Sandy Lake - Sackville River Regional Park Coalition 115 Farmers Dairy Lane, Bedford, Nova Scotia www.sandylakecoalition.ca ____________________________________________________________________________________ Halifax Regional Plan Review 2020 Kate Green, Regional Policy Program Manager April 24, 2020 Re: Submission to RP+10 Review from Sandy Lake-Sackville River Regional Park Coalition (SL- SRRP groups listed at bottom of page) This is our initial submission to the Regional Plan review (RP+10) on behalf of The Sandy Lake-Sackville River-Regional Park Coalition. We expect to send further installments over the next several months, and we request that those additions plus this installment together become our complete submission. Our comments and requests will include both the specific issues at Jack Lake/Sandy Lake Regional Park (We will refer to this as Sandy Lake – Sackville River Regional Park or SL-SRRP) and also more general requests and suggestions that we see as beneficial to HRM. The submission has a background segment plus three request sections, each followed by supporting information and appendices in the usual place. We ask: 1. That the SL-SRRP be expanded by additional 1,800 acres (see Map 1). The SL-SRRP boundary be researched in the RP+10 process so that new boundaries based on science are established to encompass all remaining essential watershed to be protected and managed as a regional park for all time. That would mean finding “win-win” solutions that serve both the community and present landowners needs. 2. That the Halifax Green Network Plan (HGNP) be included in its entirety in the RP+10. 3. That the requests in sections A, B, and C be addressed within the RP+10 review and implemented. The SL-SRRP wishes to thank the city for creating and passing the Halifax Green Network Plan (HGNP) and for amending the Regional Plan’s conservation design development agreement policies to specifically reference the Important and Essential Corridors shown on Map 5, the Green Network Ecology Map, contained in the HGNP. We also thank you very much for Director Denty’s letter that states the city does not see a need for housing development at Sandy Lake for at least 15 years, for acquiring 160 acres next to Marsh Lake for the park in 2015, for assurances that the city wants to expand this park, and for adding the Sandy Lake area to the draft 2020 Capital Projects Budget for land acquisition. We look forward to working with the city on this latest upgrade to the Regional Plan to benefit all of HRM. Thank you for the opportunity to contribute. Sincerely, ORIGINAL SIGNED Karen Robinson, Co-chair of SL-SRRP Coalition Steering Committee and rep. for Sandy Lake Conservation Association David Patriquin, Co-chair of SL-SRRP Coalition and Steering Committee and rep. for NS Wild Flora Society, Halifax Field Naturalists, Woodens River Environmental Organization/The Bluff Trail Mary Ellen Donovan, SL-SRRP Coalition Steering Committee and rep. for Friends of Blue Mountain Birch Cove Lakes Society Karen McKendry, SL-SRRP Coalition Steering Committee and rep. for the Ecology Action Centre Ray Plourde, SL-SRRP Coalition Steering Committee and rep. for the Ecology Action Centre Walter Regan, SL-SRRP Coalition Steering Committee and rep. for the Sackville Rivers Association Harry Ward, SL-SRRP Coalition Steering Committee and rep. for Five Bridges Wilderness Heritage Trust cc. Mayor Savage and Council Kathleen Fralic, Halifax Green Network Plan Leah Perrin, HRM Planning Sandy Lake - Sackville River Regional Park Coalition Member Groups to date: Sandy Lake Conservation Association Sackville Rivers Association Agropur Cooperative Dairy Bedford Plant Beechville Lakeside Timberlea Rails to Trails Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society - Nova Scotia Chapter Canoe/Kayak Nova Scotia Ecology Action Centre Five Bridges Wilderness Heritage Trust Friends of Blue Mountain Birch Cove Lakes Society Friends of McNabs Island Society Halifax North West Trails Association Kingswood Ratepayers Association Lucasville Community Association Lucasville Greenway Society McIntosh Run Watershed Association Mountain Bike Halifax Nova Scotia Bird Society Nova Scotia Salmon Association Nova Scotia Wild Flora Society St. Margaret's Bay Stewardship Association The Halifax Field Naturalists The Neighbourhood Association of Uplands Park The Turtle Patrol Trips By Transit WRWEO / The Bluff Wilderness Hiking Trail Sandy Lake - Sackville River Regional Park Coalition www.sandylakecoalition.ca ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Submission to the RP+10 Review from The Sandy Lake-Sackville River Regional Park Coalition April 24, 2020 Table of Contents I Letter of Introduction II Background to Submission Introduction………………………….…………………………………………………….. 1 Why do we need urban parks? ………………………………………………………………..2 Important Background……………………………………………………………………….. 4 Is the ecological value of the SL-SRRP area still intact after all these years?...................... 5 Topography, Park Assets, Park Access, Park Planning, the New Map ………………….…8 Cultural and Educational Aspects strengthen Environmental and Historical...………….. 9 Community Support……………………………………………………………………….… 10 We looked to find where things went wrong…………………………………………….…. 14 Regional Plans 1975 to 2015 ……………………………………………………………….... 14 Another mistake to fix ………………………………………………………………………. 17 Here is good news: August 2015 staff report rationale …………………………………… 18 Land for the Park……………………………………………………………………………. 19 Land Acquisition to Date …………………………………………………………………… 22 III Request Sections A, B, and C A. Requests that support expansion, creation, and protection of SL-SRRP……………..25 B. Requests that are more general...………………………………………………………..37 C. Halifax Green Network Plan items that support protection of SL-SRRP …………...46 IV Summary and Conclusions………………………………………………………….57 Submission to the RP+10 Review from Sandy Lake-Sackville River Regional Park Coalition April 24, 2020 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SANDY LAKE – SACKVILLE RIVER REGIONAL PARK (SL-SRRP) IN THE RP+10 Introduction This is the initial submission to the Regional Plan review (RP+10) from The Sandy Lake-Sackville River- Regional Park Coalition (SL-SRRP Coalition). We thank the city for this opportunity to bring our concerns, thoughts and suggestions to the process of revising the Regional Plan. We also thank the city for all that is being done to protect and expand Sandy Lake-Sackville River- Regional Park. In particular, for creating and passing the Halifax Green Network Plan (HGNP), for Director Denty’s letter that states the city does not see a need for housing development at Sandy Lake for at least 15 years, for acquiring 160 acres next to Marsh Lake for the park in 2015, for assurances that the city wants to expand the park, and for adding the Sandy Lake area to the draft 2020 Capital Projects Budget for land acquisition. This submission has three request sections, A, B and C, each followed immediately by supporting information. The requests include issues specific to Sandy Lake – Sackville River Regional Park (SL- SRRP) and also topics we see as beneficial to HRM more generally. We ask that the requests in each section be addressed within the RP+10. While we are grateful that Regional Plans continue to say a regional park is intended for Jack Lake/Sandy Lake, a large part of the watershed area is now zoned for housing development. Much of this submission is focused on demonstrating why we believe this is a mistake. 1 Why do we need urban parks? The push for urban parks began with the population explosion in the 1800's. Not unlike here, the original 1811 plan for Central Park in New York was simply to use the land to construct housing. Years of opposition to this approach (and again with a certain parallel here at SL-SRRP), the Central Park project was approved 46 years later in 1857. An article by Iberdrola, an international sustainable energy company, https://www.iberdrola.com/about- us/utility-of-the-future entitled The Importance of urban Parks: "The creation and adaptation of large green areas has become a constant on the agenda of cities of all sizes, particularly since the car was invented. This has to do with the term urban heat island, the name given to unintentional climate change to the air and the ground in cities - in comparison to non- developed areas - caused by factors such as road traffic, heating, the use of materials such as cement or asphalt, etc. Urban parks - whether historic or newly designed - are one of the most sustainable ways of combating this island of heat and pollution: as well as producing oxygen, trees and vegetation helping control temperature and humidity. Other benefits are that they reduce radiation and noise from road traffic and machinery and create a sort of oasis for both plants and animals. They are also the perfect place to relax and play sports. " Halifax is growing toward Bedford and Sackville at a relatively rapid rate. The Bedford of today is de facto the second largest city in Nova Scotia even though it is embedded in HRM. And thus, we have the need for regional plans - to attempt to predict that future and shape the urban design and infrastructure in such a way that optimizes the health and livability of our communities in a way that envisages that future and how to best meet the needs. Therefore, Sandy Lake – Sackville River and environs are not being planned for