Committee backs 24-storey plan
Richmond Road development initially envisioned as twin 16-floor towers
Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper couldn’t convince the planning committee Tuesday to reduce the height of a proposed Richmond Road tower by chopping off the top five storeys.
The owner of Kristy’s Restaurant at 809 Richmond Rd. was seeking the committee’s permission to build a 24-storey mixeduse complex. The site is about 200 metres west of the future Cleary light-rail station. It’s just outside Leiper’s ward, but he and representatives from the Carlingwood Community Association urged the committee to cap it at 19 storeys.
The initial proposal envisioned a pair of 16-storey towers. That was later revised to a complex with towers at nine and 19 storeys. Then, in late May, the proposal was revised again to a 24-storey tower on a five-storey base.
Residents say they’re afraid the area’s character will change from low-rise to high-rise and are especially worried a “wall of condos” will soon separate them from the Ottawa River.
“Please remember there are humans attached to this equation,” Allison Darke told the committee.
The finished building would have about 240 rental units and groundfloor commercial space. The current Kristy’s building would be demolished, but the owner plans to reopen the restaurant in the new development.
Capping the height at 19 storeys would represent a loss in the range of 40 to 45 units, the committee heard.
Planners say the applicant’s proposal is consistent with the city’s Official Plan, as well as its guidelines for high-rise development and development near transit stations. The concept still needs to be vetted by the urban design review panel, which is made of up local and non-Ottawa architects.
Given how the anticipated arrival of light-rail in 2023 could represent big changes for the Richmond corridor, the city has concurrently been working on updating development guidelines for the areas around the future Cleary and New Orchard stations.
Early indications suggest the study will say a building height between 16 and 24 storeys would be appropriate for the area that includes the Kristy’s site.
The public first caught wind of that at a May 23 meeting — the same night Kristy’s owner presented the new vision for the 24-storey tower.
“It was very frustrating to see this happen,” resident Alecia O’Brien told the committee. “We were all blindsided by it.”
Leiper’s motion to reduce the building’s height lost in a 9-1 vote. The application was then approved and will be considered by council on Wednesday.
The construction schedule will depend on LRT work and construction along Richmond Road. The substantive work on Stage 2 LRT begins in 2019.
Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury, meanwhile, pulled a straightforward site-plan control application out of the hands of bureaucrats and put it on the planning committee’s plate because he feared another “bunkhouse” would be coming to Sandy Hill.
The application sought to remove an existing red-brick building at 70 Russell Ave. and replace it with a new low-rise apartment building, consisting of four units and a total of 21 bedrooms.
So-called “bunkhouses” have become a target in Sandy Hill because of piles of trash that accumulate on properties and inadequate driveway space that force some cars to be parked on front lawns.
“This is a very good example of the sort of development we’re seeing in Sandy Hill that we do not want to encourage,” said Robert Forbes, vice-president of Action Sandy Hill.
He called bunkhouses unlicensed, illegal rooming houses that generate “enormous” revenue for landlords.
Still, the Russell Avenue proposal adhered to the Official Plan, the Sandy Hill secondary plan, and was designed in keeping with the character of the street in terms of building materials, massing and colours, city staff said.
Given this, the committee’s lawyer Tim Marc said the city would have a weak case if it refused to grant the building permit and the applicant appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board.
At that, Fleury backed down, sparing committee members from voting on the item.
“It would have sent the wrong message to push the item to a vote,” he said after, noting that getting it on the agenda allowed for public delegations and questions to staff.
But doing so also represented a road block for the developer, TC United, and frustrated some committee members.
“This smacks of trying to look like you’re doing something as opposed to actually doing something,” said Cumberland Coun. Stephen Blais.