The city has issued the last building permit needed to construct the Nova Centre. A project as large and as complex as the Nova Centre must obtain a number of permits—in this case 13. They range from relatively minor permits removing existing sewer lateral connections to the city’s main, to two blasting permits, to four temporary...
Thiels: The province is helping Joe Ramia poach our tenants
By giving Joe Ramia’s Nova Centre project an exemption to the city’s planning laws, the province unfairly gave Ramia the ability to compete for tenants now housed in Thiel family properties, says a brief filed with the court. The Thiels own several properties in the financial district, including the BMO building, the TD Centre, and the Royal Bank Tower. Collectively,...
Like clockwork, Hollis Street bike lane delayed again
by Hilary Beaumont Delays to the Hollis Street bike lane are becoming almost as predictable as the Citadel noon gun. After guaranteeing in the spring the bike lane would be painted this summer, the city has again pushed the project back. For a grab bag of reasons the Hollis Street bike lane has been bumped down the city’s list of priorities every construction season since it was approved in 2010. This...
Hell-bent on development, Canada Post, and E-voting: council recap, August 5, 2014 meeting
Tuesday’s council meeting proceeded more or less as I predicted in the council preview, with the following exceptions and issues of note: Hell-bent on development Boy was I ever wrong. Monday, I predicted that council would concur with a staff recommendation to deny the development of a seven-storey, 75-unit apartment building on the old St. Theresa...
New Access-A-Buses, Linden Lea duck pond, giving non-citizens the right to vote: Council preview, August 5, 2014 meeting
Halifax city council meets Tuesday for the third week in a row. The unusual back-to-back meetings allow councillors to take the next four weeks off, so Tuesday’s will be the last council meeting until September 9. The meeting starts at 1pm, and I’ll be live-blogging it via the Examiner’s @hfxExaminer Twitter account. Tenders Council will...
The Forum is saved: City council recap, July 29, 2014 meeting
The take away news from yesterday’s council meeting is that the Forum and Centennial Arenas were saved, a new Dartmouth 4-pad arena will be constructed, and four other single ice pad arenas will be closed: Lebrun, Devonshire, Gray, and Bowles. But before getting into those specifics, the whys and the wherefores, let’s step back and...
Eastern passage development, Khyber & Forum: Halifax council preview, July 29, 2014 meeting
Money Dexter construction awards I’ve been keeping an on-going chronicle of tenders awarded to Dexter Construction. I am not implying that there is anything improper in these awards, but rather I’m just pointing out how very much public money they receive, far more than any other company. This week $1,122,638.79 for the replacement of curbs...
Review of investigation into Holly Bartlett’s death criticizes Halifax police actions
A review of the Halifax police investigation into the death of Holly Bartlett finds that “based on the evidence presented to the reviewers,” her death was accidental. The report, however, goes on to fault the police department’s investigation, noting that the investigating officers jumped to a conclusion early on, before collecting all the evidence, and then kept...
Mainland Common may be solution to Africville dog park kerfuffle
昨晚开始,局势十分紧张的s public consultation over how to replace the Africville dog park, but as the meeting progressed dog owners and city staff seemed to zero in on a possible solution agreeable to all: A new, large and fenced dog park at the Mainland Common. To back up, former residents...
Developer fees and unwarranted secrecy: Halifax council recap, July 22, 2014 meeting
Tuesday’s council meeting was lengthy, going long into the evening. Most of the items were resolved as expected, and as I outlined Monday in the council preview. The exceptions and additions are below. Developer fees Council discussed the “Capital Cost Contributions”—CCCs for short, which are fees to be charged to developers—for about two hours. The...