Public to have its say on HRM plan to restrict Northwest Arm infilling

Staff at the Halifax Regional Municipality have already heard from more than 100 people who support the city's plan to severely limit infilling on the Northwest Arm.

They will likely hear more of the same on Tuesday when the issue is up for public comment.

The planning department has recommended HRM council amend the city's municipal planning strategy to only allow for infilling in cases where a property owner needs a retaining wall to safeguard existing land, or for a variety of public uses, including:

• installation of public infrastructure.
• use by a utility.
• for a publicly owned or operated ferry terminal.
• public parks.
• municipal, provincial or national historic sites or monuments.

A change to the planning strategy triggers a public consultation period. According to a Dec. 12 staff report, the planning department has received emails from 103 individuals and fielded 11 phone calls.  

The report noted that 108 supported the proposed amendments, two were opposed and four didn't specify either way.

According to staff, most people were concerned that infilling would affect boating and sailing, and the use of the waterway by lobster fishermen. There were also concerns about how the city would enforce the restrictions, particularly when it came to retaining walls.

The rights of property owners who control the 155 water lots on the Northwest Arm have been a hot topic for decades. In May 2007, council laid out what those homeowners could build on land created by infilling, but it was the federal government alone that decided whether those lots could be filled in to create more land.

Those HRM restrictions also stipulated how close to the water a structure could be built, how big they could be and for what specific use.

Ottawa has recently agreed to take local concerns into account rather than to continue to only consider whether the infilling would create an impediment to water vessels or hurt marine life. 

The local councillor, Shawn Cleary, called that concession by Ottawa "a big deal."

The representative for Halifax West Armdale likened the Northwest Arm to "a cul-de-sac in a neighbourhood." He said, as such, the city needed greater control.

"If you look at the maps, you could lose up to one-third of the water to filled-in water lots assuming everyone did it, and that would be tragic," Cleary said.

Nancy Anningson of the Ecology Action Centre agrees. The group has been lobbying, alongside the city, to stop the creation of land by filling in waterways.

Anningson, the director of operations and development, said the issue has taken on extra weight in light of climate change and rising seas levels.

"As a whole, infilling is not a sound practice in the face of climate change," Anningson said. "It's time to stop building in stupid places."

Anningson will speak in support of council's plan at Tuesday's public meeting. She would also like council to extend that kind of protection to other areas subject to infilling, such as Dartmouth Cove in Halifax harbour.

Last November, Coun. Sam Austin, who represents Dartmouth Centre, requested a staff report on what could be done to protect Dartmouth Cove the same way the Northwest Arm would be.

That was sparked, in large part, by an application to allow around 100,000 square metres of pyritic slate and quarry rock to be dumped into a 2.7-hectare area of the cove.