Halifax’s Planning and Development lacks clear policy guidelines and consistently fails to meet Charter-mandated timelines for processing new building applications. That’s the conclusion from a new report by HRM’s Office of the Auditor General that was presented Wednesday to council’s audit and finance committee. Among other issues, the OAG says Halifax’s planning staff have no […]
Development
Posted inNews + Opinion
Fury road on Oceanview Drive
It’s gotten to the point where Josh Hagle can’t watch TV with a window open, without having the sounds drowned out by cars whizzing by. Hagle and his family moved to Oceanview Drive in Bedford, just off Larry Uteck Boulevard in 2011. The residential street had a fair amount of traffic but, at the time, […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Coast 25: 46 of the weirdest things we’ve ever published
The prophet in Clayton Park Bill Deagle says he knows things they don’t want you to know about 9/11, the Oklahoma City bombing and other government secrets. Now he lives in suburban Halifax, with an internet radio broadcast and orders from god to get the truth out there. Celine Dion’s cancelled Halifax show After the […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Dump trucks and social dumping
The large dump trucks of construction waste thunder by my Schmidtville window with a downshifting growl on the grade outside my house. One every six minutes, by my count. It’s not warm outside so my windows are closed. But just wait for the warm days when I have to open them. When this round of […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Province finally signs lease for new convention centre
The ink is finally dry on the Halifax Convention Centre’s lease, nearly three months after its doors first opened. Substantial completion has been reached on the $169-million downtown project and the keys have officially been turned over to the province. “Reaching substantial completion with this massive project is a milestone,” writes Transportation and Infrastructure minister Lloyd Hines […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Spectacle Island speculation
The picnicker’s paradise known as Spectacle Island is currently for sale, and the site’s private owners wouldn’t mind seeing it transferred into public hands. The small island in Purcells Cove, within eyeshot from Point Pleasant Park, has been owned by Barry Mosher and his family for the last decade. But the investment advisor is looking […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Province passes on Bloomfield Centre
For the second time, the province of Nova Scotia won’t be buying Halifax’s Bloomfield Centre. The deteriorating former school and community centre is once again facing an uncertain future according to an update heading to Regional Council on Tuesday. Council voted last August to sell a portion of the 3.3-acre site to the provincial government […]
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Cleary downplays Stroink conflict on Willow Tree
Ask Shawn Cleary about his friendship with Joachim Stroink and he’ll tell you something this town already knows. “In Halifax, it’s one-and-a-half degrees of separation,” he says. “Everybody knows everybody.” The councillor’s platonic relationship with Armco’s latest hired gun doesn’t raise any ethical or legal conflicts, he says, even as the development firm tries one […]
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Halifax is smarter than Vancouver and it’s time to prove it
When I left Vancouver a year ago to settle into my new life here in Halifax, I was so relieved to think of never having to speak in front of city council ever again. Seven long years of fighting for livability and affordable housing in Metro Vancouver left me drained, depressed and defeated. Leaving all […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Elmwood saved from the wrecking ball
One of the oldest buildings in Halifax without official heritage status is getting another shot at life thanks to its new owners. Galaxy Properties is working with HRM’s heritage team to try and save the Elmwood, and it looks like it might actually happen. “I think the odds are very good,” says municipal planner Aaron […]
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Willow Tree roundabout: Verdict on polarizing development delayed
It’s either a landmark building that will put food on the tables of Halifax’s working-class, or a shakedown that’s anathema to positive urban design. Depends who you ask. Over 40 residents, planners and friends of the Common attended a public hearing Tuesday evening at City Hall to speak out both for and against Armco’s Willow […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
Rebuilding trust in Beechville
Armco Capital has a lot of work ahead if it wants to earn back the trust of Beechville residents for the company’s new subdivision. Helping ease the tensions built up from 200 years of false promises and racist planning decisions is Joachim Stroink, the former MLA who made national headlines in 2013 after posing for […]