Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

If you are not able to attend in-person, you may review documents on Shape Your City Halifax that will be posted the day after the public open house.

This process has been in development for some time.   Last year, Halifax Regional Council approved the motion to have 6067 Quinpool Road considered surplus to municipal purposes and categorized as Economic Development under Administrative Order 50.  This year, WSP won a request for proposals to assist in developing a new design direction for the site that included public engagement; the design direction and potential policy for the site is set to be completed in Winter 2016.  Any potential Municipal Planning Strategy or Land Use By-Law amendments will be brought before Regional Council for consideration and approval, including a public hearing and review before the Planning Advisory Committee. To summarize, this public engagement stage is one component of a longer process.

Yes, the development will adhere to the HRM Centre Plan.

The decision by Regional Council to declare the site at 6067 Quinpool Road as surplus land under Administrative Order 50 started the plan amendment process.   Under Administrative Order 50, a surplus property can be classified into one of six categories and in this case, it was recommended to declare it as an economic development opportunity for the area and the city.  Halifax Regional Council approved that recommendation and the process to design, market and ultimately sell the property began.  The proceeds of sale will be used for other public needs to be determined by Regional Council at a later date.

• Location:  between the corners of…
• Quingate Place and Quinpool Road, and
• Windsor Street and Quinpool Road (see map, below)
• Site Area: 3.5 acres
• Zoning: ‘P’ (Park & Institutional) as per Halifax Peninsula Land-Use By-Law
• Current Permitted Uses Include: public park; recreation field, sports club, and community facilities; a cemetery; a hospital, school, college, university, monastery, church, library, museum, court of law, or other institution of a similar type, either public or private; or day care facility.
• Assessment: $6,764,200 (2014)

• 1951 - Land is purchased by City of Halifax and school board for the construction of St. Patrick’s High School;
• 1954 - High school opens;
• 1968 - A new wing is constructed in response to increasing school population;
• 1980/3 - Renovations take place;
• 2007 - Halifax Regional School Board (HRSB) deems school surplus and moves students to new Citadel High School; the 6067 Quinpool Road school is repurposed for other education uses and renamed Quinpool Education Centre (QEC);
• 2012 - QEC closes, other uses (gym, auditorium) are moved to other venues, and the building is closed;
• 2013 - (Dec) HRSB transfers 6067 Quinpool Road to Halifax;
• 2014 – Regional Council approves 6067 Quinpool as ‘Surplus’ and categorizes it ‘Economic Development’ under Administrative Order 50 – Respecting the Disposal of Surplus Real Property;
• 2015 – Regional Council also approves a budget to engage consultants to prepare documents for the Municipality to amend the area’s municipal plan for rezoning to permit mixed-uses on-site;
• 2015 – The Municipality hires WSP and Architecture49 in response to Request for Proposal 15-001. The process includes public engagement and project completion is scheduled for December 2015;
• 2015 – (June 23) Regional Council awards demolition tender to Capital Demolition and Environmental Services Ltd.;
• 2016 – (Winter) Intention: Regional Council approves area’s plan amendment and property’s method of sale;
• 2016 – (Spring)  Intention:  Demolition is complete and site is level and vacant;
• 2016 – (Spring/Summer)  Intention:  Property is marketed for sale.

• Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) continually reviews its portfolio of municipally-owned real property (i.e., land and buildings). This process requires municipal departments to review their existing and impending municipal service requirements (and opportunities) against properties that are in transition from their existing or original purposes. When a property is deemed to be no longer needed for municipal requirements, Regional Council is then advised. However, before a recommendation of ‘surplus’ is advanced to Council, the local Councillor is notified. The Councillor then has the opportunity to contact the community before the matter appears before Regional Council. Regional Council then determines, through a process known as Administrative Order 50 - Respecting The Disposal Of Surplus Real Property (AO50.pdf), what will happen to the building;

• The process of designating a municipal property as ‘surplus’ is governed by Regional Council’s Administrative Order 50 and requires municipal staff to identify potential ‘surplus’ properties, and to propose a ‘category’ for each property. ‘Categorizing’ a property helps identify how a property may eventually be disposed. There are six (6) Categories depending on each property’s characteristics and circumstances, namely:  Economic Development, Community Interest, Ordinary Sale, Remnant, Extraordinary, and Intergovernmental Transfer.
  
  
• Regional Council, on July 22, 2014, approved the property as surplus and categorized it as Economic Development.

The building is currently being demolished. Regional Council approved the contract for the building’s demolition on June 23, 2015. The estimated schedule for its demolition is approximately 12 months.

Yes. The area Councillor hosted an information meeting on May 21, 2014 at Maritime Hall, Halifax Forum, 7:00-9:00pm. Regional Council received a report from staff about the property, and comments from the meeting were included.

Over the summer months (2015), the municipality will provide residents with opportunities to access more information about the project and to give feedback on design options for future development of the site.

Beginning in early July, the Shape Your City community engagement portal will be used to begin gathering input, and updated information about the project will be posted on the municipal website - including dates and locations of public open houses. Two public open houses will be held: the first event, in mid-late July 2015, will provide residents with background information and three preliminary design options proposed for the site. The second event, in September 2015, will provide residents with information about the final design proposal (informed by feedback received throughout the project cycle) and design guidelines proposed for the site.

No. The Property Valuation Services Corporation (PVSC) is responsible for determining property assessment values. PVSC considers market value along with other factors. Zoning is one important factor in determining a property’s market value, among others. Please see how PVSC determines value here: Assessment Process.  Once the building is demolished, PVSC will reassess the property.

Under the ‘P’ zone, only the following uses are permitted:

(a) public park;
(b) recreation field, sports club, and community facilities;
(c) a cemetery; 
(d) a hospital, school, college, university, monastery, church, library, museum, court of law, or other institution of a similar type, either public or private; (da) day care facility; (RC-Mar 3/09;E-Mar 21/09) 
(e) uses accessory to any of the above uses.

Any amendments to the zone would require public consultation and amendments to municipal planning documents. Initiation of planning amendments was approved by Regional Council in July 2014. The municipality has hired WSP Canada and Architecture49 to work through a process to develop concepts for site redevelopment, subject to Regional Council approval. This planning process began in April 2015 and is expected to finish in late fall. Regional Council will then receive a staff report with recommendations regarding the preferred design concept, as well as the proposed plan amendment package for Council’s consideration and approval. Following adoption of the plan amendments, the property will be marketed for disposal in early 2016.

The process for disposal is determined by Administrative Order 50, Respecting the Disposal of Real Property, and by Council's decision to surplus and categorize the property as ‘Economic Development’; this was approved on July 22, 2014 by Regional Council.

Municipal staff will recommend a method of sale (i.e., disposal method) following the approval of the plan by Regional Council in 2016.  The disposal method will be by competitive bid process.  Issues of public interest will be considered as part of the planning process and Council’s consideration of the plan amendment.

Public open house 1 took place on July 22.  Three preliminary design directions for Quinpool 6067 were prepared by the project consultants and presented. Understanding that not everyone was be able to attend the meeting, the Shape Your City online engagement portal (http://shapeyourcityhalifax.ca/quinpool6067) and project website (www.halifax.ca/property/6067QuinpoolRd.php) offered an alternate opportunity for the public to make comment on materials that were presented at the open house.  Approximately 500 responses were collected.

Comments received through both the open house and the Shape Your City portal were used to help inform the future development of the property, and specifically the drafting of new land use by-law (LUB). The planning team will be drawing from public input in Open House 2 (Dec.9, 2015) to finalize the draft LUB for the site that will be presented to Regional Council following public hearing.

Public comments have been considered through the development of municipal plan amendments/draft land use-by-law regulations, explored through a planning process, and more specifically, through open houses with comments received by the project team via the Shape Your City portal. Questions were asked through the Shape Your City portal, with answers posted on the site.  During the open house on July 22, 2015, participants were invited to circulate through several stations in the meeting room. Each station was based on an urban design principle which was further explained at the open house.  At each station, ideas, comments, and discussions, with facilitators, were noted, based on that station’s principle, and applied to each of the three design concepts that were unveiled that evening.  After the open house, the consulting team reviewed similar comments and ideas, considered them against the proposed concepts, and used them to make recommendations to develop draft land use by-law regulations.  This will then be presented at the second open house on December 9, 2015.  Any comments that are not related to proposed plan amendments and the recommended design, will be reflected as other comments for Council’s consideration, and will be reported in the consultant’s final report.  Ultimately, Regional Council will determine any proposed public interests and plan amendments for the site.

Pressures on the Centre Plan project in 2012 led municipal staff to move forward with an advanced, development-focused initiative that would allow for better development applications process and outcomes in 11 commercial “corridors” within the Regional Centre. The work to prepare for changes in these corridors has furthered staff understanding of applicability of Built Form Guidelines and Policy outside of the Downtown plan area. Additionally, successful efforts were made in parallel with the corridors work to alter the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter to allow for the use of necessary tools such as Design Guidelines, Design Review, Density Bonusing and Site Plan Approval throughout the Centre Plan area. The “Corridors” work will continue to inform the Centre Plan as it moves towards completion.

Online:  Shape Your City portal (http://shapeyourcityhalifax.ca/quinpool6067)

Twitter: Use hashtag #Quinpool6067  

Email:  vodickr@halifax.ca (Please use the following subject line in your email:  Shape Your City - Quinpool 6067 – Public Comment)

Phone:  311

Address:  Shape Your City - Quinpool 6067
c/o Corporate Real Estate
Operations Support
Halifax Regional Municipality
PO Box 1749
Halifax, NS  B3J 3A5