Committee to tackle Scott Street design
Even besides the transit-oriented redevelopment plans for Lees, Hurdman and Blair stations, next Tuesday morning’s planning committee has a busy agenda: New zoning for King Edward Avenue: Meant to spur a slow redevelopment of a district that’s still being damaged by fast traffic and heavy trucks, rezonings up and down King Edward north of Rideau Street will allow taller buildings and more mixed use to replace low row houses and single-storey businesses. A proposed long-stay hotel at King Edward and St. Patrick, on a little island of land carved out by major streets on all sides, gets special (positive) treatment in the plan. Community design plan for Scott Street: All tied up in recent battles over bus detours during light- rail construction and the future placement of hydro poles and how to pay for them is a major re-examination of the neighbourhoods on either side of Scott Street near Tunney’s Pasture. The “Scott Street CDP” has been in the works for a year, largely in the hands of Toronto design firm Urban Strategies. It proposes making Scott a more pedestrian- and bike-friendly “complete street,” with taller buildings. Major roads such as Parkdale and Holland also get more flexible zon- ing meant to produce more mixed uses over time. New building rules for part of Hazeldean Road: The city wants to officially designate a stretch of Hazeldean Road in and near Stittsville an “arterial main street,” which allows taller buildings than what’s there now but demands that new things be constructed closer to the street. It also forbids new low- density, car-oriented uses such as car dealerships and gas stations. The idea is that Hazeldean will become something more like Carling Avenue closer to downtown, where walking from place to place might be challenging sometimes but isn’t ridiculous. Parking plans for 186 James St.: Conversions of old houses to multiple apartments in neighbourhoods near Carleton University and the University of Ottawa are temporarily banned, but plans for one in Centretown are going ahead. It’s allowed under the local zoning, but nearby residents object that it doesn’t include enough parking for all the units that are planned. The city’s planners recommend allowing the project to go ahead. Rezoning for 236 Richmond Rd.: A proposed 12-storey condo building with streetfront stores needs a rezoning because the rules for the property at Richmond and Tweedsmuir (now a used-car lot) allow something only half as tall. The city’s planners recommend allowing it.