Halifax Regional Municipality

Andy Fillmore, manager of urban design for Halifax Regional Municipality, doesn’t toss around complex acronyms or technical jargon when defining the HRMbyDesign downtown plan. He gets straight to the heart of what is genuinely important.

“It’s a long-term strategy to increase the number of people living and working in downtown Halifax by improving the livability of the city, by improving the quality of design of public spaces and quality of architecture, preserving our heritage better and improving the process by which development is approved.”

The plan is a key component of HRMbyDesign, an urban design strategy for the regional centre, which encompasses Halifax Peninsula and the area in Dartmouth within the circumferential highway. Fillmore says about 50 per cent of the municipality’s jobs and households are in the regional centre.

“It’s the cultural, educational, social and academic heart of the municipality, the region, the province, and many people, including me, would argue the Maritimes,” he says. “It plays a very important role in the image of the area and also in the way we all put bread on our table.”

Before the regional centre strategy could be addressed, significant changes needed to be made to the downtown planning process. “Everyone knew that something was broken, that we weren’t protecting our heritage well and, at the same time, we were discouraging investment in the downtown,” Fillmore says.

Essential to the plan’s development was community consultation, which included 130 presentations, four multi-day public forums, and the opportunity to comment on three drafts of the plan.

“The plan is nothing without the time that they put in,” Fillmore says. “People who came out to those consultations, who wrote their councillors, who wrote the media – wrote letters to the editor for and against, because it all goes in the mix – it’s their plan.”

The plan is based on five principles: vision, design, height, heritage and process. The encouragement of mixed-use buildings – ones which might, for example, include both residential and retail space – and an emphasis on pedestrian-friendly streetscapes fall within these dimensions.

Other highlights include the designation of heritage conservation districts. The Barrington Street Heritage Conservation District is now in place. “Basically that eliminates the ability to demolish heritage buildings within the confines of that district and it puts about $3 million of municipal money into play over the next five years for use in grants for façade restoration,” Fillmore says. “And based on interviews with landowners and property owners, we expect that to leverage about $15 million worth of private investing.”

Two other heritage conservation districts – Barrington South and the Historic Properties area – are planned for late 2010.

Another highlight is the introduction of a new approval process which eliminates guesswork for developers. “It has in the past taken years to get an approval – it’s always very controversial,” Fillmore says. “So we’ve set aside that entire process that was fraught with difficulties and we’ve replaced it with a new process that is clear and predictable and that provides for a turnaround in 60 days.”

Also new is the introduction of a citizen-based design review committee comprised of design professionals and citizens-at-large. As a news release announcing the inaugural committee explains, members “will ensure that all development applications are consistent with the building and public space design guidelines contained in the new Design Manual.”

Bill Hyde, who practised as an architect for 46 years, is on the committee. He also serves on the Urban Design Task Force, which Fillmore describes as the “community’s representative in the (HRMbyDesign) process and the project’s voice to council.”

Hyde says he hopes “more and better growth – two different things” result from the work of the task force and the design review committee. When asked what it has meant to him to be a part of this process he says: “...this area’s been very good to me, I’ve had a good life here and a good career and it’s a way of continuing to contribute to the community that I love.”

Fillmore is also happy to be contributing to his hometown. After living in the United States for 15 years, he came back expressly to take on the role of manager of urban design for the Halifax Regional Municipality.

“When I saw that the city was beginning to take seriously the importance of livability, of good design in its downtown, sustainability, quality of life, that was enough for me to convince my wife to pull up stakes and move back. I think the promise has been borne out,” he says.