PLANAPP 2025-02686 - 2222 Shore Road, Eastern Passage

Request

Application from Albert Njeim requesting to modify part of the restrictive covenant registered to 2222 Shore Road, Eastern Passage.

Proposal

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The applicant is requesting to modify part of the restrictive covenant registered to 2222 Shore Road, Eastern Passage to remove clauses 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, and 24. These clauses currently:

• Allow only a detached single-unit home
• Set limits on ground floor area per building height
• Restrict certain types and height of fences
• Require approval from the Grantor

There is no specific proposed development proposal for this property at this time.

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

• 3. No building shall be erected on the said Lands other than a detached private dwelling house to and for the use of a single family with or without an appropriate garage attached hereto. Detached garage may be permitted at the discretion of the Grantor.
• 4. No more than one dwelling unit shall be erected, or shall stand, at any one time upon said Lands for an R-1 Lot.

• 5. No dwelling house shall be erected, or stand upon the said Lands, or any part thereof, which shall have ground floor area of less than:

  For conventional R-1 type lots (lots having a total square footage greater than 5,000 sq.ft.):

  (i) 1,200 square feet, in the case of a one storey dwelling

  (ii) 800 square feet, in the case of a dwelling of more than one storey but not a full two storey

  (iii) 700 square feet, in the case of a dwelling of two storeys or more, provided that the total habitable floor area of any dwelling shall not be less than 1,400 square feet.

The measurements for calculations of the areas referred to in this paragraph number 5 shall be taken as the outside measurements of the main walls of each dwelling house, excluding garage, veranda, sunroom.

• 6. No building shall be erected on the said lands, or any addition or alteration shall be made thereto, unless the design of such building, addition or alteration and plans therefor, drawn by a duly qualified person, and shall be approved by the Grantor in writing.
• 7. Notwithstanding anything herein contained, no building, fence or erection of any kind shall be erected on the said lands unless the plans, dimensions, specifications and location thereof, as indicated by siting plan (including the distances from the front, side and rear limits) shall have been first submitted to and approved in writing by the Grantor, and no building, fence, or other erection shall be constructed, or placed on the said lands otherwise than in conformity with such plans, specifications, and siting plan.
• 10. No fence shall be erected or maintained on the said lands or any part thereon other than an ornamental wire, iron or wooden fence of open construction, with or without brick or stone foundations, unless approved in writing by the Grantor and no such fence shall be higher than four feet (4’), or be situated within twenty feet (20’) of the street line in front of the lot on which said fence is erected or within ten feet (10’) of any other street line. Screens for landscaping purposes may be erected upon written approval by the Grantor.
• 24. The Grantor may alter, waive or modify any of the foregoing building and other restrictions. 

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 of a Private Covenant process. 

Status

Currently this application is at the public consultation stage. 

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.