Proposed Irving Development

Irving Development Proposal for Corner of 3 and 333

Open House on Saturday November 26, 2-4pm at St. Luke's Church

On Saturday 26 November, Irving and their Consultant will hold an Open House about their proposal to develop the corner lot next to the Irving service station in strip mall fashion.

Related Documents

	Title	Modified Date	Size (Kb)
	Genivar Concept Plan	11/25/2011	373.33	Download

SMBSA Response Statement

Our committee, composed of the SMB Stewardship, Chamber, Tourism, and Recreation Associations as well as our architectural consultant, Kip Harris and Councillor Lund have reviewed the proposal and present the following position for discussion.

Our committee has guided the Bay residents through four Village Forums (2008-2011) on Tantallon development. Our collective judgment, based on what we have seen from the site plan, is negative. We find the concept falls short of our expectations.
Through a process of consultation with Kip Harris and myself over three occasions in the past year, Genivar and Cobalt have continually stated their willingness to consider community values. On all occasions, we strongly suggested that Genivar refer to our newly minted Tantallon draft plan now tabled with HRM. Despite this consultation, Genivar has continuously moved (through three iterations) towards a more corporate approach that is standard fare for mall development. We understand that Genivar must work from what will make the site most attractive to corporate clients.
We wish to stress here that we are in favour of “good” development—a win/win for community and corporate client—and have gone to great lengths as a community to define our vision of what that is.

Our Objections
Generally, the present concept is strongly oriented to function as a drive-through service centre with parking forward, standard suburban mall building designs/siting and auto centric orientation—a continuation of mall development in the area. The drive thru concept of the bank and fast food outlet requires a new exit on Highway 333.

Development Agreement Criteria
Specifically, according to the criteria outlined in the MPS amendment to the development agreement procedure for this planning district (in a development over 7500 sq. ft.) Council is advised to have regard for the following:
(a) the architectural design of building(s) that reinforce the style, character and scale of the area’s architectural built form
(f) the retention of significant features such as any significant wildlife habitat, important scenic vistas, historic buildings, cultural landscapes, mature forest and other elements that typify the rural character of the area
(g) landscaping features which may be designed to enhance the visual amenity of the building or to mitigate visual impacts,
(j) any other matter relating to the impact of the development upon surroundings uses or upon the general community and the provisions of policy IM-9.(RC-February 24,2009;E-April 25,2009.)

Draft Plan
In terms of our new village draft plan, which Council may also use to evaluate the Genivar proposal, we draw your attention to the C-4 Zone commercial uses permitted. Drive-through establishments are not included.
The individual variations of the proposed development from the plan are too numerous to list but we draw your attention to the following categories: architectural design, siting, landscaping, natural environment, parking, lighting, and signage.

Robert Ziegler's Call for Community Input

A little historical context: For the last four years, the Stewardship Association, the Chamber of Commerce and the Tourism Association have consulted the community about what kind of place we want the Crossroads to be. The first forum (2008) said, in essence, no more big-box store development. The second said we want a coastal village, access to water, an architectural style consistent with historical examples or a modern echo thereof, sustainable building principles, links to active transportation, and a town centre/gathering place. The third forum got into the technical details of all that and resulted ultimately in a draft by-law amendment now being processed by HRM staff and legal departments. This amendment –which was also vetted with community in the last year –specifies that mixed use buildings are encouraged (apartments help create community), that buildings can be no more than 20 feet from the roadside (encouraging pedestrian traffic on sidewalks), that parking lots be minimized and put in back (aesthetic and storm-water management concerns there), and all kinds of suggestions about architectural standards, lighting, signage, sustainability, etc. From what we have been able to discern, the proposal demonstrates virtually no compliance with the community's wishes.

Genivar has scheduled an "Open House" tomorrow, Saturday 2-4 pm at St. Luke's. While we have have provided them with detailed feedback from the four years of Community Forum consultation, they feel they want to hear directly from the community on their plans. I encourage you all to attend and provide them with your thoughts.

Unfortunately, the Irving/Genivar proposal is under no legal obligation to observe the draft plan, yet. They have filed this development application before the by-laws make it to Council, at which point there will be a development freeze until the by-laws are enacted. So Irving and Genivar are seeking approval under the wire, so to speak. To compress a lot of legal and political considerations into a single sentence: if we expect our municipal officials to stand up to Irving, there needs to be a loud and clear message that this proposal is not acceptable to the community. Strip-mall style development of this parcel will pretty much preclude a coastal village for at least forty years. Assuming you share our appreciation of this danger, I hope you will contribute your voice, tomorrow at St. Luke's.

Thank you for your time and attention around this critical matter. Please contact me (bob@robertwziegler.com) if you have any questions.