Manor Park Community Association

Some ‘wins’ scored in official plan meeting

By Manor Park Chronicle

One of the criticisms brought against the city’s new official plan is that developers will be able to “drive a bus” through the vague terminology”. Illustration: Assma Basalamah

What a month!  City Official Plan, Master Plans and 2022 Budget! Changes to the redevelopment plan for Manor Park Estates!

Official Plan

Ninety-six speakers had their last say on the City of Ottawa’s Official Plan (OP) at the special joint meeting of the Planning Committee and the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, 38 of which spoke for their community organizations. Themes were similar.  Some urged postponement! Get it right and put it before the electorate in the fall 2022 election. Spot on!

As one Manor Park resident so correctly observed:

We should all be concerned with these new (street) designations and the overall tone of the Official Plan, which has such ambitious words in its preface and yet contradicts the goals of environmental stewardship and neighbourhood-centred growth through so many of the details.

The Special Meeting was benign. Motions were largely preapproved by the staff! Only two motions that staff did not support were passed, including the removal of minor corridor status for Sherbourne Ave.

Of the 80 motions moved by councillors, only four lost. Two were referred to city council, three to the Transportation Master plan including Rideau-Rockliffe Coun. Rawlson King’s motion to add “and the inner urban core” to a section that prohibits interprovincial truck traffic in the downtown core. Forty motions were directed to staff and 25 changed the text.

We do have some wins!

  • Heights on buildings along minor corridors (e.g., Hemlock) will be reduced from 5 to 6 storeys down to four storeys.
  • The default six storeys in the inner urban transect (e.g., Manor Park) was removed.
  • The gender and social inclusion iens section was rewritten to include racial inclusion. Plans will be required to eliminate systemic discrimination and achieve equality of outcomes. This is a real triumph for Councillor King and an important public policy advance.
  • Staff were directed to develop sub-targets for the 40 percent urban tree canopy, identify residential areas that do not meet City tree targets, develop strategies to achieve targets and provide a monitoring and reporting plan. Unfortunately, the motion itself referred the ask to the Greenspace and Urban Forest Master Plan.
  • Staff were directed to review/enhance community engagement in Local Plan initiatives.
  • The affordable housing definition was amended to better reflect the reality of renters whose average income is much lower than those seeking to purchase a home.
  • Affordable housing targets will be 20 percent of all new residential units.
  • And……Coun. King’s motion for a secondary plan was approved for St Laurent Blvd. north of Hemlock Rd., Hemlock and Beechwood Ave.!

We enjoy strong relationships with the other community associations bordering Beechwood and Hemlock. I am confident that a multi-community working group can be strong and innovative in developing a plan that will have legal authority to guide future development.

Back to tree canopy. By the time you read this, FCA will have tabled a counter motion to the October 27 city council meeting to ensure that tree canopy coverage is managed and monitored at the neighbourhood level. The city does not want to commit to reach 40 percent canopy at a neighbourhood level, because they know we will lose tree cover to their vision of property line to property line building.

The discussion on interprovincial truck traffic crossing flushed out councillors who do not want to be helpful and those who wish to work constructively on solutions that don’t just move the problem from one community to another.

As in Miami and Dublin, we believe that a tunnel is the best option to remove truck traffic from residential areas and it turns out to be about the same cost as a bridge.

Before we can take a breath, the city will begin its zoning review to translate the OP into reality.

Manor Park Redevelopment

Lalit Aggarwal and Fotenn presented revisions to their plan based on community input. If you were not able to attend, please watch the recording – https://visionmanorpark.ca.

The changes reflect community concerns about height, shadowing, privacy, density and green space. Under the new OP, most of the first submission would have been accepted.

Councillor King is developing a committee to steer a community benefits agreement for Manor Park Estates residents and to support local employment and procurement during construction.

In his October 28 community meeting, Lalit noted that his company had already made commitments to residents that would be in a CBA, and he is already active in supporting job training. It should be a rewarding initiative for all and will set a good precedent for other Ottawa builders.

MPCA has made comments on the revised OP amendment for additional changes.

MPCA Annual General Meeting

Our plans for an October AGM were scuttled due to the illness of a board member. It looks like we will be ready for November.  We’ll let you know ASAP! Hear from our political leaders, an interesting speaker on the OP and learn what we have accomplished. You will be surprised! Time to approve a new charter!  Elect a new president and board! Yes, after five years I am stepping down! It has been wonderful to serve our community! Lots to share about that in next edition of the Manor Park Chronicle!

Volunteers

We used to be almost equal east and west Manor Parkers on MPCA. But we have lost five Manor Park East and South members to moves and new life demands over the last two years!  We need residents from Manor Park South and East, and West. Please write to us at info@manorparkcommunity.ca.   Your community needs you more than ever!

Editor’s note

Due to a production error, MPCA President Elizabeth McAllister’s photo and the MPCA logo were missing from the September-October edition. The Chronicle apologies for the error.