Skye Halifax vote will send clear signal about downtown vision
Posted Feb 21, 2012 06:39:58 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The head of the Downtown Business Commission in Halifax says any vote on the ‘Skye Halifax’ development today will send a clear message about the city’s vision for the downtown core.
A report going to regional council on Tuesday says the twin 48-storey towers should not be approved, in part because they are far taller than the maximum height regulations currently allow.
The report says making an exception to height regulations set out under HRM by Design will create uncertainty about the municipality’s commitment to the planning document.
DBC executive director Paul MacKinnon tells News 95.7 that means more than just one development is hinging on today’s debate.
“What they’re proposing is exceeding the maximum height set by HRM by Design by 20 storeys or more,” he said. “So it really would set a new precedent, both in terms of flexibility in the new plan, as well as the height and the way it would look in the city at all.”
Under HRM by Design, new developments must demonstrate significant social, cultural and economic benefits to residents of both the immediate area and the municipality.
Speaking on News 95.7’s Maritime Morning Saturday, United Gulf vice-president of operations Patrick Leroy says the new development is designed specifically to appeal to young professionals and first-time homeowners who would be drawn to condo-style living. He says it could play a significant role in revitalizing the downtown core.
“This is a 350 million dollar development,” he said. “It will help restore retail opportunities and reintroduce that residential aspect to the downtown area and reverse the negative trend of people moving to the periphery.”
MacKinnon says there’s no question that on paper, United Gulf’s plan will help achieve a critical urban planning goal for HRM: it will increase population density on the peninsula and bring homeowners in from the suburbs.
“That’s going to reduce traffic congestion, it’s going to reduce greehouse gas emissions, it’s going to create an enviornment where the more people we have living downtown, the more will want to live here,” he said. “There’s this virtuous cycle of having more residents downtown, and especially residents that might be working downtown and playing downtown, that trickles down and supports the retail that’s here.”
MacKinnon points out that today’s discussion won’t be a final approval or rejection of the Skye Halifax development, but rather a debate on whether the project has enough merit to consider a significant amendment of the municipal height restrictions.
He says the revitalization of the downtown core is an ongoing concern that’s sure to factor into any decision.
“What council really has to wrestle with is, are they willing to be flexible with a plan that they just appoved of a couple of years ago and respond to changing market conditions,” he said.
United Gulf originally obtained a development permit for two 27-storey towers, known as the “Twisted Sisters,” to be built on the former TexPark site on Granville Street. The height of the buildings generated controversy from heritage advocates, who appealed – unsuccessfully – to the Utility and Review Board to have the permit denied.
However, the permit lapsed in 2010, and United Gulf responded with the proposal for Skye Halifax.
