Halifax officials don't trust housing minister's commitment to use powers sparingly

Halifax officials say the provincial housing minister's comments that he'll only use new development powers at the very end of the municipal process still undercuts councillors — and note that's already happened in the past.

Housing and Municipal Affairs Minister John Lohr told reporters at Province House this week that Liberal amendments to Bill 329, to make it more transparent and require municipal consultation, weren't needed. 

The bill would change the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter and Halifax Regional Municipality Act to give Lohr the power to approve development projects across the entire municipality.  

The minister told CBC he's only planning to approve projects "that are turned down, that have the HRM staff recommendation, and that are compliant with the municipal planning strategy."

Lohr's office has pointed to two decisions from the north west community council, in Beaver Bank and Bedford West, where developments were rejected in recent years. They were both eventually overturned by the province's Utility and Review Board (UARB) and are going ahead.

But Coun. Lisa Blackburn, who was on that committee, said it's vital to allow councillors to make final decisions with local context.

"We're not bound by law to go ahead with what staff recommend. If those were the rules of the game, then why have elected officials at all?" she said.

In the Beaver Bank case, Blackburn said the proposed four-storey building with 46 units would be on top of a new 250-unit subdivision and multiple new apartment buildings in a concentrated area on Beaver Bank Road. The area is already under development restrictions because the road doesn't have enough traffic capacity, Blackburn said.

"I see that as my job, to look at the complete picture," Blackburn said.

The minister already has the power to unilaterally approve Halifax developments as special planning areas, with input from the provincial housing task force. 

These special planning areas are meant to fast-track housing and are created where there's an existing application with HRM, the project can "quickly" translate into built units, and environmental, transportation and wastewater studies are "complete," according to the provincial guidelines.

However, multiple current special planning areas don't fit that criteria. 

Studies not done, plans not filed

A Musquodoboit Harbour project pitched by John Wesley Chisholm — local TV producer and two-time candidate for the Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia — was approved in February before any plans were filed with the city. The province has said it was approved because it will potentially include a long-term care facility for seniors.

Two others approved last year include proposed communities near Sandy Lake in Bedford, and Morris Lake between Cole Harbour and Eastern Passage. Both are considered "future service communities" and a series of technical studies are underway now to see whether they're good sites for full development.

The remaining sites were at various stages of the HRM process, but many did not have completed studies or final recommendations from city staff when they were designated as special planning areas.

Blackburn said for Sandy Lake in particular, the city has been trying to decide what amount of parkland would be required for the project — and now that work is in "jeopardy" with the special planning designation.

"We have some very specific planning documents that outline how we want to see communities built in the next, you know, five years, 10 years, 20 years and these special planning districts, Bill 329 throws all of that into the unknown," Blackburn said.

Mayor Mike Savage said he doesn't appreciate hearing snippets of new details about such an important bill from the media, and not Lohr directly.

"One day it's 'we've got to do this. We need more housing and we're going to force this through,' and the next day, it's … we're going to let their staff do their work," Savage said Wednesday.

"It's frustrating. It's performative politics. It's all about the show."

The mayor said "very few" development projects have been turned down by regional council, and the province building more affordable housing would address the crisis much more than new ministerial powers.

Savage has pointed out that the real delay in building housing has nothing to do with the municipality. Permits have been issued for 11,000 housing units in Halifax right now, but he said developers are being delayed due to high interest rates, labour issues and supply chain delays.

Bill 329 has cleared the committee stage of the law-making process and will now proceed to third and final reading after which it can become law.