PLANAPP 2025-02951 - 754 Waterstone Run, Lucasville, NS

Request

Application from the property owners requesting to discharge all parts of the restrictive covenant registered to 754 Waterstone Run, Lucasville, PID 40817777.

Proposal

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The applicant is requesting to discharge all parts of the restrictive covenant registered to 754 Waterstone Run (PID 40817777) and has indicated they intend to develop a backyard suite in accordance with the underlying R-6 zoning of the Beaver Bank, Hammonds Plains and Upper Sackville Land Use By-law. 

The specific clauses of the covenant to be modified and/or discharged are as follows:

3. No building shall be erected on the said lands other than a detached private dwelling house to and for the use of a single family with or without an appropriate garage attached hereto. Detached garage may be permitted at the discretion of the Grantor.

4. No dwelling shall be erected or stand upon the said lands or any part thereof which shall have a ground floor area less than:

   (i)     1,400 square feet in the case of a one storey dwelling;

   (ii)    1,200 square feet in the case of a dwelling of more than one storey but not a full two storeys;

   (iii)    900 square feet in the case of a dwelling of two storeys or more provided that the total 

            habitable floor area of any dwelling shall not be less than 1,800 square feet.

5. No more than one dwelling house shall be erected or stand at one time upon the said lands.

6. No building shall be erected on the said lands, or any addition or alteration shall be made hereto, unless the design of such building, addition or alteration and the plans therefore drawn by a duly qualified person shall be approved for general conformance to these restrictive covenants by the Grantor in writing. 

7. Notwithstanding anything herein contained, no building, fence, or erection of any kind shall be erected on the said lands unless the plans, dimensions, specifications and location hereof, as indicated by a siting plan (including the distances from the front, side and rear limits) shall have been first submitted to and approved in writing by the Grantor or the architect shall be constructed or placed on the said lands otherwise than in conformity with such plan specifications or siting plan.

9. The lands or any building erected, or to be erected thereon, shall not be used for the purpose of any profession, trade, employment, service, manufacturer or business of any description, nor as a school house, hospital or other charitable institution, nor as a hotel, apartment house, rooming house, or place of public resort, nor for any sport (other than such games as are usually played in connection with the normal occupation of a private residence) nor for any other purpose than a private residence for the use of one family only to each dwelling unit; nor shall anything be done or permitted upon any of the said lands or building erected or to be erected thereon which shall be a nuisance to the occupants of any neighbouring land or buildings, unless approved under the Municipal by-laws, and by the Grantor.

13. No excavation shall be made on the said lands except excavation for the purpose of building on same at the time of commencement of such building or for the improvement of the gardens and grounds thereof. No soil, or gravel shall be removed from the said lands except with the prior permission of the Grantor. 

14. No living tree shall be cut or removed from the said lands other than those standing within the area to be excavated for the erection of a building thereon or the immediate improvement of the grounds without the consent in writing of the Grantor. 

19. The Grantee will not permit the condition of the surface of said lands or any part thereof to be in such condition to be below the standards of landscaping of the surface of lots which is normally found in a first class residential neighbourhood. The Grantee shall be responsible for landscaping between the ditch and streetline abutting his property. The front and side yards shall be fully landscaped and the rear yard shall be landscaped for a distance of twenty (20) feet from the rear of the building. All landscaping of disturbed areas shall be erected through the installation of sods.

The applicant has requested that clauses 14 and 19 be modified while the other clauses identified above be discharged. The modifications proposed include:

14. No living tree shall be cut or removed from the said lands other than those standing within the an area to be excavated for the erection of a building thereon or the immediate improvement of the grounds without the consent in writing of the Grantor.

19. Except as may occur during the construction of a secondary or backyard suite accessory to a dwelling permitted under s. 4.12.A of the Land Use By-law, the Grantee will not permit the condition of the surface of said lands or any part thereof to be in such condition as to be below the standards of landscaping of the surface of lots which is normally found in a first class residential neighbourhood. The Grantee shall be responsible for landscaping between the ditch and streetline abutting his property. The front and side yards shall be fully landscaped and the rear yard shall be landscaped for a distance of twenty (20) feet from the rear of the building. All landscaping of disturbed areas shall be erected through the installation of sods.

Regulatory Context

Restrictive covenants are agreements between two parties, such as developers and property owners. Although the municipality does not apply restrictive covenants in the application of municipal land use regulations, changes to the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter (Section 257A) allows the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of the municipality to discharge or modify private covenants when they are more restrictive than the current zoning with respect to height or density. Section 257A (3) further states that the decision of the CAO may be appealed to the Nova Scotia Regulatory and Appeals Board.

It is important to note that if the CAO were to choose not to modify or discharge a private covenant, HRM could still issue a permit for the proposed use if it meets the land use by-law and other municipal regulations, because the municipality does not enforce private covenants when processing permit applications.

Process

The application will be considered under the Modification and/or Discharge of a Private Covenant process. 

Status

The public engagement period ended on February 25, 2026. Thank you to all who provided feedback. Staff are conducting a report for the CAO based on all information received from the public engagement.

The website will continue to be updated as the file progresses and any resubmissions based on staff and public feedback are provided.

Documents Submitted for Evaluation

The applicant has submitted a rationale letter and provided a copy of the restrictive covenant registered to the subject property as required by HRM staff to properly evaluate the application. The documents are also available for review at the Planning Applications office at 5251 Duke Street, Halifax, Suite 300.