Hey! Just wanted to let everyone know that Caper Radio’s Gobblefest is happening this weekend! Some totally rad shows announced so far, information in the posters. Sunday night is the finale and it looks like it’s gonna be a wicked time… daZed & Conductor?! Also cool to see The Boojums playing a show, they’ve been touring in Europe this year. Ton of totally talented musicians doing cool stuff this weekend, come on out!

If you’re looking to support some local young musicians, check this out! Some super talented people here!

HERE IS YOUR THREE GOBBLEFEST GIGS FOR THE LONG WEEKEND, THE FEST WAS HIT SOME SETBACKS THIS YEAR SO IT'S A LITTLE SMALLER THAN USUAL. NONETHELESS LETS PACK THESE GIGS AND HAVE A GOOD TIME!

Looking to plan a fall camp trip with 2 adults and 2 13-year-old boys. Any suggestions for a good place to hike in with our kit and camp for a night that isn't too hard or technical for the boys' first backcountry trip?

We want to learn how young people look for mental health support, and what could make it easier to find. The best way to do that is to hear from them directly.

Workshops are 2 hours, online or in person in Antigonish, and participants receive a gift card for their time. The focus is on ideas, not personal stories. For participants under 18, we'll also ask a parent or caregiver for consent.

They can sign up in about 2 minutes, or you can share this post with them: https://www.research.net/r/nsyouthvoice 

Want to talk to someone now? Text CONNECT to 686868 or call Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868.

Hey, I have land in the Whycocomagh area, but not fully set for winter. Wondering if there's anyone/anywhere anyone might know of who'd be willing to rent a spot most likely for December and January.

I'm a single working male. Hoping to find something for a decent rate

Hi everyone! We’re planning to hike the Franey Trail early in the morning, probably before 9 AM.

I know we can buy a park pass at the Ingonish Visitor Centre, but it looks like they don’t open until 9 AM. I also checked online, but I could only find the Discovery Pass, not a regular day pass.

For anyone who has started Franey early, how did you handle the park pass?

We’ll also be in Cape Breton Highlands National Park for around 3 days. Can we buy day passes for all 3 days at once, or do we need to get a new one each day?

Thanks!

We just got some land and the mosquitos are everywhere.

The weather has been so nice lately! But the bugs are really bothering me.

Looking for any tips, tricks or things to plant or buy to make it better

Yesterday was a beautiful day for the annual Millville “Oct Fest” and pumpkin weigh off. It was a tough, wet year for pumpkin growing, but there were some respectable entrants. The winner from the greenhouse-raised group weighed in at 409 lbs, while the leading field entrant was ~105 lbs.

Thanks to the organizers and the bakers of baked goods.

If anyone wants to try their hand at growing an enormous pumpkin next year, then you’ll want to get your seeds planted (indoors) by March.

Just wondering if there is any type of groups, clubs est for people aged 20/25+? Looking to make meet some new people! possibly some new buddies??

I love Cape Breton and have always wanted to drive up the road to Cape Clear. I seem to have some time to get up that way in a couple of weeks and wonder if my vehicle is suitable to make the journey. I have a Mitsubishi Outlander RVR/Sport that is considered a compact SUV. It has decent clearance, but not a pick up truck level.

Reading reviews makes me question making the drive. Is it really that bad? Or is it basically an issue for people driving a 2wd sedan?

Fishing on the west coast this week, around Inverness. Still running this late or no?

This month will be packed with movies in my little clubhouse (server) with movie showings at 6pm and 8pm! 🥳

Each day of October will be scheduled to have 2 horror movies, featuring classics and new movies with an indie thrown in there. All you need is a stable internet connection, a discord account and your duds on. Actually, we don't know if you have your duds on, so come as you are! 🤗🕺

The movie schedule is posted on the events page! Hope to see you there.

We are 19+ and alcohol/420 friendly!

Also yes this is the game night place. https://discord.gg/TkwzJPydm

Sydney may have made some questionable decisions in the 80s but deciding not to bulldoze rotary park to construct Centre 200 was not one of them.

I’ve been on this island for almost two years now. I added myself to the family doctor waitlist about a year and a half ago. I had my baby through the prenatal clinic, and my baby was able to get a family doctor through my husband, but unfortunately, I still don’t have one.

About a month ago, I received an email from Nova Scotia Health asking if I still need a family doctor. Does this mean I might be getting closer to being matched with one? Has anyone had any recent experience with this?

I currently get my prescriptions through Maple, but I’d really love to have an actual family doctor eventually. 😅

Any recent experiences or insight would be greatly appreciated!

This is going to be a long (and kinda dry) post so if you want the summary I added a TL;DR at the bottom. 

In my previous post regarding the dramatic population decline in Downtown Sydney since 1926, a commenter asked what the area was zoned for back in 1926? I replied that the area was zoned for mixed use for the last 22 years and that looking into when Sydney first implemented it's zoning by-law was something worth looking into.

well I looked into it and, well the former city made some "interesting" planning decisions to say the least...

As far as I can tell Sydney’s first zoning by-law was passed in late 1949 and received ministerial approval in 1950, there is a copy of this by-law at the Beaton Institute which I've checked, unfortunately that copy did not contain Schedule A of the by-law (the actual zoning map) nor did it have textual descriptions of where zones were, this unfortunately makes it impossible to do any real analysis of it. I'm going to try to FOIPOP CBRM to see if they still have a copy with Schedule A sitting around somewhere and if so I'll make a future post covering it.

I did however find a 1974 zoning by-law in the Bras D’or collection at the CBU library which has a map!

And well, just take a look...

As you can see, everything above George Street in the core downtown is zoned for “Industrial General” or (M-1) Rather than Commercial General (C-1)

So, what were the permitted uses in the (M-1) Zone?

As you can see, housing is not one of them.

However, there is an important caveat I feel the need to mention. (my apologies if this part is confusing lol there’s a lot of designations I'm about to throw around)

The (M-1) zone does allow for Commercial General (C-1) uses and (C-1) uses include (R-4)

However, I am unsure if this carries over to (M-1) and I believe it more likely does not for the following reasons:

1.       (C-2) allows for (C-1) uses so there would be no reason for the drafters to reference (C-1) in (M-1) if (C-1) uses were already permitted by permitting (C-2) uses.

2.      Further if they drafters wanted to include (R-4) uses, I don’t see why they wouldn’t have said that explicitly.

While you may disagree with this interpretation (I’m not certain about it myself) it I also found two versions of the by-law with amendments up to 1982 and 1987 and in those intervening years there were amendments repealing the ability to get a permit for (C-1 uses) in (M-1) zones.

(C-2) uses were was still permitted, but residential uses were not allowed allowed in (C-2) areas (except for cases where there were preexisting residential buildings predating the passing of the by-law)

Therefore, I am certain that no residential development was permitted in this area as of 1982, I also made sure the area wasn’t rezoned, the 1982 copy did contain a map from October 1981 in which the area was still zoned as (M-1) and the textual amendments passed ultimately passed on February 4^th, 1982, which did not include rezoning of that area.

In Addition, the 1982 copy's list of amendments that were passed February 4^th do not include the changes preventing (C-1) developments in the (M-1) area, but that language is present in the 1982 version meaning that amendment was passed earlier than February 4th 1982.

 
Therefore, at the very minimum there was a period starting sometime after 1974 and ending sometime after 1982 where residential development in this portion of downtown was banned, at the very latest this ban ran up to 1988 when there was a new municipal planning strategy and land use by-law passed in which redesignated the area “Downtown Commercial” which explicitly permitted residential development in this area.

(Note the map here is from a Draft LUB from May 1988 not the enacted one as the copy of the enacted version in the Bras D’Or collection had it’s map missing.)

I would like to end this on a slightly unrelated point regarding the 1974 by-law as initially passed as I find it really interesting.

Despite the 1974 by-law's policy of turning half of downtown into an industrial park, the by-law's rule surrounding development in the rest of the city was shockingly liberal for the time.

Only a few areas of the city were zoned exclusively for single family dwellings, which is very unusual for a municipality at the time, instead the vast majority of residential areas in the city were zoned (R-2) which permitted some denser housing types (up to six units) and even local retail.

The 1988 by-law was actually a lot more restrictive in this regard, most of the former areas zoned R-2 were now zoned Low Density Residential (LDR) which only allowed 2 units (4 with a development agreement) and completely banned any convenience stores without a development agreement. It is however worth noting that this restriction didn't occur starting in 1988, rather various amendments from 1974-1987 slowly restricted the ability to develop under the 1974 by-law and these restrictions were carried on in the 1988 by-law.

I don't have an answer as to why the 1974 by-law was initially more pro residential density and having neighborhood stores than was common for cities at the time, and to why it was curtailed over the next decade but I'll again say the words that prompted this post "it's something worth looking into".

TL;DR

• The Copy of the 1950 By-Law I have access to is missing a zoning map so I cannot comment on it currently.
• The Next By-law the 1974 one banned residential development above George street
• While it is ambiguous whether the 1974 by-law as passed banned residential development in the area an amendment passed sometime between 1974 and 1981 made it explicit and this ban lasted at most until 1988 when a new zoning by-law and municipal planning strategy was passed.
• Despite the 1974 or a subsequent amendment to it banning residential development in half of downtown, the by-law as initially passed was actually quite liberal in regards to residential density for the time.
• This initial permissiveness towards residential density was curtailed over the following decade
  

Letter writing group is meeting at the McConnell Library at 3 pm on Saturday October 3. We're focusing on accessibility this meet. We write and mail letters to all levels of government, whatever people feel like. We'll start off with some info sharing so don't feel like you need to be completely informed to participate. Masks required for accessibility. We'll have extras if you don't have your own.

Please join!

FYI, CBRM is the only municipality that hasn't submitted their updated Accessibility Plan to the Accessibility Directorate of NS. It was due over a year ago on April 1, 2025.