Harbour Isle’s rocky start
By MICHAEL LIGHTSTONE Staff Reporter
Thu. Jan 8 - 4:46 AM
The website shows an artist’s conception of an ambitious waterfront development and uses descriptive advertising copy with words like "magnificent" and "breathtaking views."
But the $300-million Harbour Isle project in Dartmouth is off to a bit of a rocky start.
That’s because legal staff at Halifax city hall has advised Harbour East community council that part of the existing development agreement with an Ontario firm is not valid.
In August, community council approved a seven-storey condominium building as a component of the mixed-use site.
A Dec. 9 staff report, prepared by senior planner David Lane, says a section of the agreement "is invalid as it is inconsistent with provisions of the Municipal Government Act."
It says proposed changes to the condo building include going up to nine storeys from seven, reducing the number of units to 110 from 135, using a flat roof instead of a pitched one and expanding a planned boardwalk along the edge of Halifax Harbour.
Also, the size of condo units that were originally proposed has shrunk. Some are now as small as 400 or 500 square feet.
"The proposed changes significantly deviate from the comprehensive design of the development as outlined in the existing agreement," says the staff report, approved by planning services manager Austin French.
The report adds that "the developer is also considering the inclusion of additional lands to the site."
The Burnside Park land used to be zoned industrial, but the former property owner, GJR Developments Ltd., went through a three-year process to get it switched to residential.
Five months ago, community council voted unanimously in favour of a seven-storey building to be constructed by the Yorkville Group, an Ontario developer which has acquired the property. The project is part of a multi-phase development the company has proposed for lands near the Dartmouth Yacht Club.
The developer plans to build a mixed-use community that would include a hotel, shops, restaurants, a marina, boardwalks, condos and townhouses.
According to the municipal staff report, changes requested by the developer "must now be considered a substantive change to the agreement" and require a public hearing.
Two sources familiar with the issue said city hall’s lawyers were so concerned about the deal they would not let Mayor Peter Kelly sign the development agreement.
The public hearing is to take place Thursday night at 7 p.m. in the Halifax regional school board building in Dartmouth.
(
mlightstone@herald.ca)