The following is an open letter from Michele Raymond to HRM Planner Jennifer Chapman in opposition to proposed rezoning of property adjacent to Catamaran Ponds, a critical part of the Williams Lake and Colpitt Lake watershed.
Jennifer Chapman, Planner,
Halifax Regional Municipality
PO Box 1749, Halifax NS B3J 3A5
24 January 2021
RE: Planning case #22890
Dear Ms Chapman;
I’m writing in opposition to the proposed rezoning of lots bordering the Catamaran Pond on the former Ferguson Farm lands at the dam end of Long Lake, near the intersection of Dunbrack Street and the Old Sambro Road.
Catamaran Pond is a small wetland now almost completely surrounded by a network of big roads, minor streets and residential development, but it is important to filtration of waters flowing from Long Lake into ponds, puddles, streams and major lakes from Spryfield onward.
The size of the intervention represented by this development proposal would have negative impacts well beyond the immediate borders of the Catamaran Pond.
This rezoning application brings into stark focus the urgent need for watershed mapping in the Mainland South area. The increasing intensity of residential development jeopardizes not only Catamaran Pond but also the Colpitt and Williams Lake systems downstream, and must be carefully managed.
Please consider this a submission in opposition to this rezoning proposal, and in support of the waters of Mainland South and the health of the surrounding ecosystems and their human inhabitants.
Sincerely,
[signed]
Michele Hovey Raymond
cc. Hon Brendan Maguire, Minister of Municipal Affairs (MLA Halifax Atlantic)
Councillor Shawn Cleary
Councillor Patty Cuttell