General Updates and News

[Colin May]

Originally Posted by counterfactual

Exactly. The RP+5 original and newer draft are both a disaster, both in text and in the result. Planning staff essentially would prefer community groups and urbanist stakeholders to shut up, so they can continue with the sprawl planning (because it's really easy... sprawl planning is no planning and less work). Good planning is hard work. So an overworked planning staff is going to lead to bad planning. Period.

I totally agree that a bunch of crappy previously approved sprawl developments should be scrapped, and HRM double down on intensifying peninsular residential densification and ending the perpetual sprawl.

Here is what RP+5 should do:

• Immediate moratorium on any more office and commercial space development outside the core for 10 years. Just like London, Ontario.
  
  
• Dartmouth Crossing should be frozen. Period. Re-zone half that garbage pit into urban forest and block any new residential, retail, or commercial space development. Industrial development could be allowed on specific application.
  
  
• Similar for Burnside -- no more sprawl expansiveness, stealing office tenants from downtown by sprawl crap.
  
  
• Immediate moratorium on any more HRM land sales for residential sprawl development for decades until reserve lands used.
  
  
• Could also follow Ottawa, which placed a moratorium on downtown development charges in 1994 to incentivize more residential development in Ottawa's core. This, too, was a success, attracting 1,100 new people to the core.
  
  

We should be making significant policy moves like this.

Quite radical.
The centre councillors don't have the votes to make serious changes to RP+5 and therefore the province should use its powers and act boldly in support of the regional centre. McNeil won't do that because he doesn't want to take a bold stance on anything that may upset voters.

[xanaxanax]

Originally Posted by Colin May

HRM staff recommending sale of St Pat's Alexandra and rejection of community bid.

" It is recommended that Halifax Regional Council:

1. Decline the proposal from the North Central Community Council Association, as per the
Evaluation of Submissions for the Disposal of St. Pat’s Alexandra (Attachment B); and
2. Conditional upon the satisfactory resolution of any remaining appeals of the Supreme
Court decision of September 24, 2012, direct HRM staff to proceed to sell the property at
market value, as per the “Special Procedure for Disposal of St. Pat’s Alexandra” (see
Attachment A for “Appendix A” from the October 30, 2012 Regional Council motion) "

http://halifax.ca/council/agendasc/documents/140513ca1113.pdf

NCCC's 250 adorable homes over 3.8-acre always seemed wasteful use of central city land to me and pictured it being Uniacke Square 2.0 and very low density of 2 story houses with massive parking lots


What are Jono Developments Ltd plans for this site, was he not willing to work with some of these groups to provide some space for them?

[Hali87]

New lighting going up along SGR:


Source


Source

[xanaxanax]

Those lampposts look the absolute worst like something out of a old sci fi dystopian film. So sterile and boring, I bet some bureaucratic knob said he wanted something futuristic

[Hali87]

I like them...

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by xanaxanax

Those lampposts look the absolute worst like something out of a old sci fi dystopian film. So sterile and boring, I bet some bureaucratic knob said he wanted something futuristic

I bet some Danish architect designed them...

[Colin May]

Originally Posted by Keith P.

I bet some Danish architect designed them...

Bought at a local dentist-going-out-of-business sale.

[mcmcclassic]

There is construction at Penhorn Plaza for a new strip mall (technically an extension of the area). Looks to be going where part of the Sobey's FastFuel parking lot is now.

[pblaauw]

Shannon Park is now listed on the Canada Lands Corp. site.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by teddifax

Café Chianti was there and at one time there was a shoe store in this block as well. There were residences above the ground floor retail.

Here's a link to the original story of the fire:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scoti...taurants-closed-by-halifax-fire-1.874934

[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Hali87

I like them...

Me too, actually.

[Dmajackson]

I watched a fair bit of the St Pat's - Alexandria debate at Regional Council tonight. Following a 7-10 vote rejecting staff's recommendation it council voted to move the potential sale to NCCC forward.

A staff report discussing the terms-of-sale and buy-back agreement will be generated in the coming months.

[Colin May]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

I watched a fair bit of the St Pat's - Alexandria debate at Regional Council tonight. Following a 7-10 vote rejecting staff's recommendation it council voted to move the potential sale to NCCC forward.

A staff report discussing the terms-of-sale and buy-back agreement will be generated in the coming months.

The appeal by Jonjo can be viewed live online. The link is on the Herald story.

[xanaxanax]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

I watched a fair bit of the St Pat's - Alexandria debate at Regional Council tonight. Following a 7-10 vote rejecting staff's recommendation it council voted to move the potential sale to NCCC forward.

A staff report discussing the terms-of-sale and buy-back agreement will be generated in the coming months.

Well that sucks. The JONO plans were offering more affordable housing than than the NCCC group could accommodate and they seemed willing to work with them on space for the none for profit groups. The JONO development was going offer some high dentistry to be a mixed of town houses, apartments, condos and retail and offered up some community space, it was in there agreement bid for it to have percentage of affordable housing, this was going to become a truly divers and vibrant community and now we have Uniacke Square 2.0 with some low density town houses in the heart of central city land just because some none for profit group tugged city council heart strings gave puppy dug eyes and said a lot of bull shit about gentrification twisted facts and Jennifer watts being against anything thats taller than her.

I doubt the appeal by Jonjo has any slim chance of winning but I sure hope it does.

[ILoveHalifax]

Once again Watts spearheading the effort to turn the city into low rise condemned slums. Mason not far behind.

[Keith P.]

Originally Posted by ILoveHalifax

Once again Watts spearheading the effort to turn the city into low rise condemned slums. Mason not far behind.

How true. Huge mistake and yet another burden on the taxpayer. Those community groups wish to institutionalize the poverty and crime in that area so they can be assured of a continued stream of funding. Essentially the Rev has taken her career all the way to retirement with this debacle.

[counterfactual]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

I watched a fair bit of the St Pat's - Alexandria debate at Regional Council tonight. Following a 7-10 vote rejecting staff's recommendation it council voted to move the potential sale to NCCC forward.

A staff report discussing the terms-of-sale and buy-back agreement will be generated in the coming months.

Sigh.

It was a bad proposal; wholly unclear and, again, basically relied on Housing Nova Scotia for financing. Another example of the Nova Scotia Government screwing up planning and proper economic development in Halifax.

Those idiots leave rotting buildings, parking lots, and empty sites all over the core, and when other levels of government (ie HRM) are ready to sell off some land, they stick their noses into the mix (just like with Bloomfield) and undermine better, smarter, proposals.

If Housing Nova Scotia has all this money lying around to finance development, how about they use some of that money to fund the public lands revitalization plan?

And sets a bad precedent: it says if you are well funded, then hire a lawyer, sue, you can force Council to change its decision and stop a land sale.

[ILoveHalifax]

Do none of these people in the neighborhood have legs?
Bloomfield is a km away and will have community facilities.
What is the matter with our councillors?

[halifaxboyns]

Personally; I think the sale of this school site was putting the cart before the horse. If the redevelopment of the Cogswell site goes ahead plus other mixed use developments - there is a good chance the # of school age children in the area will rise. If so - why get rid of the school?

That said - we're seeing interesting demographics coming out of one of Transit Oriented Development communities here in Calgary (Hillhurst/Sunnyside) that despite all the new buildings proposed/under construction - very few families are moving in. So I'm arguing both sides of the coin here; but I would've kept the school in tact and allowed some community groups to move in on a temporary basis until most of the proposed developments had been built (say 10 years max) then do an assessment of the school aged population. If there was no significant rise/change; then I'd have sold the site.

[Ziobrop]

Originally Posted by halifaxboyns

Personally; I think the sale of this school site was putting the cart before the horse. If the redevelopment of the Cogswell site goes ahead plus other mixed use developments - there is a good chance the # of school age children in the area will rise. If so - why get rid of the school?

That said - we're seeing interesting demographics coming out of one of Transit Oriented Development communities here in Calgary (Hillhurst/Sunnyside) that despite all the new buildings proposed/under construction - very few families are moving in. So I'm arguing both sides of the coin here; but I would've kept the school in tact and allowed some community groups to move in on a temporary basis until most of the proposed developments had been built (say 10 years max) then do an assessment of the school aged population. If there was no significant rise/change; then I'd have sold the site.

I believe the school was one of the ones replaced by Citadel. Regardless, the building was in bad shape, and would likely have needed to have been replaced were the site to continue as an educational facility.

the proposal as advanced yesterday is good, but the financing is questionable, and leaves the door open for additional funding requests from government. Id rather see HRM Sell the site, with a requirement that the developer provide the required program space, in exchange for increased density or something. then HRM gets rid of the property and expenses, the community groups get their space, and everyone wins.