HRM Council approved 25 storeys at Quinpool /Robie.
In June HRM Council ignored public opinion and staff advice to vote 10 to 6 in favour of George Armoyen’s 25-storey tower at Robie and Quinpool. The building will degrade the neighbourhood and the Halifax Common. And the decision assures an elite class of developers that democratically derived rules don’t matter to Council. Hear a quick review…
Present rules restrict Armco’s 11-storey building at Robie and Quinpool to its present size to protect the Halifax Common and its neighbourhood.
June 19, 2018
Dear Mayor and Council,
Friends of Halifax Common oppose this proposed 25-storey tower. Further we believe this project is the wrong focus for HRM staff, Council and the public at this time.
FHC has closely followed or participated in the ~ 20 “events” that have led to today’s extra public hearing. These included public information meetings, Peninsula Advisory Committee meetings, a survey, HRM staff reports and supplementary reports, Community Council and Council of the Whole reviews and votes and scheduled, cancelled and re-scheduled public hearings. FHC’s major review and request for a new comprehensive staff report submitted in May 2017 has been ignored.
This project’s consumption of HRM staff and Mayor and council resources paid for by the public tax dollar has all been to ensure that the desired profit of an unsolicited project owned by a single developer can be met and has proceeded without disclosure of any business case or financial evidence.
The proposed tower should not be considered for many reasons.
Ad hoc decision making that gives preferential treatment to individual developers instead of balancing it with the public interest is not the way to plan for the future of our city.
In 1994 the City of Halifax adopted the Halifax Common Plan which was the outcome of a public consultation process stemming from citizen frustration over ad hoc decisions It committed the city to develop a masterplan for the 235 acre Halifax Common in conjunction with overall planning of the city. The long term management plan was to encompass a vision that ensured protection of the Halifax Common and the recapture and the retention of Halifax Common land. Buildings that were meant to return to the Halifax Common included the CBC TV, the QEHS, the Grace Maternity,
It is a problem that HRM is making this decision about this individual developer’s 25-storey project without first following through on its commitment made with the 1994 Halifax Common plan – that is to complete the master plan and to do it within the context of planning for the city. This building and other proposed high rises under the draft Centre Plan and several individual Development Agreement processes in the works will have a huge and negative impact on the Halifax Common with increased wind, traffic, blocking the western sky and in this case a permanent shadow on afternoon skates on the Oval.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if staff resources and council time was focused on planning for our city? What if the priority was not that the owner of APL meets his desired profit but to complete the master plan for the Halifax Common and the draft Centre Plan?
Thank you,
Peggy Cameron
Co-chair, Friends of Halifax Common
May 22, 2018
Dear Mayor and Council,
Re case 18966- 25-storey Armco Project
As members of the Friends of Halifax Common we write to ask that you not proceed with further steps towards approving a 25-storey ARMCO building at the corner of Quinpool and Robie.
We remind you that at the January 16th public hearing was for 20-storeys. At that time there were ~1039 submissions against the 20-storey project and dozens of members of the public who spoke against the development at that meeting and previous meetings. Just prior to the public hearing an independent Corporate Research Associate poll indicated that the majority of HRM residents (52%) supported 16-storeys or less with 1/10 of those surveyed supporting the 25-storey option.
We ask that you respect your own on-going planning processes; for the Centre Plan; and for the Masterplan for the Halifax Common. These processes ensure that an integrated plan is developed with a balance of benefits.
We remind you that a few affordable housing units is not a sufficient trade for how much the public is being asked to give up for this project. The residents of the adjacent Parker Street will have their affordable housing units sadly degraded if this project proceeds. The Halifax Common will be affected by winds that degrade the experience of recreational users of the fields. There will be a permanent afternoon shadow during winter skates on the Oval.
Please seek a balance of benefits and turn down this 25-storey option.
Your truly,
Friends of Halifax Common
The Halifax Common grant in 1763 was for 235 acres ” to and for the use of the inhabitants of the town of Halifax as Common, forever.” This entire area is to be considered for planning purposes as per the 1994 Halifax Common Plan.
Dear HRM Mayor and Council
Re: Request to postpone decision on Private-for-profit stadium on Halifax Common’s Wanderers’ Grounds until completion of on-going Halifax Common Master Plan Consultation.
Presently HRM is in the midst of a public consultations for the Halifax Common’s Master-plan, a process which began in the December 2017. The consultant team, Upland Studios, CoLab and HTFC, are undertaking a range of opportunities for public feedback to help inform the creation of the Halifax Common Plan as per the attached map. In fact, this Wednesday, April 25th, the 3rd of five public consultations will be held.
At present less than 20% of the 235-acre Halifax Common remains as public open space. The draft Centre Plan intends to add up to 35,000 citizens to the Peninsula but does not plan for additional public green space or parks. We need to keep this important civic space available for public use. Friends of Halifax Common (FHC) therefore requests that the decision to sign a contract for a private pre-fab pop-up stadium on the Wanderers’ Grounds be deferred until the Masterplan is finished. We stress that the Masterplan is for the entire Halifax Common as per the direction of the 1994 Plan (see attached map). Continue reading
The Halifax Common grant in 1763 was for 235 acres ” to and for the use of the inhabitants of the town of Halifax as Common, forever.” Under the 1994 Halifax Common Plan the entire area is to be considered for planning purposes.
At the invitation of the Halifax Master-plan Consultants’ Team FHC reviewed and highlighted Ten Items from the 1994 Halifax Common Plan of Current Significance in creating a New Halifax Master Plan…
1. Recognition that the need for a Plan for the Halifax Common was and is brought about “…partly from concern about the increasing number of changes and demands for use and the need for a plan and additional protection for the Halifax Common.”
2. That the 235 acres of the Halifax Common, originally granted to the people of Halifax by royal decree in 1763 and specifically identified in 1859, must be considered as an entity with varying areas and fully addressed with the new Master Plan, otherwise either the boundary of the Halifax Common should be redrawn or the current planning effort re-named. Continue reading
Two recent articles in Halifax Magazine about the Halifax Common are nicely informative with beautiful photos. “For the Common Good“ by Katie Ingram 
describes FHC’s efforts to have the City honour its 1994 promise to keep the Common’s public open space and recapture its lost open space. This is contrasted with HRM staff’s efforts to help developers such as George Armoyen’s APL with his 20-25 storey building at the Willow Tree and HRM’s council’s support for Derek Martin’s Atlantic Sports & Entertainment’s private 6-7,000 seat pop-up-stadium on the Wanderers’ Grounds. (HRM’s information about shadows is untrue)
“A Tale of Two Commons“ by Heather White compares the Halifax Common with the Boston Common but discovers a history of very different governance, protection, uses and give-aways. Enjoy the read(s)! And thank you to Katie, Heather and Halifax Magazine.