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Downtown Halifax height limits major concern.

By Roger Taylor
Sat. Nov 17 - 4:47 AM

IF YOU are a developer, it doesn’t matter how impressive your architectural plans are or how much your project will improve the local economy; you’ll still be out of luck if you want to put up a building higher than seven storeys within a prime section of downtown Halifax under a new scenario being proposed.

The people who are driving the HRM by Design planning process have decided that the bulk of Area 2, which runs from Brunswick Street to the waterfront and George Street to Spring Garden Road, will be designated a heritage conservation district. That means all but two sites, which are exceptions because they’re considered to be within the "view shadow" of the so-called Twisted Sisters development, will be governed by the low-rise development restrictions. Those two highrise sites, owned by the province and the Waterfront Development Corp., would be allowed to accommodate buildings as high as 16 storeys.

This whole issue is troublesome to some Halifax landowners and developers who are concerned the city’s proposal will endanger future development, drive away potential sources of lucrative jobs and drive down the value of their real estate investments.

While private developers are putting their own capital at risk by acquiring property and making building plans on their own dime, designating government-owned properties as the only land to accommodate buildings higher than 16 storeys suddenly makes those properties more valuable.

City staff says there may be height restrictions, but the trade-off is a speedier development process and certainty. Downtown development projects are now negotiated on a piecemeal basis, which is often accompanied by an extensive appeal process that drags out the time it takes to get a structure built.

Admittedly, most of the business people concerned by the tone of the HRM by Design "preferred scenario" are those who own property in that part of the downtown. It seems that other developers, who might not have a direct interest in that area, are more willing to endorse strict height limits; perhaps there is some gamesmanship among those within the local development community.

In previous scenarios, building heights would be limited to a maximum of six storeys. But after doing some double-checking, city staff said it now estimates downtown Halifax will need an additional 200,000 square feet of office space each year for the next 15 years. So it was decided to add another storey to the height limit, which in theory increases downtown density without denying some people’s desire for low-rise restrictions in the heritage area.

The HRM by Design "staff team" presented its case for a preferred scenario on Friday and will unveil an updated plan at a public meeting tentatively scheduled for Nov. 28.

Austin French, manager of planning services for the city, says the primary purpose of HRM by Design is to create more interest in the downtown.

"We’re all for people enjoying their property; we want everyone to succeed," he says. "But it’s more than height; it’s about having the right feeling in downtown to make people want to come there."

But it seems to me that developers in that part of the city will be put under more onerous restrictions than their counterparts in other downtown areas. French says that when the HRM by Design plan for the downtown is approved, the next step is to create design standards for future buildings, as well as specifying height and mass.

"In every municipal context there are regulations regarding development," he says. "The message we’re getting from the development industry is what we’re lacking here is clarity and certainty."

Rather than making things more complicated, French says, staff is trying to create "the right feel" for the downtown area with a much clearer set of regulations. "This plan is meant to facilitate growth; it is meant to facilitate development, to make things easier for the landowners and the developer than they are today, to make it easier to understand what the community expects of them so that we can get along."

Stephen Lund, CEO of Nova Scotia Business Inc., says he’s theoretically in favour of HRM by Design because it’s supposed to speed up the development process, but he’s afraid the plan seems to be restricting investment in the downtown.

"The people who are going to build buildings. . . . Those are the guys you’ve got to listen to because those are the guys that will take the chance and the risk and put money into it," Lund said Friday. "We’ve got to listen to the pro forces and not just the anti forces. Let’s talk to the 2,000 young 25- to 30-year-olds who want to work in downtown Halifax and ask them what they think."

Lund said there is potential for about 2,000 young people to get good jobs with financial services companies that want to set up downtown. Heritage is important, he said, but there has to be compromise to allow for development to meet the needs of new clients coming to the area.

"Show me a city that’s not growing and I’ll show you a city that’s dying. I’m thinking, ‘OK, the next 20 years is not my generation’s. It’s the next generation’s and the generation’s after that.’ That’s who’s going to drive our city," he said. "I get passionate about this because I’m concerned we’re going to miss an opportunity to move this city forward that doesn’t come along very often."

I suspect many of the people who are concerned about highrise buildings and maintaining downtown Halifax heritage don’t come downtown very often anymore. Walk around and you’ll notice vacant lots, empty storefronts, ugly newer buildings and an increasingly unsavoury atmosphere, particularly after the pubs close at night.

Why can’t a modern Halifax include a mixture of taller buildings with low-rise and heritage structures with modern ones?

( rtaylor@herald.ca)
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/Columnists/985453.html

A few mentioned that they did not like Roger Taylor's column, but I usually enjoy what he has to say.