draft long-term plan close on May 8.
