Public Invited to Dartmouth Cove Draft Comprehensive Plan Presentation

Waterfront Development Corporation and Halifax Regional Municipality are seeking feedback on a plan to make the Dartmouth waterfront more vibrant.

The comprehensive, draft land-use plan for Dartmouth Cove will be released Thursday, May 17.

"Public consultation is key in our vision for a vibrant, mixed-use neighbourhood," said Colin MacLean, president and CEO, Waterfront Development. "This community-driven plan comes at an exciting time for downtown Dartmouth and the waterfront."

The plan will be shared with the public at the Super 8 Hotel, 65 King St., Dartmouth, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. No registration is required. The presentation starts at 7 p.m.

Additional feedback is encouraged and an online questionnaire will be available at www.my-waterfront.ca/dartmouthcove after the presentation.

The area, which borders Alderney Drive, Portland Street, Maitland Street and the shoreline, is being revitalized by projects such as the King's Wharf development, the land parcel for future development known as WDC-1 and the Harbourwalk Trail. It is also near community focal points like Alderney Landing and the ferry terminal.

The plan presented Thursday will include the following planning and design components:

• The network of streets and layouts of blocks
• Pedestrian circulation system and public open spaces
• Building heights and setbacks
• Streetscape design and connections to adjacent areas

Future sea level rise and remediation of contaminated lands are also addressed in the planning and design process for the area.

"Redevelopment of Dartmouth Cove and other regional centre opportunity sites is a key focus for Council, and a major theme of HRM's Economic Strategy," said Mayor Peter Kelly. "The public consultation undertaken in February has reaffirmed the community's aspirations for Dartmouth Cove -- to be an attractive, lively, well-designed neighbourhood where people can live, work and play."

Designed to be inclusive and community driven, the public consultation incorporates the voices of landowners, residents and other interested groups through each phase of the plan development. It incorporated feedback from a variety of methods including the public four-day plan and design workshop held in February. The session was lead by consultants from The Planning Partnership, CBCL, and BuildGreen Solutions.

After reviewing feedback from the draft plan, the final design plan and report will be completed in June. It will describe provide guidance for the physical development of Dartmouth Cove and include an overview of the vision, plan components, suggested phasing sequence and detailed guidelines for the development and design of private and public spaces.

This project, along with the Regional Plan 5-Year Review and the HRMbyDesign Centre Plan, seek public input to create new policies and bylaws to improve sustainability in HRM communities.

Waterfront Development is a provincial crown corporation developing the strategic potential of waterfronts in Bedford, Dartmouth, Halifax and Lunenburg. The corporation fosters the creation of waterfronts that drive economic opportunity, enhance tourism, provide experiences and reflect and protects marine heritage.