Intensification worries some Westboro residents
A Westboro neighbourhood could be the guinea pig for the city's ambitious intensification vision under the next Official Plan.
Established communities will undoubtedly grapple with more homes being packed onto single properties to satisfy the city's goal to have more than half of all new homes built in those areas.
On Thursday, the planning committee voted unanimously in favour of a new zoning bylaw for an area bound by Byron, Dovercourt, Golden and Tweedsmuir avenues, deciding that parts of the lowrise neighbourhood are ripe for low-level intensification.
Coun. Jan Harder, the planning committee chair, said the plan gives her “hope” for intensification in other established areas.
With the support of Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper, council in 2018 put a hold on new triplexes being built in the Westboro neighbourhood until staff could study their impact.
Staff tried to write a zoning plan that emphasized compatibility with the neighbourhood, but their proposal is drawing criticism from a community of mostly detached and semi-detached homes.
Churchill Avenue is poised to see the most change, with the city proposing to allow four-storey buildings and no limit on the number of units. The maximum height on Byron Avenue would be three storeys, with no cap on units. Corner lots along major streets would have a three-storey/six-unit maximum, while local streets could have townhouses up to three storeys high if they have pitched roofs.
Eric Milligan, who lives a street over from Churchill Avenue, said residents are stressed by the level of intensification coming to their neighbourhood.
“We are concerned it will radically transform Westboro from a place that we know, that we make our home, into a place that we will no longer recognize,” Milligan said, arguing the area isn't equipped to handle the degree of intensification the plan would allow.
After the meeting, Milligan said he wasn't surprised by the committee vote, since he knew his councillor, Leiper, supported the staff report. But, Milligan said, “we had to make a stand.”
Gary Ludington of the Westboro Community Association told councillors that today's Westboro will one day only exist in the pages of history books. He questioned how the neighbourhood will handle the increased demand for car parking and criticized past developments for decimating the tree canopy.
However, Leiper said an updated zoning plan needs to match the intensification goals of the next Official Plan. He highlighted the positive effects that would come from the Westboro plan, such as tougher requirements for landscaping and porous driveways, and argued that it would open Westboro to a greater diversity of residents.
Leiper said the plan sends the message that “this incredible neighbourhood in Ottawa is not just accessible to the very richest of us, that there is an opportunity for more people to be able to enjoy that proximity to Westboro Beach and to Richmond Road and to the Sir John. A. Macdonald Parkway park.”
The plan goes to council Feb. 24.
SUBDIVISION CONCERNS
A proposed community design plan for a large, undeveloped part of south Orléans provides a blueprint for a new subdivision, but there are concerns the surrounding transportation network can't support it.
The 220 hectares of land, south of Innes Road in the area of Mer Bleue Road, is inside the existing urban boundary.
The new neighbourhood could have between 9,000 and 10,800 residents. The number of homes is estimated between 4,050 and 5,230. The year of full build-out is projected to be 2036.
Richcraft Homes owns about half of the land, and several other property owners have the rest.
A community design plan, led by Richcraft and its consultants, has been years in the making as the city and landowners tackle questions about transportation and environmental implications.
The planned Cumberland Transitway runs through the site.
Heather Buchanan of the Bradley Estates Community Association warned the committee about traffic overload on area roads, some of which are considered rural, when thousands more car-driving residents move in.
Innes Coun. Laura Dudas and Cumberland Coun. Catherine Kitts agreed.
“Upgrades to our transportation and transit network must be a priority if we want to see this plan proceed,” Kitts said.