South Shore municipality asks province for moratorium on coastal development

Faced with mounting development pressure on its coastline, a South Shore municipality has asked the provincial government to implement a moratorium on coastal development within its boundaries.

The mayor of the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg said if the moratorium is granted, it would take effect immediately.

"We have a lot of development that is happening right at the water's edge," said Carolyn Bolivar-Getson.

"Nova Scotia's coastline as we know it is being depleted with development, and that natural shoreline that we have come accustomed to having is getting less and less as we move forward."

If granted, it would not be the first time a province has stepped in to protect coastlines from development. Prince Edward Island recently issued a ministerial order that limits coastal development until a formal policy can be created there.

Bolivar-Getson said the area has been "dealing with a lot of issues," including a development on Little Crescent Beach, where a property owner recently built a seawall along the beach.

Municipal bylaw in the works

As the municipality awaits word on its moratorium request, it is working simultaneously on the development of municipal planning rules.

Currently, only 12 per cent of the municipality has planning rules, Bolivar-Getson said, and not all of that 12 per cent includes coastal communities.

Council recently passed a motion directing staff to bring a report and recommendation to the next meeting outlining how the municipality can expedite land use planning that would cover all coastal areas in the municipality.

"Had we had land use bylaws in place and coastal setbacks in place, some of the developments that are happening could not happen," Bolivar-Getson said.

Consultation for municipal rules will be required, and Bolivar-Getson anticipates the earliest that rules could take effect is November or December.

Provincial act delayed

Also in the offing is the provincial Coastal Protection Act that was passed in 2019, but has not yet taken effect because the government is still working on the regulations. Last fall, Environment Minister Tim Halman said the regulations were almost complete, and he expected them to be proclaimed early this year.

But earlier this week, Halman backed away from that timeline and did not give a new estimate for when the act could come into effect.

Will Balser, the coastal adaptation co-ordinator at the Ecology Action Centre, said the delay feels like "a failure on behalf of the government in terms of its duty to protect the public."

"We're building too much, too close to the ocean," Balser said. "So that impacts the community and the development itself because it's going to face increased erosion rates, increasingly intense storms, sea level rise, etcetera. And then it also impacts the ecological community because it's being basically squeezed out of these coastal areas."

Balser said there's an economic argument for protecting the coastline from development, too. 

"Anytime there's a hurricane, there's disaster relief funds and cleanup costs that go into that," he said. "We should not be forced to pay for someone else's rash and short-sighted decision to develop in a risky area."

'It's almost embarrassing'

Lucy Hendrixson, a Bridgewater resident who is concerned about the Little Crescent Beach development, said she's encouraged by the municipality's request for a moratorium and desire to speed up municipal regulations.

"That was a great first step. It felt like a significant acknowledgement in terms of the community concerns."

Hendrixson said since becoming involved in the issue, she's heard from people around the world who are surprised by the state of Nova Scotia's regulations.

"It's almost embarrassing as a Nova Scotia resident when people are writing to say, 'This is shocking. How can this be? You know, we in our state or in our country, we've had this sort of thing for years.'"

She suggested the municipalities in the province band together to pressure the province to move forward with the Coastal Protection Act.