FAQs

On June 29, 2021, Regional Council initiated a process to amend the Bedford Municipal Planning Strategy (Bedford Plan), Bedford West Secondary Municipal Planning Strategy (Bedford West Secondary Plan), and associated planning documents to develop a master neighbourhood plan for Bedford West Sub-Areas 1 and 12 through a comprehensive master planning process. This process is required to effectively guide the development of mixed-use communities with supporting public infrastructure. 

 In March 2022, Bedford West was designated a “Special Planning Area” by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing on the recommendation to address housing challenges. The Special Planning Area allows the Minister to make decisions on planning matters in this area as outlined in the Housing in the Halifax Regional Municipality Act.

 As part of the Special Area Planning process, a number of development proposals were submitted for lands in Sub-Areas 1 and 12, detailed as follows:

 Clayton Developments: A mixed-use subdivision with new parks and public streets, consisting of 1,800 – 2,000 residential units of different types, and approximately 15,000 sq.m. of commercial and institutional uses. 

1. ZZap Consulting: A religious institution use with accessory community facilities (meeting space, kitchen, and offices within the main building). 
2. Other submissions: 11 submissions for single-lot developments on properties along Larry Uteck Boulevard. and Hammonds Plains Road. The proposals are for mix use buildings, consisting of residential, commercial, and institutional uses, that vary in height between high-rise and mid-rise buildings.

The Province of Nova Scotia has created an Executive Panel on Housing to address housing challenges in the region. As part of this initiative, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing has designated 10 special planning areas in the Halifax Regional Municipality to support the development of as many as 22,600 new residential units. To help accelerate an increase in the supply of housing, as outlined in the Housing in the Halifax Regional Municipality Act, the designation allows the Minister to make decisions on planning matters in those areas.

 This approach is intended to establish “complete communities” with housing, employment, and recreation opportunities within walking distance and enables residents across the municipality to participate in planning a portion of the community.

The Sub-Areas are part of the Bedford West Secondary Plan and one of the last undeveloped lands in Bedford West. The areas are located mostly between Hammonds Plains Road and Larry Uteck Boulevard, west of Atlantic Acres Industrial Park.

We invite you to a Public Open House to meet with HRM staff and discuss the proposed policies and regulations that will guide future development of the Bedford West Sub-Areas 1 and 12 Special Planning Area. 

Date: Wednesday, July 26, 2023

Location: BMO Centre (multi-purpose room), 61 Gary Martin Drive, Bedford

Session One: 2pm – 5pm

Session Two: 7pm – 9pm

Staff will be collecting public feedback through 1-on-1 conversations during public drop-in sessions. A formal presentation will not be provided. All sessions will provide the same information. Please attend one session at the time of your choice. Registration is not required.

 For more information about the background and proposed policies, please watch the introductory video on the main page that explains the proposed planning policies, planning process, and project's next steps. 

The planning process will address what is needed for a new complete community through a neighbourhood plan for the entire area. This will include new roads, parks, pathways, housing mix, and any other amenities. Policies will be drafted for the municipal plan to establish development agreement policies for the large subdivisions and land use zoning regulations for the single-lot properties. 

1) Land Use By-Law Amendments for Stand Alone Properties

For single-lot properties that are not proposing new infrastructure, it is proposed that development be facilitated through an as-of-right process by establishing new zones and built form regulations.

2) Development Agreement for Master Planned Properties

For large lots and proposals that include multiple properties, development agreement policies and processes are proposed. This will allow for control over the infrastructure layout including trails, sidewalks, streets, and nature corridors, and will allow residents to provide feedback on the overall design of the subdivision.

Traffic studies are written at the expense of the applicant by professional engineers. These studies are submitted at the start of the planning application process and give municipal engineers a sense of how a project might impact the surrounding streets both from a safety and capacity perspective. 

Once submitted, studies are reviewed by municipal engineers, and changes may be required. The traffic study is ultimately used to decide on any upgrades or changes to the surrounding streets, or newly proposed streets, to minimize traffic impacts of the proposed development. 

Generally, planning policies in Nova Scotia can regulate the “use of land” rather than who uses or occupies the land. As such, municipal policies do not speak to who will own the units, but instead focus on densities or the number of units, where they will be located, what the buildings will look like, and how they are accessed. Decisions on whether a residential building will be condos or rentals is the decision of the property owner or developer.

The Regional Plan includes “Interim bonus zoning” policies for developments in areas outside of the Regional Centre, which requires developers to pay a public benefit that is calculated based on the appraised value of the lands after a development agreement is approved. Typically, at least 60% of the value must be paid into the municipality’s affordable housing fund. The money in this fund can be given to non-profit groups by the municipality as a grant for new housing projects and the upkeep of existing units.

The master planning process is designed to implement the Integrated Mobility Plan’s principles of building a complete, connected, sustainable and healthy community. This can result in connections to existing neighbourhoods, places of employment, transit and recreational opportunities. 

It will also be key to designing any new street and path network as per the complete streets checklist, and the newly revised Municipal Design Guidelines, which are minimum design standards for municipal streets and infrastructure. 

Yes, the complete streets checklist and principles from the Integrated Mobility Plan will be applied by municipal staff in their review of this project, including at the detailed design stage.

The Municipality is unable to provide a list of property owners. The Province of Nova Scotia is responsible for maintaining the land registry. Residents may wish to contact the Nova Scotia Land Registry for property ownership information. 

HRM can communicate the identity of applicants. Clayton Developments and ZZap Consulting, representatives of landowners in the area, elected to share their identity in their planning requests, which are public documents.

The population density of the development is comparable to other areas in Bedford West, and other developments underway or proposed across the municipality.

The municipal planning process depends on how long it takes for background studies to be completed, public engagement to take place, and for staff to draft planning policies. Typically, this takes 12-18 months.