Halifax expanding Sackville rivers floodplain for first time in decades

Halifax is expanding the Sackville rivers floodplain and development restrictions that come with it, bringing applause from advocates but concerns from homeowners worried about property values.

On Tuesday evening, regional council unanimously approved proposed changes to municipal planning strategies and land-use bylaws for communities along the Sackville River and Little Sackville River, including Bedford, Lower Sackville and Middle Sackville.

"[It's] long overdue protection of the Sackville river system. I mean we all witnessed that flood of 2023 and the damage that did," said Coun. Billy Gillis of Lower Sackville-Beaver Bank.

This is the first time these rules have been changed in the area since the 1980s or early 1990s.

The municipality has laid new floodplain maps — a one-in-20-year map applying to areas with a five per cent chance of flooding in any given year, and a one-in-100-year map applying to areas having a one per cent chance of flooding — over original boundaries from the 1980s.

Within the most restrictive one-in-20 zone, also called the floodway overlay, existing non-residential uses, parks, recreation, trails and parking lots are allowed. 

But in that zone, no structures may be used for human habitation. One of the effects of this would be that homes considered 75 per cent destroyed, for any reason, cannot be rebuilt.

Maureen Ryan, Halifax planner, said people currently living in this area don't have to move out of their homes, which become legal non-conforming structures. But she said the change prevents future development that could put more homeowners and the waterways at risk.

"It's an adaptive floodplain management program that would allow the community to evolve," Ryan said.

Within the one-in-100 zone, also called the flood fringe overlay, existing uses like residential development can be allowed if habitable floors are created above the required flood elevation, and the structure can withstand floods and allow water to flow through. 

However, places that are hard to evacuate — like shared housing, hospitals or daycares — would not be allowed.

A few residents urged council to delay or reconsider the bylaw changes in a public hearing before the vote. They asked to have their properties removed from the floodplain map because they are concerned about a loss in property value, and some had made elevation changes to their lots to prevent flooding.

Nick Antoft, who lives on the Lucasville side of McCabe Lake, said he's hired experts to assess his own property and does not feel like his lot should fall within the new floodplain map.

"It's frustrating because, you know, I'm 68 years old and I'm sort of coming up to the end … how does this kind of fit into what we do with the property and the future?" Antoft said after the meeting. 

Antoft said he plans to gather other impacted residents to explore a class action appeal of any changes to their property assessments.

The floodplain maps are based on a 2017 study that was updated last year and takes climate change models into account.

Walter Regan, past president of the Sackville Rivers Association, was one of a few speakers in favour of the changes.

After the meeting, Regan said he was "ecstatic" to see council pass the changes that the association has been pushing for since 1988.

"This was a good win for the public and for the Sackville River and the environment," Regan said. "This floodplain zoning will help reduce infrastructure costs, and help future people from buying houses that should not have been built."

Regan said he now wants to see Halifax follow through with modern floodplain maps and development controls around other rivers in the municipality.

In 2023, Halifax did ask the province to buy out homeowners in flood-prone areas like Union Street in Bedford.

The province has told CBC News that the federal Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangement, which Nova Scotia administers, "does not have a mechanism to allow the purchase of flooded homes."

But it might not be a done deal. On Tuesday, Ryan told councillors that staff are still having informal discussions with the province's emergency management office to find the "best way to approach the federal government with respect to those buyouts."

Staff said Tuesday they recommend the floodplain mapping be updated at least every 10 years, or earlier if new information becomes available.

Residents can visit Halifax's online mapping tool to type in their address and see if, and where, they fall within the new floodplain areas.