NEWS ARCHIVESSeptember 25, 2009 Council approves sending Orville Station project to OMB City Council voted 13-8 to send the proposed Orville Station development to the Ontario Municipal Board. Orville Station consists of 36 residential units and ground floor retail at the intersection of Stittsville Main Street and Orville Street. At the root of the issue are several minor variances the developer requested. The Committee of Adjustment approved fifteen minor variances that permit the proposed development. Following the Committee of Adjustment's decision, I, along with the City Clerk and Solicitor's Department, reviewed the proposed development and, based on that review, filed an appeal of the decision. The need for minor variances indicates the proposal does not confirm to the City’s Comprehensive Zoning By-Laws, which were established and approved mere months ago. To approve so many variances undercuts the City’s authority over development applications and ignores valuable input from residents. What is the use in creating zoning by-laws if they are not upheld? In addition, concerns were raised with respect to the shared parking arrangement between the commercial and residential sites; an arrangement would need to be made between the two parties to share parking spots between the commercial and residential components. In the long run, this would affect the new residents’ parking availability. Shared parking arrangements work well in areas where there is available on-street parking. Unfortunately, this is not the case in this scenario. It is unfortunate that this is the step we must take, but the City needs to respect its policies, such as the Official Plan and the Comprehensive Zoning By-Laws, as well as the wishes of the community, who have spoken loud and clear on this item. My door is always open for the developer to come forward
and work with my office and the community to create a workable solution to this
issue both for the current and future residents of our community and this
development. Incident at A. Lorne Cassidy Elementary School I want to bring to your attention an unfortunate and serious event that took place in our community in the early morning of September 21. Ottawa Fire and Ottawa Police Services responded to a report of a small fire on the property of A. Lorne Cassidy Elementary School between the school and the playground. The fire was quickly put out; however, while there, emergency responders located what appeared to be an improvised explosive device (IED). Members of the Police Emergency Operations Division subsequently responded and further examined the suspicious item, which included a metal tube, and decided to destroy it at the location for safety reasons. This is often the police procedure when dealing with an unknown object that may be dangerous if picked up and/or transported. Around 3am Monday morning, residents would have heard what could be described as a series of loud discharges intentionally caused by police to render the object harmless. At the time of the writing this column, the Police had just identified a suspect. Police presence in our community needs to be improved
immediately. I have been in contact with Police personnel to stress this point.
My office is in the process of arranging a public meeting to discuss safety and
police concerns. I will provide more details on this meeting as they become
available. Development moratorium fails at Council A motion to place a three-week moratorium on any development that flows into the Carp River or its tributaries lost 10-6 at a recent Council meeting. The moratorium would have halted development, delaying the construction of new homes in Kanata West, which have already been delayed for a year due to a Third Party Review of the Carp River. The motion was crafted after a Councillor had raised concerns that development near the Carp River and its tributaries had a direct impact on the flooding of Glen Cairn. There is no evidence at this time to suggest development along the Carp River resulted in the July 24 flooding. Before making political statements, which is what I feel this motion is, we should be waiting for a detailed analysis as to what caused the flooding. The report is expected to arrive late-October. A three-week moratorium would not have made any difference to the outcome and there is no sense in doing something for the sake of doing it. This was a serious and unfortunate incident that needs
concrete solutions, not political statements. Why was a consulting engineers’
report in 2003, which warned that Glen Cairn was prone to flooding, not acted on
in a more efficient manner? I want to find real, meaningful solutions to solve
the Glen Cairn flooding issue once and for all. A three-week moratorium is not
part of that solution. Stittsville celebrates Villagefest It is that time of the year again! Villagefest is here, and will commence with the annual parade at 11am along Stittsville Main Street. Bring your family and friends to cheer on the floats as they wind their way through the heart of the community. The annual soapbox derby will take place near Village Square Park at the corner of Stittsville Main Street and Abbott Street beginning at 9am with the award ceremony and closing ceremony commencing at 4pm. Several family-friendly events will be taking place in the park throughout the afternoon. I look forward to seeing the community buzzing during this event. This is always a tremendous time of year, and with the event growing in size, this year promises to be incredibly successful. I hope you and your family are able to participate. Stittsville Lions White Cane Day The Stittsville Lions Club will be conducting its annual White Cane Day awareness campaign on October 3 during Villagefest. A fundraiser will be taking place along the parade route
and at several prominent business locations. Proceeds will go towards supporting
vision programs. City to save $600,000 from amended Bell Sensplex agreement The City will save $600,000 over the next two years as part of an amended agreement with the group that runs the Bell Sensplex. The City had previously agreed to provide the Ottawa Community Ice Partners (OCIP) with $1.4 million in supplemental funding to assist with stabilizing the operations of the facility. A review of the financial statements and revenue forecasts indicates the OCIP does not require the remaining $600,000, as the business model is now stable and sustainable. The City may look to establish other P3 arena partnerships
across the City and depending on the business case I would support the idea. I
am a strong advocate of P3 partnerships whenever possible as it reduces
dependency on the City and its residents for operational and capital expenses.
P3 partnerships also allow the City and its residents to acquire infrastructure
sooner rather than later. Pitch in to give your City a clean sweep I encourage you and your family to participate in the City’s Fall Cleaning the Capital Campaign between September 15 and October 15. Fall Cleaning the Capital is a great opportunity for high school students to get a head start on their volunteer hours, and for families, friends, schools, neighbourhood groups or organizations and businesses to band together on a community cleanup project to help keep Ottawa clean, green, graffiti-free and litter-free. Register your project online at www.ottawa.ca/clean or by calling 311. Registration continues until October 15, the last official day of the campaign. To date, there are over 322 projects and 16,973
participants registered, including 23 graffiti removal projects. That's over 87
per cent of our target registration. Ottawa Green Bin program set to roll across the City Over the next three months, the City’s green bins will be delivered to the majority of Ottawa households in anticipation of the new organics recycling program. I encourage residents to visit www.greenbinottawa.ca for comprehensive information on the program as well as updates on the delivery of bins, which will be completed by the middle of December. Community liaison officers will accompany the bin delivery to answer residents’ questions about the program. While the green bins and smaller kitchen containers for indoor use are being delivered this fall, collection will not begin until the new year. At that time, residents will be able to put their food scraps including dairy, meat, bones and oils, food-soiled paper, yard waste and more at the curb for composting. Ottawa’s Green Bin program will not accept plastics of any kind, including diapers. This will ensure the proper composting of materials at the local, indoor processing facility. More information about the program can be found in the
Green Bin User Guide, delivered inside the green bin or available for download
at www.greenbinottawa.ca. 50+ Recreation Strategy: Have your say! The City of Ottawa will be holding a series of two-hour public consultations across the city in an effort to develop and improve recreation programs for adults ages 50 and older. The 16 sessions began on September 24. Recreation Talks is part of the City’s 50+ Recreation Strategy, will include a presentation on current recreation services, followed by a group exercise on preferences of the participants and a review of a draft strategy. Advanced registration is requested to assist with the planning. Please note that all information will remain confidential. Recreation Talks sessions are being held in both French and English. For more information and a full schedule of Recreation
Talks sessions, visit
www.ottawa.ca/recreation_strategy. Always listening and acting on your concerns As your Councillor, I always welcome your keen input and
ideas on how we can sustain and improve Stittsville. [ close window ] |