[Dmajackson]

HRM loses round in old land battle
Case about development’s road coming to a head in October
By AMY PUGSLEY FRASER City Hall Reporter
Fri. Aug 29 - 5:30 AM

Halifax Regional Municipality has lost a bid to throw out a lawsuit it faces in October — and must pay $1,500 plus taxes for the effort.

The municipality is to pay costs to the lawyer for Olympic International Realty and Paper Mill Lake Developments Ltd., Justice Bob Wright said Thursday in Nova Scotia Supreme Court chambers.

The judge didn’t make any decision on the facts in the case, which is set to go to trial in October.

The main issue is whether the municipality should be ordered to build a road over land belonging to another developer to comply with the terms of a development agreement dating back to the mid-1990s.

The road link is part of a 12-year-old agreement between the old Town of Bedford and Annapolis Basin Group, the original owners of just under 90 hectares of land bordered by the Bicentennial Highway, Moirs Mill, Paper Mill Lake and Hammonds Plains Road.

Back in 1995, "many concerns were raised relating to the potential impact of the proposed development on the residential neighbourhoods and existing municipal infrastructure," says a city staff report written for the local planning advisory committee in 2005.

A clause was added to the agreement stipulating that only 100 houses could be built and that a collector road had to be built out to the Hammonds Plains Road to alleviate the traffic congestion expected to arise from the rest of the development.

But a dozen years later, the collector road is still not built and Annapolis has sold its land holdings to two groups: about 30 hectares in a southwest section to Ali Ahmadi and Paper Mill Lake Developments Ltd. and about 52 hectares on the northeast side to United Gulf Developments Ltd.

Olympic, along with Paper Mill Lake Developments Ltd., still wants to build 325 residential units on its lands near Paper Mill Lake in Bedford.

But while Paper Mill Lake Developments and Olympic International Realty have said they are willing to build the collector road as far as the end of their property at Kearney Run, they can’t compel United Gulf to continue that road the rest of the way to Hammonds Plains Road.

And while Paper Mill has not been able to develop its lands, it alleges that the municipality allowed United Gulf to build a 60-unit condominium building that ties up traffic on the same roads.

Over the past decade the case has come before council committees, quasi-judicial tribunals and the courts.

Municipal lawyer Randall Kinghorn told Justice Wright that the developers have waited too long to seek a remedy through the courts.

"We’re not talking about unsophisticated parties here," he said. "The proper way would be for someone to object in 1997 . . . to challenge HRM’s decision to issue a building permit."

The municipality also argues that the condominium was meant to be a seniors residence, which would be exempt from road restrictions imposed on other developments.

But lawyer Eric Slone told the judge that the municipality’s attempt to get the case thrown out was "oppressive and abusive."

"Just because they woke up to a new arguable defence . . . that shouldn’t be of concern to the court."

Mr. Slone wanted to know why the municipality doesn’t "own up to the fact" that the building it approved is not a seniors complex.

"The city has not been forthright with the public or the developers," he said.

Another Uniter Gulf vs HRM battle. Just for anyone unfamilar with this area its the forest behind Paper Mill Lake (its on your right coming off the Bi-Hi towards Bedford).