PLANAPP 2023-00335 (Formerly Case 24571) - 95 Montebello Drive, Dartmouth

Request

Property owners George and Rodney Habib have applied for substantive amendments to an existing development agreement at 95 Montebello Drive, Dartmouth to allow for additional local commercial uses within the existing commercial building. 

Background
This property currently contains a small commercial building used as Mun’cheez Convenience Store and Planet Paws Pet Essentials. This is a residentially zoned site within an established residential area; however the current commercial use is permitted by a development agreement. A development agreement is a legal agreement between the Municipality and a property owner which can allow uses that the zoning does not include, but in turn can also contain site specific requirements to ensure the property is developed in a certain way. Using planning policy which exists in the Dartmouth Municipal Planning Strategy, Council previously entered an agreement for this property. Generally, the policy used (Policy C-2) allowed Council to consider neighbourhood-scale commercial uses in residential areas, subject to a list of considerations. Under the existing agreement, the site is allowed to be used only for what you see there today. 

Proposal

The property owner approached the Municipality to ask if the agreement could be amended to allow the property to be used for a wider range of uses. In this case, it is the property owner’s stated intention to make future use of this property more feasible. Because the intent of Policy C-2 is to allow local commercial uses within residential areas as an amenity to the community, the types of uses we are considering adding to their development agreement include uses that maintain a local scale, such as:

• food and grocery stores,
• personal service shops,
  • The land use bylaw definition of person service shops is “meaning services for the needs of individuals or pets, such as grooming and haircutting, tailoring and shoe repair, tattooing, depots for collecting dry cleaning and laundry, laundromats, warming and cooling centres, food banks, soup kitchens, drop-in centres, funeral homes, and the retail sale of products accessory to any service provided. Veterinary facilities, kennels, pet daycare uses and crematoria are not considered a personal service use”
• local and public offices including offices of professional people providing personal services,
• restaurants,
• veterinary clinics without outdoor runs

The Documents Submitted for Evaluation (provided below) supports the request for additional uses on the site.

Process

The application will be considered under the Substantive Amendment to a Development Agreement process. 

Status

TAKE NOTICE THAT Harbour East – Marine Drive Community Council did, on Thursday, March 7, 2024, approve the following: 

PLANAPP 2023-00335 - Application by George and Rodney Habib for substantive amendments to an existing development agreement at 95 Montebello Drive, Dartmouth to allow for additional local commercial uses within the existing commercial building.

Any aggrieved person, the Provincial Director of Planning, or the Council of any adjoining municipality may, within fourteen days of the publishing of this notice on the HRM website, appeal to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board (902.424.4448), in accordance with the provisions of the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter.

This notice was posted to this site on March 8, 2024 in accordance with the requirements of the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter.

Documents Submitted for Evaluation

The applicant has submitted the below information/ study required by municipal staff to properly evaluate the application. 

• Traffic Impact Statement