Bedford Developments & Discussion Thread

[Dmajackson]

Source: The Chronicle Herald - Bedford/Sackville Community Herald

Just thought we could do with a break from the Metro Transit bickering. And well I like to keep this thread in people's minds.

The house shown above was on East Basin Road back in 1949. When the DND expanded the Magzine Hill ammunition holding area they moved the house to Dartmouth Road. It is kind of strange to hear that Bedford and Dartmouth were once connected by a residential subdivision. Now there is about 3km of nothingness between them

[Dmajackson]

Photo by me

This sign is up at the corner of Southgate Drive and the Bedford Highway. According to the very brief detail available on their website is it for sale at $1.8 million and has a 30'000sq. ft building approved.

[kph06]

S2, at Shaunslieve on the bedford highway now has a small tower crane up on site, I missed this one going up, it must have gone up in the last week or so. This is a Killam building and the website can be found here.

[kph06]

Shaunslieve crane, (poor quality) photo by me:

[Dmajackson]

88 Dartmouth Road - Proposed

Just noticed this site today. There's no information on the HRM website as of yet. The site is on the north/east side of Dartmouth Road between Ambercrest and Ridgevale a couple hundred meters from the ramps to Magazine Hill. There's only single-family dwellings around the site (a 4-storey apartment building a few hundred metres downhill) so that along with the low number of units equals about 3 floors in height I believe.





Photos Credit: Urban_Halifax (Flickr.com)

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Duke Street Commercial - U/C

This site is now under construction with blasting and site prep underway. It was formerly the home of a landscaping company in front of Charles P. Allen. With the Burnside Expressway slated to start construction later this year expect a lot of commercial expansion in the coming years in anticipation of the 2014 increase of traffic levels.


Credit: Urban_Halifax (Flickr.com)

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1040 Bedford Highway - Approved - Case 16792

There is now a sign on site advertising the daycare center. According to sign by-laws the project has to be approved before this can happen.\

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Bluewater Place - In Leasing

Nothing new to report

[Dmajackson]

So I took a drive through the Thistle Grove subdivision today and was pleasantly surprised.

Most subdivisions that have gone up in HRM are disaster zones in terms of visual appearance (Larry Uteck bottom portion), layout (Kingswood), and other measures of appeal. Fortunately as time has progressed problems have been fixed with some newer subdivisions and this nice little area is continuing that trend.

The lots are moderately sized (40' I think) and though a small development there is quite a few lots. The layout has one cul-de-sac but the rest of the streets interconnect and run through an already existing middle-class neighbourhood. The really great part is the aesthetics done by the developer. There are NO POWERLINES along the roads, the paths are connected and paved, and they spent extra money to get a nice set of streetlamps. The completed model house is very attractive but it is not a McMansion and it blends in well with its neighbours.

[gm_scott]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

So I took a drive through the Thistle Grove subdivision today and was pleasantly surprised.

Most subdivisions that have gone up in HRM are disaster zones in terms of visual appearance (Larry Uteck bottom portion), layout (Kingswood), and other measures of appeal. Fortunately as time has progressed problems have been fixed with some newer subdivisions and this nice little area is continuing that trend.

The lots are moderately sized (40' I think) and though a small development there is quite a few lots. The layout has one cul-de-sac but the rest of the streets interconnect and run through an already existing middle-class neighbourhood. The really great part is the aesthetics done by the developer. There are NO POWERLINES along the roads, the paths are connected and paved, and they spent extra money to get a nice set of streetlamps. The completed model house is very attractive but it is not a McMansion and it blends in well with its neighbours.

Sounds like a nice spot Dmajackson. Hopefully home buyers will get a look at this and demand that newer subdivisions be like it.

[halifaxboyns]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

So I took a drive through the Thistle Grove subdivision today and was pleasantly surprised.

Most subdivisions that have gone up in HRM are disaster zones in terms of visual appearance (Larry Uteck bottom portion), layout (Kingswood), and other measures of appeal. Fortunately as time has progressed problems have been fixed with some newer subdivisions and this nice little area is continuing that trend.

The lots are moderately sized (40' I think) and though a small development there is quite a few lots. The layout has one cul-de-sac but the rest of the streets interconnect and run through an already existing middle-class neighbourhood. The really great part is the aesthetics done by the developer. There are NO POWERLINES along the roads, the paths are connected and paved, and they spent extra money to get a nice set of streetlamps. The completed model house is very attractive but it is not a McMansion and it blends in well with its neighbours.

Is this the new residential development going up behind the the 4 pad arena?

[Dmajackson]

All photos taken by me

PLAY, LEARN, GROW (Bedford Highway):







Bluewater Self Storage:



36 Duke Street:



Hammonds Plains Road Lots (near Basinview Drive):





Moirs Pond Bridge:







Thistle Grove:

[someone123]

The quality of new homes seems to be going up, but it's too bad that so many of them are "contractor beige".

[Keith P.]

That's "Bedford Beige"...

[Dmajackson]

So apparently the BMO on Dartmouth Road will be moving to the "Chickenburger Parking Lot" next to the Sunnyside Tim Hortons. I guess this is a smart move on their part since you cannot get more exposure than sitting next to one of the busiest Timmy's in Halifax.

I don't know whats more sad though the fact that a rezoning is required for a financial institution thats trying to be built between two others or the fact that the Tim's is so busy they have to lengthen their drive-thru queue to avoid clogging up the highway.

Case 18304 Details

[Dmajackson]

Resident writes Cushing Hill history
February 25, 2013 - 11:43am BY SHERRI BORDEN COLLEY STAFF REPORTER

Bedford resident Ruth Jay has come to accept that the homes that for decades housed her longtime neighbours, the Cushings, will never again be called home by another family.

Jay, who lives on Oakmount Drive, owns one of the four properties adjoining Cushing Hill. She’s lived in her home for 53 years. These four properties, separate from the Cushing Hill lots, are slated for development.

“It’s all slated for redevelopment and they’re all going to be torn down,” Jay, who is in her 70s, said in a recent interview.

...

He and his wife Lillian had one daughter, Joan. Joan, who lives in Virginia and keeps in touch with Jay, sold the last of the Cushing homes to Bedford developer John Tolson in 2001.

Now all five properties (one was an empty lot) belong to Tolson.

All the properties, which are part of the 2.2-hectare Cushing Hill comprehensive development district, have been treated as one lot for more than 15 years.

Tolson hopes to develop the lands and build a 100-room, six-storey hotel, with ground-floor commercial space, meeting rooms, a pool and underground parking. But he has been precluded from building due to existing zoning regulations.

Municipal planning staff are still gathering information on the application as part of their detailed review of the existing policies.

(sborden@herald.ca)

Read More: thechronicleherald.ca

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There is no renderings or site plans currently available for the hotel proposal but here is what I do know;

Case 17272 Details - This is the HRM Case # dealing with the comprehensive development district policy review.

Tolson, John R Sales Agency Limited. 1480 Bedford Hwy, Bedford, Canada.

[Dmajackson]

Ridgevale residents oppose proposed condo project
March 4, 2013 - 11:48am BY SHERRI BORDEN COLLEY STAFF REPORTER

Zoning change would allow multi-unit buildings

Mim McDow has lived in a single-family home in Bedford’s Ridgevale subdivision for just over 20 years.

Today, she and other area residents are fighting to keep condominiums from being built in their neighbourhood.

“I want to make it clear that we are not against development there as long as it is within the present zoning — that’s single-dwelling,” McDow said in an interview.

...

(sborden@herald.ca)

Read More: thechronicleherald.ca

I can understand that the first condo building to go up in neighbourhood can be controversial but it should be noted that this project is not directly in Ridgevale. It sits on a few empty lots along Dartmouth Road between the Ridgevale access roads. The site plan shows a nice thick buffer zone that maintains the forest strip, the properties do NOT have a shared boundary with any Ridgevale properties, and at only four-storeys high it will remain well below the tree line.

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

88 Dartmouth Road - Proposed





Photos Credit: Urban_Halifax (Flickr.com)

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[OldDartmouthMark]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

I can understand that the first condo building to go up in neighbourhood can be controversial but it should be noted that this project is not directly in Ridgevale. It sits on a few empty lots along Dartmouth Road between the Ridgevale access roads. The site plan shows a nice thick buffer zone that maintains the forest strip, the properties do NOT have a shared boundary with any Ridgevale properties, and at only four-storeys high it will remain well below the tree line.

I don't see why they should have a problem with it if it fronts on Dartmouth Road, especially since there is another one just down the street on the opposite side:

https://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ll...12,235.82,,0,0

Can't see how it would affect Ridgevale at all, to be honest.

[Hali87]

From the article

"Right now it is a very, very desirable area to be in and we will lose that status if we have this towering building in the shadows of our homes."

I can't see these people getting much sympathy if that's how they're going to frame it. The fact that it will be "in the shadows of [their] homes" is both accurate and telling.

[OldDartmouthMark]

Looks like the Ridgevale residents won this battle:

http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/1...-condo-project

[dustykd]

Bedford is such a massive part of the city- It is interesting to see how it will continue to grow.

[Dmajackson]

CASE 18276:

Case 18276 Details

KWR Approvals Incorporated has submitted a planning application to consider residential development, by development agreement, at 74 Union Street in Bedford.

Following the Bedford MPS review in 1991, three major undeveloped portions of Bedford were identified for future residential growth: the Paper Mill Lake, Crestview and Union Street. These three areas were designated and zoned RCDD (Residential Comprehensive Development District) under the Bedford Municipal Planning Strategy (MPS) and Land Use By-law (LUB). In these areas developers are required to enter into negotiated development agreements with Community Council subject to the applicable policies of the Bedford MPS. The RCDD designation allows for the consideration of various forms of residential, institutional and limited neighbourhood commercial development.

The applicant is proposing 16 townhouse type residential units on the subject property with access provided from Union Street. The applicant has provided background information related to: the environmental features of the site; traffic and transportation; municipal services and the existing surrounding community uses. This information along with potential development options will be discussed as part of the structured meetings between HRM staff, members the Public Participation Committee (PPC) and the applicant. In addition to Public Participation Committee, a Public Information Meeting will be scheduled as part of the planning process. Details regarding the venue and time of the PIM will be available in the weeks ahead.

(information above provided by Halifax Regional Municipality).

[Dmajackson]

Originally Posted by Dmajackson

Ridgevale residents oppose proposed condo project
March 4, 2013 - 11:48am BY SHERRI BORDEN COLLEY STAFF REPORTER



(sborden@herald.ca)

Read More: thechronicleherald.ca

CASE 17489 has been abandoned.

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In other Bedford news Sobey's, the Province, and HRM are doing a land transfer. 50 acres of land that the Province has held onto near Jacks Lake will be transferred to Sobey's for future development in exchange for the 6.7 acre water lot at Moirs Pond (Mill Cove). The Moirs Pond lot will be used only for public use (park) and Sobey's will be holding onto the Jacks Lake property for future residential development.

Staff Report for Regional Council - December 10th, 2013