No Rezone Playfair

Committee sanctions mix of businesses, condo towers, park, but transit still issue

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

A new development plan for the hospital lands at Smyth Road and Alta Vista Drive is being touted as an effort to create a more mixed community, with residential buildings constructed along with more hospital buildings. But one city councillor says the plan approved at committee yesterday is old-style suburban development.

The plan, which involves land bordered by Riverside Drive in the west, Smyth Road to the south, Russell Road in the east and the Alta Vista transportation corridor to the north, allows for the future expansion of The Ottawa Hospital.

The Smyth Road health sciences campus in the study area, which covers about 150 acres, includes the General campus of The Ottawa Hospital, the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, the Rehabilitation Centre, the Health Sciences Building and the Alta Vista campus of the University of Ottawa.

A large part of the property, on the western side of the study area, is the federal government’s National Defence Medical Centre, which is no longer being used as a hospital and will likely become available to the Ontario government in 2013.

The City of Ottawa began the study of this land in 2004, with a view to having a better mix of development, rather than just another tract of housing.

The plan approved yesterday by the planning and environment committee includes three apartment or condominium towers of 10 to 12 storeys and townhouses, as well as a square of streets to be lined with businesses, surrounding a five-acre park.

The town centre is meant to give a focus to the community for the new residents of the neighbourhood and several thousand workers in the nearby health science buildings.

The plan also includes road access from Alta Vista Drive and two roundabouts to handle traffic.

Capital Ward Councillor Clive Doucet said the plan is not so much a development plan as it is a road plan.

This development envisions roads built in the near term, but also lays the groundwork for construction of the Alta Vista Parkway, a proposed roadway from Conroy Road, through the hospital lands and then downtown, he said.

That road, much protested by Alta Vista residents, is still on the books, though it is considered a long-term project for the city. The more immediate roadwork would simply link Riverside Drive to the new hospital development.

“Here we are in 2008, planning for something out of the 1950s,” said Mr. Doucet. He said that while patients are taken to hospitals by car or ambulance, the great majority of people at such a health sciences campus are working there and should be travelling by modern public transit.

However, Alta Vista Councillor Peter Hume, who is chairman of the planning committee, said the plan has strong support from surrounding neighbourhoods because the community association presidents all sat on the steering committee that oversaw the planning exercise. Mr. Hume has acknowledged the poor transportation links into the health sciences campus and he notes that the road plans for the area include better links to the transit system.

Mr. Hume said if the transportation work for the hospital lands doesn’t get done, then the development won’t be permitted by the city.

Planning committee members approved rezoning several pieces of land for the future development. Mr. Hume said he will have letters of support for the hospital lands plan from community association and hospital leaders in time for the city council vote on the matter Nov. 12.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=263439ce-47c8-4212-8e67-570b80b91a69

Builder bumps up size of new townhomes, but makes cosmetic changes to please critics

Monday, October 27, 2008

Residents of Old Ottawa South have won some concessions from a developer in the form of cosmetic changes to the design of two massive townhouses set to replace a 1,200-square-foot house.

However, the changes by Campanale Homes do not address neighbours’ central concern — the sheer size of the buildings. At a total of 6,752 square feet, they are more than five times the size of the existing house at 35 Brighton Ave.

Demolition of the house, which faces the Rideau River and Brighton Beach Park, is expected to take place today.

“While opinion is divided, a number of people have remarked that the updated design is improved,” next-door neighbour Kristen Ostling says.

“The support of the community and over 400 signatures on our petition were no doubt instrumental in bringing about changes to the design.”

Instead of making the three-storey, semi-detached houses smaller, the revised design actually makes them bigger. “We were hoping it would go down in size,” says Ms. Ostling. “It’s the absolute opposite.”

The 60-by-81-foot lot is zoned for a double and was purchased for $540,000. No rezoning or variance was required.

The City of Ottawa has recently done away with “floor space index,” a zoning provision that sets a limit on building area, and now relies on the setbacks from property lines and height limits — a change that generally allows bigger buildings.

“There is no law that says you can’t build a monster home,” says Councillor Clive Doucet, who represents the area and helped negotiate the design changes.

Currently, he says, the term “intensification” is “not much more than a licence for spot rezoning.”

In future, there may be hope for Ottawa residents concerned about inappropriate and over-scaled development.

Community design plans “will become an important tool for controlling esthetics, size and height,” Mr. Doucet says. “They are a detailed response to the Official Plan’s requirements for intensification.”

About a dozen community design plans have been completed so far, and Mr. Doucet estimates there could eventually be at least 100. Old Ottawa South begins working on its plan next year.

“The community is going to be exercising much more control over the landscape. We’re hoping it will become the vehicle that will bring quality control to intensification.”

But, says Mr. Doucet, the vision of communities is not always aligned with that of city hall.

“The city doesn’t want this to happen,” he says, noting that city officials have not yet approved Westboro’s community design plan because it “puts teeth in the height limits.”

In Ottawa East, “the city doesn’t want to see main streets limited to four or five storeys. There’s a power struggle going on.”

In Ottawa South, a group of neighbours held two meetings in June and July with developers Rocco and Vince Campanale. The Citizen was unable to reach them for comment.

Concerned that the proposed development did not fit the scale and character of the area, the neighbours noted that two double garages dominate the ground level.

The city’s urban design guidelines for infill housing state: “A garage should not dominate any façade facing a street, public space or other residential dwelling.”

Asphalt parking for four cars eliminates virtually all of the front garden and the second- and third-storey balconies over the garage create a cold, high-rise-like façade, they said.

In contrast to the design’s more than 6,000 square feet, one of the largest houses on the street is 3,000 square feet on a lot of the same size. “It resembles tract housing in the suburbs,” says Ms. Ostling.

The revised design borrows stylistic details from the neighbourhood. It adds decorative gables to the roof and eliminates the balcony on the third floor. It is now enclosed, making each house 143-square-feet larger. The entrance seems wider, and there is a small gabled roof over the front porch. The garage doors now have windows.

“I think the changes are good,” says Mr. Doucet. “They made it more friendly and less intrusive.”

The price has gone up, too. At 3,133 square feet each, they were just under $1 million. At, 3,376 square feet, they are advertised at $1,195,000.

The front is still mostly asphalt and the garage doors remain the same.

Ms. Ostling said many people are disappointed. Neighbours had suggested a smaller garage door that led to a same-sized interior or a stepped-back façade to lessen the bulky appearance.

“We hoped that they would come up with a much better design and even consider using an architect,” she said.

Still, Mr. Doucet says it’s unusual for developers to agree to make changes when they don’t have to. “Nor do (developers) normally meet one-on-one with the neighbours and city councillor. This is the only time I can think this has happened.

“Campanale is one of our best developers,” he adds. “They are very respectful of the zoning.”

The developer describes the houses as “nestled on a quiet street in a preferred neighbourhood.” Features include an elevator and “over-sized balconies with glass panels to enjoy the river views.”

In a letter to Campanale Homes, the residents had said their area is defined by “welcoming entranceways, front gardens, front porches and mature trees lining the street.”

“Communities are saying intensification is OK, but you’ve got to do it in a way that increases the quality of life, and doesn’t decrease it,” says Mr. Doucet.

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=fd58bceb-e2c2-4851-87dc-a5fd89b8ab46

You voted (hopefully you voted) on Tuesday.

Now don’t forget to VOTE on the 1701 Kilborn development proposal. It’s as simple as 1,2,3:

1. Click on the link to the October 2008 Open Letter (top right hand corner)

2. Print/Save/Forward to 100 friends/family/neighbours/emails

3. Send the Open Letter to Councillor Hume, the City of Ottawa and the developer with your comments.

EVERY VOTE COUNTS!!!

[this blog posting was approved by NoRezone Playfair and its effort to produce logicial, intelligent and proportional infill in Alta Vista]

Sorry for the delay – I was not at my computer this long weekend. 

Here is the response from Councillor Peter Hume regarding the Open Letter campaign.

Developer’s highrise plans rile west side neighbours

Friday, October 03, 2008

OTTAWA – Angry residents opposed to a highrise residential development that vastly exceeds the current zoning restrictions on the west side packed a high school auditorium last night and took their frustrations out on representatives of the developer and property manager.

Ottawa-based property manager Regional Group presented drawings and specifics for a plan to construct a 537-unit development, featuring a 20-storey tower on Baseline Road and Draper Avenue.

The developer already has an application before the city to rezone the site, which is currently zoned for only low-rise developments with a maximum height of 11 metres.

The project also includes two 14-storey apartment buildings and a series of stacked townhouses.

Residents at times shouted down the presenters and said the main tower would be the tallest structure in the neighbourhood.

It would also create a significant shadow effect, would exacerbate existing traffic and parking problems and would drive property values down, they said.

Byron Holland, who bought a house in the area a couple of months ago, said the project would dramatically and fundamentally change the neighbourhood.

“We, as a neighbourhood and a community, bought into this community because of what it is,” he said. “This is so far out of character that it is simply a non-sensical development in this area.”

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=8dbfd97b-a722-4aa3-9794-1c96ae091d25

As summer turns to fall, you start to lose track of time and realize that we have been knee deep in this development process for over six (6!!) months.  Quite incredible how much time and energy this endeavour has taken up with residents of Alta Vista.  What were we doing before this issue came up?  Probably having far more fun than this.

On Tuesday, September 23, 2008, Dylan and I (your NO REZONE PLAYFAIR chairs) arranged for an informal meeting at the Ottawa Mennonite Church at 1830 Kilborn Avenue of Alta Vista residents who represent neighbourhood areas that will have a direct geographic impact in this redevelopment proposal.  The meeting was VERY well attended.

Ted Fobert, founding partner of Fotenn Consultants Inc. was the guest speaker.  NO REZONE retained Mr. Fobert in late spring 2008 to provide an unbiased opinion of the proposed development from an urban planning perspective.  Mr. Fobert provided the meeting with an overview of what has taken place over the last 6 months and what the next steps are in the process, including the fact that during informal discussions, the developer (through his local team at Lloyd Phillips) is allegedly prepared to provide the following concessions:

Remove all the proposed above-ground parking behind 1695 Playfair Drive (the tennis court area backing onto Rosewood Estates) and replace it with underground parking (realizing that reduced greenspace does not go over well with the City);

• Provide a setup that would have 80% of the traffic flow onto Kilborn Avenue, with only 20% coming out of Playfair Drive (an actual concession);
• Provide more visitor parking than the minimum required by the City of Ottawa (basically, foregoing the rezoning proposal); and
• Increase the setback of the 4-storey buildings, fronting on Playfair Drive, from 3 metres to 6 metres (basically foregoing the rezoning proposal);

18 Storeys

To-date, there has been no movement by the developer on the height of the proposed 18-storey building.  Almost all in attendance agreed that a height proposal less than 14 storeys is the starting point of the discussion with the City of Ottawa.  Rosewood Estates however is prepared to fight any height increase at the site of the current 2-storey above ground garage.

Zoning bylaw amendment versus Comprehensive Zoning Bylaw

To-date, there has been no movement by the developer on cancelling its zoning by-law amendment (the one it made to the City in spring 2008) and making its proposal under the comprehensive zoning by-law (in force shortly).  Is the developer sticking with the request to increase density (but not height) or is the developer planning on flip-flopping and only going to ask for a variance to the height (but not the density)?  Only the developer knows.

Density

To-date, the developer has not backed off from its plan to increase the density of the lot from FSI 1.5 to FSI 2.5 even though the area appears from a layman’s eyes to be dense enough as it is right now.

• goes well beyond acceptable urban planning design for the neighbourhood;
• design and orientation will have negative impacts to sunlight and sightlines; and
• will tower over the Rosewood Estates bungalows.

In NO REZONE’s opinion, the proposed 18-storey building:

• goes well beyond acceptable urban planning design for the neighbourhood;
• design and orientation will have negative impacts to sunlight and sightlines; and
• will tower over the Rosewood Estates bungalows.

So, what can YOU do now?

Well, NO REZONE PLAYFAIR will shortly launch an open letter to the City of Ottawa, Councillor Hume and the developer where WE CHALLENGE THE DEVELOPER TO PLAY FAIR!

Our goal is to have at least 1,000 letters sent out to Councillor Hume, the City of Ottawa and the developer within 14 days of the launch.  The emphasis is on you to forward/pick up/drop off the message and distribute it to at least 100 Alta Vista residents AND then get it sent out to the City, Hume and the developer.

Remember that NO REZONE is not opposed to intensification, but it must be logical, intelligent and proportional intensification.

(* for complete transparency, the notes from this meeting were provided to me by neighbour Ewan Evans and I have added a little extra spice to it)

Join our mailing list!  Just send us an email to norezoneplayfair@gmail.com

The Circle of 12, NoRezone’s “board of directors”, met on September 23, 2008 to allow leaders of Alta Vista to hear the status of the development from our urban planner.  The 90 minute meeting (including Q & A’s) provided reality checks, optimism and a few road signs on the path to the development being reviewed by City Hall.  A more full accounting of the meeting is in the works.