Halifax Regional Council approved its draft regional municipal planning strategy Tuesday, which will now head to the community consultation phase.
The plan review looks at how future growth and development should take place between now and 2031.
When approved after community consultation and review, the plan will repeal and replace HRM’s 2014 plan, responding to the increased population growth and housing demand along with a need for action on climate change and equality.
The municipality is on track to grow to a population of one million in the next 25 to 30 years, and the plan outlines “where, when and how future settlement, balanced growth and development should take place.”
“This period of growth, while challenging, also presents an opportunity for us to build the kind of community we want to see Halifax become,” the document said.
“This plan asks: What does Halifax look like as a region of one million people?”
The work began in February 2020 and is on track to finish Phase 4 on schedule in 2024.
Climate change, wildfire mitigation
The 353-page document was released this month, during a “particularly challenging and tumultuous time” in the aftermath of the wildfires that swept through the Upper Tantallon and Hammonds Plains areas.
When planning for future growth, it said proposed developments should support and respect the natural environment.
“Choices in design should aim to mitigate and prevent impacts to the natural environment, but also avoid or mitigate natural hazards on development such as flooding, erosion, climate change impacts and the potential for wildfires.”
During a committee of the whole meeting Tuesday morning, Coun. Pamela Lovelace, who represents the areas affected by the wildfires, said she has concerns about safety plans moving forward, especially in rural areas of the municipality.
“When I think about how are our communities functioning – well, in my district, we’re not,” she said.
Lovelace said there are private lanes which means fire services can’t adequately get through the area, “as we’ve seen in Westwood” – the neighbourhood where the wildfire broke out.
The province also has the power to overrule some of the municipality’s decisions, which makes planning more challenging, she said.
In a recent letter to the province’s housing task force, Lovelace admonished the province’s decision to overrule a municipal growth restriction for the Indigo Shores subdivision last year, opening the door to building 150 more residential homes “despite the subdivision only having one road in and out.”
“So now our issue of finding egress for that subdivision has accelerated to the point where we have to figure out, how are we going to get all of those people out of that subdivision, which was extremely difficult this time around,” she said Tuesday, referencing the wildfire evacuations.
“But next time around, we’re going to have, what, twice as many families in there or more?”
Kate Greene, Halifax’s director of regional and community planning, said these issues have been “top of mind for us as we look at these places and understand this impact that has occurred as a result of wildfires, of changing climate.”
She said the impacted subdivisions were “legacy subdivisions,” built at a time when HRM didn’t have management tools in place.
“We do have tighter controls today on subdivision, we do have it as an action in the plan to think about wilderness areas and the relationship to development,” she said.
Greene said the municipality is studying other areas to understand how to improve its standards.
“This is something that’s become a very real threat to us that we just haven’t experienced in this way,” she said.
‘One size does not fit all’
Lovelace underscored the importance of having a long-term plan for both urban and rural areas, and highlighted the challenges rural areas, in particular, are seeing.
“I think this is one of the most important things this council, actually, will be doing is this regional plan,” she said.
“When I look at rural development in particular, you know, we’ve got these subdivisions in Hammonds Plains that are considered rural, they’re paying subdivision property tax rate, they have no additional services, but they’re up against that urban line.”
Coun. Cathy Deagle-Gammon, who represents the Waverley-Fall River-Musquodoboit Valley area, agreed.
“One size does not fit all,” she said.
“It means that we will be able to look at the suburban plan and the rural plan with what is unique about those communities. So I think the stage is set, so that we will be able to see proper growth … in tandem with infrastructure.”
Others highlighted the need for better transportation and connectivity between regions.
“Looking at a regional transportation plan, I’m glad that we’re finally talking about this — that we’re seeing it in print, that we’re having this conversation,” said Spryfield-Sambro Loop-Prospect Road Coun. Patty Cuttell.
“I think that’s something that we’ve been talking a lot about around this council, and so, I think it’s such a fundamental piece.”
With council’s approval, city staff can now begin conducting public engagement into the fall, before bringing a full amendment package forward at Phase 4’s conclusion.
Councillors were pleased to see a good block of time scheduled for community engagement — public consultations for the draft plan will officially open July 12 and will run to Oct. 27.