Watching the video of the July 20 Public Hearing on the CBRM’s new Municipal Planning Strategy (MPS) and Land Use By-law (LUB), I had to seriously interrogate myself as to why I didn’t share many of the concerns expressed by the residents who came to the podium to offer theirRead More

Last Wednesday, during your regularly scheduled edition of the Cape Breton Spectator, I reported in some detail on the planning department’s presentation to CBRM council of the updated Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law. Except for a side bar on rooming houses, the story relied entirely on what plannersRead More

I hadn’t really thought about the time lag between amalgamation in 1995 and the adoption of a single Municipal Planning Strategy for the CBRM in 2004 until I saw it spelled out in the CBRM Forward Issue Paper presented to council by planning director Michael Ruus on Tuesday. Knowing itRead More

CBRM council agreed unanimously on Monday to apply for contribution funding under the federal government’s $4 billion Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF). I missed the council meeting during which the application was discussed (I’d hoped to be able to watch it before press time, but the video has yet to beRead More

I tuned into last night’s CBRM council meeting just in time for the singing of the national anthem (done a capella, I presume due to technical difficulties) and so missed the roll call and am not sure why Mayor Amanda McDougall-Merrill was not present—I know only that it was DeputyRead More

CBRM Council’s regular meeting began last night with the usual mishmash of proclamations that left us with a “Maritime Kids Health Day” (September 14), a “Medic Monday” (September 26),  a “Cape Breton Classic Cruisers Fall Classic Show & Shine Weekend” (September 16-18), a Fire Prevention Week (October 9-15) and anRead More

CBRM council voted last night to hire a consultant to conduct a Utility and Review Board (UARB)-mandated district boundary review and make recommendations about district and council size. Planning and Development Director Michael Ruus had been asked, during a special council meeting on January 25, to prepare an Issue PaperRead More

It’s that time again — district boundary review season! According to section 369 of the Municipal Government Act: (1) In the year 1999, and in the years 2006 and every eighth year thereafter the council shall conduct a study of the number and boundaries of polling districts in the municipality,Read More

The CBRM is “considering how to best address temporary signs within CBRM and whether to regulate them.” Under consideration are those signs “commonly displayed as black roadside signs with interchangeable lettering” Back in 2015, Halifax passed a temporary sign by-law dealing with these — and other types of — temporaryRead More

Editor’s Note: This week’s Fast & Curious is somewhat — although not entirely — less random than usual as I’ve decided to use the space to cover some items from this week’s CBRM Council meeting. Your regular Fast & Curious will return next week.   Minute by minute I finallyRead More