PLANAPP 2025-01952 - 5905 Inglis Street, Halifax

Request

Application from Stephen Adams Consulting Inc. requesting to discharge all clauses of the restrictive covenant registered to 5905 Inglis Street (PID 00053439).

Proposal

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The applicant is requesting to discharge the restrictive covenant registered to 5905 Inglis Street (PID 00053439) to allow for a multi­unit building with a height limit of 9 storeys in accordance with the underlying HR-2 zoning of the Regional Center Land Use By-law.

The covenants requested as part of this proposal to be discharged are as follows:

a)       That no building shall be erected nearer than twenty feet from any city street line,

b)       That no building shall be erected except a residential building for the use of a single family nor shall any building now or hereafter erected be used for other than residential purposes,

c)       That no building shall be erected costing less than seven thousand dollars ($7000), and

d)       That only two buildings shall be erected, provided, however, that necessary garages or outbuildings may be erected in connection with a private residence.

Regulatory Context

Restrictive covenants are agreements between two parties, such as developers and property owners. Although the municipality does not apply restrictive covenants in the application of municipal land use regulations, changes to the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter (Section 257A) allows the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the municipality to discharge or modify private covenants when they are more restrictive than the current zoning with respect to height or density. Section 257A (3) further states that the decision of the CAO may be appealed to the Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board.

It is important to note that if the CAO were to choose not to modify or discharge a private covenant, HRM could still issue a permit for the proposed use if it meets the land use by-law and other municipal regulations, because the municipality does not enforce private covenants when processing permit applications.

Process

The application will be considered under the Modification and/or Discharge of a Private Covenant process.

Status

Currently this application is at the team review stage of the process, where the request is reviewed by internal and external staff, including the Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism & Heritage.

Documents Submitted for Evaluation

The applicant has submitted a rationale letter and provided a copy of the restrictive covenant registered to the subject property as required by HRM staff to properly evaluate the application. The documents are also available for review at the Planning Applications office at 5251 Duke Street, Halifax, Suite 300.

A - Rationale Letter

B – Copy of Restrictive Covenants