N.S. approves planning area that could see 18,000 new units built in Westphal

Nova Scotia has added four new sites to the list of Halifax-area lands the province wants fast-tracked for development, including a large area of Westphal in Dartmouth that could potentially see up to 18,000 new units built.

Housing Minister John Lohr announced the designation Tuesday of four new special planning areas to support the development of more than 23,500 residential units and 380 long-term care rooms in Halifax Regional Municipality.

"Obviously, we've approved all of them because of the continuing pressing need for housing and the realization that, through this process, we can take time off of the amount of time it takes to see these projects completed," Lohr told reporters Tuesday.

"That being said, they still have to go through all of the normal processes of permitting and that sort of work."

The four areas designated Tuesday are:

• Westphal urban reserve lands (18,000 potential units, 96 long-term care beds).
• 1226 Cole Harbour Rd. (511 units, 144 long-term care beds).
• 1109 Fall River Rd. (316 units, 144 long-term care rooms)
• Paper Mill Lake, Bedford (4,714 units).

While some residents close to the project proposed on Fall River Road have raised concerns, as have people who live near the proposed Cole Harbour Road development, senior Housing Department official Vicki Elliott-Lopez said no developer was getting "a free pass" from the province just because the Houston government wants to speed up construction of new homes.

"Everyone has to go through the same rigour with regard to environmental studies, traffic studies," said Elliott-Lopez. "Health and safety is paramount and the environment is paramount."

Halifax Mayor Mike Savage said the city has already approved the construction of hundreds of thousands of units but said any development on the Westphal urban reserve lands, representing the largest potential housing project to date, is "a long ways away."

"You can't just build that many houses without some kind of transportation, infrastructure, water," said Savage. "All of those things are required. The provincial government clearly is going to have to be a partner on all those things."

The province has now designated a total of 15 special planning areas in HRM.

Asked if these four new sites are the last, Lohr told reporters, "This is it for now and we'll see, that's about the most accurate answer I could give.

"When we see people camping on our streets, we say we need more housing, let's get more going."