Category Archives: ACTIVITIES

Fun things to do – Jane’s Walks etc.

Be Neighbourly, CBC-YMCA Is Already Twice the Allowed Height (7 vs. 14+ storeys)

CBC YMCA site got broke HRMbyDesign rules

The CBC YMCA development broke HRMbyDesign rules when the height was doubled from 7 to +14-storeys. The Design Review Committee chair, Alan Parish resigned because the Mayor and council ignored the DRC recommendations to not approve the building.

Is development polarizing Halifax because developers always want and get more? A Jan 10 CBC response article correctly points out the FHC position that city staff should be applauded, not bashed for turning down the requset for 14 more amendments from the CBC-Y site developer, Mr Spatz. His development is already d ouble what’s permitted under HRMbyDesign regulations. Its +14-storeys (49m) not the allowed 7-storeys (23m). That permission was despite the 2011 Design Review Committee Report that recommended against the development because it broke the new 2009 HRMbyDesign regulations. The DRC chair Mr. Alan Parish resigned as a result of their recommendation being ignored. A 2012 FHC Letter details rules that are broken.

The Design Review Committee seems like their agenda is too full to understand the implications of their decisions. The Thursday, January 14th meeting will cover three big items including the CBC-YMCA, Brenton Street and Doyle Block the View from the library proposals. One meeting is hardly enough time to really think about what kind of city we’re going to end up with.

Concerned?
Write to:
The Design Review Committee
c/o Sherryll Murphy – murphysh@halifax.ca and
Mayor Savage – mayor@halifax.ca.

Come for a Walk on the Common Link – October 24, 2015

You are invited by the recently formed Common Link Association to join us for a walk along a newly proposed ‘Common Link.’ This route is designed to connect the green spaces and blue vistas through the heart of Halifax. Please come and support our efforts to create and promote a continuous, easy-access loop through the existing trails within the Halifax Common (including Victoria Park, the Public Gardens and North Common) as well as the Citadel. This walk is free and open to all. Bring friends.

A greenway in the heart of the city.

When? 10 am Saturday, Oct 24th, 2015
Rain date: 10 am Sunday, Oct 25th, 2015
Where? Victoria Park at Spring Garden Road/South Park St. by Robbie Burns Statue Statue.
Why? To enjoy and promote the creation of The Common Link, a continuous loop trail.
Who? Walking enthusiasts and all others who are interested.
How long? Approximately 1.5h.

Membership: Should you wish to be a part of the initiative to develop The Common Link you are invited to start the process by becoming a Common Link Association member.
Please RSVP if you plan to join us, by sending an email to info@halifaxcommon.ca and writing ‘CONFIRMED’ in the subject line so we know numbers in advance.

Residents say Armoyen’s 29-storeys is too tall for neighbourhood

It’s Deja view!
A 29-storey tower one of two developments proposed at the corner of Robie & Quinpool, next to the Halifax Common and residential neighbourhoods west of Robie Street is too high according to 80+ attending a Sept 17th public meeting. At just 20′ shorter than Fenwick Tower the building is potentially the second tallest building in Halifax but proposed for a site presently restricted to 145′. Of 20+ citizens speaking only one person, representing the Quinpool Business Commission supported the proposal. See CBC’s Coverage of the Public Meeting

Shadows, Feb 15

View the developer’s drawings

Visit the Willow Tree Group website for a critical evaluation of these two projects.
Follow the Willow Tree Group on Twitter

St Pat’s High School Property – Public Meeting- Wed. Jul. 22

There’s a public open house to review and comment on three preliminary design options for St Pat’s High School on Wed., July 22, 6:30 – 9 p.m., Halifax Forum, Multi-Purpose Room

Why is the public meeting on such short notice and in the middle of vacation season?

Can’t make it?
Ask questions or make comments at: https://shapeyourcityhalifax.ca/quinpool6067.

Our questions? …..
1. Why is this very important public consultation meeting being scheduled on such short notice and in the middle of prime vacation time?

2. What is the urgency to sell and re-develop the St Pat’s high school site with such haste that a final design will be selected by September?

3. This area has many highrise developments being proposed -isn’t their approval and the approval for a St Pat’s project in advance of the Centre Plan precluding what the Centre Plan will be able to do?

4. Halifax has taken 21 years to begin the process of developing an integrated master plan for the Halifax Common. St Pat’s highschool is common land in that it belongs to the public. According to the 2013 Stantec Report commissioned by the city there is adequate land to meet all of our projected population growth for the next twenty years. Why doesn’t the city land bank the St Pat’s site as common land to compensate for the loss of over 200 acres of the Halifax Common’s public open space ?

Jane’s Walk – Freshwater Brook, Halifax Common – Sunday May 3, 11am

The path of Freshwater Brook as commemorated by Friends of Halifax Common for Earth Day 2011

Did you know that Halifax has its own lost river system? Join Jane’s Walk guide, Ben Wedge on the North Common to explore Halifax’s river system and its influence on development patterns in a growing garrison town. After centuries of development burying our beautiful urban streams, cities are rediscovering them and starting to bring them back. Inspired in part by the documentary “Lost Rivers” Halifax Council is debating daylighting Dartmouth’s Sawmill River.
Here is a nice facebook page and previous posts on Freshwater Brook can be found here…This post about HRM’s 2006 daylighting policy for both Sawmill River and Freshwater Brook. This post includes links to excellent essays by Matt Neviille and Sam Austin. Continue reading →

100in1Day – Fun Ideas For Better Public Space

On Saturday, June 7th, 2014, Halifax joined 15 other cities around the world for 100in1Day, a festival of citizen-driven action that showcases people-ideas for a better city.

100in1Day FHC Action

FHC’s “urban intervention” was a fun, low-cost way to showcase a simple idea for a better city – we cleaned a bus shelter and provided it with seating, a route map (we couldn’t find an on-line schedule), a bouquet of flowers, a 100in1Day poster, weekend newspapers and magazines and of course some Celebrate the Common 250 books. Its the second year we’ve done it and we hope it catches on.