Apartments pitched for Halifax seaside community larger than allowed due to ‘honest error’

An “honest error” allowed two developers to submit proposals for apartment buildings much larger than zoning rules allow in a Halifax seaside neighbourhood, and municipal staff are now considering whether to make an exception for the projects.

The 64-unit and 22-unit buildings are proposed for Main Road in Eastern Passage, a community known for its fishing village and waterfront.

The problem is, there is technically a 12-unit cap on developments in the area.

“There’s some serious gaslighting going on,” said Liana Tilley, who has lived on her property in Eastern Passage for 34 years.

Tilley’s now worried that if allowed to go through, the construction of an apartment building next door will destroy her water well and geothermal heating system.

“If the development goes through and they begin building and they put the two levels of parking down below and if, as my geothermal specialist says, I lose my water table and I have no heat and water, well then that’s my problem,” she said.

Two separate developers were able to bypass the zoning rule and submit proposals during a 10-month period where an error allowed applications to go ahead.

In May 2024, Halifax Regional Council adopted a large set of housing bylaw changes, which inadvertently included the removal of Eastern Passage’s 12-unit density cap.

Municipal staff say that particular move was brought forward for consideration but was never meant to be implemented. The error was corrected in March of this year.

“It was at a time when staff were very much in the throes of the Housing Accelerator funds, the directives that were coming down from the province at us. We were shifting staff around. It’s an error. It’s a honest error,” said Coun. Becky Kent, who represents District 3,  Dartmouth South – Woodside – Eastern Passage.

However, the two proposed developments had been submitted during that 10-month gap, prompting Kent to put forth a motion asking staff to make exceptions for the two projects.

“I felt it was unfair to these two proponents to have gone into making plans for development with good faith within the rules and then to have it suddenly shifted back,” said Kent

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Kent says the cap would remain for all future developments moving forward.

HRM spokesperson, Sarah Brannen, points out the proposed developments are still proposals — and have not received approvals or been granted building permits.

Municipal staff are now looking into the amendment that would be required to make an exception for the two projects. The public engagement period is over, and the application is now in the final review stage. The next step would be the staff report.

Tilley has launched an online petition calling on council to reject the two applications, and it’s already gathered hundreds of signatures.

There are concerns about the impact such large developments on traffic, school enrolment numbers, and the aesthetics of the coastline itself.

She says letting this mistake slide is a slippery slope.

“It sets a precedent. And others will come knocking. They’ll want the same thing. And then the city will be under pressure,” she said.

“It might be a matter of time before everything slides away from us as far as the preservation of the character of this community.”