You’ve heard how Halifax mayor Peter Kelly betrayed the trust of of a family friend. What you haven’t heard is how city hall doubly abused the same woman, forcing her to live out her final days in poverty.
On February 16, The Coast published my expose of Halifax mayor Peter Kelly’s failure, as executor, to properly resolve an estate of his friend Mary Thibeault, who died in 2004 at the age of 92. Kelly, I documented, had removed over $160,000 from Thibeault’s personal bank account.
A week after the article was published, Kelly announced he would not run for re-election in October. It’s been over two months since the article ran— and seven years, four months and 19 days since Thibeault died—and still the estate remains unresolved.
Unfortunately, Kelly’s bethaviour after Thibeault’s death mirrors the way city hall treated her while she was alive.
Thibeault was owner of the Princes Lodge Motel, which she and her husband had purchased in 1945. The motel sat on about nine acres next to the Bedford Highway, just north of the Rotunda.
In the 1970s, the former city of Halifax began putting zoning encumbrances on the property. At the time, the city was buying up land and piecing together Hemlock Ravine Park, which sits immediately behind, to the west of, Thibeault’s property. In order to protect the new park, the western three-and-a-half acres of Thibeault’s property were zoned Park and Institutional. This sort of zoning of private property would not be allowed now—the city would now have to buy the property outright if it wanted to use it for park purposes—but at the time it meant Thibeault owned the property, but had no legal right to develop it.
Additionally, a strip of about two acres along the sourthern edge of Thibeault’s property was zoned R-1, which allows development of only single-family detached houses. The remainder of the property, the northeast section where the motel was located, was zoned Commercial, which brings the highest potential development value, and allows for high-density apartments.
Thibeault began trying to sell her property in 1988, when she was 77 years old, but found the zoning encumbrances interfered with a sale—potential buyers wanted to develop the entire property, but the zoning prevented that.
Thibeault’s lawyer, Lloyd Robbins, argued the Park zoning amounted to “expropriation without compensation,” and said the city should either buy the property or re-zone it all as Commercial. “The zoning is preventing [Thibeault] from selling the property,” wrote Robbins. “She is in her 80s and while she may be land rich, she is not well off. Every year she runs the motel during the summer and makes little more than enough to pay city taxes. This is an intolerable situation.”
But city officials were adamant: the property would not be re-zoned under any circumstances. Over 10 long years bureaucrats repeatedly, in writing, told Thibeault a re-zone was impossible. So in 1998, she sold the property to developers Nassim and Solomon Ghosn for the fire sale price of $600,000—money which became the estate that Kelly would later control.
By law, re-zoning property requires a public hearing before city council, but no such hearing has ever been held. Still, in 2000 the city issued the Ghosns a building permit, and they began constructing the first of three apartment buildings.
When neighbours complained, the city issued a stop work order on July 28, 2000, saying that the construction violated zoning. But then, just just a week later that order was lifted, with the zoning problems miraculously resolved—without a public hearing, and without an act of city council.
The same city bureaucracy that said Thibeault’s property would never be re-zoned had re-zoned the property with a wave of the hand when it was owned by the Ghosns. Staff had no legal right to change the zoning without council action.
I’ve posted a detailed account of the history of Thibeault’s property, including correspondence between city officials and Thibeault and zoning maps, here
But the short story is this: Because of the zoning encumbrances on her property, Thibeault lived out her last decade in poverty, working at the motel well into her 80s to just barely cover her tax bill. The Ghosns will have no such worry, however. Thanks in part to the re-zoning, their property is assessed at $20.8 million.
This article appears in Apr 26 – May 2, 2012.
I’m so surprised…you want to look at another property owner who was ripped off royally, look at the dartmouth side of Albro Lake & the approaches to the Murray MacKay Bridge. City staff operated that land scheme just like the mafia would have in their hey days !
“But then, just just a week later that order was lifted, with the zoning problems miraculously resolved—without a public hearing, and without an act of city council.”
Proof read, and leave out the caped crusader attitude, Mr. Bousquet. You write some good pieces but taint them with unpalatable taste of self-righteousness.
Anyone else find it ironic that that these stories of exploitation are being used to further someone else’s career?
A strong whiff of corruption emanates from that part of the city bureaucracy that deals with developers.
Every once in awhile somebody lifts up the rock and we’re all shocked (not so much) at the things that come scurrying out from underneath.
Those crooks never adhere to agreements, zoning by-laws, or the requests of their neighbours. They should be run out of town but instead they just keep snapping up our most valuable real estate and developing it as they choose, even if it’s in gross violation of agreed-upon development parameters (cases in point, the Vic and the Lexington monstrosities). Anyone who’s had personal dealings with them knows how corrupt they are. They’re arrogant and sneaky, and they’ve got City Hall in their pockets.
It is pretty comical how susceptible readers are to being persuaded into a certain belief in the face of bias journalism. This is clearly written with a heavy favour to one side, I’m shocked people are less inclined to think for themselves than to idly jump on an anti-establishment bandwagon. It’s all so cliche. Thibeault agreed to sell her land for the price that she wanted (nobody forced her to sell) and pardon me if I am the only one who is mad at the way this piece subtly blames the developers for the course of her life. They clearly worked very hard to raise the value of the property, in fact the property is unrecognizable to what it was back then, hence it only makes sense that it is worth much more and houses countless happy tenants. I am disgusted with the blatant favouritism that reeks off of this piece, but further I am shocked and disappointed with the reactions of the readers. This kind of work not only misinformed, but poorly disguised as “another uncovering of corrupt business,” when in reality it is an untimely attack by a journalist who clearly has some sort of vendetta. These developers are contributing to our city in positive ways, allowing it to move forward and grow, as well as providing homes for our growing population. Not to mention the high taxes they pay and the thousands of people they employ.
Mr. Bousquet, you are a F**CKING moron. I have been reading your publications and every single one just makes me laugh at how uneducated you are. I honestly suggest you quit writing and start finding a new career. You actually make me cringe with disgust, you look like a product of an incestuous relationship. You actually look like a mutation its f**king revolting. Anyways, take my advice and stop writing you goof.