Spring Garden Area Businesses Say Communication Is Key During Construction Season
HALIFAX – Each morning, The Garden Food Bar & Lounge opens at 8 am so the coffee crowd can come in and grab their brew and a bite to eat before work. Even during the pandemic, owner Kourosh Rad can rely on 40-50 customers to walk through the door between 8-10 am.
But, during this past sunny Wednesday morning, Rad was irked when he found a big sign less than 10 feet from Garden’s front door-telling people that the sidewalk was closed. This obviously deterred people from entering the restaurant and Rad saw less than 10 customers. Another nearby restaurant, Sushi Nami Royale, was affected by the sign as well.
“We tried to remove the sign, and the conversation got a little heated,” said Rad.
“It was blocking our front door, so I wasn’t going to stand there and not do something about it. We hadn’t been notified there was going to be a closure of our sidewalk.”
The Garden Food Bar & Lounge is located on Clyde Street in the Spring Garden area. The sidewalk was closed due to a Westwood Developments doing excavation work on a site located on the corner of Queen and Spring Garden. The proposed development hasn’t been approved by the city yet, but digging can still be done with a permit.
Other streets in the area were affected by the excavation work as well.
Rad originally thought that HRM staff were the ones responsible for the sidewalk closure. But, in a Twitter conversation, South Downtown Councilor Waye Mason explained that it was the developer who had workers on site.
“…It is important to be clear these were not HRM staff, these are contractors hired for traffic control by the developer, under a permit from HRM. HRM staff have intervened now and the developer is engaged in fixing this situation,” Mason tweeted to Rad on Wednesday.
Luckily for everyone involved, Rad said he later spoke to the developer and the situation was resolved. The developer replaced the large sign with a smaller one, so customers wouldn’t be deterred.
But Rad believes that going forward into a busy construction season, affected businesses need to be consulted before sidewalks and roads need to be closed.
“There was no communication whatsoever with us. We showed up and the sidewalk was closed,” said Rad.
“The whole situation could have been avoided if there was consultation done with us.”
Sue Uteck of the Spring Garden Area Business Association is also hoping for improved communication going forward. She says development is good for the area, but existing businesses have to be kept in mind. She says that the area is pedestrian-heavy, so sidewalk closures will result in less revenue for businesses.
“It’s not just important, it’s vital to businesses in the area; we depend on foot traffic. This area scores 99 out of 100 on a walking score. You can see all the new developments coming because people want to live down here. It’s a positive change, but the communication needs to be stepped up.”
This summer is going to be particularly busy, as millions of dollars in streetscaping will be started in the Spring Garden Area. So, communication is key.
“I don’t think it’s just the development (on the corner of Queen and Spring Garden), we also have the streetscape coming as well. We are going to be under a lot of construction between now and November,” said Uteck.
“As far as the streetscape, we’ve had great communication working hand-in-hand with HRM…We’ve got a very robust plan that we’re going to roll out for the streetscape.”
Waye Mason, in an interview with Huddle, said streetscaping on Spring Garden Road is needed this summer because of how busy the area is with pedestrians. On top of that, the old water mane on the street needs to be replaced, so it makes more sense to do all the work in one season.
“How wide a sidewalk should be is determined by how many people use it per hour,” explained Mason. “And the traffic we have when the weather is good and the tourists are here is such that the sidewalks simply aren’t wide enough on Spring Garden Road.”
Mason stressed, however, that the streetscaping will have an impact on local businesses, as all major construction does. He said the city will make sure to try as much mitigation as possible. The councilor believes the businesses will benefit greatly from the street improvements, so it will be worth it in the end.
Some businesses in the area, says Mason, feel the work should be delayed until another year, given the fact that the pandemic has already cut down on revenue. But Mason thinks it makes more sense to do the work during a down year, so the area will be fully open for business when business is booming and tourists are visiting again.
“The Streetscaping is going to be very difficult for Spring Garden and area businesses and residents. I think it’s needed,” said Mason. “I don’t think it makes sense, at all, to wait a year or two because this summer is not going to be great for businesses no. matter what.”
“While three or four businesses disagree with that the vast majority of businesses on Spring Garden Road do agree with that.”
Uteck said that, as of Thursday afternoon, there were no further complaints from Spring Garden area businesses about the ongoing work being disruptive. She also gave kudos to the developer for resolving the issue quickly on Wednesday.
Huddle reached out to the Halifax Regional Municipality and Westwood Developments for comment, but no statements were returned by publication.
“It’s fantastic, people love going down there, it’s become a major attraction downtown.”