By Frank Johnson and John Rive
- We are appealing the rezoning of Lansdowne Park at the Ontario Municipal Board - this is separate from the community association's appeals and also from the Lansdowne Legal Challenge mounted by the Friends of Lansdowne. The hearing starts on May 9th.
- The Old Ottawa South Community Association and Glebe Community Association settled with the OMB "..reluctantly and with profound reservations" because of lack of resources and the costs of continuing their appeal.
- We consider that we have a good case based on the fact that the new zoning does not conform to Ottawa's Official Plan (see below for details). We are represented by Tony Fleming, an expert legal counsel from Cunningham, Swan, Carty, Little and Bonham LLP in Kingston.
- We think this is important to do to protect the character of our community. We refer in particular to the traditional main street character of Bank Street in the Glebe and Old Ottawa South and the ability of the neighbourhood to sustain the level of traffic, parking and transit that it now has. We also consider that the imposition of a shopping centre/commercial/office space complex is not in keeping with the community.
- We ask for your financial support. Legal costs are estimated to be of the order of $35,000 if the hearing is restricted to one week to challenge on one area of compliance with the Official Plan.
- If you share our concerns and are able to assist us with the costs of this appeal we shall be most grateful.
Further details may be obtained from
Frank Johnson (613 255 4051) or frank.johnson@rbr-global.com
Cheques may be made out to “Frank Johnson – OMB Appeal in Trust”
Background material may be found on:
http://www.letsgetitright.ca/
The By-Law 2010-329 as amended permits:
- A new L2C subzone specific to Lansdowne Park
- 33,450 sq metres Retail space (over 350,000 sq ft)
- 9,300 sq metres Office and non-retail Commercial space (over 98,000 sq ft)
- 280 Residential units
- 1,200 underground parking spaces
- Removal of Heritage overlay on Horticulture building and moving it.
- Elimination of Sylvia Holden Park along Holmwood
- Building heights of up to 60m along Bank street (195 feet, >18 storeys)
- Building heights of up to 27m along the Holmwood interface (one building over 87 feet and 250 feet long is currently slated for a 10 screen cinema complex)
- A new O1(S) subzone for the remnant park area which permits "ancillary" buildings, bus loading and parking
We maintain that this By-law does not comply with the Official Plan in a number of important respects, including:
- The transfer of publicly owned land to private use in the Inner Area of Ottawa that already has less than 50% of the public greenspace and parkland specified in the City’s Official Plan, guidelines and strategy.
- Development in an existing area without sensitivity to an existing traditional mainstreet and residential neighbourhood.
- Lack of community input or open competition for the design of a major project.
- No Community Design Plan for a major project.
- Inadequate transit, transport and parking available for the site use. "The Traffic Demand Management" imposes escalating restrictions on the surrounding Traditional Mainstreets during events.
- Inadequate on-site parking for the mixture of uses intended, with consequent spill to the surrounding community.
- Reliance on Queen Elizabeth Driveway (a designated Scenic Access Route) for site access
- Required change in transport modalities well beyond the targets or policies in the Official Plan.
- Imposition of a “Community Shopping Centre” the size of Billings Bridge without connection to arterial road, or highway.
- Loss of a heritage building and encroachment into easement for sight lines on another.
- No credible plan for disposal of landfill waste.
- Construction within 500m of former landfill without an impact study.