Apartment developers on run

Poor planning, unfair bylaws pushing people out of province, IPOANS president says
By BRUCE ERSKINE Business Reporter
Fri. May 9 - 6:54 AM

Unfair bylaws and poor planning are driving apartment developers out of the Halifax area and ultimately hurting tenants, says Joe Metlege, president of the Investment Properties Owners Association of Nova Scotia.

“Doing business doesn’t make sense anymore,” he said in an interview on Thursday. “At the end of the day, we’re a service business and any costs that get added to us, the more expensive it is for people to afford a place to live.”

The association, which held its 30th annual general meeting on Thursday night, represents 200 members who Mr. Metlege said control 22,000 apartment units in Halifax Regional Municipality, or half of the municipality’s apartment stock.

Mr. Metlege, who heads Jono Development Ltd., said the association wants changes to the way the municipality assesses apartment buildings for taxation purposes and changes to the provincial Residential Tenancies Act.

“We’re not looking to be extreme, we’re looking to be fair,” he said, noting that the current business climate is making local apartment owners like Killam Properties look outside the province for new opportunities.

Mr. Melege said the association would like to see a cap on apartment building assessments similar to the 2.3 per cent cap that applies to residential dwellings in the municipality.

Without such a cap, he said municipal tax increases applied to apartment buildings will have to be passed along to tenants, who he said are generally less able to meet those costs than individual homeowners.

“The lowest-income earners are hit the hardest,” he said, adding that the municipality should recognize that apartment buildings are more efficient to service than single-family homes.

“Our argument is that apartment buildings create the least financial burden on the city,” he said. “Servicing a 100-unit apartment is more economical than servicing 100 homes.”

Mr. Metlege said the association’s arguments have fallen on deaf ears at city hall.

“They don’t seem to understand or don’t want to,” he said, noting that there are a lot fewer landlords in HRM than individual residents. “It’s easier to tax a landlord.”

The association would also like to see amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act to create a more level playing field for apartment owners.

“What’s fair for the tenant should be fair for the landlord,” said Mr. Metlege, noting that under the act, tenants on month-to-month leases only need to give a landlord one month’s notice to terminate a lease, while landlords in the same situation are required to give tenants three months’ notice.

“That’s one of many issues,” he said, adding that the association has been lobbying the province for amendments to the act for 10 years. “What it comes down to is it’s easier to do nothing than to make changes.”

( berskine@herald.ca)

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Halifax by bad design

Jim Meek makes a very good argument for the changes to the Nova Scotia Municipalities /Development Act  and he has pointed the responsibility at those responsible for its implementation and change. Vision & forward thinking is required by more than the counsellors of HRM. All three levels of government need to be on the same page in order for Halifax to address the wrinkles in the development process…..

By JIM MEEK
Sun. Apr 27 - 8:44 AM

 

GEORGE ARMOYAN, the really smart developer who now runs a holding company, built his fortune in the suburbs of Halifax.

As far as I’m concerned, Armoyan earned his success. He assembled land when it was cheap — and cheaply taxed. Then he used it to build houses that were subsidized as a matter of public policy.

Smart business? You bet.

And Armoyan also built thousands of homes in places where people could afford to live.

But my heavens, Armoyan and other developers were certainly in the right place (Halifax) at the right time (in the ’80s and ’90s). And there’s no doubt the taxpayers of Halifax subsidized both suburban sprawl and the profits it produced.

This is surely understood by the people on Halifax’s tax reform committee, which starts public meetings this week. Yep, they should know that these hidden subsidies have amounted (over time) to hundreds of millions of dollars in Halifax.

In effect, we had a cash transfer system in place, with money going from taxpayers to new homeowners and developers.

According to a 2006 infrastructure study produced for Halifax Regional Municipality, developers in southern Ontario paid fees of up to $29,000 per house in new subdivisions.

In Halifax, the average per-lot fee for a new house is about $5,000. Pre-2002, fees were more of a joke. The infrastructure study says the application fee for putting houses on up to 10 lots was $250 — or 25 bucks per lot. And the more houses you built, the cheaper the fees got.

A concession here: Nova Scotia laws don’t allow municipalities to recover education and health costs, so the comparison with Ontario cities isn’t all that fair. I raise it, then, not to condemn Halifax, but to urge it to follow Ontario’s example.

In the Toronto area, cities and towns can charge developers for water, sewers, highways, electrical power, fire service, libraries, sports facilities, buses and other transportation services.

In Alberta and British Columbia, developers are even expected to put parks in new communities. Imagine that.

Under restrictive provincial laws, Halifax charges only for water, sewers and roads. That’s where the $5,000 per lot goes.

One industry source said the actual per-home cost for all services in new subdivisions is closer to $25,000. The subsidy is $20,000 per house. Build 1,000 of them and you’ve got yourself a $20-million subsidy.

No wonder the peninsula has lost tens of thousands of people to the burbs over the past three decades while Halifax sprawled wildly across the map.

What to do now? I figure young Rodney’s government should amend municipal laws so the city could ask developers to carry the full costs of new neighbourhoods.

Let’s put an end, Mr. Premier, to Halifax by bad design.

Or maybe that should be Halifax by no design.

This mess is really one of the hangovers from the 1996 amalgamation. The planners are still catching up, figuring out how to integrate the hodgepodge of policies from the old city and county governments.

Today, as the Halifax by Design consultants keep telling us, it’s time to clean up our act. That means putting more people on the peninsula, subsidizing (some) housing there and allowing new multi-unit developments to proceed as if Halifax really were a city.

That’s the kind of Halifax we want, one where more people can live downtown, where we can walk to work, where we stop clogging up the roads.

And where we stop handing out cash to people who build the vast new subdivisions that are the root cause of the mess.

None of this should be hard to accomplish, right?

We just need to elect someone like George Armoyan as mayor — someone, that is, who is used to getting things done.

( jmeek@herald.ca)

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Quiet Comment wrote:
The last time I checked the houses built in what some refere to as “Sprawl” pay taxes for the services they recieve. These taxes are a lot more than the taxes on the wood lot that existed there before the developement happened. Also note that the developer installs the roads and services not the city. If the development was built without sewer and water the homeowners must cost share with HRM when they are installed. These added services add to the value of the property so taxes go up. This is based on the value of the property which is ussually quite substantial the same as the South Enders. The fact that people may be moving away from the south end has more to do with the value of the properties there being out of reach of young families. The folks who bought there years ago are still there enjoying the expensive property they bought at reasonable cost 20 years ago. Their kids have moved to the burbs so yes there is a downturn in kids in the area. This does not mean the southend is subsidizing anyone. All the talk of how the developers should pay more is all well and good but like everything else in our society who gets to pay? The end user. The couple who want a nice home in a nice area. All of the developers costs will be sent down the line for the purchaser to pay. I agree more high density development should take place for those who choose to live in the city and want to walk to work. Give others the option of living in the burbs and commutting to work if that is what they want. Stop telling me where and how I should live.

The peninsula pays, everyone else brays

By JIM MEEK
Sat. Apr 26 - 6:36 AM

IF YOU LIVE in many parts of peninsular Halifax, this city is a ripoff.

For instance, it turns out the “old south end” isn’t the painted lady of legend after all.

Instead, peninsular Halifax plays the role of sugar daddy to the city’s rural areas and many of its suburbs.

I used two documents to figure this out.

One shows 2006 census figures by electoral district in greater Halifax.

The second document is the one that Mayor Peter Kelly and the people who work for him don’t want you to see.

Generated by city staff in 2007, this document reveals the residential tax Halifax collects by electoral district.

Do the math and here’s what you get.

South-enders paid residential taxes averaging $1,466 per person in 2007, about twice the average for greater Halifax.

The comparable figure for the average Eastern Shore-Musquodoboit Valley resident was $524.

The total per capita (residential and commercial) tax take in downtown Halifax was $3,276 last year, compared to $668 in Spryfield-Herring Cove.

Yet no one blinks when some cretin suggests that that the downtown swimming pool – Centennial – should be closed. Just try closing the wave pool in Spryfield and see what happens.

The rich should pay, you say – and I half agree.

But the politics of entitlement is totally out of hand in Halifax, with rural areas making demands that are way out of proportion to their tax payouts.

Already, council has agreed to finance new recreation centres in Low-Tax-Villes. At the same time, as downtown Councillor Dawn Sloane has pointed out, it’s become virtually impossible to get money for new projects on the peninsula – except sewage treatment plants.

The wonky political calculus of amalgamation only deepens the frustration. Halifax peninsula has four councillors; the remaining 18 can easily gang up on the city slickers.

And why not?

The politics is sound, even if the principles of tax equity and good government are violated.

I know, I know – you’re saying to yourself that peninsular Halifax can look after itself.

But you’re wrong. The peninsula has been rolling with the punches so long that it doesn’t know how to fight back.

Also remember that the people who often complain most about the peninsula take the most out of the city.

According to one 2005 study, it costs more than $5,000 per household to provide municipal services in a sparsely populated rural area, compared to $1,400 per household in a densely populated part of the peninsula.

Still, the peninsula lost tens of thousands of people over the past three decades while the suburbs grew apace.

Not only that, but municipal governments historically subsidized suburban sprawl by failing to charge developers adequate fees for sidewalk, road, garbage, police, fire and other services in new neighbourhoods.

As a consequence, some developers got rich with a little too much help from taxpayers. The indirect subsidies to developers easily amount to hundreds of millions of dollars. (I will detail this story in The Sunday Herald tomorrow.)

Here’s what you have to know for now: In pre-amalgamation Halifax, developers’ fees were a joke.

The good news is that we now have a chance to put the jewel back in the crown. Halifax’s tax reform commission, which goes into full public consultation mode next week, can fix it all.

And as the Greater Halifax Partnership reported this week, a new survey shows people throughout the municipality support growth – and even tall buildings downtown.

The city core, by the way, is in a sad state – featuring ugly parking lots and boarded-up stores alongside spectacular assets like the Common, the Public Gardens and Point Pleasant Park.

This much is certain: If we let the peninsula fray around the edges, all of greater Halifax will pay.

Why? Because no one smart or educated or young will want to move here, stay here, or invest here.

As celebrity economist Richard Florida says, creative people are now the great wealth generators in North America, and they flock to attractive cities – Boston or San Francisco, Seattle or New York.

Halifax won’t succeed in this brave new world by transforming itself into a giant Beaver Bank.

So for everyone’s sake, let’s hear three cheers for the peninsula, the south end and even its much-maligned lawyers.

We need them now more than ever, whether we like it or not.

( jmeek@herald.ca)

 

 

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gordo wrote:
Hallelujah! I live in an old salt box a few houses from the Commons and love it. It is not a mansion and it is not in the South End. I came to Halifax 15 years ago and love the closeness of everything.Unfortunately the taxes for my little house are a bit outrageous - $2500. I await tax reform with bated breathe as the services in my neighbourhood have been around for hundreds of years while I help subsidize development and amenities in far flung “low-tax-ville”. Lord help the municipality if penisular Halifax acts like some of those people out in Bedford…..

Common not a venue wrote:
And Mr. Meek what type of Services does the Valley get for the money they pay ? Certainly The Valley does not get sidewalks, Two major parks maintained by city or outside contract workers. What About Water and Sewer ? Do south enders pay for the Wells or spetic systems a rural resident must maintain ? Then you have fire fighting Most rural communities had volunteer Departments where as there is a great cost to have fulltime Pros in the South end. Then we can look at public transportation . There is none in Rural HRM or Nova Scotia Your Idea the pennisula somehow pays for the valley is bunk. Last I checked the Valley didn’t have a neptune theatre running in the red or a metro centre or a world trade and convention centre among all the White Elephants all nova scotians get saddled paying for residing in old Halifax.

mayhar wrote:
I didn’t realize the valley was in Halifax. He said Musquodoboit Valley. If you’re going to complain, at least read what you’re complaining about.

McNeil_hfx wrote:
I suspected as much, but I had no idea it was this bad! The peninsula (and probably downtown Dartmouth too!) need to take a stand. Something must be done to turn this around. There are way too many rural/ suburban councillors driving the agenda at City Hall. If the financials of sprawl in HRM are this dire, why does the regional plan aim to direct 75% of new growth outside the regional center? Why are the new suburbs getting all the services and schools? Isn’t that just going to make it worse? Is this why Council can’t control the budget? We clearly need a third party audit of where our taxes are generated and where they are spent to help us plan better. As a regional municipality we could be a lot smarter than this, but for some reason (likely the 19 to 4 situation at city hall!), it’s not politically feasible. Looking forward to tomorrow’s column!

It’s foolish for building height to be non-negotiable

By ROGER TAYLOR Business Columnist
Sat. Apr 12 - 6:28 AM

THE DREAM for development in downtown Halifax is nice but it could use a good dose of economic realism.

The task force spearheading the HRM by Design plan for the downtown released its final draft Monday, and critics of all stripes are complaining about height restrictions.

Heritage groups call for more low-rise development in the downtown core, nothing higher than six or seven storeys. Developers and others who don’t believe heritage and height are mutually exclusive ideas argue the plan’s restrictions on height are short-sighted and run counter to the goal of creating a more vibrant downtown.

City representatives on the task force have insisted there is already plenty of opportunity to build in downtown Halifax under the proposed plan and therefore, there’s no need for buildings to go any higher than eight storeys in the key Argyle Street district.

The backers of HRM by Design insist that 4.4 million square feet of downtown office space could be created in the downtown under the plan. The Greater Halifax Partnership, which markets Halifax as a business destination, has concluded that there is only room for another 1.6 million square feet of office space in the central business district under existing bylaws.

The task force took into account the lands occupied by the controversial Cogswell interchange — which some suggest should be torn down to make way for more development — and includes what would happen if all buildings in the downtown were raised to the height proposed under the plan.

That is more than a little misleading because many of the low-rise buildings will not be expanded upwards and it brings into question the validity of the task force’s figures.

The committee’s plan indicates everything is negotiable when it comes to building in the downtown, everything except height. But one of the goals of HRM by Design is to increase the number of people working and living in the downtown. Critics point out that unless the height restrictions are negotiable, to allow for contract development in the downtown, there is little chance the plan will meet its population density target.

The design committee also wants to encourage developers to construct quality buildings. But the economics suggest that unless developers can find a reasonable way to recover construction costs, they will be reluctant to make significant investments in design and construction materials.

Allowing taller structures could have the effect of raising the level of construction quality and reducing the tendency towards building less-than-attractive squat, brick buildings, which seems to have become a trend in the downtown.

I’m sure the committee has heard it all and then some, but it is still inviting written submissions to be sent in until April 23 — the various ways of submitting may be found at http://www.halifax.ca/capitaldistrict/RegionalCentreUrbanDesignStudy.html.

The task force group will also be hosting another open house on Wednesday at the World Trade and Convention Centre. The first session will start with a presentation at 6 p.m. followed by a half-hour of public comment. A second presentation will be made at 7 p.m. followed by another half-hour of public reaction. Having attended the public session several months ago, I think it is unlikely that 30 minutes will be enough time to hear all those who will want to speak.

The formal report from the task force will be presented to city council in May, followed by another public hearing.

While city staff have indicated there aren’t a lot of developers rushing to file their projects with the city — so that they would be dealt with under the old rules rather than the strict height rules proposed in HRM by Design — I know at least one major downtown development will likely be presented to the city before the rules can be changed by city council.

It is foolish that it should come to this; height should be just as negotiable as the appearance of the building.

City staff have complained that the price of land in downtown Halifax has been the subject of speculation recently based on what developers believe could be built there, and therefore, is out of whack with reality.

How should property be priced in Canada? Perhaps city staff would like to have the authority to establish land prices as well.

It really doesn’t matter because it’s already too late. Developers have purchased property in the downtown with the expectation they will be able to build on their land. Is city council now willing to compensate those people who will be damaged by this design plan?

( rtaylor@herald.ca)

Roger Taylor’s column appears Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday .

 

Technorati Tags: Halifax Chronical Herald,R Taylor,HRM by Design,Viewplanes

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Robert22 wrote:
I am weary of this city’s future; I read this week someone’s point that the city of Boston has been able to mix heritage and high rise, and they were right on the money. Let’s keep in mind the view we are protecting is a British fort that never fired a shot, so it is not exactly overlooking a significant piece of our history. And we are allowing a very small yet vocal minority to dictate the ability of the downtown core get past the boarded up properties we all see on Barrington Street, etc. I am weary of Don Mills’ group who will prop up a candidate in the fall (with a witch-hunt agenda against Peter Kelly), but our mayor shows no leadership. A ‘leader’ is someone who has a vision (based on gaining consensus) and then uses their political skills & capital to advance their agenda- without concern about what polls say or the possibility of not getting re-elected. If a leader acts against the will of the people, he or she will not stay in office. If that same leader shows that they possess ‘vision’ and lead us to that vision, they will be mayor, premier, dogcatcher for life. Peter Kelly and his marry band of councillors all lack this- they are reduced to petty bickering; infighting that will make a law banning cats in public the legacy of their public service. Time for a change folks. Time for someone on a grassroots level (no entry fee) to step up and say, “I see the future of this city, and I’m going to make it happen’.

Billp wrote:
Put the tall building in Burnside .

dartmo wrote:
Does no one see a role for downtown Dartmouth? Build the high buildings there and beef up the ferry system.

bluenosecamper wrote:
Has anyone thought about where those 16,000 people who will locate in the downtown area are going to park their large SUV’s and the like? To purchase or lease residential property in the downtown core will be very expensive, and these folks with the capital to do this will all have vehicles.

Over the past several months there has been a lot of discussion about keeping traffic off the peninsula. I think it is time someone, somewhere in this once great city, started to look at reality, and really start planning for the future of the city with sober minds. Forget billion $ bridges, there are better ways. And Mayor Kelly, please show some leadership in the whole matter, because you haven’t shown any so far.

I am a full time RV’er, and have travelled to many cities the size of HRM throughout the US and Canada. HRM is in a sorry state, and it is upsetting to see what others can achieve when minds work together in sensible directions, and yet HRM is stuck arguing about cats!!!!!!!

Waste ban worries Atlantic mayors

New federal guidelines hot topic at Atlantic congress
By SHERRI BORDEN COLLEY Staff Reporter
Sat. Apr 12 - 5:00 AM

Small-town mayors like Woodrow French worry they won’t be able to cough up their share of the cost to meet federal guidelines that will ban communities from dumping raw or partially treated sewage into the ocean.

Mr. French, mayor of Conception Bay South, near St. John’s, N.L., says part of the town of 24,000 has no water and no sewer system — residents are on individual wells and septic systems — and the other part has a treatment facility that’s on its last legs.

“I now have a sewage treatment plant that is worn out,” Mr. French told the Atlantic Mayors Congress in Halifax on Friday.

“I have no business base in my community and all the moneys that are raised are basically on provincial and federal funding and on taxation as well.

“I’ve got crumbling infrastructure. I’ve got no money and part of the problem, I am dumping all sewage into a pristine bay, Conception Bay, and I feel bad about doing this.”

Environment Minister John Baird said Tuesday the federal government is prepared to make an $8-billion investment in cleaner water and hopes Canada’s provinces and municipalities will also chip in $8 billion each.

Halifax Regional Municipality’s $330-million primary sewage treatment system, which is just now being finished, was designed so it could be modified to provide secondary processing. That upgrade is expected to cost about $100 million.

Carl Yates, general manager of Halifax Water, says his heart goes out to small towns that may be starting from scratch to get proper infrastructure in place to handle their sewage.

“It is a bit overwhelming for them,” Mr. Yates said. “It is a very difficult challenge, in particular recognizing this is coming just after what we call in the industry, the Walkerton way. There’s been a tremendous push for new regulations for drinking water, which we believe in. We think that’s appropriate.”

More stringent regulations for drinking water were introduced in the wake of the Walkerton tragedy, in which seven people died in 2000 in Ontario after drinking water contam-inated with E. coli bacteria.

Halifax’s inland treatment plants that discharge into fresh water already provide secondary treatment or better, and so does the Mill Cove plant on Bedford Basin. The three new Harbour Solutions plants offer advanced primary treatment and would have to be upgraded to meet the new rules.

Though the cost-sharing between the three levels of government to implement the standards is not yet finalized, Atlantic mayors agreed Friday the usual one-third equal share for each no longer cuts it for the municipalities.

“We cannot continue to operate on this concept,” Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee said.

While the mayors support the new guidelines and recognize the importance of protecting the environment, one thing not being looked at is the funding side, he said.

“We need, as a nation, to sit down and say who are we paying our taxes to and what are we getting for it?” Mr. Lee said.

“We know what the roles of municipal governments are in this country. This is the level that provides the services that everybody in this country depends on, on a day-to-day basis.”

“Who is the taxpayer paying the least amount of money to? It’s to this level of government.”

A recent expansion to Charlottetown’s waste-water treatment plant has meant the cost of operating it “is a lot higher this year than it was last year,” Mr. Lee said in an interview.

“We just brought down our budget for 2008 a few weeks ago and we had to increase the water and sewer rates in the city of Charlottetown (by four per cent) to provide what we provided last year,” he said. “And, actually, we had to cut some of the level of services of maintenance in our system to get the budget passed.”

Corner Brook Mayor Charles Pender said the Newfoundland town was caught off guard by this week’s announcement.

“Up to this point, absolutely, we had no consultation from the federal or provincial governments that this was coming,” Mr. Pender told his counterparts. “For us, it was an awful shock.”

“We had originally looked at about $24 million for sewage treatment for Corner Brook, using a combination of primary and some secondary,” he said.

“Now, we’ve had to go to secondary, which now means we would have to go from $24 million to $32 million. . . . By the time we get there then, we might be looking at $40 million to $50 million to deal with this one issue.”

Port Hawkesbury is ahead of the game with its $11-million regional sewage treatment plant, the second phase of which will open in two weeks.

“Basically, in Port Hawkesbury, we were very fortunate in the sense that five years ago we decided to do an assessment study environmentally to see just what we should put in place,” Mayor Billy Joe MacLean said in an interview.

“The laws we’re talking about today, five years ago, we thought that’s what the law should be and will be. So therefore we jumped on board and went ahead and did it.”

If the guidelines proceed, the mayors congress will work with municipal associations, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and provinces to ensure that federal funding to municipalities to meet the standards is included as part of the implementation strategy to enable all regions to comply.

The mayors are also calling upon the federal and provincial governments, in designing and developing the funding strategy, to address the capital and operating costs.

The congress, formed in 2001, consists of mayors from Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.

( sborden@herald.ca)

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Frawin wrote:
As a Nova Scotian now living in a small town in Newfoundland, I am wondering what these small municipal units will do to meet the new guidelines. You become very aware of the outmigration in Newfoundland when you are living here. The jobs aren’t here nor the money. Our property tax and water bill went up 25% from last year - from $600 to $804. Does anyone really think that retired people can continue to come up with additional funds? I support the government’s efforts to keep pollutants out of water ways but how can people who live on retirement income in communities that are hanging on by a thread possibly be expected to cough up even more money?

Wingman wrote:
This going green and the enviornment is going to bankrupt everyone.

Downtown Halifax of the future

Final draft of HRM By Design report to be released todayBy MICHAEL LIGHTSTONE Staff Reporter Mon. Apr 7 - 5:34 AM

(Illustration from HRM By Design) (Illustration from HRM By Design) (Illustration from HRM By Design) HRM By Design consultants envision a greener, more people-friendy downtown Halifax. (Illustration from HRM By Design)

THIS IS A CITY in which residents still refer to one of two spans across Halifax Harbour, a structure that opened 38 years ago, as “the new bridge.”

It’s a place some folks have said, perhaps facetiously, should adopt the following motto: Halifax — Progress Without Change.

Old habits die hard here, but the first decade of the 21st century is going to bring a shift in the way urban planners and developers do things downtown.

As a result, if all goes well, Halifax’s central core will evolve into a lively, people-friendly place with downtown residents, workers, business owners and tourists living in harmony.

Heritage properties and new highrise buildings will coexist in the Halifax Regional Municipality of the future. Affordable housing will be available, and public transit upgraded.

The cost? So far, that’s unknown.

But many costs associated with the renewal effort are to be handled by the private sector, developers who’ll likely be improving existing properties and paying to build more esthetically pleasing new ones.

Plans for downtown’s refurbishment come from the city’s HRM by Design study, an urban revitalization plan in the works for about 20 months. A 17-member task force assigned to the $405,400 project envisions a downtown that’s livable, distinct and vibrant.

Planners want 16,000 people to move downtown within the next 15 years, Halifax regional council heard at a city hall meeting in February. They’d also like to see a million square feet of new office space downtown in the next decade or so.

On Monday, the municipality’s final draft of the downtown plan is to be released. Public review of the proposal is to continue until April 23. Copies of the plan will be available electronically and in print.

City hall is encouraging people to review the draft and submit comments to the HRM by Design gurus. An open house will be held April 16 at the World Trade and Convention Centre in Halifax.

The proposed downtown vision, guided by consultants from Toronto, would manage growth and development in the central core over the next 25 years.

Coun. Dawn Sloane (Halifax Downtown), a task force member, said recently that a renaissance for the downtown, parts of which have been neglected for years, is long overdue. She urged residents, workers, employers, visitors and property owners to contribute to the planning process by commenting on the consultants’ final draft.

“We’re hoping that by June, we’ll be bringing the full contents of the (final) report to regional council forward,” Ms. Sloane said.

A public hearing on the study will probably be held before July.

According to the city’s consultants, a new-and-improved downtown should include:

•”Defined and distinct . . . precincts.”

•A protected and “vibrant historic heart.”

•Various open spaces and “streets that support . . . walking.”

•A downtown that’s transit-oriented.

•A central core that reinforces civic pride.

Project manager Andy Fill-more, a city hall staffer, said the precinct idea is relatively simple. Planners are proposing nine downtown neighbourhoods be designated.

Mr. Fillmore said “a clear mission statement” for each district — areas that share a common geography but have distinct elements — would be established.

“The policy for each precinct is developed around acknowledging, protecting and perpetuating those . . . characteristics.” Not everyone agrees with the HRM by Design concept, of course, and the consultants have received candid criticism from opponents.

Haligonian Janet Morris is worried the city’s historic structures will suffer under the proposed revitalization scheme. Tall buildings near heritage properties, she feels, should be verboten.

“Halifax is known as the City of Trees,” she said last year in comments posted on a local website. “This is a clue — the height of our buildings in the historic core should not exceed the tree canopy. Let there be light and air for everyone.”

A summary of feedback provided to the municipality’s design team at a public forum in November shows the perennially contentious issue of height is not in danger of being knocked down soon.

“Height is fine,” an observer wrote, “in the right spot.”

Another warned about tall buildings affecting such heritage sites as Halifax city hall, Province House and Government House.

One person noted there are unattractive low-rise buildings downtown and was concerned they could be joined by taller mistakes. “Ugly short buildings may be bad,” the commenter wrote, “but ugly, tall, overpowering buildings are even worse.”

Said a tall-building supporter: “I would like to see more height in the Cogswell area. I am also concerned about the height restriction in a lot of the downtown area.”

Planners are recommending a height limit of about six storeys for part of downtown, the “vibrant historic heart,” Mr. Fillmore said. He said that district would include Historic Properties and parts of Barrington Street.

Outside of that zone, “a balance” will have to be struck between heritage preservation and allowing for modern architecture, Mr. Fillmore said.

When it comes to reviewing, approving and appealing future developments, downtown planners want municipal politicians to have the final say, on appeal, instead of the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board. Mr. Fillmore said proposals would be considered and authorized by a “site plan review” group of municipal staff and a design-review committee made up of citizens.

Progress without change?

Not in the scenario shaped by the HRM by Design team.

Mr. Fillmore said changes are definitely in the offing, such as the approval and appeal processes for development proposals. But he acknowledged several are subject to amendments to provincial legislation. He said the city is making progress on that front.

On Monday, to obtain a free copy of the final draft of the downtown plan, a five-volume report, go to www.hrmbydesign.ca or go to the planners’ office at the Halifax ferry terminal on George Street.

( mlightstone@herald.ca)

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Quiet Comment wrote:
It would be great to have a plan that allows the old to co-exist with new. If you look at Europe and some of the wonderful cities there they have learned to allow tall buildings to be constructed among beautiful old buildings. The heritage buildings in Halifax and Dartmouth are great but if they are falling down and not worth saving let them go. We need to make our city a place where business and residents can live together. Buildings like the “Twisted Sisters” will bring people to the small shops and restaurants downtown. It will allow people to live work and shop in their own neighborhood. It will give a sense of community within a City. The sky line of Halifax is ready for some buildings that will show we are willing to be a modern place. Canadians seem to think the only time we can look at fondly is the past. The present and future are great too.

voiceofreality wrote:
I don’t really care what direction they take, so long as them make some more bloody parking.

Chuck wrote:
unhuh…16000 people moving to the downtown core within 15 years…ic. Well I can’t seriously predict the future…but let’s put it this way…I’ll believe it when I see it. Right now..they’ll be lucky if there are that many people left in the whole city, the way this place is being run. I notice they have a little “side note” in there about upgrading transit. They’re going to need to move that front and center if they want to even begin to succeed here…and never mind too much about “affordable housing” in the midst of all this development because the only 16000 people who would be able to afford to live down there are the people with the $$$. Anyway, we’ll see what happens. Based on council’s track record (any council of late), I have serious doubts this is going to go through.

black pearl wrote:
The new vision for an exciting, vibrant city sounds inviting…but at the snail’s pace of change by which it happens here, it will take a generation or two to see results. I crave an exciting but livable city in which to live. Halifax has ground to a standstill in terms of anything remotely inspiring or exciting being built. It has become a tired, dreary place with the same old, same old look. This city desperately needs a facelift of something bold and exciting. Maybe a concert hall or a futuristic development that will be a trademark.

Ont.1 wrote:No municipality can stay “the same”.For many reasons a city has to embrace change but do so very carefully,especially a city like Halifax which has such a blend of historic and modern.As an occasional visitor to your city I say,”so far so good”,but tread lightly.Good luck!

11.8 per cent of Halifax workforce nearing retirement: census

By THE CANADIAN PRESS
Tue. Mar 4 - 1:55 PM

OTTAWA — Nearly 12 per cent of the workforce in the Halifax region is nearing retirement age, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday as it released new census data which shows a national trend of a declining rate of young people entering the workforce to replace retiring baby boomers.

Information from the 2006 census indicates 11.8 per cent of the workforce of the Halifax region was aged 55 to 64. Provincially, 13.2 per cent of the workforce was in the 55-64 age group and nationally the figure was 12.9.

Among that age group nearing retirement in the Halifax region, 22.6 per cent work in business, finance and administration occupations and 22.2 per cent work in sales and service occupations.

The median age of a worker in the Halifax region was 40.2 in 2006. In 2001, the last time the census was taken, the median age was 38.3. Nationally, the median age of a worker was 41.2, compared to 39.5 in 2001.

Statistics Canada defines median age as a middle value — the point where exactly one half of the working-age population is older than the median age and the other half is younger.

The census shows a continuing national trend of fewer young people entering the workforce to replace retiring baby boomers.

Across Canada, there were 1.9 entrants to the labour force aged 20-34 for every person over 55 on their way out. Five years ago, there were 2.7 entrants for every potential retiree and 25 years ago, the figure was 3.7 entrants.

The census numbers show that in 2006, there were 2.4 entrants to the labour force of Halifax region aged 20-34 for every person over 55 who was on their way out.

For several years, researchers have been warning about potential labour shortages across Canada based on the aging of baby boomers — those born between 1946 and 1964 — and lower fertility rates. Within the next three years, almost one-fifth of Canadian baby boomers will be at least 61 years of age.

Labour market analysts are predicting a widespread shortage of workers impacting a broad range of occupations.

A shortage of suitable workers can hurt a healthy economy because the labour market and economy are so tightly bound. When the ratio of workers arriving to the workplace dips below the number leaving it, it could create a drag on the economy and stagnate growth.

A recent report by the Conference Board of Canada put a price tag on job shortages: a projected shortage of 90,000 IT workers over the next five years will cost the economy an estimated $120,000 for each worker not replaced in each year. Other sectors of the workforce identified as particularly vulnerable to potential labour shortfalls include health care and skilled trades.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has said the federal government must find ways to help Canada hold onto its skilled workers and draw talented immigrants to cover the gaps.

In the Halifax area, the median age of workers in health occupations was 42.4. For those working in trades and related occupations, the median age was 42.5.

The census information released Tuesday also gives insight into the education levels of people in the Halifax region.

A total of 34.1 per cent of the population in the Halifax region aged 25-64 have attained a university certificate, diploma or degree. A further 22.0 per cent have a college diploma; 11.4 per cent earned a trade certificate; 20.2 per cent have nothing higher than a secondary school education and 12.3 per cent didn’t earn a high school diploma.

Among those in the Halifax area who are in the 25-34 age group and have probably entered the workforce, 14.8 per cent studied business/management/public administration. The next most popular field of study was architecture/engineering (11 per cent), followed by social sciences/law (10 per cent).

The census also showed that 6.1 per cent of the total employed workforce of the Halifax region worked at home in 2006. A total of 8.9 per cent of working population in the Halifax region was self-employed.

Statistics Canada also uses the census to find out about unpaid work, such as housework, child care or elderly care. In 2006, women in the Halifax region did more unpaid work than their male counterparts — 53.7 per cent among women to 46.3 per cent for men.

The census is conducted every five years by Statistics Canada and is based on information filled out by Canadians on May 16, 2006. The data released Tuesday on work and education follows information released earlier on overall population growth, families, age and sex breakdowns of the population, immigration and a look at the country’s aboriginal communities.

 

Technorati Tags: StatsCan,Sencus Report,Halifax 2007

Condo projects proceeding despite signs of instability

 

Condo projects proceeding despite signs of instability

By ROGER TAYLOR Business Columnist

Fri. Feb 8 - 6:22 AM

Despite delays caused by a shortage of skilled tradespeople, which among other things has helped to increase construction costs, the metro condo and apartment market seems to be going full steam ahead.

The continued building boom has some people wondering if there is economic justification for the construction or if it may be part of some kind of building frenzy in the metro area.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., the agency that tracks these things, told a conference earlier this week that it expects about 900 condo units will be built within the urban part of Halifax Regional Municipality over the next two years — 200 units on the Halifax peninsula, 400 on the Halifax mainland, 200 in Dartmouth and 100 in Lower Sackville.

Wunderkind developer Joe Metlege of Halifax says he has changed his mind about trying to sell his $15-million, seven-storey, 97-unit Palace Royale project in Clayton Park as condos and has instead decided to rent the units out as “condo-quality” apartments beginning in September.

“The condo market is not too stable right now, so we’re going to finish it like a condo with granite countertops, six appliances, large spacious rooms, key card access for the units,” the 25-year-old told me in a recent phone conversation.

According to CMHC, in addition to the condos that will be built in metro, there are also a healthy number of apartments about to come on the market in the next couple of years.

It is projecting there will be an additional 1,250 apartment units available in metro by 2010.

About 225 apartment units will be built on the Halifax peninsula, 525 on the mainland, 450 in Dartmouth and 50 in the Bedford/Sackville area, according to analysts at CMHC.

As almost everyone knows, location is the key to the success of any real estate transaction and the market for apartments and condos is no exception.

Metlege is president of Jono Developments Ltd. and is also the president of the Investment Property Owners Association of Nova Scotia. In addition to the Palace Royale project, he has embarked on an even more ambitious project on the periphery of Halifax’s downtown.

He recently acquired the property that’s home to Trinity Anglican Church at the corner of Brunswick and Cogswell streets. That’s where he plans to construct a $50-million, mixed-use, 19-storey building.

Work on that project could begin as early as this fall, he says. The church called for proposals for the site last year and Metlege says the package he offered won the bid.

In exchange for the church and the land downtown, Metlege is building a new church in the Clayton Park area near his Palace Royale project.

There was a cash payment to the church as well.

There is no heritage claim on the existing downtown structure and there are no height restrictions in that part of the city either, so Jono Developments can proceed with its plans without having to go through the costly and time-consuming appeals process faced by many downtown development proposals in recent years.

He says the site is strategically located and should become even more valuable once the city proceeds with plans to tear down the often-criticized Cogswell interchange to allow for even more development.

Metlege says plans for the building have not been finalized but one idea is to set aside part of the building as a four- or five-star hotel. The top floors would be apartments. Plan B for the site would eliminate the hotel component and replace it with about 150,000 square feet of office space.

In addition to having to have vision about what type of construction project will become a successful investment, under today’s conditions, developers also have to have a lot of guts.

( rtaylor@herald.ca)

Roger Taylor’s column appears Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Technorati Tags: Condo Development,Halifax,Market Conditions

Kelly wants URB to speed it up

  By AMY PUGSLEY FRASER City Hall Reporter
Fri. Feb 15 - 5:49 AM

The Utility and Review Board should deliver its decisions quicker to bring the development appeal process to a speedier conclusion, Mayor Peter Kelly says.

“Anyone is entitled to due process, and to me, a 30-day rendering is reasonable,” he said in an interview.

The review board is the quasi-judicial tribunal that hears appeals of city hall’s decisions on downtown development.

Recent appeals involved the Midtown Tower Hotel, which was to go on the current Midtown Tavern site on Grafton Street, and the so-called Twisted Sisters, a 27-storey twin-tower development United Gulf proposed for the old Tex-Park site on Hollis Street.

In both cases, regional council approved the developments but heritage groups and other interested parties appealed the decisions within weeks.

The Twisted Sisters project will go ahead, the Midtown Tower Hotel will not.

Although the length of the hearing process is hard to control, Mr. Kelly said the 90-day decision-making process should be shortened.

“I know that it is sometimes challenging, but to be fair to the appellants and the development community, there needs to be some definition of time frames in order to clearly see from start to finish,” the mayor said.

“There is nothing that complicated in development issues or appeals in development.

“It should be a 30-day rendering and that should be made law.”

The city is already working on changes to its own processes to streamline things for developers, Mr. Kelly said. There are plans to cut wait times for applications by 30 per cent, he said.

“This would reduce the average number of months required for a plan amendment to approximately nine months, for a rezoning to approximately six months, and for a development agreement to eight months.”

As well, the city is drafting a new set of guidelines for downtown development in its HRM by Design initiative. Essentially, it will determine “what goes where” downtown, the mayor said.

“That will set the tone for the downtown so there will be less room for interpretation and more definition of what you can and can’t do,” he said. “That should reduce the number of appeals.”

A report is expected to come before council in about April, he said, with final public participation sessions occurring after that.

“We need to do our piece, which we are doing,” the mayor said.

“But they (the province) need to do their piece, which is refining the Utility and Review Board process.”

Premier Rodney MacDonald made his own promise this week to curb delays in downtown Halifax’s development process.

At last weekend’s provincial Conservative convention, he said the province hopes to “fix the issue.”

“We’re not going to sit back and wait for things to happen,” the premier told reporters.

“That means working with the city to make sure the process is clearly defined and is not going to stop development from taking place.”

This week, the premier’s spokesman said the province is already pondering changes.

“Basically we’re looking at how we can streamline the process to make sure the appeals process is more efficient and consistent,” Joe Gillis said.

“One of the problems developers and businesses face is that the appeals process can be unwieldy and uncertain, and that leaves uncertainty in their business case and bottom line.”

If they know upfront what the rules of engagement are and what the timelines are, they are better able to make decisions, Mr. Gillis said.

“Beyond the ‘Whose role is it?’ though, one of (the province’s) roles is to attract business and help business grow, and Halifax being Halifax, we know what businesses want, so it’s our job to work with the city to get beyond or reduce barriers.

“It just makes sense.”

( apugsley@herald.ca)

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Urban Coyote wrote:
Geez, is this the same Peter Kelly who drags his feet and creates committees and focus groups, and panels to study different situations endlessly? Is this the same Peter Kelly who can’t create any forward momentum, or make decisions on anything? Now he wants to speed up a decision process? Why the sudden change? Ahhhh yes, must be an election coming up. Trying to make himself look good after years of sitting on his rear end.

Technorati Tags: Peter Kelly,Development,PUB

Rec centre should have 3rd rink

 

Cole Harbour Place has ice-cleaning gear, space for another surface, councillor says
By MICHAEL LIGHTSTONE Staff Reporter
Thu. Feb 7 - 11:16 AM

Coun. Harry McInroy says Cole Harbour Place has the equipment and land needed for a third ice surface, but Bedford hockey dad Steve Warburton says it’s Bedford’s turn to get new rink facilities. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff)

COLE HARBOUR – If multiple hockey rinks are to be part of metro’s future, says Coun. Harry McInroy (Cole Harbour), the city should look into expanding the existing ice surfaces at Cole Harbour Place.

The city-owned recreational complex, which has two ice pads, could easily accommodate a third, he said last week.

“If it was only one ice surface that we’re going to be adding over the next number of years, then I would understand that Cole Harbour Place wouldn’t be the place to put it — in fairness to taxpayers and all the residents” of Halifax Regional Municipality, McInroy said.

But since city hall is considering more than one sports complex, and each centre would probably house multiple rinks, then Cole Harbour Place is a cost-effective place to add rink space.

“The final review of where (rinks are built) should at least include a serious look at Cole Harbour Place, because that one is going to be the cheapest one,” said McInroy. He said the city already has the land at the recreational centre and such support equipment as a Zamboni machine for ice cleaning.

As well, arena administrative costs, including those covering management, staffing and other equipment, would be minimized as an add-on to the existing operation.

Steve Warburton, a Bedford father of three hockey-playing boys, said Mr. McInroy’s suggestion of a third rink at Cole Harbour Place leaves him cold. He criticized the municipal politician for floating the idea past voters during an election year. (There’ll be a civic election in October.)

Warburton said Bedford is a fast-growing community lacking recreational amenities. He said the LeBrun Centre’s lone hockey rink is about 40 years old.

“It’s our turn,” Warburton said.

He said his eldest child, who’s 15 years old, has been playing hockey for 10 years and Bedford has been lacking rink space during that entire period.

“It is my greatest desire that my youngest (who is age eight) will be able to benefit” from new ice rinks in Bedford, Warburton said.

Halifax city hall is testing the waters on the potential for private-sector involvement in the construction and operation of recreational centres in metro. An advertisement that municipal staff placed in The Chronicle Herald in January says the city is inviting “qualified individuals or firms to express interest in entering a partnership to design, develop and operate an arena complex.”

Coun. Andrew Younger (East Dartmouth-The Lakes) said last month the sites could include up to four hockey rinks built at each place.

“This is obviously just the first step,” he said recently. “If all goes well, then we would get to a (formal) request for proposals later on.”

According to Younger, there appears to be a willingness in the development community to explore the possibility of building an arena complex with the city.

The deadline for the expression of interest is Feb. 15.

Technorati Tags: Cole Harbour,Rec Center,Ice Surface