PLANAPP 2023-01535 - 918 South Bland Street, Halifax

Request

Application by the property owner to enter into a development agreement to enable an addition at the rear of the existing dwelling at 918 South Bland Street, which is located within in the Halifax Grain Elevator Special Area.

Proposal

The applicant wishes to construct an addition to the rear of the existing house. The major aspects of the proposal are as follows:

•    Typically constructing a home addition only requires a building permit and is not required to be advertised to the public. However, this property is located within the Halifax Grain Elevator Special Area in the Regional Centre Plan Area, which applies additional requirements to any residential development. 

•    The Halifax Grain Elevator special area applies to certain properties which are close to the grain elevators located in the south end of the Halifax Peninsula (see Schedule 3F of the Regional Centre Land Use By-law). In general, there are potential public safety risks associated with grain elevator operations. A risk assessment study was requested by Regional Council to determine the extent of any safety risks and the implications on development in the area. 

•    The risk assessment study  has been completed and work to integrate the findings of the report into land use regulations is in progress. As an interim precautionary measure, any new or expanded residential uses within the special area can currently only be permitted through the development agreement process. A development agreement is a legal agreement between a property owner and the Municipality which regulates how a specific property or area can be developed. The development agreement process allows a site-specific review of safety implications related to a proposal and can allow requirements or restrictions to be applied if deemed necessary.

Process

The application will be considered under the process for development agreements.

Status

Staff have completed a detailed review of this proposal as well as a public engagement period. The application is currently in the stage of drafting and reviewing of a staff report and related documents to be considered by Halifax and West Community Council. This page will be updated when the application is added to a Council agenda for a first reading and public hearing.

Documents Submitted for Evaluation

The applicant has submitted plans and studies required by HRM staff to properly evaluate the application. The documents are also available for review at the Planning Applications office in Downtown Dartmouth.