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CONFIDENTIAL File No. D862

TO I His Worship Mayor J••E. Lloyd andMembers of the City Council

FROM: P. F. C. Byars" city Manager

DATE: November 26••1962

SUBJECT: Africville

Attached for information purposes is a copy ofa letter from the Development Officer to Mr. George W. Davis,Secretary of a committee representing the ~fricville group.

City Staff have had one meeting with the group.The questions dealt with in the letter were dealt withverbally at the meeting. The letter merely serves to confirmthe answers given at that timeo

The Committee has had one further meeting itselfsince meeting with City Staff. It proposes to further reviewthe discussions and the written material within Committee andwith the residents of Africville. Following this, furthermeetings will be held with Staff.

The progress of negotiations and discussions willbe reported to members of Council on a confidential basisf~om time to time.

Respectfully submitted,

P. F. C. ByarsCity Manager

RBG/mebAttachment

Digital copy of excerpt from 102-4A.5.D862 provided by Halifax Municipal Archives

Co

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Mr. George W. DavisBarrister239 Gottingen StreetHalifax~ Nova Scotia

Dear Mr. Davis:

File No. D862

November 2lt 1962

RE: Afriaville

I will attempt to outline below the answers to

the question~ you have raised in respect of Africville. Thequestions ar~ dealt with in the order presented by youexcept in o~ instance. You will note that I have given theanSWer to Q~estion 5 before Question 4~ rhis is done forsimplification as tbe answer to Question 5 part£ally answersQuestion 4.

lit What precisely are the boundaries of Afriaville?

The area known as Africville has no definitivelegal boundaries. For purposes of the Cityreport of July 23, 19621' Afriaville is considered to include all the buildings identifieaby number on Plan No. P500/46 attached. Thearea would~ of course1' include the lands Whichcou(d be legally identified with each and allof the buildingso

rhere may be some who feel that Afriavilleincludes either more or less land _ndbuildings than tbose illustrated on the plan.The ultimate de~inition is entirely one ofjudgment/»

2. Whv does. the City of Halifax want t9 expropriateAfricville?

It is tbe opinioll of th~ City that most,. ifnot all of the b~ildings in the area coveredby the report could be ordered vacated underthe provisions of Section 757 of the City Charter,ordinance SOt- and the statutes pertaining tohealth and fire protection. In many instances,the buildings could be ordered demolished. If,the various legislative provisions are enforceain tbei~ entirety, as is bappening in otherparts of tbe City:;.residents of Africville would1>almost witbout exot:lptionbe required to findalternative accommodation.

Some residents of the area may have good titleto their lands. Otbers have questionable titlewhile still otbers could prove no title at all.In view of the title situation and the lack ofservicest- residents of the area would be l~ftwith little possibility of developing or d~sposing of their lando Clouds on title would


2. make it very difficult,- if not impossibley toraise funds by way of mortgage loans to assi st:l.nrebuilding.,

It is tbe opinion of City Staff that conditionsin Africville cannot be brought to the minimumlevel required by Ordinance 50 through a salvageoperationo A copy of Ordinance 50 isattached~Essential servicesT such as sewerI' water~ anaroads require an orderly arrangement of housingunits on an acceptable pattern of public rightsof-wayo These services cannot be installedwithout a complete re-arrangement of structuresand of land holdingso

Structures moved~ as would be required to permit,the installation of essential ~nicipal servicea,are required to meet the standards of new co~struction within the Cityo As you are aware,these standards are considerably higher thanthose imposed under Ordinance 50~ Few~ if any~of.the existing structures could be brcpught tothe standard required of a new buildingo

In essencey thereforeI' the City of Halifax proposesto expropriate the Africville area in order t~permit betterment of housing conditions for theresidents., In the processT it would expect t~clear title for the lands in the area once andfor all" This would permit these lands to bere-used in an orderly manner and with all tbefinancial assistance that is normally availablefrom the financial community"

By expropriating the properties, the City wouldmake itself liable for claims for compensationby persons hOlding title to lands in the areaQSuch claims would be compensated a~ full marketvalue" At tbe same timeT possession of cleartitle to the lands by the City would serve tojustify to some extent gra'tll:f.,touapaymentstotho$e with no legal but some moral claim oftitle.,

The present proposal is tllatithe lands in thearea should ultimately be converted for industrialor commercial use" A major requirement of theCity is the requirement for a right-of-way forthe proposed new Shore Driveo The proposals forre-use are illustrated on Plan No" P500/44 attached~The re-use proposals for the area may have someslight bearing on a decision to expropriate butthe primary reason is the necessity to permitand assist the residents of A.fricville to complywith the requirements imposed upon the balanceof the resid~nts of the City of Halifaxo

3. If AfridV11~e land is potentially valuable forindustrial purposes~ will residents of Africvillereceive hiah value in return for lands expropriated?

Industrial lands are not normally of high valueoMbst industries are looking for cheap land andmost municipalities welcome such industry inspite of this basic requir.ementv ,~eco11Omicwellbeing of a community depends upon a vigorousemployment factor and industry creates this.


30 The present uncertainty as to land title in.thearea would pake t~ land virtually UBeless£or

industrial purposeso Industries require cleartitle before they would consider constructinga plant ~ They need this clear title to protectthemselves and in order to encourage participationin the financing of their operations by lendingagencies~

The amounts paid by the City for land is notgoverned by the potential future use of thatlande Payments are based upon the present useof the land and reflect the true market valuein use of such lands and buildings~

Ih order to insure a just settlement for boththe City and the owner? independent appraisersare engaged by the City to place a market valueon each propertyo Many owners also engageindependent appraisers to establish their valuefor them" Negotiations are carried forwardwithin the framework of values established bythese independent appraisalse In the event thatnegotiations are unsuccessfult> the former ownerof an expropriated property has recourse to theCourt:s for establishment of a just settlement"In view of thist> OUIt" negotiations reflect thedecision of previou~"oourt casesa

There will be those in the Africville area whohave in fact no legal claim t.o the land whichthey oCCUPYo The Cit1 recognf~es that itcould expropriate these properties and have nolegal liability for compensation" It has beensuggested that a form of gratuitous pa~ent bemade to those with a moral claim fOr cotapensationoSuch payment 'would not be required to be paidby the Courts"

5" Ea~tax money b~n accepted from people Wholack titles to th~ properties that they possess?If so"" why?

The answer to the first part of this question isyes •• For m~ years properties in the Africvillearea were not assessed" The reason for the lackof ,assessme~t ~as the apparent lack of a clearttlaim of la~d ownershipo

In 1956~ after the completion of the Cleminshaw Reval~tion of City properties for assessment purposesjthe City ~ssessor became quite concerned about thesituation in the Africville areab After aonsultatiolwith the former City Manager and the former CitySolicitorfr it was 'decided that all properties inAfricville and indeed throughout the City wouldbe assesse9 even though no clear t1tl~ could beestablisheao The basis of assessment was thatit would apply only to the buildings", Tbe assessment would be made against the l;lpparentowner of thebuilding" The aSsessments were in fact madeagainst the persons wno claimed to own thebuilding whether these persons could justify theirclaim or not"


5. The justification for the assessment was theprovision contained in the City Charter that .~ccupants of buildings on lands owned by the~~ty of Halifax or Her Majesty the Queen are~iable for real estate taxes on the buildingswhich they occupy", Most of the roots of titleexamined by the City indicated that the landwas originallY owned by the City or Her MajestYQWhere clear title was not held by an individualit could well be argued that the last knowntitle was vested in the City or Her Majestyo-

4~ Why has t,he.9.it,y~acceptedpayment of taxes onland 'which was expropri,ated in 1957?

The original assessments on the propertiesWhich were expropriated by t,he City in 1957were placed in accordance with and for thereasons given in answer to your Question 5~

When the city expropriated these lands in 1957it anticipated a claim for compensation fromthe Estate of William earvery~ It also anticipated that the bu.ildings and the la,ndswouldbe cleared in a reasonable period of time .•Neither of these e'vents occured .•

Assessment.s ag'ainst the structures within thearea were continued through the year 1960~ Thiscontinued assessment and any tax collectionsresulting from the collections are justified onthe basis that occupants of structures locateaon lands ~wned by the City are~ by City Charter~liable for real estate taxes", The assessmentswere discont,inued in the yea.r 1961 on the adviceof the then City Solicitor that clear title restedwith the City and it 'was their hope that the landswould be used wi,thin a reasonable period of timefor industrial development",

6~ WhY has the~assessment: of some properties (as'reflected in tax bills) decreased durinq thepast feW" years?

Prior to 1956!, assessments in the City of Halifaxon residential properties did not closely ref!ectcurrent market values .• In 1956t the J••M .•Clemins~ Company completed a re-assessment programmeof all properties within the City~ The C1emlnshawCOmpany approach to assessed value was currentmarket 'Valuee This was in accordance with theinterpret,ation of the requirements of the cityCharter~

The original assessments in the Africv'ille areaWere based upon the original Cleminsnaw valua~idrts~Shortly after the adoption of the Cleminshaw" -,-,..valus.tions throughout the City:>,citycouncilt--asa result of numerous appeals!, reduced the .Cleminshaw 'Valua,t.:ionsby 15% across the boardo-The first reduction in assessment in theAfricville area~ therefore~ reflected this 15%reduction"


6. ,Thenet result of the Cleminshaw re....valuat10nwith its slight subsequent reduotion by CityCounoil ..is a very marked inorease in the totalvalue of assessed properties in the City ofHalifax. The required tax revenue ~id not cbang~appreciab1Yq The result was that many residehtia1properties and~ particularly those in the Af~icvi11earea,. were required to pay substantiallyless taxes than tbey Would have had to pay priorto re-valuations for assessment purposes. Thetax return on residential properties was retiucedat this time from $3.72 to $1~50 per $100~Ob ofresidential assessment*

In 1960~ the City ~ssessortsDepartment did afurther re-assessment of all properties. Thisre-assessment had to take into consideration.the provisions of Ordinance 50 which was adopted-:in 1958. In effect it meant tbe value of propertieswhich could not conform to the minimum provisionsof this ordinance Were substantially reducedoThe result was that assessments in the Africvi11earea and on Some other properties within theCity were reduced~

7. Wl'1yha~e n0i-Afriqy~11~residents been qranted~ermits toimProv~ their dwe11ipgs?

It is my understattding that few, if any" of thestructures within the e.raawhich we have definedas Africvi11e had been built in the first instanceunder authority of properly approved BuildingPermits. City records indicate that in the early1950ls approximately sixteen (16) applicationswere made for Building Permits,. twelve of whichwere for repairs and four for new structures~All but one of the permits were issued asrequestedI)'

In latter years the praatice of applying forand issuing of Building Permits appears tobave reverted to tbe practice in effect previousto 1950. There appear to be fewt if any, BuildingPermits re~ested and certainly none have beenissued.

If a Building Permlt were applied for today itmight or might not be issued. T~ responsibilityfor issuing such a pertnit rests with the BuildingInspector~ The probability is thet the BuildingInspector would refuse to issue such a permitand his reasons for so doing would, be one or bothof the folloWing:

1. Properties are not serviced by piped water orpiped sewer. It is not tbe practice in theCity of Halifax to issue permits if either ofthese essential services is missing~ TheHealth Committee is the only authority to issuea permit in the non-use of public sewere>


7. 2. If a building ~istobe-repairedooralteredt'belfork done on..tbe -building must .besUf'ficd.et1tto br:1ngtbat building to tbeminimum standards required under Ordinance 50<)A Building Permit can only be issued fortbis type of repair providing the totalamount to be expended is not in excess of5~/oof the value of the property as determinedby tbe Building Inspector~

If the cost of repairs or alterations is inexcess of 50% of the building as determinedby the Building Inspector~ the repaired buildingmust meet the standards of construction imposedon all neW structures<)- In effect~ it would bethe opinion of the Building Inspector thatBuilding Permits could only be issued if theproposed alterations resulted in the newstructure meeting new construction standardsQ

If a Building Permit is applied for and isrefused by the Building Inspeotor the citizenhas tbe right to appeal tbe Building Inspectornsrefusal to the committee on Works of the Citycouncil~

The situation in respect of title in the Africville area appears to fall into three generaloategories~

(a) Persons Who have a paper title to theirproperty<)-

(h) Persons Who have possessory title to theirpropertYti

(c) Persons Who have no apparent legal claimto title.

Persons in Categories (a) and (b) above are~ ofoourse~ entitled to full legal compensation fortheir lands.., Any person Who has a proven titleWhether by way of registered deed or throughpossessory title has a claim against theexpropriating authority for just compensation~The City would be required and wouldt in fact~feel obligated to pay the full market valuefor these particular properties<\> These marketvalues W'Ouldt>as previously mentioned ••bedetermined by independent appraisalti

Persons in Category (c) above would not have anylegal claim to compensation~ The City could~in fact:>,expropriate these properties and placethe onus for proof of ownership on the personsconcerned~ If these persons could not provea legal right of owershipt> the City would notbe required to oompensate them<\>


a. -Invi.el.r-Ofthe£aattbat the'ce..a.r.e£ami~ies:.J.nthis posi:tion inAfric:v.i~le and because of thespeoia.~ consideration be:lng g1:ven Afriovillei?'the City has taken the position that it may havea moral obligation to pay some compensation inthese cases~ It has been suggested that those'w1tb an apparent own,ers'hipbut with no legalolaim should be made a gratuitous payment of$500 in return for vacant possession of theproperty"

In essencet" the City 1,sprepared and required.to compensate at market value any persons witha legal claim to title" A gratuitous paymentwould only be made to those wi,tn an apparentownership but no legal claimo

9. ' Does the~i ty j"ntendto Q;gY pro1?,erties1?.9Jely,in terms of their current assessed valu"es'?----< ----_..-_-~...-.~_.-.......~ ~ ~~The City cannot compensate on the basis ofassessed values" These values are not normallyaccepted by the Courts in determining claimsfor compensation.,

As pre'viously mentioned~ compensation to oWersw1to a legal cla1.m is based upon the market valueof tbe property ~,useQ The Cltylts offers tosuch owners are based upon ind,ependen,tappraisalsobtained by the CitYtr In order to insure thefairness of the City~s offer~ many owners obtainth~~r own independent valuation~

lO~Wouldit be po,~sme for toe C,itV ,tp,conveY toAfriQYi1lere§J§~~ a sum_of monevthat wouldenab1,e J;~ make-99:w;.o;·~pavmentson new homes?

The City normally compensates owners to thefull extent of the value of the property takenfrom them" In the case of Africviller it hasbeen suggested that this normal procedure willbe followed" It has been suggested in additionthat a gratuitous payment of $500 should be madeto those with a moral but no legal claim forcompensation"

The amount of money to be paid to the residentsof Afric'V'illein compensation for prQpertiesaoquired by t'ne City should/, in many insten cesl)'be sufficient to make a down-payment on a newhomeQ Persons with a legal claim to a substantial area of land occupied by reasonably

large buildings oould ex~ct to be paid moretban persons with no clc(I~ of ownerShip oneither lands or buildingsQ The gratuitouspayment of $500t.o those who have no claim ontitle would not normally be sufficiently largeto oover the doW-payment on a new home"


7

11., -Wou1dit-be~,s1b1efO,t: A,fri,c'til1eresidentsto be re19cate on land near~ but separate fro~'the .IndUS,¥r1,al.Mile .area?

The ans~er to this questions falls into twogeneral categories,--rental an.dhome o'Wnership"The sn~ers are very complex and involve severalfundamental issues~ I am attaching for yourinformation a copy of the Ubiacke SquareRedevelopment Area report Which deals in specifi,cterms with these complexit1,es<!lOutlined beloW'are some general comments:

A. RENTAL

It was suggested in the original reporttbat some of the families in Africvillewould be unable financially to own newhomes of their own or to occupy rentalaccommodation at full economic rents~These families might in fact wish to takeadvantage of the subsidi,zed rental housingnow being offered by the City to familiesdisplaced by redevelopme:o.t?

Outlined below are some of the morepertinent points in respect of subsidi,zedrental housingl

18 Rentals are based upon toe total incomeof the familY6 This to"tal income isconsidered to be tbe income of the headof the house~ a working wife~ residentc'qildren mrer 25t> and up to $75 per monthof resident children 25 or under who areworking~ Shelter rentals approximate20%-21% of the gross family income~ Thecost of neatt' hot watert' etcCft if supplied17is add:ltional"

20- The subsidized rental projects areconstructed in partnership ~th theProvinci~l and Federal Governments andare~amortlzed over a period of up to 50years", The average rental required to beobtained on each unit in the averageproject in order to meet the costs ofoperation and to write off the costs ofinvestment is between $85-$90 per monthi:1This does not include the cost of heat~hot 'water!,-etct}t"if these are provided"

3" The Partnership of the Federal~ovincialMunicipal Government is prepared tosubsidize each rental housing unit to anaverage of $25-$30 per unit per month"The apartments or housing units within theproject mustt> thereforet> be rented in'sucha manner as to attain an average rentalreturn of about $55-$60 ~r montho Thismeans that for every loW' income familyadmitted to the projectt' a family ofhigher income must be admitted~


11. A. .. REN'rAL (cont1dl

:tnordertoestablish "subsidizedrentalproject for the residel;\tsof Africville in thearea of Africville,. it would be necessary toprove that the incomes of tbose who wishedadmission to the project were sucb as toprovide an average rental return, excludingservices, of $55~$60 a month. It would seemthat such a rent level might be difficult toattain. On the other hand, the lower incomepeople from the Africville area could gointo one of the existing or contemplatedsubsidized rental projects without affectingthe rent levels. If these families wereunable to meet the average required rental,this average could still be attained byadmitting higher income groups from otherareas.

B.: HOME OWNERSHIP

1here may be those in the Africville area whowould be interested in re-establishing in homesof their own. It might be possible to find lanein the northern part of the City which is zonedfor and could be developed for residential use.1his would, of course, necessitate theprovision of proper streets and municipalservices.

There is no way that we have been able todetermine in which home ownership can be subsidized with equity to all. The UniackeSquare report deals at some length with thisproblem. Home owners generally seem to preferto be able to choose their own location ratherthan to have such locations imposed byGovernment. Without subsidization, homeowners can probably make a better deal bythemselves than they could by proceeding withthe direct assistance of any level ofGovernment.

It occurs to me that the questions asked by yourCommittee tend to emphasize the assessment practices of theCity as they apply to the Africville area. Presumably, thesequestions are directed in an attempt to use the answers inproving title to specific properties. I do not feel, however,that this is the case.

Even if the answers do tend to prove title, I feelyour Committee shOUld not lose sight of the fact that assess:?ments are only one part of our taxing procedure. Some time .ago we provided you with a list of the tax arrears forAfricville. I think you will note from this that the totalamount of tax arrears in the area amounts to approximatelyfour times the annual charges. As you are aware, the Cityhas the right to exert tax liens and sell properties at atax sale where arrears are outstanding~


Iaouldf'~of-coursef'dwell at much greacter,lengthon the<answersto<soma".of~the .que.st.ionstbatyoubave puced.,before.me. I£ee~f' however~±.battheanswers.g.ivenareofsufficient length ~permit basic consideration by your qroup.If you require further information, please do not hesitateto get in touch with. me.

It is my W1derstanding that you wish to considerthesequest:lons lotithyour Connnittee and with the residentsof Africv11le. Following this,. we could arrange for afurther meeting with your connnittee. I would hope that thisfurther meeting could be arranged reasonably soon as it wasmy impression that our first meeting was most Usefulo

Yours very truly,

RBG/mebEnclosures

(signed) : R. B. GrantDevelopment Officer


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