Residents have lots to say about how HRM should be developing
The Halifax Herald Limited
Sunday, May 16, 2004
By BILL POWER / Staff Reporter
The regional planning process in Halifax got off to a raucous start Saturday.
Most of the 150 people who responded to an invitation from Halifax Regional Municipality to share their vision of the community's future gave conflicting views during an energetic session at Mount Saint Vincent University.
"We were invited to discuss growth alternatives when perhaps we should be discussing alternatives to growth," participant Allan Ruffman complained.
Almost every topic relating to planning and development seemed to be on the table as the municipality unveiled three "alternative concepts for growth" at the first of 12 public meetings set for May and June.
The session at Mount Saint Vincent started with complaints about the lack of a public audio feed and the advance publicity.
"It makes me pretty cynical about the process when there are no microphones here for the public," David Barrett of Beaver Bank said.
Matthew Thomas of East Preston said he and other area residents were angry they didn't get an invitation.
"The Preston area will be a part of this process," said. Mr. Thomas, who was a guest panellist at the session.
"Ours is a family community, and we want it to stay that way."
The sessions on planning and development are part of a process that led to a controversial 90-day moratorium being put in place in January.
Panellist Suzanne Bona, with the Nova Scotia Home Builders' Association, suggested that everyone who wants to buy a home should have an interest in the proceedings and the cost of the outcome.
Builders are concerned about how development fees are affecting the cost of buying a home in metro, she said.
"Builders and developers are usually the first to deal with the effects of planning or the lack thereof," she said. "Costs have to be covered. . . . The consumer ultimately confronts those costs."
Walter Regan of the Sackville Rivers Association said builders should face more restrictions and higher development fees.
"Who pays for the schools and increased policing, garbage and snow removal? A development fee of $50,000 per lot would be realistic," he said.
Developers now pay an average fee of about $3,000 per lot.
But planning staffer Austin French said $30,000 fees are not unusual elsewhere in Canada.
Each proposal under discussion presents a different method of clustering population growth or accommodating another 100,000 people in the municipality over the next 25 years.
"The decisions made in the regional plan will affect everyone in HRM for generations to come," Coun. Sheila Fougere said in her opening remarks.
But there were complaints that the talks ignored basic issues.
Phil Elliot of the Greater Burnside Business Association wanted to know why discussion papers for the talks ignore that part of Dartmouth.
"About 17,000 people have to get to Burnside every day," he said. "You've got public transportation that doesn't work. There are no bus shelters, no sidewalks. . . . You cannot even get into Burnside by bicycle."
The state of public transit was a recurring theme.
Open houses continue Wednesday at Cole Harbour Place and Thursday at Michael Wallace Elementary School in Dartmouth.
A regional plan is supposed to be completed by fall of 2005.
METRO FACTS
About 40 per cent of metro Halifax's shoreline is closed to shellfish harvesting, due to elevated levels of fecal coliform.
Only 76 square kilometres of fertile soil in metro are suitable for agricultural use, and these are zoned for residential and commercial use.
Almost 40 per cent of metro's land is owned by the province and reserved for forestry, recreation, parks, mineral extraction and wilderness protection.
In 2001, about 44 per cent of rental households in metro paid more than 30 per cent of their income on shelter, one of the highest percentages in the country.
An aging population will accelerate demand for lower-maintenance housing, including apartments and condos.
Source: Halifax Regional Municipality