Well I must be doing something right if I have managed at 2.5 years to thoroughly disappoint Keithp
A large club.
In no way am I anti-development. Recall that I faced down an angry room to approve the eight storey residential option on this project and had a few choice four letters words hurled my way for my troubles. I think I'm probably one of the only Councillors who would do that in their own district. Most would have thrown good planning right out the window to pander. I didn't because something should be built here and well-designed mid-rise residential would be a great fit.
In terms of Colin's point about being able to stop this, he's half right. I considered trying to go after the commercial zoning to close the hotel option when this came before me in 2017, but doing so would have been an all or nothing gamble that would have either removed the hotel threat or guaranteed the exact outcome that I was trying to avoid: an as-of-right hotel. HRM can't just alter zoning on a whim. It requires a motion from Council to initiate, then a public process, and whatever change is proposed only becomes binding once a public hearing is scheduled. The developer would have seen that coming and would have had several months at least to run out and get a building permit. By forcing him to do the work and put out the cash for a building permit just to protect his only certain option, I very well might have guaranteed the very thing that I was hoping to avoid: an as-of-right hotel. Given how the developer was doggedly pursuing a residential project, and that the Centre Plan was coming forward, it wasn’t a gamble I was willing to make. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say, but it felt like too big a risk at the time