Time to grow that boulevard garden in HRM? – TheChronicleHerald.ca

HALIFAX, N.S.

Here we grow again.

Halifax regional council will consider a motion at its virtual meeting Tuesday to convert the grass in the boulevards of some of its streets into a garden of flowers and plants.

Last October, council requested a staff report to focus on guidelines for boulevard gardens, with boulevards being defined as the area between the curb and the sidewalk that are typically planted with grass.

Right now, residents whose properties abut such boulevards are required to maintain any grass and clip it to a height of no greater than six inches.

Municipal staff reviewed nine other Canadian urban centres with boulevard garden policies for consideration in draft guidelines for HRM.

A meeting with HRM internal stakeholders led to a recommendation that the placement of boulevard gardens be addressed through street bylaw amendments and the adoption of an administrative order.

Additionally, a resident guide will be published with information for residents who wish to plant a boulevard garden abutting their property. The guidelines cover public safety and access to HRM rights-of-way, municipal operations including snow-clearing and street cleaning and maintenance and road and sidewalk repairs.

The boulevard gardens will not be permitted within medians or traffic islands, digging shall not extend deeper than 30 centimetres below grade and gardens must be a metre away from utility poles, fire hydrants, trees and bus shelters.

Further, gardens are not permitted where there is no sidewalk, permanent and temporary planters and irrigation will be prohibited and damage that may occur during road work, snow clearing or any other general maintenance may be reinstated with grass seed or sod. Damaged gardens will not be replaced by the municipality or any other contractor.

The list of prohibitions include areas with paid street parking and space adjacent to accessible parking spaces.

The boulevard garden shall not create a hazard to public users of the right of way, the staff report states.

The municipality would not allow trees, woody plants or climbing vines to be planted in boulevards and the maximum height for plants would be a metre, except for 0.6 metre within five metres of an intersection or marked crosswalk.

No plants will be permitted to overhang streets or sidewalks and plants must be trimmed if they do. If plants are deemed to be a visibility, mobility or safety concern, they may be trimmed or removed by staff.

Residents may want to consider planting annual or perennial plants which will thrive in the location, including a tolerance to drought and salt and exposure to sun, the staff report says.

Upon approval by council Tuesday, staff will prepare bylaw amendments to be brought back before council in approximately four months.

The residents guide will be published upon adoption of the boulevard garden policy and will be available in several languages.

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Time to grow that boulevard garden in HRM? - TheChronicleHerald.ca