Rejection of golf course redevelopment questioned
The planning committee on Thursday voted 7-1 to reject a redevelopment plan for a Kanata golf course, with the lone dissenter wondering why the proposed subdivision is considered out of character when unsuited projects are regularly endorsed in the urban area.
ClubLink wants to transform the Kanata Golf and Country Club into a 1,544-home subdivision with development partners Richcraft Homes and Minto Communities, to the vocal opposition of Kanata Lakes residents.
City planners rejected ClubLink's proposal for several reasons, including because the lot pattern and scale would be out of character with the surrounding community.
Coun. Jeff Leiper questioned how city planners can dismiss the application for being out of character with the surrounding community when there are developments in the urban area, including in his Kitchissippi ward, that have similar projects supported by staff.
With the city trying to manage much of its growth through intensification, “every community is going to look different,” Leiper said.
Challenging Leiper's argument was Coun. Scott Moffatt, who pointed out that the Kanata golf course snakes through the neighbourhood, creating a unique planning circumstance.
Coun. Jenna Sudds said there's a “plethora of outstanding issues on this file” and asked for her colleagues' support in rejecting the development application in her Kanata North ward.
Two separate, ongoing legal cases are related to ClubLink's plans.
The city and ClubLink are waiting for a Superior Court judge's decision on the validity of a legacy agreement that aims to shield the golf course from development. The 1981 agreement was signed between the former city of Kanata and the landowner at the time, Campeau Corp. The City of Ottawa assumes any deals made by pre-amalgamation municipalities.
The other legal case is at the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT). ClubLink has already filed an appeal because the city didn't make a decision within a legislated timeline. An adjudicator will ultimately decide on the appropriateness of the development plan.
Council's vote on Dec. 9 will provide the official position of the city at the LPAT hearing, which is scheduled for January 2022.
Several members of the Kanata Greenspace Protection Coalition, which has been the leading voice of opposition against ClubLink's plans, told the planning committee about the importance of the green space provided by the golf course while arguing the inappropriateness of the proposed development.
Kanata technology magnate Terry Matthews told councillors, “Don't screw it up.”
Cyril Leeder, the former president of the Ottawa Senators who lives in Kanata Lakes, said bulldozing the golf course for homes is “morally wrong.”
Marianne Wilkinson, the previous Kanata North ward councillor and a former mayor of the old city of Kanata, said ClubLink's development plan is “the worst that I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot of them.”
Wilkinson helped negotiate the 1981 agreement with Campeau that protected the green space.
ClubLink's officials didn't make a presentation to the committee, but the company has cited declining golf business as its reason for pursuing redevelopment.
The company's urban design brief filed with the development application says it's aiming for “a community that respects the existing character of the surrounding neighbourhoods, while providing exceptionally built form and expanded green linkages to accessible open spaces.”
Committee councillors who agreed to reject the application were Moffatt, Glen Gower, Laura Dudas, Tim Tierney, Catherine Kitts, Allan Hubley and Eli El-Chantiry.