The following is an excerpt from Councillor Shawn Cleary’s July Newsletter to his District 9 constituents regarding zoning of the land presently for sale adjacent to Williams Lake and the Shaw Wilderness Park.
[The full newsletter is available here.]
Protecting Williams Lake and Shaw Wilderness Park
On June 17th I put forward a motion at Halifax and West Community Council (HWCC) requesting a staff report on rezoning all portions of PIDs 00271585, 00323139, 00323147 on and near Williams Lake to Urban Reserve.
This action is being taken to recognize how inappropriate development is for this area. A large portion of one property is currently zoned urban reserve. Given the location on Williams Lake and the proximity to the newly created municipal Shaw Wilderness Park, the development of these lands puts at risk the substantial investment that Halifax and the Nature Conservancy of Canada recently made in creating a sustainable recreation facility. It also puts the water quality in Williams Lake at greater risk, which would further degrade the recreational value and biodiversity of Williams Lake and the Shaw Wilderness Park, as demonstrated in the Green Network Plan.
A staff report that assesses the rezoning to Urban Reserve for all portions of these properties is expected at a future HWCC meeting.