On December 19th council, with very limited public consultation and information, acted to change their MPS policy to allow the sale of waterfront recreational property (specifically Archibald Wharf) to a private company. And, according to the NS MGA, a municipality shall not act in a manner that is inconsistent with a municipal planning strategy. What was so important about Archibald Wharf to write a statement of policy in the CBRM MPS? We begin to understand by considering the problem that policy was intended to resolve. At the time of writing, The Town of North Sydney had undergone a long period of industrial decline. After extensive consultations and study it was concluded that the economic future for the Town of North Sydney lie in the passenger traffic through the Marine Atlantic Terminus. The waterfront at the time was an industrial mess that wasn’t accessible or useful to the community on whole. The Town council moved to acquire the property, and from that, with a public investment of $4 million dollars, Archibald Wharf was born. Subsequently, several specific policy statements were written in the Municipal Planning Strategy to guarantee the plan would be followed through. The waterfront being a key area for sustainable tourism development for the Town. After reading the MPS in its entirety, one never gets the sense that the plan is to revert to re-industrializing our downtown core. Yet, that is exactly what council is trying to achieve by changing this one statement of policy, and allowing the sale of waterfront recreational land for industrial use. That policy was changed by council on Dec.19th; however it directly contradicts another. It shall be a policy of Council to delegate the CBRM’s Economic Development Manager and staff of the Planning Department with the responsibility of organizing and managing an on-going dialogue between Marine Atlantic and any business association of downtown North Sydney. The objective being alleviating the pedestrian barriers separating the passenger terminus from North Sydney’s waterfront boardwalk and downtown. Will council now move to change all statements of policy in order to fulfil the promise to sell Archibald Wharf? Further, the CBRM MPS goes on to state; the primary function of land use policy is to foster sales/service business development; and, The following central business districts shall be designated as subject to this policy statement, North Sydney, et al. As well, in 2010, CBRM commissioned Stantec Consultants to complete an Integrated Sustainable Communities Plan. The maps showing visions of future land use, show Archibalds Wharf as a combination of retail/commercial....not industrial. Where does it stop? To summarize, it’s clear by reviewing all policy in the CBRM MPS, that council is acting contrary to the intent of the MPS by changing policy to allow the sale of waterfront recreational land and ultimately the Archibald Wharf property.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 01:05:14 +0000
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