N.S. approves planning changes for Dartmouth Cove, with some amendments

CITYnews halifax / By Mark Hodgins

The provincial government has signed off on the Halifax Regional Municipality’s proposed regional planning changes related to Dartmouth Cove, but with some changes.

Back in October, Halifax councillors voted in favour of restricting infilling at the cove. The changes require approval from the provincial government.

“Staff raised questions around the municipal boundary, jurisdiction and whether the municipality has the authority to make planning decisions in areas like the harbour where development land does not currently exist,” said Municipal Affairs minister John A. MacDonald. “Despite this ambiguity, I’m approving the amendments assuming the municipality can clearly demonstrate they hold the regulatory authority to do so.”

The amendments will require Halifax to show that all parcel identifications numbers in the Dartmouth Cove Special Area lie entirely within municipal boundaries, that the municipality has the authority to regulate infilling in its charter, and that HRM has confirmation from the federal government that the measures do not infringe on federal jurisdiction.

Infilling is the act of dumping material into water to create new land.

The vote followed years of advocacy from residents and the community group Save Dartmouth Cove, which has been working to stop a Nova Scotia numbered company from dumping slate and quarry rock into the harbour.

That company is linked to Atlantic Road Construction and Paving, which has said infilling would be done with material from local excavation projects and that homes could be built on the new land.

With files from Lyndsay Armstrong, The Canadian Press