The primary purpose of the moratorium is to provide HRM time to amend existing community plans and to put interim growth management controls in place for approximately 18 months while the regional planning process proceeds. Property owners and land developers may perceive their ability to develop land in the future will be restricted and may request development approvals now, which could cause growth management and infrastructure problems once the new plan is in place. After all, this plan will determine the kind of community our residents want to see develop over the next 25 years. Similar protection was in place during the last regional planning process for the metro-area in the mid-1970s. Past experience has shown that the municipality is likely to experience accelerated subdivision and building lot creation during the public process of developing a new Regional Plan. Further public debate of the various alternatives will take place soon. 

In the meantime, residential development will be tightly restricted. Only 1 residential permit will be issued for any newly subdivided area of land, approved after January 23rd, 2004. Such parcels of land must have frontage on an existing approved roadway. Areas of land exempted under the interim moratorium include existing approved lots areas where HRM has entered into a contract specifically permitting certain types of development and where a subdivision agreement has been executed with respect to the construction and acceptance of any service system. The moratorium will not apply to any type of commercial, industrial or any other non-residential development. 

There are approximately 25,000 acres of land throughout HRM owned now by companies with development interests and hundreds of thousands of acres held by forestry-related interests, which also have development potential based on current zoning. Both the Province and HRM stressed that the moratorium will not cause any shortage of affordable and available land for housing development. Currently, there are 4,000 approved building lots available throughout HRM. 2,700 of these are located in the affected area of the moratorium. In a typical 12-month period in HRM, only about 700 lots would be used for new housing. 

The Halifax Regional Water Commission expressed concerns about the increase in the frequency and severity of water quantity and quality problems related to un-serviced development. Under the current policies without hydro-geological assessments increases the probability that HRM and the Water Commission will be drawn into costly future servicing schemes. Considering the public health issues associated with unsafe drinking water, the continued approval of new on-site developments in areas known, or suspected, of having water problems, is difficult to defend. 

HRM’s regional planning process is attempting to steer growth to areas where the need to invest in additional infrastructure is minimized. Historically, HRM has had to bring municipal water and sewer and/or new transportation services to the areas after the houses are built. It is much more cost effective to plan for appropriate infrastructure and put it in place before development occurs. This is one of the goals of the regional plan. So property owners and developers are strongly cautioned to examine the risk of spending money on the subdivision process. 

For more information on the 90-day moratorium and interim growth controls, please contact one of the following members of HRM staff:

Sharon Bond: 490-4800; Kelly Denty: 490-4650;

Sean Audas: 490-4341; Cathy Spencer: 490-4416