[RyeJay]

Apparently Toronto's condo boom and the migration of people to the downtown core is increasing demand for core office space. One boom is helping to fuel the next boom:
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Toronto braces for new office tower onslaught

Toronto’s downtown office market appears poised to explode again with construction, as the commercial real estate industry waits for that one spark to kick start the office sector.

Rumours continue to swirl that Brookfield Office Properties will begin a new round of aggressive building in the country’s largest office market with an announcement that it will go ahead with the second tower for its Bay-Adelaide Centre which provided much of the impetus for a round of construction when its first tower was announced in 2006.

Accounting and consulting firm Deloitte Canada is said to be the big fish Brookfield is courting for its second tower while the CPP Investment Board is said to be looking for as much as 180,000 square feet of space.

“I think we are definitely at the point where we can justify new construction,” says Ross Moore, director of Research for Canada for CB Richard Ellis, about the current vacancy rate of 4.7% in Toronto’s downtown core.

Link: http://business.financialpost.com/2012/05/09/toronto-braces-for-new-office-tower-onslaught/

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I realise there are a lot of conservative folks in Halifax who don't often read scientific literature about the environment -- and how the economy is dependent upon a stable environment -- and these folks do not agree with boundaries or greenbelts placed around cities to STOP urban sprawl... but...are there not financial reasons as to why HRM should strongly consider joining the growing group of cities that are taking such measures?

Halifax's downtown would receive infill much more quickly if we had tax reform and some form of boundary around the outer edges of its existing infrastructure. We need developers to use the available land inside the city, where taxpayers have already invested in (and are still in debt for) roads, utility lines, and water/sewer systems.

Halifax is clearly not doing an adequate job in halting its sprawl.

How much authority does HRM council yield in the planning and rezoning of the city? I do believe the province has considerable jurisdiction in this matter.

[Waye Mason]

How much authority does HRM council yield in the planning and rezoning of the city? I do believe the province has considerable jurisdiction in this matter.

It is all municipal except Dartmouth Common. Zoning, development approvals and permitting. Depends on what you want to do to stop sprawl.

[hollistreet]

[QUOTE

Halifax is clearly not doing an adequate job in halting its sprawl.

How much authority does HRM council yield in the planning and rezoning of the city? I do believe the province has considerable jurisdiction in this matter.[/QUOTE]

When you have a city council that is so over weight with councilors from the suburban areas and so under weight on urban councilors it will be very difficult to stop the sprawl.

[halifaxboyns]

This is a pretty big issue that would likely be a combo of both Municipal and Provincial in scope.

From a Municipal Level, I can see a few issues:

At minimum a Regional Plan Amendment would be necessary to create basic policy and appropriate mapping determine the location, size and what could occur in the greenbelt area;
Several Zoning Bylaws would require updating to implement the Regional Plan Amendments, so likely you would need a special zoning for 'Greenbelt' that would dictate the appropriate level of development. Keep in mind, park or campsite or uses which would have to be listed in order to occur in the zone, unless you wanted it completely natural;
There may also be a need to develop a stand alone policy document for the greenbelt that might lay out some exceptions to a natural area type of use, provide for some limited uses that could occur but are temporary in nature.


From the Provincial level, I suspect there would be some amendments to the HRM Charter needed to be able to implement this as part of the Regional Plan (perhaps in the contents of the Regional Plan section). I would also suggest that there be provisions added to the charter to lesson the financial burden to HRM because I suspect many property owners would cry fowl and demand compensation for taking away development rights.

I don't think that its impossible - but it's a good chunk of work. The Provincial work would have to come first in order to get the ball rolling. Then a mapping of a greenbelt would have to be done to determine the size, landowners affected and then negotiations and public consultant started.

That said, I think this is really part of a regional planning exercise where you include this as part of a greater discussion for the vision of HRM and how your curb sprawl also by building regional transportation and Transit Oriented Development (TOD) around major transit stations to help encourage higher density (not only in DT or in the Regional Centre - but all over HRM that has sewer and water).

[RyeJay]

When you have a city council that is so over weight with councilors from the suburban areas and so under weight on urban councilors it will be very difficult to stop the sprawl.

We need to save the suburbs from themselves. Inward urbanism would help make suburban life more affordable for suburbanites.

I'm quite certain no one enjoys the increasing water and utility fees. The suburbs are littered with potholes throughout HRM's enormous scape of roadway. Suburbanites, by growing numbers, don't even want to use their cars frequently -- or even own one for that matter; they are demanding better public transit.

And regardless of where in a city you live: you want efficient public services -- education, police, fire, medical. The money's gotta come from somewhere, folks. How about we stop throwing it away on road (and service) expansions for endless stripmalls and single-family subdivisions?...

[RyeJay]

The Provincial work would have to come first in order to get the ball rolling.

I don't think the Dexter government is overly keen on this issue. The pressure to get this provincial ball rolling would need to be generated by the municipality.

[halifaxboyns]

I don't think the Dexter government is overly keen on this issue. The pressure to get this provincial ball rolling would need to be generated by the municipality.

I suspect that's probably what would be needed as well. Because the RP only took effect 6 years ago, I'm not sure if this is being included in HbD and part of the 'greenway' initiative (I have to admit I haven't kept up with it or this forum much because I was slammed at work).

[someone123]

Greenbelts and boundaries are good mechanisms for focused land preservation but they're not really suited to changing overall development patterns. Greenbelts don't fix the underlying problem that pushes people out to suburban areas.

Fundamentally the real problem is that the tax system doesn't reflect the cost of providing services. The relationship between assessments and service costs is tenuous at best.

The province has actually contributed to the problems by capping some assessments. California has an even more extreme version where assessments have been locked in for some people since the 1970's or 80's. The result there is that older rich people with million dollar properties are the most heavily subsidized while young people just starting out have to carry the burden through either rent or tax on newly purchased properties. On top of that most of the subsidized people are unabashed NIMBYs and oppose everything, driving property values up even higher. It's really terrible and deeply unfair. In Halifax right now young people can still afford houses, but if the city goes down the path of NIMBYism, greenbelts, and subsidies for holding onto property you can bet that will change in a hurry.

Unfortunately as others have pointed out I'm not sure how we'll fix this problem completely since many councillors stand to gain from the current system and because there doesn't seem to be a general understanding of the perversity and unfairness of the current tax system.

I think the "low hanging fruit" as far as bad incentives go is all the red tape holding back infill development. An HbD-style process for the entire peninsula with liberal height limits would go a long way in helping with the current problems and it would be much easier to implement than heavy tax reform.

[Waye Mason]

A lot of work went into the OurHRMAlliance platform, outlined here. (http://ourhrmalliance.ca)


Use green belting to concentrate growth and preserve natural areas and eco-services
Invest in the downtown core and growth centres
Prioritize and increase investment in transit and active transportation
Adhere to residential growth targets
Evaluate development charges to ensure that the municipality is not burdened by growth
Protect water resources
Commit to measuring successes and deficiencies of actions identified in the Regional Municipal Planning Strategy