Halifax council was scheduled to vote on the controversial Waterside development Tuesday night, but earlier in the day word came that developer Ben McCrea had asked that council put off the vote until after the election and consider buying him off---in return for tax gifts, he has offered to consider reducing the building height from nine storeys to eight, and changing the building material from glass to brick. Council went ahead and rescheduled.
McCrea wins all the way around---the delay takes the pressure off councillors who might vote against McCrea in the politically charged days before the election, and yet he can turn around and bring the exact same project forward after the election if he chooses. Unless, of course, council wants to give him a boatload of money.
