A Letter to Halifax Mayor, Councilors and Staff
September 18, 2025
Halifax Regional Municipality
1841 Argyle St.
Halifax NS
B3J 3A5
Re: Proposed Dartmouth Cove Infilling Bylaw
Dear Mayor Fillmore, Councilors and staff;
We are writing to express our deep disappointment and frustration about our treatment by HRM Council. We are disturbed by the continued effort by Council to consider a bylaw that would effectively ban infilling in Dartmouth Cove targeting our property through a spot zoning effort. You and your colleagues on Council and HRM staff know that infilling in Halifax Harbour is under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government through the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Transport Canada. It is not within HRM’s jurisdiction. Dartmouth Cove is in the main working part of Halifax Harbour and our immediate Dartmouth Cove neighbors are actively engaged in marine businesses. The notion that HRM council, against its considered professional advice, is once again going to advance a targeted action without jurisdiction against a local property owner is offensive.
Under previous ownership, our lot in Dartmouth Cove, has had varied uses over many decades. It abuts the CN rail line, includes a Halifax Water’s ROW for their major wastewater lines, hosts the Harbourfront Walking Trail through a revocable license granted by the owner, and the COVE uses the water portion of the lot to access their un-permitted floating dock. The site itself was used for many decades as a discharge point for much of Dartmouth’s industrial and sewage waste. There is currently about 6 feet of toxic sludge in its sediment along the shoreline. Despite claims by some, there is no untouched shoreline remaining in Dartmouth Cove. All of it has been used, altered or infilled over the years.
Against this reality, we have attempted to find a path forward that would seal the harmful environmental legacy and use portions of the infilled site for new public and housing purposes. We have followed all the processes and rules in place to guide our plans. We have been opposed by several local politicians who have used their offices to obstruct and corrupt the processes by encouraging the Federal Departments to not issue the Federal permits we have earned. Now, we have a councilor using HRM staff and Council time to introduce and pass a bylaw for which they know they have no jurisdiction.
We note with further interest, that HRM through the Downtown Dartmouth Waterfront Revitalization Project (DWWR) has included our property as a central area within their scope of work and critical chokepoint to achieve their vision. There is no feasible recommendation possible from that plan that doesn’t involve infilling some of our land. Yet, here is HRM considering a bylaw to ban infilling and implying or misleading the general public that Council is acting to stop infilling while surreptitiously planning to do it.
We have attempted to inform and process our infill application by following all the onerous technical and environmental processes in place for such an effort. We have been collaborative and would prefer to work with HRM to determine the best and optimal uses of our infilled site. We remain committed to doing so. Sadly, our outreaches to collaborate with HRM have been rebuffed. We see a clear path forward to achieve what HRM says it wants, while contributing more recreational, economic and housing assets to the Dartmouth Waterfront while correcting a negative environmental legacy.
We are seeking your intervention to consider whether there is a non-confrontational path forward. We believe there is and are prepared to participate if HRM wants to explore it before it begins this misguided bylaw process.
We can be reached directly if there is interest on behalf of HRM.
Best regards,
Tom Hickey, Brad Hickey and the supporters of One Dartmouth Cove Community