Halifax coalition wants Centre Plan-like plan for the rest of the municipality

A Halifax coalition of groups wants local councillors to develop something akin to the Centre Plan but for the rest of the municipality.

She was one of several people promoting the Regional Main Streets Plan at a press conference held in Spryfield on Tuesday.

Now in its final stages of development, the Centre Plan is a guide for development in the municipality’s regional centre (Dartmouth and the Halifax peninsula) that incorporates public feedback.

“It’s really crucial that we look to these other locations where we are going to be experiencing 60 per cent of our growth, and we decide what we want these communities to look like,” Lugar said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's really crucial that we look to these other locations where we are going to be experiencing 60 per cent of our growth, and we decide what we want these communities to look like," Lugar said.

As an example, she said Herring Cove Road has many businesses that have to apply for zoning amendments, which creates a backlog with the municipal government. She said allowing mixed-use options from the onset would fix part of the problem.

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“They don’t have to be driving 20 minutes, 10 minutes, they don’t even have to be driving a lot of the time. They’ll actually be able to walk or to bike to get to the grocery store, to get to a coffee shop, to get to a restaurant that they want to go have dinner at with their family,” Lugar said.

“It makes communities cool. It makes it a place that people want to go and hang out.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It makes communities cool. It makes it a place that people want to go and hang out."

The plans would would be flexible to add community-specific desires.

The proposal was endorsed by 11 groups, including the Spryfield Business Commission.

Bruce Holland, the commission’s executive director, said at the event that there are frustrations with the current system.

READ MORE: Centre Plan final draft heading to Halifax committee on Wednesday

“From a business and development point of view, it’s the lack of knowing where the planning can take place, and the timelines for how long it’s going to take to get development approvals,” he said.

District 9 Councillor Shawn Cleary, who also attended the event, said OHA’s proposal is “legitimate.”

He said that some of municipality’s planning documents date as far back as 1978.

“In the conversations I’ve had with our planning staff, they’re already thinking about how we take what we’ve learned from Centre Plan and move that to our suburban main streets,” Cleary said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "In the conversations I've had with our planning staff, they're already thinking about how we take what we've learned from Centre Plan and move that to our suburban main streets," Cleary said.

He added that he would talk to councillors on the Community Planning and Economic Development Standing Committee to “see if we can start something there.”

If that doesn’t prove fruitful, Cleary said he would take it to Halifax Regional Council.

He said if something like the alliance’s idea for a plan were to move forward, it would take several years to complete.