E-News February 2019

News:

Chadwick Street Redesign: I have been very keen when looking at the road recapitalization budget in District 5 each year to see what improvements can be made to our streets. Recapitalization is more than just a skim coat of paving over top of the potholes. It’s a total rebuild that takes a street down to the gravel and often includes work on the curbs, sidewalks, and water/sewer pipes. It’s as close as you get to starting from scratch. Since a recapitalization project takes a street back to basics, it’s a great opportunity to think about how we can make it safer through design changes. This usually means thinking about pedestrians, transit riders, and cyclists, because the dominant planning ideology of the Post World War Two era really only prioritized cars. So far, results of this lens in District 5 has produced the improved crosswalk on Prince Albert Road in front of the Mic Mac Aquatic Club, the extended sidewalk on Sinclair Street, a potential redesign of the widest section of Prince Albert Road, and new active transportation greenways in the Woodside Industrial Park to connect the ferry terminal to the existing paths at Mount Hope.

On this coming year’s paving list is Chadwick Street in North Woodside. Chadwick Street is an old street that was built during an era when sidewalks weren’t always included on residential streets. This is a particularly worrisome problem on Chadwick because there is a sharp corner near the intersection with Pleasant and, then halfway up the street, there is a blind-crest hill. The steep elevation on one side of the street and the drop-off on the other side combined with homes being very close to the property lines means that the only place for pedestrians to walk is in the street. Sharing space with cars in a 50 km/hr zone with reduced visibility isn’t the safest place to be, but the street’s design leaves people with no other choice. I have visited Chadwick dozens of times over the last year in prep for this recapitalization project (twice with HRM staff) and it makes me cringe seeing kids walking home on Chadwick’s blind-crest hill. It’s definitely not a complete street that takes pedestrians into account.

In the past, a sidewalk wasn’t pursued on Chadwick because the disruption to people’s homes and the need to build retaining walls made it impractical. All the reasons that put pedestrians into the street are the same reasons that the municipality didn’t build a sidewalk. Well times have changed. I’m pleased to share that HRM is looking at adding a sidewalk to one side of Chadwick Street as part of the recapitalization project this year. What’s different now that makes it feasible is the municipality is no longer solely focussed on cars and is willing to narrow the road to make up the space. The sidewalk isn’t going to be built by pushing the curb out, it’s going to be built by reclaiming some of the currently paved roadway. The resulting sidewalk won’t be buffered from the street with a grass verge (there isn’t enough space for that), but pedestrians and cars will no longer have to share space. It would also likely slow traffic since the street will be narrower. In total, Chadwick and Glenview would go from their current width, which varies between 9.1 and 9.7 meters, to a consistent 7.0 meters.

The one downside to the planned sidewalk is that parking will have to be restricted to one-side of the street only. I have been to Chadwick over a dozen times, at all times of day, throughout the year to try and get a first-hand feel for how big an issue this might be. The main parking issue in North Woodside is overflow parking from NSCC. While a lot of NSCC students do park on the lower half of Renfrew, Chadwick sees much less because it’s one block farther away. The maximum number of cars I counted parked on Chadwick, from end-to-end, during my repeated visits was 12. For a street that’s just over half a kilometer long, 12 cars doesn’t seem like a reason to not make the place safer for everyone on foot. This will be a change to the street, but I think it’s a change for the better that’ll make for a much safer neighbourhood for everyone.

HRM is holding an information session for residents on Chadwick Street this Friday, February 8 at the North Woodside Community Centre. Staff will be on hand from noon to 2:00 and again from 6:00 to 8:00 to answer any questions and collect feedback.

Sportsplex: The new Zatzman Sportsplex will be opening this month! In preparation for opening fully at the end of February, the Sportsplex will be offering free tours Feb 11 – 16. The Sportsplex will also open, free of charge, on Heritage Day, February 18. Heritage Day will be the public’s first chance to try out everything that the new Sportsplex has to offer. On Heritage Day, and during the various tours, staff will be on hand to answer questions, and explain how things work. Also watch for the unveiling of the new public art that graces the Sportsplex’s new welcome lobby tomorrow night, Wednesday, February 6. The art is the work of Jordan Bennett. You can see some of Bennett’s past works on his website here and I’m confident, based on the etchings in the glass at the Sportsplex, that the main work will be impressive. Hours for the tours are listed below.

Monday, Feb. 11                    10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 12                     4:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Feb. 13               10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 14                    4:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 15                          6:30 a.m. – noon
Saturday, Feb. 16                     10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Port Plan: After a lot of political turmoil, the Halifax Port Authority’s long discussed Port Plan is beginning to see the light of day. I was able to attend the Port’s annual luncheon the other week where they publicly revealed more details of the plan that they’ve been working on. The Port is really important to HRM. It’s responsible for 12,000 or so jobs and is an essential part of our economy. The key thing to remember is that Halifax is an optional port of call. The vast majority of containers offloaded here are put onto trains and whisked off to the Mid-West. Our domestic market is small and most ships that dock here could dock elsewhere.

The shipping world is changing rapidly and ships are getting bigger. To remain competitive, the Port needs to be able to berth two ultra class ships (vessels that carry more than 10,000 containers) at the same time. The Port can currently berth one, not two. Since we’re an optional port of call, if we don’t have the effective capacity to handle the big ships, we will increasingly lose out on continental trade to competitors such as New York, Norfolk, and Savannah. The Port has identified that the best approach is to temporarily expand Halterm south to ensure that the Port can quickly generate the capacity to handle two ultra class ships at once. At the same time, the Port will continue to plan for a permanent second ultra class berth by filling in the piers between the grain elevator and Halterm.

While much has been made of potentially moving the Port to the old refinery lands on the Dartmouth side of the harbour, the analysis is that this isn’t a viable approach for addressing the Port’s current challenges or a good long-term investment. Moving to Dartmouth would require building a new railway line overland because the existing waterfront tracks have too many crossings. The length of trains that would come and go from a Dartmouth Port could be kilometers long, which would have a very negative impact on life in Downtown Dartmouth. Besides the need for a new rail line, the land in Woodside would need to be leveled and the harbour dredged. The all in cost for just the port infrastructure would be $1.4 billion, meaning the cost would be well over $2 billion once you factor in the new railway line. A move to Dartmouth would be a mega-project that would likely take at least a decade or two to complete. The cost and the time needed to move to Dartmouth makes that option unattractive.

The Port Authority did look at whether redeveloping the Port lands on the Halifax side would offset the cost of moving to Dartmouth, but it really doesn’t change the conclusion. Redeveloping the Port’s South End lands wouldn’t be all profit, it would come with its own costs that would have to be paid. More importantly though, there isn’t enough demand to absorb a block of land that big in any kind of reasonable time frame. Consider the pace of redevelopment at King’s Wharf in Dartmouth or the 10 years it could take to build out the Cogswell, both of which are much smaller sites. Both King’s Wharf and Cogswell would be small projects in comparison to redeveloping the South End Port lands. Redeveloping the Port would take many decades and it’s not like we’re lacking for development opportunities in the core. The Centre Plan already identifies that there is enough land to meet the expected growth in the urban core over the next 25 years without even redeveloping all our existing opportunity sites such as Kempt Road or Dartmouth North around Shannon Park. We simply don’t need the giant glut of lands that the Port currently occupies to meet our planning goals. Moving the Port to Dartmouth would cost billions upfront to free up lands for redevelopment that we don’t actually need and that would take decades to put to some other use. It’s an idea that has some instinctive appeal, but on closer analysis, it really doesn’t make much sense.

One final note on the Port’s plan, one advantage of being an optional port with a small local market is that the arrival of larger vessels really won’t put more trucks onto our streets. The type of cargo that the Port is going after will arrive in Halifax, get loaded onto a train, and then depart for the interior of North America without ever touching Lower Water Street. The truck traffic we have now is primarily local traffic serving our domestic market and that traffic won’t change much because Atlantic Canada’s economy is really not growing significantly. Bigger ships at the Port don’t mean more trucks rumbling through Downtown Halifax. As part of their long-term plan, the Port is considering building a new intermodal yard, which would be connected by rail to the Port and would handle the shuffling of cargo to local trucks. This would eliminate truck traffic from Downtown Halifax.

You can read more about the Port’s plans on their website here.

Tactile Plates: You might have noticed new tactile plates popping up around intersections and crosswalks in HRM as sidewalks and curbs are replaced. The tacticle plates are now standard for HRM at all pedestrian crossings and are designed to make it easier for people with visual impairments to navigate. I have received two complaints about the quality of the newly installed plates. People have pointed out that they’re rusty already. This actually isn’t a reflection on their durability or quality, they’re performing exactly as expected. The plates are made of cast-iron and after installation, a layer of rust will form, which will then fade to a greenish/brown colour. The rusty plates are not defective, the rust was expected and is temporary.

Common: A short note on the Dartmouth Common, which has been a source of a few winter complaints this year. The New Years storm left a layer of frozen ice that took staff days to clear, generating a fair number of complaints. The reason the Common was in such bad shape for several days is because it’s a Park and, as a result, the path’s are the bottom of the priority list. The Common is tended too once work on the sidewalks is largely complete. That’s not normally a big issue, except for in situations like that first week of January when snow and ice kept crews busy clearing sidewalks for days, leaving everyone who cuts through the Common to fend for themselves. I’m pleased to share that at least one route through the Common, the newly paved active transportation trail from Thistle/Wyse to Dahlia Street, has been reclassified as a Priority 2. Since this section of the Common has been designated as an active transportation route, it will be cleared within 18 hours of the end of the snowfall alongside other Priority 2 routes.

The other complaint from the Common this winter is the removal of the garbage cans. HRM doesn’t provide winter maintenance in most parks and retreiving garbage from the Common can be complicated when the Common is covered in snow and ice. Parks and Rec is also trying to minimize the amount of driving around in Parks that staff do. As a result, a decision was made to remove the garbage cans located in the interior of the Common for the season, which generated a few complaints. HRM hasn’t returned the garbage cans to the centre of the Common, but additional cans have been added to the exits at Tulip Street and Bicentennial. This is a good compromise that ensures there are trashcans still around for folks visiting the Common from the surrounding neighbourhoods, while also ensuring that cans can be easily emptied by HRM staff. So better snow clearing on part of the Common and trash cans returned.

Woodside Dome: In other local curiosities, a number of people have asked me what that giant white dome is that has popped up next to the old Bowles Arena in the Woodside Industrial Park. The dome is the future indoor field space for a private athletic school, East Coast Varsity. East Coast Varsity purchased the Bowles from HRM as well as the adjacent vacant lot where the dome has been erected. Both the dome and the Bowles will not be used full-time by the private school and will be available for community rentals. The Halifax Sport and Social Club and Dartmouth Whalers, for example, will use both facilities. Between the dome, Bowles, and the Dartmouth Lawn Bowling Club, quite a recreational niche has been developed in North Woodside.

A few people have asked me how the Dome sprang up with no notice or public process when it’s such a considerable structure. The dome is located on land that’s zoned industrial and industrial zoning is very permissive. The dome has definitely changed the view for a few households on Renfrew Street, but it fit all the as-of-right requirements in the industrial zone, so there was no need for Council approval. The owners simply went down to City Hall and got their building permit. Such are the rules around industrial sites.

Community Grants: It’s the time of year for applications to HRM’s largest non-profit program, Community Grants. Non-profits can receive funding of up to $5,000 for a project grant or up to $25,000 for a capital grant. Funding is awarded by category: (1) arts and crafts, (2) diversity and inclusion, (3) environment, (4) emergency assistance and neighbourhood safety, (5) history, (6) housing, (7) leisure, and (8) recreation. Recipients from 2018 in District 5 included the Dartmouth District Pipe Band, MacPhee Centre, Easter Seals, Banook Canoe Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters, St. George’s Tennis Club, and the Mic Mac Amateur Aquatic Club. I would encourage all non-profits to take a look at the Community Grants program. It’s money that will be awarded to someone, why not you? You can checkout the eligibility criteria in the program booklet online on the municipal grants page here. Community Grant applications are due on March 31.

Camp Courage Applications: Young women across the municipality are encouraged to apply for a spot in Camp Courage, this summer’s unique all-girls first responder camp. Camp Courage is an eight-day female mentoring camp that brings together 24 teens between the ages of 15-19, who are curious about a career as a firefighter, police officer, or paramedic. The award-winning camp is held every second year and shows teens they too can excel in these traditionally male-dominated professions. More than 60 camp graduates have moved into careers as a first responder since the camp was founded 13 years ago. Many credit Camp Courage for showing them the path to become a firefighter, police officer, or paramedic. While the one-of-a-kind camp shows girls what it takes to be a first responder, the ultimate goal is for the young women to develop a sense of empowerment and build the confidence to believe they can achieve any goal, career, or dream they desire.

The camp is free but applicants must write an essay describing how they would improve a less fortunate person’s life, or their community. Applications for the July 7-14 camp are due on March 31. For more information on the camp and how to apply, visit the camp website at www.campcourage.ca Click here to see the camp’s wall of fame.

Public Consultation:

Municipal Budget 2019/2020: As I have covered in a few of my recent Council summaries and December’s e-news, HRM’s budget process for the upcoming fiscal year is underway. Council set a range for the tax increase’s out-of-pocket bill for the average homeowner of between 1.9% and 2.9%. We’re about halfway through our departmental presentations and, as I expected, it appears unlikely that we’ll be able to keep the tax increase at under 2.0%. This is because wages and fuel have risen by more than 1.9%, HRM has held the line aggressively on taxes over the last several years meaning the easy cuts have already been made, and because commercial assessments aren’t increasing rapidly. The options to stay in that narrow 1.9% envelope are too painful (eliminating programs, letting go of police and firefighters, etc).

As the various department’s have presented to Council, each one has identified what they’ve had to do without to get to 1.9%. Council then has the opportunity to move items that we would like to take a second look at at the end of the budget process to the options list, aka the “parking lot.” The idea is that once all the presentations are complete, Council will go through the options list to decide, which items we want to fund or what additional spending reductions we want to make. When we get to that step, we’ll have been through every department’s budget and will have the complete picture of what the implications are in terms of taxes and services in their entirety. It’s a long, but detailed process.

As part of each department’s presentation, there is an opportunity for members of the public to address Council. This is pretty much the only opportunity the public has to speak directly to Regional Council as a whole on a fairly broad range of topics. The schedule for upcoming presentations (subject to change) are as follows so circle your calendar if there is a budget matter you want to share with Council. This week, Parks and Rec, Library, Planning and the Fire Department will all appear before Council.

Date	Department
Feb 6	Parks and Recreation Library Planning and Development
Feb 8	Fire Department
Feb 13	Fiscal and Consolidated Accounts Budget Adjustment List (parking lot review)
April 2	Full budget review

358-364 Portland Street Development
February 21, 7:00 – 9:00 pm
South End Baptist Church, 60 Hastings Drive
A public information meeting will take place on February 21 concerning a proposed redevelopment of vacant lands across from Canadian Recycling on Portland Street (on the Rodney Road – Prince Arthur block). The developer is proposing two, six storey residential buildings with ground floor commercial space, plus one four storey building setback from the street behind the other two buildings. The front properties are zoned C2, which permits apartments via a development agreement. The rear lot where the four storey building is proposed is zoned R2, which would need to be rezoned to R4. This section of Portland Street has been identified as growth corridor under the upcoming Centre Plan, which the current draft would allow a height of 20 meters (approximately 5-6 storeys). The Centre Plan isn’t in place yet though, and the developer has opted to proceed under the existing rules. For more information, checkout the planning department page for this project here.

Northbrook Park Project
March 5, 7:00 – 8:30 pm
Alderney Gate, Harbour East Council Room
While HRM is still finalizing the budget for this year, one of the potential projects in the mix is a refresh of Northbrook Park, something that is sorely needed. The park hasn’t seen a major reinvestment in sometime. Besides the dead poplars, the park’s lighting doesn’t work, benches have rotted away, and the playground is at the end of its life. In preparation for rethinking Northbrook Park, HRM will be holding a public meeting at Alderney Gate on March 5 in the Harbour East Council Room (just off the escalators opposite the library). The Parks planner who will be leading this project will be there. All are welcome to attend and offer up suggestions and feedback about what you would like to see in Northbrook Park.

 

Council Updates:

To keep you better informed about what is going on at Council, I’m writing a regular blog after each meeting. Each of my entries is about what I saw as noteworthy from a District 5 perspective and my views on the issues. We might not always agree, but I think it’s important to provide a record of how I voted and why.

Council Update January 29
Budget deliberations on transit and HRM’s capital plan, plus climate change, park naturalization, snow standards. Read about it here

 

Events:

Cellular Expressions – Maria Doering
Craig Gallery, Alderney Landing
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 7, 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Artist Talk: Saturday, February 9th, 2:00 pm (Snow Date, February 16th)
Inspired by imagery of cells and the body’s interior, I let my imagination run wild in this series of pen and ink works on paper. These pieces have evolved along side several of my other bodies of work where I explore our internal landscape over the last 6 years. Could we accredit to our cells more than just bodily functions? What would personality traits and emotions look like in cellular form. Cellular Expressions started as a direct experimental approach to what I like to think of as imagining the “creative cell.” If human creativity could be seen at cellular levels, what would this inspired microscopic world look like.

Downtown Dartmouth Ice Festival
Saturday, February 9, 3:00 – 7:00 pm
Portland, Prince and King’s Wharf, Downtown Dartmouth
The winter can be a dreary off-season, particularly February. This February, the Downtown Dartmouth Business Commission and the United Way have partnered to try something new: an ice sculpture festival. Come to Downtown Dartmouth for free activities for all-ages as artist carve up over a dozen giant blocks of ice. Music and entertainment, food and drink, and a street closure on Prince. Musical artist will be the Big Sing, Jody Upshaw, and Scott Saccary of Downtown Dartmouth’s own New Scotland brewery and clothing stores. A heartwarming celebration of local love in support of United Way. More details at: here

Potluck Supper
Saturday, February 9, 5:30 pm
St. James United Church Hall, 151 Portland Street
Bring your favourite food to St. James any time after 3:00 pm for a 5:30 potluck. Enjoy all the festivities at the Downtown Dartmouth Ice Festival and return to the Church Hall for a delicious community potluck supper. All are welcome!

Grease – Reel Family Movie Night
Thursday, February 14, 7:00 pm
Alderney Landing Theatre, 2 Ochterloney Street
Alderney’s new family movie nights in the theatre returns on valentines day in February. Get your free golden ticket starting 10 days before February 14^th. Please present ticket at door the night of the showing. Concessions will be open at 6:00 pm with hot dogs, popcorn, candy, and a full bar, and Grease costumes are more than welcome!

Pleasant Woodside Neighbourhood Association Open House
Monday, February 11, 6:00 -8:00 pm
Woodside Beverage Room & Grill, 209 Pleasant Street
Join the Pleasant Woodside Neighbourhood Association for an evening drop in to chat and share what is going on in our neighbourhood. Children welcome. Table discussions are possible for things people want to focus on including ongoing PWNA projects. Suggestions welcome.

Grease – Reel Family Movie Night
Thursday, February 14, 7:00 pm
Alderney Landing Theatre, 2 Ochterloney Street
Alderney’s new family movie nights in the theatre returns on valentines day in February. Get your free golden ticket starting 10 days before February 14^th. Please present ticket at door the night of the showing. Concessions will be open at 6:00 pm with hot dogs, popcorn, candy, and a full bar, and Grease costumes are more than welcome!

Zatzman Sportsplex Heritage Day Open House
Monday, February 18, 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Zatzman Sportsplex, 110 Wyse Road
The Zatzman Sportsplex is opening to the public for Heritage Day. Come experience everything the newly renovated  Sportsplex has to offer! Come swim, skate, play, and work out. Staff will be on-site in all sections of the new facility to demonstrate how things work, tell you about upcoming programs, camps, and more, and give you an opportunity to try things out. Staff will also be available to answer your questions, demonstrate how things work, and show off all the facility’s new features during guided tours on the following dates (note these are tours only):

Monday, Feb. 11                    10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 12                     4:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 13               10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 14                    4:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 15                          6:30 a.m. – noon
Saturday, Feb. 16                     10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Live Reading from Mark Twain’s Complete Short Stories
Thursday, February 21, 12:30 – 1:00 pm
Dartmouth Seniors Service Centre, 45 Ochterloney Street
Join the Dartmouth Senior’s Service Centre for lunch for a live reading of stories from “Mark Twain: Complete Short Stories”. Shawn from Halifax Public Libraries will be the guest reader.

Evergreen Concert Series – Vol.1
Saturday, February 23, 3:30 – 7:00 pm
Dartmouth Heritage Museum, 26 Newcastle Street
Tickets $26.50 via Eventbrite
The first of a concert series showcasing roots music from around the world, held in the historic home of folklorist Helen Creighton.  Featuring Mary Beth Carty (NS), Spitzer Space Telescope (Chicago), and Mohammad Sahraei (NS/Iran). For futher information, visit the Dartmouth Heritage Museum website here or call 902-464-2300.