The housing emergency in Nova Scotia is increasing daily and the understanding of the problem by provincial political leadership appears to differ in important details with the assessment of the situation by at least one Halifax Regional Municipality Councillor. This development resonates with concerns expressed in the Housing and Ideology post in June 2023. As noted then, political ideology may be a serious obstacle to effective action in the area of housing.
Haley Ryan of CBC News reports on differences between the understanding of housing fees and timelines in Halifax between Nova Scotia Premier, Tim Houston, and Halifax Regional Municipality Councillor, Shawn Cleary for District 9, Halifax West Armdale.
Houston said the municipality is taking too long to approve housing projects, while fees for building, construction and waste water have climbed "through the roof" and are too expensive for developers to handle.
Cleary said it's unclear whether it's Houston personally who is not up to speed, his staff, or Housing Minister John Lohr — "but clearly someone is not providing him with correct information." (Ryan, 2023)
Haley Ryan expands on some of the details of the difference of understanding between the Premier and the Councillor.
Data that planning staff presented to regional council in August shows Halifax has cut waiting times in half for construction and mixed-use permits, compared to last year. Other permit timelines, including residential, are either below or slightly over their targets depending on the project size.
Development agreements can take the longest, a range of eight months to more than two years, but staff said those lengthier waits are for complicated projects that might need new services or roads — like many of the special planning areas fast-tracked by the province that will create new neighbourhoods.
Fees have gone up in recent years, but not exponentially as suggested by the premier. In 2019, council approved an increase to planning and development fees after a staff report suggested moving them up from 13 per cent of the cost of processing these applications, to 33 per cent.
As part of this year's budget, council also raised building permit fees by 25 per cent as they had not been adjusted since 1997. A staff report noted that if fees had been increased annually to account for the consumer price index (CPI) up to 2022, they would be 69 per cent higher.
"Halifax actually has the lowest development charges of any major, or other city, across Canada and we're well below the national average when it comes to development charges," Cleary said.
Cleary did agree with Houston on one point — that waste water and water fees for building projects are certainly steep, and Cleary said some could run up to $6,000 a unit.
But, Halifax Water controls those fees, which are regulated through the Utility and Review Board (UARB). (Ryan, 2023)
In the crisis of homelessness that we are experiencing in Nova Scotia, and particularly HRM, one essential criteria for efficient progress on this catastrophe is cooperation between all levels of governments that avoids political “half truths”and acceptance rather than shifting of responsibility.
References
Ryan, H. (2023, September 15). Halifax councillor says N.S. premier's housing comments based on 'sheer ignorance'. CBC. Retrieved September 16, 2023, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/halifax-councillor-says-n-s-premier-s-housing-comments-based-on-sheer-ignorance-1.6968719?cmp=rss
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