I was at a meeting tonight presented by the facilitator and land owners. Comments and questions were not a part of the presentation. The venue was undersized, and I suspect many were turned away. Room capacity was 125 and many were listening from the hall.
The facilitator, Justice Heather Robertson, was brief and discussed her role in creating the report. The HRM rep (don't even remember his name) was even shorter.
The person representing the landowners went into a presentation to explain their proposal, showed some maps, and discussed their priorities. His emphasis was showing how much parkland they are "creating", but would not disclose until directly asked where developments would occur. A map similar, but less detailed, as shown on page 27 of the
facilitator's report was shown on screen. The bright green area is existing protected wilderness. The dark green is the areas the developer proposes will be park area or untouched land. Suzie's Lake and Fox Lake would have untouched shores, and Quarry Lake would be partially developed. Untouched shores mean a minimum 30m buffer to development (which is the bare minimum they require by existing law/rules/whatever). The existing rock quarry would be turned into an artificial lake. the developer, of course, is providing the bare minimum of parkland that they require. The entire presentation was under 40 minutes.
The audience was of course extremely displeased. As of right now, the land is under a zoning of Urban Reserve until 2033. Council would have to make a zoning change in order for this development to continue. HRM also has the option to buy ALL of the land at fair market value. However, with the creation of this proposal, the property owners have now increased the value of their land. By continuing with the second, in depth phase of this proposal the land value will continue to grow. This decreases the ability of HRM to buy this land to stop the proposal.
All comments will only be accepted in writing (as approved by the facilitator). Comments must be sent to
clerks@halifax.ca by 3pm July 4. Other mailing options and details available here:
https://www.halifax.ca/property/blue...hcovelakes.php