MPSA 2024-00238 - 5249 St. Margarets Bay Road & 51 Sonnys Road, Upper Tantallon

Request

Sunrose Land Use Consulting, on behalf of the property owner, is applying to amend the Municipal Planning Strategy (MPS) and Land Use By-law (LUB) for Planning Districts 1 and 3 (St. Margarets Bay) to allow for a mixed-use development with a footprint greater than 558 square meters (6,000 square feet) and containing more than 12 residential units for lands at 5249 St. Margarets Bay Road and 51 Sonnys Road, Upper Tantallon. The site is designated Tantallon Crossroads Coastal Village (TCCV) and sub-designated Village Centre (VC) which does permit building footprints greater than 558 square meters (6,000 square feet) or residential buildings beyond 12 units. Consequently, Sunrose Land Use Consulting is requesting an amendment to the MPS and LUB to allow the proposed development. 

Proposal

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The property owner proposes to consolidate 5249 St. Margarets Bay Road & 51 Sonnys Road to construct a three-storey mixed-use commercial/residential building (Attachment I – Site Plan).  The major aspects of the proposal are as follows:

• 3-story mixed-use building;
• 18,000 square feet (1,672.3 square meters) ground floor commercial space intended to be utilized by Redmond’s Home Hardware Store;
• 2-story residential above the ground floor commercial space with a total of 31 units; and
• Access for the mixed-use development is proposed to utilize an existing entrance off Sonnys Road as well as a new proposed entrance off St. Margarets Bay Road.

The Development Plans (provided below) outline the development proposal in detail, and include information related to site layout, landscaping, parking locations, driveway access, and on-site servicing.

Process

The application will be considered under the Municipal Planning Strategy and Development Agreement process.

Status

Regional Council initiated the process to consider amending the Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law for Planning Districts 1 and 3 (St. Margarets Bay) to permit the proposed development of 3-story mixed-use commercial and residential building at 5249 St. Margarets Bay Road and 51 Sonnys Road as recommended under the Staff Report dated July 9, 2024.

The initial review stage for this application has been completed, and a Drop-In Public Open House will be held on Wednesday, August 27^th, 2025 from 6-8 pm at the St. Margaret’s Bay Centre, 12 Westwood Blvd, Upper Tantallon, Meeting Room #2. At this meeting, presentation boards will be on display outlining details of the proposal with HRM staff and the applicant in attendance to answer questions and receive feedback. There will be no formal presentation; drop in any time.

The application will be open for comment until Wednesday, September 10^th, 2025. If you have any questions or comments, please provide them to the Planner at the contact information below.

Documents Submitted for Evaluation

The applicant has submitted plans and studies required by HRM staff to properly evaluate the application.

A – Site Plan
B – Landscape Plan 
C – Traffic Impact Statement
D – Stormwater Management Plan
E – Level 1 Groundwater Assessment
F – Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessment
G – Geotechnical Investigation
H – Test Pit Soil Investigation Report

I – Revised Site Plan (May 2025)
J – Revised Traffic Impact Statement
K – Revised Stormwater Management Plan
L – Stormwater Management Report