Case 22539 - Dunbrack St. & Ruth Goldbloom Dr., Halifax

Request

Application by WM Fares Architects, on behalf of the property owner, requesting amendments to an existing development on lands at the intersection of Dunbrack Street and Ruth Goldbloom Drive, Halifax to allow for the development of a either a 5 storey hotel with minor commercial uses at grade or a five-storey, 76-unit apartment building with commercial uses at grade. 

Proposal

The applicant wishes to amend an existing Stage I and Stage II development agreements to allow for the development of a 5 storey Hotel with minor commercial uses at grade or an apartment building with commercial uses at grade. 

The existing Stage I development agreement designates the site for minor commercial uses (those uses permitted in the C-2A Zone of the Halifax Mainland Land Use By-law and enables a building up to four storeys in height. The existing Stage II development agreement specifies the detailed design for the site and permits a 2-3 storey commercial building

The major aspects of the proposal are as follows:

• Allow a hotel with ground floor minor commercial uses or a multi-unit dwelling with ground floor commercial (minor commercial uses and hotel);
• Permit a commercial building to be five storeys instead of four storeys only on the subject site;
• Increase the permitted number of multiple unit dwelling units in Rockingham South from 828 to 904 and increase the maximum number of persons from 2,245 to 2,408. 
• Amend the Stage II development agreement to add the appropriate schedules to show the detailed design of the proposal;
• Proposed hotel will be 72 suites with an overall height of 5 storeys;
• Proposed parking will be provided onsite via an external surface lot and interior below grade; and
• Bicycle parking and vehicular parking will be required as per the requirements of the Land Use By-law for Halifax Mainland.

The Development Plans (provided below) outline the development proposal in detail, and include information related to application letter, building location, parking locations, access, and building elevations.

Process

The application will be considered under the Substantive Amending Development Agreement Process for changes to the Stage I Agreement and the Non-Substantive Amending Process for the changes to the Stage II Agreement.

Status

The application has progressed through the review team stage of the process where the request was reviewed by internal municipal staff from Development Engineering, Building Standards, Civic Addressing, Development Officer [By-laws], and Halifax Transit, as well as externally by Halifax Water.

The original proposal was to amend the existing Stage I and Stage II development agreements to enable the development of a five-storey hotel. In November 2019, a mailout was provided to surrounding residents asking for comments on the hotel proposal. Following the engagement, the applicant revised their proposal. They are now asking to amend the existing Stage I and Stage II development agreements to enable the development of a five-storey hotel or a five-storey apartment building with ground floor commercial.

A mailout was sent to surrounding residents inviting them to provide feedback on the new proposal between December 4, 2020 and January 8, 2021. Thank you to those who responded. View the summary from both rounds of feedback. This summary will be included in the staff report to Community Council for their consideration in their decision on the proposal.

Staff are currently completing their analysis of the application and preparing a staff recommendation report.

Documents Submitted for Evaluation

The applicant has submitted plans and studies required by municipal staff to properly evaluate the application. 

• Application Rational
• Site Plan and Building Plans (note: site plan and elevations are the same for the hotel and apartment proposals)
• Traffic Impact Statement for the Hotel
• Traffic Impact Statement for the Apartment Building