Bloomfield Urban Common
5553 Bloomfield Street B3K 4E3 Halifax, NS, Canada

The latest article on Bloomfield in the Herald: development will not happen this year. The article repeats the "20% open public space" falsehood perpetuated by council. The exact wording of the terms of sale is "20% open space, public and private," meaning that 0% of it could be publicly accessible and be in accordance with the terms. It also does not expand to explain that all of the land will be privately owned and to which the public will only have "access", if there is to... be public access at all, unless some portion of the land is returned to the HRM in exchange for a density bonus. The 10% affordable housing requirement will net 40 affordable units based on the total 400 units the article references. It is also worth pointing out that the two historic school houses represent 40,000SF of floor space that could have been saved for a combined cost of $3.9million 10 years ago. Current cost estimates for 20,000SF of community space are $5million to which will also be added a premium to have a private entity provide it for us. https://www.thechronicleherald.ca//roger-taylor-banc-will/

Bloomfield's Faint Hope: Council can ask the purchaser to agree to stop the sale. I have sought a legal opinion, and the potential liability to the HRM for breaching the agreement to sell the property could be high. However, two parties, by mutual consent, can agree to break a contract without penalty. The HRM can offer to cover the costs that were incurred by the purchaser in the last few months of negotiations as a good faith gesture. If the purchaser agrees, the sale can b...e stopped. What better way for a company to demonstrate their commitment to the people of this city? Such a move would mean so much to so many. What better way to leave behind a legacy that will endure for generations as local lore? The loss of an important part of local community and its history halted at the last moment by an act of grace. Give democracy a second chance. Let the voice of the people be heard. Preserve Bloomfield! See more

The Colonial Honda homes on May Street have been demolished. These homes could have been relocated and used for affordable housing or operated by a housing agency in the short term. Page 52 of Regional Centre Secondary Municipal Planning Strategy prohibits most automotive uses, so likely these lots will sit empty unless the Steel Autogroup already had plans to redevelop the land. This is the same document that states on page 60, as part of the Robie/Young Street Centre, that ...the "area would benefit from additional parks, open space, and community facilities", and that "low densities will be maintained within the vicinity of Fern Lane." If land for such public amenities isn't going to come from Bloomfield, where will it come from? Bloomfield was given to the municipal government for free by the province. It would be a terrible waste to sell this land now only to purchase more at higher prices in the future. What also is the HRM going to do for those who are being displaced by the new development? The HRM is profiting handsomely from all the new tax revenue from increased land values and can afford to give something back. See more

The Bloomfield Centre is no longer owned by the city. The property sold for a mere $22 million. 25% of the site could have been set aside as a truly public park for a loss of only $5.5 million in revenue from the sale. By privatizing the site and attaching conditions to the sale, the city has likely paid twice the amount for someone else to do what it could have done for itself a long time ago. Current estimates for 10,000SF community space in Halifax place the cost around $5...million. To provide $5 million in community space as a requirement of the purchase of the site, a developer will offer $8million less than what they otherwise would pay. The same is true of a park. We have paid much more to have these things provided privately than they were worth by including them in the sale price of the site. The $5.5million for a park is less than half the subsidy the HRM will provide to the Convention Centre this year alone. For less than it will cost to provide the privatized community space, the two old school houses could have been saved 10 years ago and been providing twice the community space all these years. HRM Councillors, is this what you dreamed of entering politics for so many years ago? What would young you say to you now? https://www.halifaxexaminer.ca//halifax-sells-bloomfield-/

Bloomfield's Faint Hope: Council can ask the purchaser to agree to stop the sale. I have sought a legal opinion, and the potential liability to the HRM for breaching the agreement to sell the property could be high. However, two parties, by mutual consent, can agree to break a contract without penalty. The HRM can offer to cover the costs that were incurred by the purchaser in the last few months of negotiations as a good faith gesture. If the purchaser agrees, the sale can b...e stopped. What better way for a company to demonstrate their commitment to the people of this city? Such a move would mean so much to so many. What better way to leave behind a legacy that will endure for generations as local lore? The loss of an important part of local community and its history halted at the last moment by an act of grace. Give democracy a second chance. Let the voice of the people be heard. Preserve Bloomfield! See more

The Mayor's proposal to tackle the housing crisis is to waive demolition and development fees for developers. Is transferring more public wealth to private developers as "incentives" really going to solve this problem? Why not simply require all new developments to include a minimum 30% mix of social, affordable, and family housing as Montreal does? They plan to build 60,000 to 75,000 new affordable units in the next few years. In contrast, the Bloomfield Centre, which is pub...lic land, will include only 10% affordable housing and represents the high-water mark for this city. Quebec recently signed a $1.4billion deal with the federal government to fund affordable housing projects within the province's cities. This deal came as the result of strong pressure from Quebec's big city Mayors. Where is Mayor Savage and Council on this? Why are they not working with the province to secure huge sums of money like this for housing? The $40million they hope to gain from the sale of the Bloomfield Centre is paltry by comparison. How much of an incentive will waiving demolition and development fees provide per additional affordable housing unit over 10 years? At some point, there is only so much high end housing that can be built before the market is saturated. Won't such a policy simply incentivize developers to do what they should be doing anyway? Wouldn't it be better to use regulations instead? Links to the Montreal articles are available in the comments section of this post. https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5854563

The latest story on Bloomfield should be in print tomorrow. Apparently when the Mayor said "Bloomfield had not been sold," and Lindell Smith said the deal was yet to go before council for final approval, what they really meant to say was "council approved acceptance of the deal in July." I wonder why they just didn't say that at the time? The Mayor also repeats the 20% public open space fallacy. What the terms of sale actually say is "20% open space, public and private." He does not also ellaborate to say "the land will be privately owned, 0% will be publicly owned unless the city buys a small portion back with a density bonus." https://www.thechronicleherald.ca//hrm-sold-bloomfield-ce/

The Colonial Honda homes on May Street have been demolished. These homes could have been relocated and used for affordable housing or operated by a housing agency in the short term. Page 52 of Regional Centre Secondary Municipal Planning Strategy prohibits most automotive uses, so likely these lots will sit empty unless the Steel Autogroup already had plans to redevelop the land. This is the same document that states on page 60, as part of the Robie/Young Street Centre, that ...the "area would benefit from additional parks, open space, and community facilities", and that "low densities will be maintained within the vicinity of Fern Lane." If land for such public amenities isn't going to come from Bloomfield, where will it come from? Bloomfield was given to the municipal government for free by the province. It would be a terrible waste to sell this land now only to purchase more at higher prices in the future. What also is the HRM going to do for those who are being displaced by the new development? The HRM is profiting handsomely from all the new tax revenue from increased land values and can afford to give something back. See more

The Mayor recently told Imagine Bloomfield that the Bloomfield Centre has not sold. Whether this means the sale has simply not been finalized or whether Council still has a chance to say "no" is a question yet unanswered. However, Lindell Smith even "ghosted" the reporter in this article. The statement he refers to is his October 13th statement. According to 12/17 councillors last April, council defers to the local councillor in such matters so he could have asked for much more. Had he consulted with the public, he would have realized the problems with the current terms of sale and the tremendous missed opportunities. The point is not to criticize him for not reading between the lines, but rather for him to realize that he can and should ask for more. https://www.halifaxtoday.ca//north-end-resident-wants-more

The HRM Can Build, Own, and Manage Affordable Housing Contrary to its Public Position on the Topic: Pages 45, 46, 51 of the HRM Charter. There is no Service Agreement in place with the province preventing the HRM from providing affordable housing. The HRM just doesn't want to pay for it. While there is no provincial funding formula in place because of the 1995/96 Service Exhange that was part of the amalgamation process, the HRM is free to provide affordable housing if it so ...chooses. Unless the HRM expects regions outside of this one to subsidize affordable housing within it, it really makes no difference who pays for it because the tax base is the same. The province has means of taxation that the HRM does not, but ultimately if the HRM taxes people within this region to pay for affordable housing or the province does, it really makes no difference. The HRM is also free to seek funding from the federal government. The federal affordable housing "projects stream" is available to the HRM to fund the construction of new affordable housing projects. The HRM has the added advantage of owning $40million pieces of property, like the Bloomfield Centre, with which to bargain with the other players in the housing game. Rather than sell the land, the HRM should lease part of it for $0/yr for 40-50 years to the province or other housing organization and use the other parts to construct its own housing. This would provide an added incentive of up to $40million to the province, in terms of the purchase cost of the land, to solve what is already becoming a crisis. Moreover, the HRM would maintain ownership over the land into the future when it will be much more valuable. The value of the land could be considered an investment in lieu of the HRM's contribution to its "opportunities fund" over the next few years and so would not even impact municipal revenues. See more

The most recent story on Bloomfield is out. Has it been sold? Has it not? Will council have a final say and a chance to review the deal? Lindell Smith says "yes," and questions the sources, but adds he "could be wrong". Peter Stickings, manager of HRM Corporate Real estate says "it has been sold," and there are "no further approvals from council". This contradicts Smith's statement in October just prior to the election. Will anyone from City Hall provide the citizens of this ...city with the correct information? How can the public not have a final say through its elected representatives over the sale of a $40million piece of its property? The current terms of sale effectively end the 120 year plus legacy of the Bloomfield Centre within the north end. I wonder what the future residents will say when this property is again redeveloped and they realize that their "public" park is privately owned and to keep it they will have to pay $30million to preserve what was given to us for free by the province? https://www.thechronicleherald.ca//conflicting-stories-on/

Waye Mason on spin-cycle. The story coming out next week is that Bloomfield was sold 2 months ago and that Lindell Smith's statements in the Herald two days before the election were not true. No further approval from council is required and they will not have the opportunity to review the deal before it is signed (see the October 15 post). Notice how Waye Mason says St. Pats and Bloomfield will capture significant density bonus funds? This means that neither location will hav...e affordable housing. Nothing is stopping the city from entering the housing game. They could if they wanted to. Bloomfield is perfect for the "projects stream" of federal funding for affordable housing. Instead of "capturing density bonus funds" to build 60 units somewhere sometime, why not build 600 units of mixed affordable townhouses and 1-3 bedroom apartments? The city does not want to pay for affordable housing, so instead they download it onto neighbourhood's like Bloomfield with excessive height limits that will ultimately destroy the vibrancy and appeal of such neighbourhoods. Because the FAR ratios are being used to create the privatized "public park", and they hope to also pay for the restoration of the Fielding Building through density bonuses, the height we will be getting as a likely minimum of 40 stories. THEY ARE RUINING THIS CITY!! https://www.thechronicleherald.ca//waye-mason-market-alon/

The Bloomfield Solar Community Christmas Tree has returned for a fourth year! Visit the Facebook page @bloomfieldsolarchristmastree for updates including photos, videos, and information on the solar power system. A big thanks to Frontline Traffic Services for donating the use of their mobile solar power systems and to the North End Business Association for their ongoing financial support of this project!

MAY STREET DEMOLITIONS FOR AUTOMOTIVE USES PROHIBITED BY CENTRE PLAN: Pages 50-51 of the Regional Centre Secondary Municipal Planning Strategy prohibit the use of land in areas with a "Centre" designation for new automotive dealerships and service centres. This also establishes the authoritativeness of the Centre Plan and has direct implications for Bloomfield. I'm currently have an objection filed with the Ombudsman over city's failure to "identify and catalogue" the Bloomfi...eld Supervised Playground to inform its landuse decisions regarding the sale of the Bloomfield Centre. Pages 150-155+ of the same document spell out not only the city's responsibilities towards not only its "historical assets," but the "living history" of an area. Prohibiting the use of land for a car dealership also establishes the authority of the Centre Plan over land use decisions made by the city. It is my hope this will force the HRM to half the sale of the Bloomfield Centre under the current terms. https://www.msn.com//homes-near-honda-dealers/ar-BB1bk0mo

Sign the Bloomfield Centre petition and stop the privatization of public lands and services! The Bloomfield Centre is the last remaining large piece of municipally owned land in the North End and is currently in the process of being sold. Rather than being used for commercial development, it could be used to address the housing crisis and provide publicly owned community and cultural services and a large public park. Help convince Halifax Regional Council to put this land to better use! https://www.change.org/p/halifax-regional-council-stop-the-