Transport Canada has approved an application to allow infilling near a popular walking and cycling trail on the Dartmouth side of Halifax harbour, but some people living in the area aren’t happy about it.
The approval means the applicant, Atlantic Road Construction and Paving, will be allowed to dump 100,000 square metres of pyritic slate and quarry rock into a 2.7-hectare area of Dartmouth Cove.
The Dartmouth waterfront trail itself will be unaffected by the development, but over the next two years, it will be much less tranquil in the area as work begins.
“It’s not a good thing,” Dartmouth resident Margaret Barrett said Thursday. “We’re going to see a lot of dump trucks coming through here.”
Residents like Barrett are worried that once infilled, developers will be granted permission to build more high-rise developments on the land, similar to what has happened with the nearby King’s Wharf development.
Sam Austin, city councillor for the area, said he’s not happy with the decision.
“It’s really discouraging, frankly, and disappointing that Transport Canada has gone ahead and issued this permit when there was a lot of community objection to it and [the Halifax Regional Municipality] made a formal submission to them,” he told CBC News.
Infilling of pre-Confederation water lots falls under the sole jurisdiction of Transport Canada and the Canadian Navigable Waters Act — not the city.
Dartmouth Cove will remain zoned as parkland even after the approved area is infilled, said Austin.
“Private developers aren’t going to turn around and build a park, so at some point down the line, maybe they’ll hit the city up trying to get development rights for it, but this property in its creation will be starting the game with nothing, no development rights whatsoever,” he said.
Bruce Wood, chief financial officer of Atlantic Road Construction and Paving, said infilling is expected to begin in September to meet the two-year timeline given by Transport Canada for the work to be completed. He declined further comment.
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