Port Wallace

October 18, 2021

Background

The Regional Plan identifies Port Wallace as a potential future growth area—a new community to be serviced with municipal sewer and water services.

Regional Council initiated a planning process for the area in 2014. A new community will be designed and the servicing needs and boundaries for services determined. Once the overall design is completed, Regional Council will consider detailed policies and regulations pertaining to land use, layout, density, open space and other community amenities. All of this new information will be presented in a document known as a secondary planning strategy. A secondary planning strategy must be approved by Regional Council in order to become law.

Public Participation

Community engagement is an important part of the planning process. Regional Council appointed members of the Port Wallace Public Participation Committee in 2014 to oversee public engagement and to make recommendations regarding the secondary planning strategy. The committee meets on an ad-hoc basis. The meetings are open to the public and the agendas are posted ahead of time.

Since the planning process began in 2014, two community meetings and two community workshop have taken place.

The first community information meeting on June 5, 2014, at the Port Wallis United Church, included a staff presentation [PDF] about the planning process followed by a question and answer period. Meeting notes summarize what took place.

A Community Planning Workshop was held on June 11, 2014, at the Stevens Road United Baptist Church. The community was provided with a map of the planning area and an opportunity to meet with the consultants for the property owners. Residents provided their input on significant environmental, cultural and heritage features in the area and this input was captured in the notes from the community workshop [PDF].

At a public meeting held on May 26, 2016, a Land Suitability Analysis report and a Baseline Infrastructure Analysis report were presented. Two presentations explained these reports to the community (Land Suitability Assessment Report Presentation [PDF] and Baseline Transportation Infrastructure Report Presentation [PDF])

An open house/public meeting was held on November 3, 2016. Alternative development proposals were presented for two land parcels—a 53-acre parcel and a 500-acre parcel, located on the east side of Lake Charles, between Waverley Road and Highway 107. Planning staff also presented draft design guidelines for Port Wallace.

The opportunity for public submissions on the development proposals remains open. Comments received are shared with the Port Wallace Public Participation Committee at their meetings.

Background Work:

A series of studies, reports and information have been prepared to support and inform the planning process and are available at:

Port Wallace Documents

What is the status of the Port Wallace project?

The Port Wallace project is an active project and work is currently underway completing background research, working with the Port Wallace Public Participation Committee to develop draft policies and continued work on the costing of infrastructure and the development of a Capital Cost Charge program. After the drafting of policy is completed further public consultation will take place.

On October 18, 2021, a staff report will be tabled with Halifax Regional Council regarding the Port Wallace Secondary Planning Process. The report will provide an environmental update and a revised work plan. View a copy of the staff report.

Port Wallace Community Public Participation Committee (PPC)

Up to eight citizens serve as members of this committee. North West Community Council and Harbour East – Marine Drive Community Council each recommend four citizens to Regional Council for appointment. More detail about the committee’s role can be found in the Terms of Reference [PDF].