- Zoning and Development in our Community
There continues to be a lot of activity relating to potential development in our community. We continue to watch two proposals of concern, the Villa Lucia site and a major development in Bells Corners called Stillwater Station. As of now, neither proposal has reached the stage of submission to the city of Ottawa’s Planning Committee.
The city awaits approval of the new Official Plan by the province. This is not simply a “rubber stamp” process. In the interim, there continues to be activity on
Transportation Master Plan, Infrastructure Master Plan, Parks and Recreation Facilities Master Plan, Solid Waste Master Plan. You can access information on these plans and much more on the City’s engage Ottawa website.
The Ontario Government appointed a Housing Affordability Task Force in late November with a specific mandate and very short timeline for reporting by the end of January. This report raised significant concerns for our association and a large number of stakeholder groups. With a very short timeline to submit our views and rumours that the provincial government intended to submit legislation before the June election, our committee did a great job of pulling together a solid submission. You can view the submission through this link: CBLCA’s Submission. We will be watching for new legislation, which is likely to also require a strong response.
The committee has discussed the potential for development, specifically on Carling Ave. from Holly Acres Rd. to Moodie Dr. We are interested in being proactive in trying to hear from our community and adjacent communities whether there is a common vision for the future of Carling Ave. that we can present to the city. We have discussed process on such a venture with Councillor Kavanagh, and she has undertaken to raise this with planning staff to assist us in structuring the dialogue in the best possible way.
- LRT Update
With continued construction on the Bayshore Station to Moodie Drive section of the Confederation Line Stage 2 extension, there continue to be regular issues requiring our attention. In this regard, we continue to communicate with representatives of the LRT team, KEV construction and Councilor Kavanagh.
As noted by Councilor Kavanagh in her Bay Ward Bulletin, there are problems with the traffic lights on Holly Acres Rd. at the new westbound 417 on-ramp resulting in confusion for northbound traffic. Changes will be made there once approved by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation.
Along with a representative from Bike Ottawa, we have been lobbying for a number of changes associated with the planned Moodie Station. We believe that the Corkstown Rd realignment was not done properly with the result that the curve immediately west of the multi-use pathway crossing is too extreme and dangerous for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists. We have requested that city Traffic Circulation staff review the construction and provide a response.
The current design also calls for all cyclists using Corkstown Rd. east of Moodie Drive to only use the multi-use pathway from the station to the Corkstown/Moodie intersection. Cyclists using the road will be fined. We believe this plan to be unworkable and that an alternative approach must be found. Given that we will be entering the new construction season shortly, it is important that these unresolved issues be attended to immediately.
Ian McConnachie, TTIC Chair
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