Case 19281 - 2032-2050 Robie Street, Halifax

Request

Application by Westwood Construction Limited to amend the Halifax Municipal Planning Strategy (MPS) and Halifax Peninsula Land Use By-law (LUB) to permit the application of a development agreement allowing a mixed residential and commercial building at 2032-2050 Robie Street, Halifax.

Proposal

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The applicant is proposing a development consisting of a single 24-storey residential tower inclusive of a 4-storey podium base containing hotel and other commercial uses. The project would consist of 112 residential units, 55,800 square feet of commercial retail space inclusive of 81 hotel rooms within floors 2-4 of the podium. The project would contain 93 underground parking stalls divided between two levels with an additional 13 parking spaces at grade for a total of 106 parking stalls all accessed directly off of Robie Street.

The subject properties are 21,549 square feet in area with approximately 200 feet of street frontage, located on the west side of Robie Street just north of Quinpool Road. The property is primarily designated HDR (High Density Residential) with a small portion at the southern end of the site designated C (Commercial) within the Halifax MPS . The property is primarily zoned R-3 (Multiple Dwelling), with a small portion at the southern end of the site zoned as C-2 (General Business), in the Halifax Peninsula LUB.

NOTE: A proposal is also being considered under Case 18966 at 6009-6017 Quinpool Road, Halifax.

Process

This application is being considered under the municipal planning strategy amendment and land use by-law amendment process.

Status

Regional Council initiated the process at its meeting on June 10, 2014 following consideration of an initiation report presented by staff. This initiation included consideration for plan amendments to both this site as well as the adjacent property at 6009-6017 Quinpool Road under Case 18966.

The initiation by Council further required changes to the original proposal to address the design control principles for building height, mass, density, shadowing, and spacing between towers. The applicant has included some changes from their original proposal (see the initiation report) to include a taller, more slender, tower. The revised plans are provided below.

An Open House was held on October 1, 2014 in order to obtain community feedback on potential policy changes for these sites. Poster Boards from this meeting can be found through the link below.

Municipal Poster Boards from Open House
Applicants Poster Boards

A public information meeting (PIM) was held on Thursday May 21, 2015 to specifically discuss Case 19821. Presentations from the applicant and from Municipal planning staff are as follows.

Presentation from Applicant
Presentation from Municipal Staff

A separate PIM to discuss the proposed development under Case 18966 was held on September 17, 2015.

Both applications were presented to the Districts 7 and 8 Planning Advisory Committee for their review and feedback to staff on January 25, 2016.

Staff are currently completing our review of both applications. Once complete, a report with staff’s recommendation will be presented to Regional Council and Halifax and West Community Council (HWCC). Should Regional Council and HWCC wish to consider approving the proposed development, a public hearing will need to be held. Notice of a public hearing will be published in the Municipal Notices section of the newspaper.

Documents Submitted for Evaluation

The applicant has submitted the plans required by Municipal staff to properly evaluate the application. These materials are available for review at the Planning and Development office in Dartmouth.

Building Drawings - Revised
Shadow Study
Design Rational