Our eighth council meeting of the year was held on Tuesday, 29 April. As I learn the cadence of the council calendar I now know that this period after the budget passes is often a 3-week gap in council meetings. It’s a much-needed opportunity to catch up on a backlog of work and/or take time with family for councillors. The full meeting agenda, reports and video recording are linked below.
Halifax Regional Council – April 29, 2025
Items directly concerning Halifax South Downtown are discussed below.
Item 12.1 Case 21402 – Update to the Development Controls along the Sackville and Little Sackville River Floodplains
“Motion:
That Halifax Regional Council:
1. Adopt the proposed amendments to the Regional Municipal Planning Strategy as set out in Attachment A of the staff report dated December 23, 2024; and
2. Adopt the proposed amendments to the Secondary Municipal Planning Strategies and Land Use By-laws for Beaver Bank, Hammonds Plains, and Upper Sackville, Bedford, Sackville and Sackville Drive as set out in Attachments B1 to B4 and Attachments C1 to C4 of the staff report dated December 23, 2024.”
I’m including this item in our district update as residents living near the grain elevator are facing similar possible rezoning issues as the people living and working on these floodplains (967 properties affected). We are not as far along in the process of considering rezoning for properties near the grain elevator. Staff are now considering resident feedback before writing a report and requesting of council to proceed to a first reading of “Case 2023-01495: Amendments to the Regional Centre Secondary Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law to Implement the Halifax Grain Elevator Land Use Risk Assessment Study Recommendations”.
Case 2023-01495 – Halifax Grain Elevator | Shape Your City Halifax
This motion passed unanimously.
Item 15.1.3 2025-26 Events East Business Plan – Halifax Convention Centre
“Motion:
That Halifax Regional Council approve the 2025-26 Events East Business Plan for the Halifax Convention Centre Corporation, submitted to the Municipality on March 31, 2025, as set out in Attachment 2 of the March 31, 2025 staff report.”
This motion was pulled off the consent agenda by Councillor Cleary. A background on the unique tax reserve set up and a demonstration of the improving financial situation of the Convention Centre ensued. It seems we are at a break-even point as far as the tax reserve covering the Convention Centre costs, but the property taxes paid are not yet in a surplus situation beyond the reserve cap to be able to fund other municipal services. Staff will circulate more details on the tax reserve numbers to council.
The motion passed unanimously.
Item 15.2.3 Councillor White – Downtown Halifax Vision 2030
“Motion:
That Halifax Regional Council direct the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) to provide a staff report that includes
- An assessment of the Halifax Downtown Business Commission’s Downtown Halifax Vision 2030 plan to determine how it aligns with current Municipal priorities; and
- An implementation plan along with an accountability structure to help guide the completion of the Municipal components of the plan.”
Paul MacKinnon, Ashwin Kutty & Jayme Lynn Butt were in attendance to present the Downtown Halifax Vision 2030 to the full council (Item 13.3.1) after first presenting it to multiple community councils and CPED in January. The DHBC launched their vision on a hot day at Queens Marque last June. The vision was compiled through consultation with hundreds of stakeholders and will require financial support from three orders of government to fully implement. I anticipate that our willingness to pass this motion will inspire the Provincial and Federal governments to continue to invest in our downtowns. This motion starts that process within HRM but does not commit to advance or fund any specific initiation at this time. The motion was split into two items as some councillors felt that it was premature at this time to commit to an implementation plan. The CAO clarified that a suite of options will be presented to council as possible paths forward.
Item 1 passed unanimously.
Item 2 passed 13-3. I voted Yes.