Neighbours held a family-friendly protest outside Colonial Honda in north end Halifax on Friday to show the auto dealership and the public that the area is a residential community.
The Robie Street dealership’s new owner, Steele Auto Group, has purchased a number of surrounding homes to create parking spaces for its inventory and customers.
Nineteen properties, including some which were on the market for several years, have been given permits for demolition.
Community members have created a group called Homes not Hondas to object to the expansion.
Andrea Ritchie, who lives four doors down from a handful of homes slated for demolition on McCully Street, says the entire north end community will suffer if the development takes place.
“I think it will feel like standing on Kempt Road,” she said.
Get daily National news
“There’s nothing wrong with going to Kempt Road if you want a fast food burger or a new car. But if you don’t, it’s not somewhere you go to hang out. It’s not somewhere you want to walk and it’s definitely not somewhere you want to live.”
Protesters are hopeful Steele Auto Group will change their plans and opt not to tear down the houses, but the company’s president, Dave MacRitchie, says that won’t be the case.
“We’ve invested considerably in the area. We’re trying to do this in a thoughtful manner and work with the community to do this,” MacRitchie told Global News.
“Just to reiterate — the properties that were purchased were zoned for this type of development, so we’ve worked with HRM and continue to plan to move forward.”
MacRitchie says the dealership has 100 staff members and up to 100 vehicles that come in each day for servicing, so they’ve reached a point where they need more parking.
He also points to the fact Robie Street is a commercial street, although they are aware of the challenges of being in a mixed use area with homes.
“I respect their opinions on it,” MacRitchie said.
“There’s going to be some people not happy with what we’re doing but, again, we’ve heard from other people that see that what we’re doing is an improvement in a lot of ways.”
Peninsula North Councillor Jennifer Watts plans to present a petition with more than 1,000 signatures to council again next week, after some procedural confusion at Tuesday’s meeting. She also wants to request a staff report to look at the city’s options, although she admits there is little they can do at this point.
“The zoning allows for it. The permits are being applied for and being granted. So, it’s really a decision right now on the part of the property owner to decide if they want to make any modifications to their plans,” Watts said.
Watts says she is also opposed to the expansion and thinks changing by-laws could prevent similar issues down the road.
- NDP to join Bloc in backing Liberals against non-confidence vote
- Quebec premier calls on Bloc Québécois to help topple Trudeau government
- Via Rail CEO calls 10-hour train delay ‘unacceptable,’ says new evacuation plan in place
- Ethics commissioner will not investigate Boissonnault over ‘Randy’ texts, says the matter is closed
Comments