Supreme Court of Canada to hear dispute over undeveloped Halifax-area land

The Supreme Court of Canada will look at whether a municipal move to prevent development of a parcel of land northwest of Halifax — and encourage its use as a park — might have amounted to expropriation.

As usual, the high court gave no reasons for agreeing to examine the case, and no date has yet been set for a hearing.

The legal dispute began when Annapolis Group Inc. filed a court action against Halifax Regional Municipality claiming it was not only blocking attempts to develop the company's land in the Blue Mountain Birch Cove Lakes area, but promoting the area's use by the public, effectively expropriating the space.

In November 2019, a judge denied the municipality's bid to summarily dismiss the expropriation claim on the basis it had no chance of success.

However, an Appeal Court overturned the decision earlier this year and dismissed the claim, saying although Annapolis cannot use the area as it wishes, that does not amount to the municipality taking the land.

The Appeal Court's ruling prompted the developer to bring its case to the Supreme Court.

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