News Briefs: March 2024

(Illustration: Will Maclachlan)

• You can proceed with building the luxury seasonal beachfront condo you’re dreaming of without getting a red stamp from any pesky planners telling you, “No, it’s going to collapse into the ocean in ten years.”
  
  The Progressive Conservative Party announced they will not proceed with the Coastal Protection Act, which passed in 2019 with all-party support. The act was intended to outline how and where you can build along the coast to mitigate against climate change, and now municipalities are left to coordinate their own rules. 
  
  At the Lunenburg Council Meeting on Feb. 27, Councillor Ed Halverson suggested the Town write a letter to the province expressing their concerns. CAO Jamie Doyle said, “I would certainly support Council sending a letter to the provincial government to share our disappointment,” and he is first consulting with other municipalities on this issue.
   
• The remaining pieces of the historic Lunenburg Foundry & Engineering lands – known as “Plant 1” – were purchased by three companies with mixed-use intentions including a marina and residential units. The purchasing group is composed of property investment firm Solterre Inc., Brad Boutilier (owner of East River Shipyards and Lunenburg Shipyards) and co-investor Jerry Nowee, and real estate development entity Somerled Properties.
  
  A release says each member of the group “has interests in certain portions of the Plant 1 lands and understands the synergy in working on a Master Plan at the Plant 1 site to reinvent itself and lead the town’s building heritage to become a low carbon, high-efficiency showcase.”
  
  Brad Boutilier is planning for a full-service marina for yachts up to 200’ long, a fuel dock, and shower and washroom amenities, with repair shops nearby.
  
  Architect Jen Corson, co-owner of Solterre Inc. and Creative Lead of reFoundry.ca, says, “Working collaboratively on the Plant 1 site is a career high. Our design team is already deeply engaged in the planning for much-needed multi-unit residential units during this housing crisis in this centrally located, walkable site close to nearby school, parks, and local businesses”.
  
• Lunenburg School of the Arts announced in February their newest artist-in-residence is Letitia Fraser, in residence until May. Fraser is an interdisciplinary artist with recent exhibitions at the  Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and Chester Art Gallery. Her work centres on her experience as an African Nova Scotian woman growing up in North Preston and Beechville.
  
• When The Ocean Came To Town, a picture book by Halifax author Sal Sawler and illustrated by  Lunenburg artist Emma FitzGerald, was championed by Mr. Orlando The Moose for CBC Kids Reads. The book tells the story of a community who comes together when powerful ocean waves damage their homes.