6.
GREENSPACE MASTER PLAN AND
OFFICIAL PLAN AMENDMENT
MODIFICATION DU PLAN OFFICIEL ET DU PLAN DIRECTEUR
DES ESPACES VERTS
|
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS
That Council:
1. Approve the Greenspace Master Plan -
Strategies for Ottawa's Urban Greenspaces, as shown in Document 1, as a policy
plan that expresses Council's policies on urban greenspace in support of the
2003 Ottawa Official Plan;
2. Adopt an Official Plan amendment on
greenspace, as shown in Document 2, to acknowledge that Council has approved the
Greenspace Master Plan - Strategies for Ottawa's Urban Greenspaces and update
the Plan accordingly;
3. Direct staff to prepare an implementation
plan and budget estimate for key sections of the recreational pathway system
identified in the Pathway Network for Canada’s Capital Region: Strategic Action
Plan, a joint project of the National Capital Commission, the City of Gatineau,
and the City of Ottawa scheduled for completion in 2007, as a means of
implementing parts of the Greenspace Network;
4. Direct that the other immediate and short
term actions, identified in Section 4 of the Greenspace Master Plan -
Strategies for Ottawa's Urban Greenspaces, including a Strategy on Green
Streets, be incorporated in the work program of the Planning and Growth Management
Department and the other Departments identified in the plan;
5. Direct that staff prepare a work program
to plan for natural environment areas and parks and leisure areas in the rural
area, and report to the Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committee and Planning
and Environment Committee in 2007.
Recommandations du comitÉ
Que
le Conseil municipal:
1.
d’approuver
le Plan directeur des espaces verts – Des stratégies pour les espaces verts
urbains d’Ottawa, tel qu’il figure dans le Document 1, à titre de plan
stratégique faisant état des politiques du conseil sur les espaces verts
urbains à l’appui du Plan officiel 2003;
2.
d’adopter
une modification du Plan officiel concernant les espaces verts, telle
qu’indiquée dans le Document 2, pour attester le fait que le conseil a approuvé
le Plan directeur des espaces verts – Des stratégies pour les espaces verts
urbains d’Ottawa et mettre à jour le Plan en conséquence;
3.
d’enjoindre
le personnel à préparer un plan de mise en œuvre et des prévisions budgétaires
pour les tronçons clés du réseau de sentiers récréatifs recensés dans le Plan
stratégique pour le réseau de sentiers de la région de la capitale du Canada,
un projet conjoint de la Commission de la capitale nationale et des
municipalités d’Ottawa et de Gatineau censé être achevé en 2007, dans le but de
mettre en place des tronçons du Réseau d’espaces verts;
4.
de
faire en sorte que les autres mesures immédiates et à court terme, relevées à
la Section 4 du Plan directeur des espaces verts – Des stratégies pour les
espaces verts urbains d’Ottawa, y compris la Stratégie sur les rues vertes,
soit intégrées au programme des travaux du Service de l’urbanisme et de la
gestion de la croissance et des autres services mentionnés dans le plan;
5.
d’enjoindre
le personnel de préparer un programme de travaux dans le but de planifier les
parcs et les aires naturelles et de loisirs dans la zone rurale, et en rendre
compte au Comité de l’agriculture et des affaires rurales ainsi qu’au Comité de
l’urbanisme et de l’environnement en 2007.
Documentation
1.
A/Deputy
City Manager, Planning and Growth
Management report dated 12 June 2006 (ACS2006-PGM-POL-0052).
2. Extract of Draft Minute,
Planning and Environment Committee meeting of June 27, 2006.
3. Extract of Draft Minute, Agriculture
and Rural Affairs Committee meeting of July 10, 2006.
Report
to/Rapport au :
Planning and Environment Committee
Comité de l'urbanisme et de
l'environnement
and /
et
Agriculture
and Rural Affairs Committee
Comité de l'agriculture et des
questions rurales
and Council / et au Conseil
June 12 2006 / le 12 juin 2006
Submitted by/Soumis par : John L. Moser,
Acting Deputy City Manager/Directeur
municipal adjoint par intérim,
Planning and Growth Management/Urbanisme et
Gestion de la croissance
Contact Person/Personne ressource : Richard Kilstrom, Manager
Planning,
Environment and Infrastructure Policy/
Politiques d’urbanisme, d’environnement et
d’infrastructure
(613) 580-2424 x 22653,
Richard.Kilstrom@Ottawa.ca
|
|
Ref
N°:
ACS2006-PGM-POL-0052
|
|
SUBJECT:
|
GREENSPACE MASTER PLAN AND OFFICIAL
PLAN AMENDMENT
|
|
|
|
|
OBJET :
|
MODIFICATION
DU PLAN OFFICIEL ET DU PLAN DIRECTEUR DES ESPACES VERTS
|
REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
That the Planning and Environment
Committee and the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee recommend Council:
1.
Approve the Greenspace Master Plan - Strategies for
Ottawa's Urban Greenspaces, as shown in Document 1, as a policy plan that
expresses Council's policies on urban greenspace in support of the 2003 Ottawa
Official Plan;
2.
Adopt an Official
Plan amendment on greenspace, as shown in Document 2, to acknowledge that
Council has approved the Greenspace
Master Plan - Strategies for Ottawa's Urban Greenspaces and update the Plan
accordingly;
3.
Direct staff to
prepare an implementation plan and budget estimate for key sections of the
recreational pathway system identified in the Pathway Network for Canada’s Capital Region: Strategic Action Plan,
a joint project of the National Capital Commission, the City of Gatineau, and
the City of Ottawa scheduled for completion in 2007, as a means of implementing
parts of the Greenspace Network;
4.
Direct that the
other immediate and short term actions, identified in Section 4 of the Greenspace Master Plan - Strategies for
Ottawa's Urban Greenspaces, including a Strategy on Green Streets, be
incorporated in the work program of the Planning and Growth Management
Department and the other Departments identified in the plan;
5.
Direct that staff
prepare a work program to plan for natural environment areas and parks and
leisure areas in the rural area, and report to the Agricultural and Rural
Affairs Committee and Planning and Environment Committee in 2007.
RECOMMANDATIONS DU
RAPPORT
Que le Comité de
l’urbanisme et de l’environnement et le Comité de l’agriculture et des
questions rurales recommandent au Conseil :
6.
d’approuver
le Plan directeur des espaces verts – Des stratégies pour les espaces verts
urbains d’Ottawa, tel qu’il figure dans le Document 1, à titre de plan
stratégique faisant état des politiques du conseil sur les espaces verts
urbains à l’appui du Plan officiel 2003;
7.
d’adopter
une modification du Plan officiel concernant les espaces verts, telle qu’indiquée
dans le Document 2, pour attester le fait que le conseil a approuvé le Plan
directeur des espaces verts – Des stratégies pour les espaces verts urbains
d’Ottawa et mettre à jour le Plan en conséquence;
8.
d’enjoindre
le personnel à préparer un plan de mise en œuvre et des prévisions budgétaires
pour les tronçons clés du réseau de sentiers récréatifs recensés dans le Plan
stratégique pour le réseau de sentiers de la région de la capitale du Canada,
un projet conjoint de la Commission de la capitale nationale et des
municipalités d’Ottawa et de Gatineau censé être achevé en 2007, dans le but de
mettre en place des tronçons du Réseau d’espaces verts;
9.
de
faire en sorte que les autres mesures immédiates et à court terme, relevées à
la Section 4 du Plan directeur des espaces verts – Des stratégies pour les
espaces verts urbains d’Ottawa, y compris la Stratégie sur les rues vertes,
soit intégrées au programme des travaux du Service de l’urbanisme et de la
gestion de la croissance et des autres services mentionnés dans le plan;
10.
d’enjoindre
le personnel de préparer un programme de travaux dans le but de planifier les
parcs et les aires naturelles et de loisirs dans la zone rurale, et en rendre
compte au Comité de l’agriculture et des affaires rurales ainsi qu’au Comité de
l’urbanisme et de l’environnement en 2007.
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
Provision
of municipal park space and preservation of natural environment areas is a
long-standing and central function of local government. With the amalgamation of 11 municipalities
and one regional government in 2001, 12 different approaches to providing park
space and natural environment lands were brought into the new City of Ottawa.
The timeframe for adopting the new Official Plan in 2003 was insufficient to allow
for a comprehensive review of the City's greenspaces and greenspace policies,
and therefore the Official Plan required completion of a greenspace master plan
at a later date. Among other matters,
the master plans was to characterize and map Ottawa’s greenspaces and identify
a physically-connected greenspace network; propose policies to guide
acquisition; and confirm targets for greenspace in Ottawa's communities.
The
Greenspace Master Plan - Strategies for
Ottawa's Urban Greenspaces
fulfills these requirements with respect to the urban area of the city. It identifies all the parks and open spaces
owned by the former municipalities and maps them along with all other publicly
and privately-owned greenspaces in the urban area. Two types of greenspace are considered: natural lands, including wetlands and
woodlands; and open space and leisure lands, which are broadly defined to
include not only parks and recreational pathways but also other publicly-owned
land such as land around public institutions and land associated with
stormwater management ponds and other infrastructure. Although the primary purpose of the latter is not leisure, they
can be used for open space and leisure purposes without detracting from their primary
purpose.
The Greenspace Master Plan sets five
objectives to guide the provision of greenspace and uses an Urban Greenspace
Network as a key concept in achieving many of these objectives. The Urban
Greenspace Network is a system of natural lands and open space and leisure
lands that are linked together now or that could be linked in the future. Linkages take the form of recreational
pathways in some areas or waterways or other landscape features in other areas,
where they also provide corridors for wildlife movement. The plan also describes various issues that
arise in the pursuit of greenspace objectives, including pressures on
greenspace as population increases through intensification of development, as
well as criteria for assessing the acquisition of new greenspaces, including
surplus school sites.
The Greenspace Master Plan –
Strategies for Ottawa’s Urban Greenspaces was prepared in parallel with the
Urban Natural Areas Environmental
Evaluation Study (UNAEES), approved by Council in 2005. The UNAEES and its
Addendum in 2006 assessed the environmental quality of the natural areas
remaining within the urban area and will form the basis of future decisions on
the protection of priority natural areas.
The
Greenspace Master Plan does not have
direct implications for the zoning or Official Plan designation of properties
identified in the plan. Rather, the Greenspace Master Plan will inform plans
for new and existing communities, identify opportunities to create greenspace
as they arise through public works and the review of development proposals, and
guide future recommendations for acquisition and management of municipal
land. The Greenspace Master Plan describes how it will be implemented through
Council's land-use planning authorities, municipal public works and public land
management, and through partnerships with others.
In
addition, several projects are proposed, including development of an
implementation plan and budget estimate for key sections of the recreational
pathway system identified in the Urban Greenspace Network and the Pathway Network for Canada’s Capital Region:
Strategic Action Plan. This latter study is a joint project of the National
Capital Commission (NCC), the City of Gatineau, and the City of Ottawa
scheduled for completion in 2007, and much of the greenspace inventory in the Greenspace
Master Plan was used as input to the pathways study. Similarly, all the sites evaluated as part
of the UNAEES have been included in the greenspace inventories in the Greenspace
Master Plan. How priority natural lands can be protected through
acquisition or other means will be proposed in the future, in an Urban
Natural Features Strategy that implements the UNAEES. Protection of these natural areas will also
serve to implement the Greenspace Master Plan.
This
report also proposes that Council adopt an Official Plan amendment that updates
the Official Plan to recognize that the Greenspace
Master Plan has been
adopted and confirm targets in the Official Plan.
While
the Greenspace Master Plan is proposed as strategies for Ottawa's Urban
Greenspaces, other planning initiatives for rural environmental lands will be
forthcoming in 2007 and 2008 in response to the Clean Water Act and the 2005 Provincial Policy Statement. These
initiatives will provide a context to address rural greenspace uses in a
comprehensive manner. A work plan for this work will be developed in
consultation with the Rural Issues Advisory Committee and other advisory
committees.
Financial Implications
This
report has no direct financial implications.
Public Consultation/Input:
Public
consultation on the Greenspace Master
Plan included the general public, Council's Advisory Committees, the
Ottawa-Carleton Homebuilders' Association, and other interested groups. As part
of the public consultation for the Official Plan amendment, the amendment and
information about the Greenspace Master
Plan was circulated to all the community associations and technical
agencies required under Council's procedures for such city-wide policy amendments.
Issues
that arose during the consultation included the appropriateness of preparing,
or not preparing, a plan that included the rural area, with opinions expressed
in favour and against such a plan. This
report recommends that a work plan for rural greenspace be developed in
consultation with the Rural Issues Advisory Committee and other Council
Advisory Committees, to be considered by the Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Committee and Planning and Environment Committee in 2007. Other issues that
arose included the use of surplus school sites and the need to increase
greenspace as intensification occurs.
Many comments addressed the role the NCC plays in providing greenspace
and stressed the need for the City and the NCC to cooperate in the provision of
greenspace and recreational facilities in the City.
RÉSUMÉ
Hypothèses
et analyse :
L’aménagement
de parcs municipaux et la préservation des zones écologiques naturelles sont
une fonction centrale et de longue date du gouvernement local. À la suite de la
fusion des onze municipalités et de l’instauration d’une seule et unique
administration régionale en 2001, douze différentes approches en matière
d’aménagement de parcs et de terrains écologiques naturels ont été intégrées à
la nouvelle Ville d’Ottawa. Le délai prévu pour l’adoption du nouveau Plan
officiel en 2003 était insuffisant pour permettre un examen approfondi des
espaces verts municipaux et des politiques connexes et, en conséquence, le Plan
officiel exigeait l’achèvement d’un plan directeur des espaces verts à une date
ultérieure. Le plan directeur devait, entre autres, définir et cartographier
les espaces verts d’Ottawa; recenser un réseau d’espaces verts susceptibles
d’être raccordés; proposer des politiques pour orienter leur acquisition, et
confirmer les objectifs en la matière dans les collectivités d’Ottawa.
Le Plan directeur des espaces verts
– Des stratégies pour les espaces verts urbains d’Ottawa satisfait à ces
exigences en ce qui touche à la zone urbaine. Il recense tous les parcs et les
espaces libres qui appartenaient aux anciennes municipalités, en plus de les
cartographier en même temps que tous les autres espaces verts de propriété
publique et privée dans la zone urbaine. Deux types d’espaces verts sont pris en
compte : les sites naturels, y compris les boisés et les terres humides, et les
espaces libres et terrains destinés aux activités récréatives, qui sont
sommairement définis pour englober non seulement les parcs et les sentiers
récréatifs, mais aussi d’autres terres publiques comme les terrains entourant
les établissements publics et les terrains associés aux bassins de rétention
des eaux pluviales et à d’autres infrastructures. Bien que le but premier de ce
dernier type de terres ne soit pas les loisirs, celles-ci peuvent néanmoins
servir d’espaces libres et à des fins récréatives sans s’éloigner de leur but
principal.
Le Plan directeur des espaces verts
poursuit cinq objectifs pour orienter la création d’espaces verts et s’appuie
sur le concept clé de Réseau d’espaces verts urbains pour atteindre nombre de
ces objectifs. Le Réseau d’espaces verts urbains est un système de sites
naturels, d’espaces libres et de terrains destinés aux loisirs qui sont
actuellement raccordés ou qui sont susceptibles de l’être dans l’avenir. Ces
raccordements revêtent la forme de sentiers récréatifs dans certaines aires ou
de cours d’eau ou autres aménagements paysagers dans d’autres aires, où ils
procurent aussi des couloirs clés pour le passage de la faune. Le plan aborde en
outre toutes sortes de questions qui se posent relativement à l’atteinte des
objectifs liés aux espaces verts, notamment les pressions exercées sur les
espaces verts au fur et à mesure de l’accroissement de la population par le
biais de l’intensification du développement, ainsi que les critères servant à
évaluer l’acquisition de nouveaux espaces verts, dont les terrains d’école
excédentaires.
Le Plan directeur des espaces verts
– Des stratégies pour les espaces verts urbains d’Ottawa a été préparé parallèlement
à l'Étude d'évaluation environnementale des espaces naturels urbains (EEEENU),
approuvé par le conseil en 2005. L’EEEENU et son addenda en 2006 ont servi à
évaluer la qualité de l’environnement dans les espaces naturels qui restent
dans la zone urbaine et serviront de fondement aux futures décisions concernant
la protection des aires naturelles prioritaires.
Le Plan directeur des espaces verts
n’a aucune répercussion directe sur le zonage ou la désignation dans le Plan
officiel des terrains recensés dans le plan. Le Plan directeur des espaces
verts guidera plutôt les plans pour les collectivités nouvelles et existantes,
cernera les possibilités de créer des espaces verts qui se présenteront par le
biais des travaux publics et de l’examen des projets d’aménagement, en plus
d’orienter les futures recommandations concernant l’acquisition et la gestion
des terrains municipaux. Le Plan directeur des espaces verts décrit de quelle
façon il sera mis en œuvre par voie des pouvoirs liés à l’aménagement du territoire,
des travaux publics municipaux et de la gestion des terres publiques, ainsi que
de partenariats.
En outre, plusieurs projets sont
proposés, dont l’élaboration d’un plan de mise en œuvre et de prévisions
budgétaires pour les tronçons clés du réseau de sentiers récréatifs recensés
dans le Réseau d’espaces verts urbains et le Plan stratégique pour le réseau de
sentiers de la région de la capitale du Canada. Cette dernière étude est un
projet conjoint de la Commission de la capitale nationale (CCN) et des
municipalités d’Ottawa et de Gatineau censé être achevé en 2007, et la majeure
partie de l’inventaire des espaces verts dans le Plan directeur des espaces
verts a servi à produire l’étude sur les sentiers. De plus, tous les sites
évalués dans le cadre de l’EEEENU ont été intégrés aux inventaires des espaces
verts dans le Plan directeur des espaces verts. On proposera dans l’avenir les
mesures par lesquelles les sites naturels prioritaires pourront être protégés
par le biais de l’acquisition ou par d’autres moyens dans une Stratégie pour
les éléments naturels du paysage urbain qui met en œuvre l’EEEENU. La
protection de ces sites naturels servira aussi à mettre en œuvre le Plan
directeur des espaces verts.
Ce rapport propose également que le
conseil adopte une modification du Plan officiel afin d’y faire une mise à jour
pour reconnaître que le Plan directeur des espaces verts a été adopté et
confirmer les objectifs prévus au Plan officiel.
Tandis que le Plan directeur des
espaces verts est proposé à titre de stratégies pour les espaces verts du
paysage urbain d’Ottawa, d’autres initiatives d’aménagement des espaces
naturels ruraux seront mises de l’avant en 2007 et 2008 en réponse à la Loi sur
l’eau saine et à la Déclaration de principes provinciale de 2005. Ces
initiatives procureront un contexte propice à l’examen détaillé des
utilisations faites des espaces verts ruraux. Un plan de travail sera élaboré
en consultation avec le Comité consultatif des affaires rurales et d’autres
comités consultatifs.
Répercussions financières :
Ce
rapport n’a aucune répercussion financière directe.
Consultation publique / commentaires :
Dans
le cadre des consultations publiques concernant le Plan directeur des espaces
verts, on a consulté le grand public, les comités consultatifs du conseil,
l’Ottawa-Carleton Homebuilders’ Association et d’autres groupes intéressés. En
ce qui concerne la consultation publique sur la modification du Plan officiel,
la modification et les renseignements concernant le Plan directeur des espaces
verts ont été diffusés à toutes les associations communautaires et les
organismes techniques concernés en vertu des procédures du conseil s’appliquant
à de telles modifications de politique sur l’ensemble du territoire de la
Ville.
Parmi les questions soulevées lors
du processus de consultation, on s’est interrogé, entre autres, sur l’à-propos
de préparer, ou non, un plan qui comprendrait la zone rurale, ce sujet donnant
lieu à des opinions divergentes. Ce rapport recommande qu’un plan de travail
pour les espaces verts ruraux soit élaboré en consultation avec le Comité
consultatif des affaires rurales et d’autres comités consultatifs du conseil,
aux fins d’examen par le Comité de l’agriculture et des affaires rurales et le
Comité de l’urbanisme et de l’environnement en 2007. Au nombre des autres
questions soulevées, mentionnons l’utilisation des terrains d’école
excédentaires et le besoin d’accroître les espaces verts au fur et à mesure de
l’intensification du développement. Nombre des observations formulées avaient
trait au rôle de la CCN en matière de création d’espaces verts et faisaient
ressortir toute l’importance de la collaboration entre la Ville et la CCN dans
le but d’aménager des espaces verts et des installations récréatives dans la
ville.
BACKGROUND
In
2001, the City initiated the Ottawa 20/20 consultation on how the city's growth
would be managed over the next 20 years.
The 20/20 process developed seven principles to guide the city's future. These principles clearly recognized the
contributions that greenspace makes to the quality of life in the city,
particularly towards the health of residents and the natural environment, and
to the definition of the image of the city and individual neighbourhoods. These
principles directed the Official Plan and four other growth management plans,
and their supporting plans. The Official Plan drew on master plans for
transportation and infrastructure and called for development of a master plan
for greenspace.
The
Official Plan set the broad terms of reference for a greenspace master
plan: to identify and characterize all
the greenspaces that, prior to amalgamation, had been owned and managed by the
11 local municipalities and regional government. A network of greenspaces was to be identified as a means of
supporting environmental, recreation, cultural heritage and other objectives
for greenspace in the city. The plan
was to confirm targets for greenspace proposed in the Official Plan and provide
policies to guide acquisition of greenspace land. The Official Plan also required that an evaluation of all natural
environment lands within the urban area of the city proceed in parallel with the greenspace master plan and identify
priority lands for protection as Urban
Natural Features.
Work
on both the Urban Natural Areas
Environmental Evaluation Study (UNAEES) and the greenspace master plan proceeded in parallel processes. At its meeting in May 25, 2005, Planning and
Environment Committee received several related reports on greenspace. The
UNAEES was approved and showed the environmental evaluation of 114 sites. The
report also noted that additional sites would be evaluated later in 2005 and
2006. A report on the master plan presented strategic policy directions, a
draft of the Greenspace Network, and a draft Official Plan amendment. That report also proposed a series of public
information meetings in June 2005 to consult on these materials before the
master plan was drafted. Finally, a
report on the appeals of various greenspace policies in the Official Plan
proposed a modification of the acquisition policies in the Official Plan that
would assist in the resolution of these appeals. The acquisition policy was approved by Council and was
subsequently modified into the Official Plan by the Ontario Municipal
Board.
During
the June 2005 consultations on the UNAEES and the master plan, responses were
generally supportive of efforts to protect the environment and to maintain
greenspace as the city grows. However,
at consultations in the rural area, some landowners expressed concern that
identification of their land as "greenspace" challenged their rights
as property owners. Others asked for
stronger municipal action to preserve environmental lands in the Carp Hills and
other areas. At the Rural Summit in
November 2005, the need for a stronger rural voice in policies for the rural
area was expressed. Later in 2006,
concerns were raised about identification of provincially-significant wetlands
in the former Goulbourn Township, wetlands on land identified in the draft
greenspace network for the rural area.
For these reasons, the greenspace master plan was re-defined as a
strategy for the urban area so that this component could be completed and a new
work program prepared for rural greenspace, in consultation with interested
parties.
This
report presents the draft of the Greenspace
Master Plan - Strategies for Ottawa's Urban Greenspaces for Council
approval as a policy document that supports the Official Plan. It also recommends adoption of an Official
Plan amendment that updates the Official Plan to recognize that Council has
adopted the Greenspace Master Plan.
DISCUSSION
The
Greenspace Master Plan - Strategies for
Ottawa's Urban Greenspace expresses Council's vision for greenspace in the
urban area. Among other things, the
plan:
·
identifies and describes the function of all
greenspaces in the urban area and proposes an Urban Greenspace Network;
·
describes the issues that arise in pursuing public objectives
for greenspace;
·
proposes specific projects over the next three years to
help implement the plan;
·
describes how the City can pursue greenspace objectives
over the next three years and beyond, through the development review process,
public works, partnerships and other municipal functions.
Identifies and describes the function of all
greenspace in the urban area
Mapping
all municipal greenspaces and other greenspaces is a major accomplishment of
the Plan. This inventory was the basis
for identification of an Urban Greenspace Network, which in turn supports
achievement of many of the city's greenspace objectives. By planning greenspace
as part of a network, the ecological function of land within the network is
enhanced along with greater public access to open spaces and leisure land,
support for healthy lifestyles and recreation opportunities, and stronger
networks for cycling and walking as viable modes of transportation.
Natural
lands and open space and leisure lands are identified on two separate maps in
the Greenspace Master Plan. Elements
from each of these inventories are then combined to form the basis of an Urban
Greenspace Network, a network of land that is connected or could be connected
by recreational pathways and natural corridors. The inventory mapping was
helpful in confirming the boundaries of land currently zoned for parks or other
greenspace, for inclusion in the new draft Zoning By-law.
The lands mapped in the
inventories and included in the Urban Greenspace Network also include lands
that are not currently zoned for greenspace or planned for open space use by
their owners. The maps note that the use of such lands will be determined
through future studies and development applications. In this respect, the Urban Greenspace Network sets a framework
for how the network could be developed in the future. The maps in the Greenspace
Master Plan will not lead directly to changes in zoning or Official Plan
designations, but will serve to inform future planning and land acquisition
decisions.
Describes the issues that arise in pursuing
public objectives for greenspace
Maintaining
the City's current levels of greenspace as it intensifies is a key issue raised
in the consultation and in the Greenspace Master Plan - Strategies for
Ottawa's Urban Greenspaces. The
Plan shows that most urban neighbourhoods exceed the Official Plan targets of
2.0 ha of parks and 4.0 ha of total greenspace per 1000 population. In many
established communities, there is little vacant land available for new parks
and as these areas intensify, the City will need to enhance the capacity of the
remaining open space to serve parkland functions.
Many
residents believe the City should acquire surplus school sites and Council has
requested staff to prepare a policy on this matter. The Greenspace Master Plan will
support development of such a policy in 2007 by identifying where there is a
shortfall in greenspace and by proposing criteria that the City can consider in
the decision to acquire surplus school sites and other greenspaces that are
proposed periodically for acquisition.
Other
issues identified in the Greenspace
Master Plan relate to:
·
the use of land now used for greenspace but not zoned
or planned for that purpose;
·
the inadequacy of the parkland dedication secured
through the Planning Act to provide district sport fields or natural
lands;
·
the general shortfall in the funding available for all
types of greenspaces.
These
issues are addressed in projects proposed to implement the Greenspace Master Plan and in the general approach towards a
greenspace network, proposed in order to make the best use of available
greenspace.
Proposes specific projects over the next
three years to help implement the plan
The
Greenspace Master Plan - Strategies for
Ottawa's Urban Greenspaces supports protection of priority natural areas
through acquisition and other means, to be determined through the Urban
Natural Features Study in the future. The natural areas evaluated through
the UNAEES are shown on the greenspace inventories in the Greenspace Master Plan and several of the sites are within the
Urban Greenspace Network.
The
Greenspace Master Plan also proposes
several projects that staff can undertake over the next three years to
implement the plan. The most significant of these is preparation of an
implementation plan and budget estimate for key sections of the recreational
pathway system identified in the Pathway
Network for Canada’s Capital Region: Strategic Action Plan, a joint project
of the National Capital Commission, the City of Gatineau, and the City of
Ottawa. This study, scheduled for
completion in 2007, includes a municipal pathway component that was developed
in parallel with the Urban Greenspace Network and, if implemented in conjunction
with city pathways, will serve to extend and build the network. Other projects
proposed in the Greenspace Master Plan include:
·
completion of plans to define the greenspace role and
other functions of land now owned by the NCC and the City of Ottawa, that are
not zoned for greenspace or currently planned for that purpose;
·
preparation of design guidelines for parks and open
spaces;
·
development of a strategy for "Green
Streets", streets with treed boulevards and generous facilities for
cyclists and pedestrians that can be used to improve connections among
greenspaces, particularly where off-road connections are not feasible.;
·
preparing procedures to ensure that the City retains
ownership of any of its surplus lands that have a greenspace function.
Describes how the City can pursue greenspace
objectives over the next three years and beyond, through the development review
process, public works, partnerships and other municipal functions.
In
addition to the projects identified above, the Greenspace Master Plan -
Strategies for Ottawa's Urban Greenspaces can be implemented through
Council's decisions regarding:
·
land use planning
·
development review
·
public works and infrastructure
·
partnering with others
·
managing land
·
land acquisition
A
three-year plan for implementation identifies actions and projects to be
completed by the end of 2008. The plan includes adoption of an Official Plan
Amendment to recognize the Greenspace
Master Plan, plus an Official Plan amendment in 2007 to change several
greenspace designations in the Official Plan.
Work on the inventory of greenspaces in the city, plus field visits
during the UNAEES and development of the consolidated Zoning By-law, identified
the need to change the Official Plan designation of several parcels of
publicly-owned land in the city to better reflect their function. For example, a consistent approach to
designating municipal parks of 7.0 ha or more will lead to designation of some
parks that are now General Urban. Local communities will be consulted on this amendment
early in 2007.
Official Plan Amendment
The
Official Plan Amendment in Document 2 proposes the changes described below.
The
amendment updates references to the Greenspace Master Plan by deleting text and
policies in Section 2.4.5 Greenspaces that says the City will adopt a master
plan. New text is proposed to indicate
that Council has adopted such a plan for the urban area, a plan that proposes
an Urban Greenspace Network, objectives for greenspace, and implementation
through various policies and through new approaches to conducting municipal
business.
The
amendment also proposes to change Policy 3 in Section 2.4.5 Greenspaces, which
states that applications to amend the zoning bylaw for urban or village land
zoned for leisure, environment or other greenspace uses are premature. The proposed amendment states that such
applications will be evaluated in terms of the parcel's contribution to local
greenspace and the feasibility of securing public access to the land. In the urban area, the land's contribution
to the Urban Greenspace Network will also be considered.
The
amendment also updates the reference to the greenspace target of 4.0 ha per
thousand population, which had been subject to confirmation through the
Greenspace Master Plan, and indicates the target is a fixed figure and not
"a minimum of 4.0 ha".
Other
changes are proposed for Section 2.5.4 A Strategy for Parks and Leisure
Areas. The requirement for a parks and
leisure strategy is removed, since other reports by Community and Protective
Services have done much of the work of the strategy. The target for parks and
leisure areas is confirmed at 2.0 ha per thousand population, along with the
target of greenspace within 400 m of all homes in the urban area.
Other
changes proposed in the amendment include:
·
References to greenspace are added to the requirements
for Community Design Plans
·
Section 3.3.1 Major Open Space is amended to clarify
that roads and other infrastructure are permitted within these areas and to
simplify the wording that indicates that any use is subject to maintaining the
environmental, cultural and open characteristics of the area.
·
Section 3.2.3
Urban Natural Features is amended to update references to the Urban
Natural Areas Environmental Evaluation Study to indicate that Council has
adopted this study and that an implementation strategy will be prepared.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
The
Greenspace Master Plan - Strategies for Ottawa's Urban Greenspaces is
recognized in Council's Environmental Strategy as a strategic document
that supports Council's environmental objectives. The master plan supports Council's objectives for air quality and
climate change as well as objectives for maintaining natural functions and
features in the urban area. Many
sections of the Urban Greenspace Network already include a multi-use pathway,
and the Greenspace Master Plan proposes that more pathway sections plus designs
for "Green Streets" be developed. Together, these facilities support
walking and cycling as viable forms of transportation for travel to school, work
and shopping, and thus reduce the use of private automobiles and the level of
greenhouse gas emissions.
The
Greenspace Master Plan also identifies the remaining natural environment
areas in the city. It strengthens
natural areas in the urban area by promoting linkages among these areas through
the Urban Greenspace Network, linkages that in turn support the movement of
plant and animal species as well as humans.
RURAL IMPLICATIONS
The
Greenspace Master Plan was initially conceived as a city-wide policy
plan. Re-drafting it as an urban plan
has meant that the concept of a city-wide greenspace network has not been
realized and that a few policy directions that are now in the Official Plan,
such as the proximity of greenspace in residential areas, will apply in urban
locations only no longer apply. However, much of the greenspace in the rural
area is subject to policies elsewhere in the Official Plan, particularly
policies regarding environmental land designated as Natural Environment Areas,
Rural Natural Features, and Significant Wetlands. These policies are the basis
of managing environmental land in the rural area.
Other
planning initiatives for rural environment lands will be forthcoming in 2007
and 2008 in response to the Clean Water Act and the 2005 Provincial Policy
Statement.
In
coordination with these environmental initiatives a work plan for greenspace in
the rural area will be developed in consultation with the Rural Issues Advisory
Committee and Council's other advisory committees. The work plan will be
brought to the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee for approval. The work
plan will address both the natural environment system of rural lands as well as
open space and leisure uses.
CONSULTATION
Public
information meetings on the strategic directions of the Greenspace Master Plan
were held in June, 2005 and the draft plan and Official Plan amendment were
circulated in April and May 2006.
Information on the strategy to implement the UNAEES, called the Urban
Natural Features Strategy, was also presented during the consultation and has
been rescheduled for Council consideration at a future date. A public meeting on the plan and the
amendment was advertised in daily English-language and French-language
newspapers. Details of the comments received are provided in Document 3 and
summarized by issue area below.
Concerns about Landowner Rights.
The
National Capital Commission, rural landowners, and the development industry
were concerned that the Greenspace Master Plan - Strategies for
Ottawa's Urban Greenspaces is proposing that the City use private lands or
lands not planned as greenspace, for public use as greenspace. In response to this concern, the text and
maps in the Greenspace Master Plan were modified to clarify that some
lands shown on the maps are not designated in the Official Plan or zoned for
greenspace and that their use will depend on future planning studies and
decisions. The Plan also states that
the maps in the Plan will not lead directly to Official Plan and zoning
designations, but will help inform future plans, acquisition priorities, public
works and other Council initiatives.
The
Plan also acknowledges that where developable land is proposed to be included
as greenspace in new developments, the land will be purchased, acquired through
the parkland dedication or secured by other means negotiated with the
landowner. Also, the Official Plan was
amended in 2004 to make clear in greenspace designations that public access is
not permitted without the consent of the landowner.
Focus on the Urban Area.
The
Ottawa Forests and Greenspace Advisory Committee was disappointed that the Plan
addressed only the urban area and the Environmental Advisory Committee called
for a commitment to developing a rural, sustainable land-use strategy. Other
groups expressed similar concerns at the 2006 information session. The view is
that natural environment lands and recreational pathways form a system, and
that they are best planned on a comprehensive basis across the whole of the
city.
Development
of a city-wide system can be considered in drafting a work plan for greenspace
in the rural area. The inventories of
the natural land and park and leisure land in the rural area are complete and
work has been undertaken on potential rural pathways. This information can potentially be used in the future review of
the rural greenspace needs.
Role of the National Capital Commission
Individuals
and community groups in Ottawa are very aware of the role the NCC plays in
providing greenspace in Ottawa. The NCC
owns about one-quarter of the land now designated as Urban Natural Feature in
the Official Plan and another one-quarter of the land designated Major Open Space. There was a clear need to work closely and
cooperatively with the NCC so that the community can benefit from federal lands
where appropriate.
A
key issue in this regard is that some land owned by the NCC and used as
greenspace is zoned or designated for other purposes and is not identified in
federal plans as greenspace. The NCC
has appealed the designation of some of these properties in the Official Plan
to the Ontario Municipal Board. The Greenspace Master Plan proposes that
staff work with the NCC and neighbouring communities to explore alternate
scenarios for the future use of these lands and seek resolution through a
public planning process.
Maintaining Greenspace Standards
As
the city intensifies, there is concern that the amount of park per thousand
population will decrease. Especially in
older and inner-city neighbourhoods, new infill and redevelopment projects will
increase the population but little vacant land or money is available to create
new parks.
This
issue will be an ongoing challenge for the City. The Greenspace Master Plan notes
that the current standards, measured as 2.0 ha of parks and 4.0 ha of total
open space, are robust and reflect an amount of parkland greater than that
secured through the dedication under the Planning
Act. Some communities have more
open space than proposed in the targets and in these areas, some of the park
requirement can be met by changing the function of open space so that it can be
used as parkland. Improving the quality
of existing open space and increasing access to these lands through the Urban
Greenspace Network and an extended multi-use pathway system will also address
the situation.
Surplus School Sites
Many
individuals and groups concerned about the effects of intensification on
greenspace look to the City to acquire surplus school sites as part of the
solution. The Ottawa-Carleton Catholic School Board notes that while it
appreciates the problems the City has in identifying greenspace priorities and
meeting funding requirements, provision of open space falls within the City's
mandate and is not the Board's responsibility. Council has asked staff to
prepare a policy on the disposition of surplus school sites and such a policy
will be proposed in 2007. The Greenspace Master Plan assists with that
policy by proposing criteria for Council to use in assessing the merit of lands
proposed for acquisition for greenspace.
These criteria include the site's location with respect to the Urban
Greenspace Network and the amount of greenspace in the community, which can now
be assessed through the GIS data base.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
This
report has no direct financial implications.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
Document
1 Greenspace Master Plan - Strategies
for Ottawa's Urban Greenspaces (Distributed separately and on file with the
City Clerk)
Document 2 Official Plan Amendment ____
Document 3 Comments from the public circulation
DISPOSITION
A
three-year plan for implementation identifies actions and projects to be
completed by the end of 2008. In
addition:
1. Department of Corporate Services,
Secretariat Services shall forward the Greenspace Master Plan - Strategies
for Ottawa's Urban Greenspaces to City Council for approval prior to its
approval of Official Plan Amendment _____.
2. Department of Corporate Services,
Secretariat Services shall forward the implementing by-law for Official Plan
Amendment ______to City Council, upon request from the Planning and Growth
Management Department.
3. Planning and Growth Management Department
shall issue the Notice of Decision within 15 days of City Council adopting the
implementing by-law for Official Plan Amendment ____.
Draft Amendment to the
Official Plan of the City of
Ottawa
Greenspace
Amendment
________________________________________________________________________
The Statement of Components
PART A -
THE PREAMBLE. 63
1.0 Purpose. 63
2.0 Location. 63
3.0 Basis. 63
PART B - THE AMENDMENT. 64
1. The
Introductory Statement 64
2. Details
of Amendment 64
Section 2.4.5 Greenspaces. 64
Section 2.5.4 Parks and Leisure Areas. 67
Section 2.5.6 Collaborative Community Building and
Community Design Plans. 67
Section
3.2.3 Urban Natural Features. 67
Section
3.3.1 Major Open Space. 68
Section
4.2 Adjacent to Land-Use Designations. 68
Section
5.6 Summary of Studies Referred to in the Official Plan. 69
3. Implementation. 69
PART A - THE PREAMBLE, introduces the actual
Amendment but does not constitute part of Amendment No.___ to the 2003 Ottawa
Official Plan.
PART B - THE AMENDMENT,
consisting of the following text, constitutes the actual Amendment No. ___ to
the 2003 Ottawa Official Plan.
The purpose of this amendment is
to update the Official Plan to reflect Council’s adoption of the Greenspace
Master Plan - Strategies for Ottawa’s Urban Greenspaces and to introduce
policies that implement that Master Plan.
The attached policies primarily apply to the various greenspace lands in
the urban area of the City.
The amendment is intended to:
1. Update
references to the Greenspace Master Plan and Parks and Leisure Strategy to
indicate that Council has adopted the Greenspace Master Plan - Strategies
for Ottawa’s Urban Greenspaces.
2. Confirm
targets and requirements for parks and greenspace in the Official Plan.
3.
Present elements of the Greenspace Master Plan - Strategies
for Ottawa’s Urban Greenspaces.
4.
Update references to the Urban Natural Areas Environmental
Evaluation Study to indicate that Council has adopted this study.
No changes to land use
designations are proposed in this amendment.
2.0 Location
This
amendment applies to land within the boundary of the City of Ottawa. The focus
of the Greenspace Master Plan is the urban area of the City.
3.0 Basis
The purpose of
the Greenspace Master Plan - Strategies for Ottawa’s Urban Greenspaces is to
express Council’s vision for greenspace in the urban area and set policies for
how this vision can be pursued over the next three years and beyond. That vision is firmly rooted in the
principles residents expressed in 2001 when they developed the Ottawa 2020
plans to manage the city’s future growth.
As the city grows, there is to be an adequate supply of greenspace,
accessible to all residents. It will be
linked, to allow for movement through green corridors, and it will be high
quality and sustainable, minimizing the need for human intervention and public
spending.
With the
adoption of the Greenspace Master Plan - Strategies for Ottawa’s Urban
Greenspaces references to the master plan need to be removed or updated. The Greenspace Master Plan - Strategies
for Ottawa’s Urban Greenspaces establishes a proposed Urban Greenspace
Network for the city and policies to support the development of the network and
the ongoing provision of greenspace through such processes as: development
review, land acquisition, the development of a multi-use pathway system,
working with partners, adapting other public lands to provide greenspace, and
incorporating greenspace as part of public works projects. The Greenspace Master Plan - Strategies
for Ottawa’s Urban Greenspaces has confirmed targets for greenspace and
park delivery in the Official Plan.
Official Plan policies are amended to reflect these
recommendations.
All of this part of this document entitled Part B - The
Amendment, constitutes Amendment No. ---- to the 2003 Official Plan of the City
of Ottawa.
The following changes are hereby
made to the 2003 Official Plan of the City of Ottawa:
1.
In Section 2.4.5 Greenspaces, delete the fourth to eighth
paragraphs in their entirety and substitute the following text:
“Ottawa
residents value their greenspaces and recognize the contribution greenspace
makes to the high quality of living here.
As the population of the city grows to 2021, the challenge will be to
maintain these high standards as new communities are added and existing
neighbourhoods accommodate infill and redevelopment. Through amalgamation in
2001, the city has never been better positioned to meet this challenge, with a
single level of government now in place to provide leadership and pursue a
single vision for all forms of greenspace in partnership with other levels of
government, the private sector and the community.
Council has
adopted the Greenspace Master Plan - Strategies for Ottawa’s Urban
Greenspaces to express Council’s objectives for urban greenspace: an
adequate supply of greenspace, readily accessible to residents as a connected
network of high-quality spaces planned and maintained on a sustainable basis. A
major accomplishment of the Plan is the mapping and evaluation of all
greenspaces within the urban area, the legacy of former municipal governments,
the National Capital Commission, and others. The backbone of the master plan is
an Urban Greenspace Network, a continuum of natural lands and open space and
leisure lands that in time could connect every neighbourhood in Ottawa to a
larger network that connects to the Greenbelt and spans the city. Planning greenspaces
in relationship to a network:
·
Increases accessibility to greenspace throughout the
city;
·
Helps identify priorities for filling gaps and
extending the network;
·
Creates a context for planning neighbourhoods and
larger communities that include connections to the network;
·
Supports sustainability of natural lands within the
network.
Lands off the
Urban Greenspace Network are also important, particularly the remaining natural
lands within the urban boundary on Schedule A.
In 2006, an evaluation of the remaining natural areas, both on an off
the urban network, was completed through the Council-approved Urban Natural
Areas Environmental Evaluation Study (March 2005) and Addendum
Report (March 2006). Priority
lands to secure for their environmental value through acquisition or other
means will be identified as part of the implementation phase of the Urban
Natural Areas Evaluation Study.
The Greenspace Master Plan –
Strategies for Ottawa’s Urban Greenspaces includes various strategies to
achieve Council’s greenspace objectives, including a commitment to extend the
multi-use, city-wide pathway system, the preparation of plans needed to fill
gaps in the network, and development of design guidelines for “Green Streets”
and parks. In addition to specific strategies, the master plan will also be
implemented through the day-to-day conduct of municipal business. Through its planning and development review
responsibilities, through public works and through management of its own lands,
the City can create its greenspace vision for 2021. The master plan is implemented in part through actions
outside the Official Plan, and in part through policies in this and other
sections.
2.
In Section 2.4.5 Greenspaces delete policy 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7 in
their entirety.
3.
In Section 2.4.5 Greenspaces, insert the following new
policies 1 – 3 and renumber the remaining policies accordingly:
“1. The City
has adopted a Greenspace Master Plan - Strategies for Ottawa’s Urban
Greenspaces to express Council’s objectives for greenspace within the urban
area and will implement this Plan through the following measures:
a. Designating
greenspaces, including municipal parks or groupings of municipal parks of 7.0
ha or more, in the Official Plan in a manner that reflects their function and
ensuring that their boundaries are accurately presented in the zoning by-law;
b. Encouraging
a high quality of urban design, consistent with the objectives and principles
of Section 2.5.1, where natural lands and open space and leisure areas are used
as integral elements in the design;
c. Pursuing
greenspace opportunities when undertaking public works, for example by
enhancing vegetation and natural functions or providing open space and leisure
areas as an integral part of plans for new public works;
d. Considering
the greenspace function of any municipal lands considered surplus before any
decision on disposal is made. The City
will consult with the community before considering disposal of any public park
and where a park is sold, the proceeds will be only be used for park
acquisition or improvement.
2. The City will acquire land in the urban area
where public ownership is required to secure land for
greenspace purposes, in keeping with the acquisition policies in Section
5.2.1. In addition, community design
plans for Developing Communities may refine priorities for the acquisition of
land for specific greenspace purposes.
3. The
City will seek opportunities to build the Urban Greenspace Network through:
a. The
review of development applications, to seek opportunities at various scales to
fill gaps in the network, provide connections to the Urban Greenspace Network,
and extend it to new urban communities wherever possible;
b. The
design of transportation corridors, infrastructure and other municipal
facilities to fill in gaps in the network and extend its reach in new and
established urban communities;
c.
Implementing priority sections of the city-wide multi-use
pathway system;
d.
Partnerships with public and private partners to provide
access to greenspaces.”
4. In
Section 2.4.5 Greenspaces policy 3, delete the first two sentences and insert
in their place:
“Applications
to amend the zoning by-law for any land in the urban area or Villages currently
in a zone intended to promote a conservation, waterway or recreation purpose,
to another purpose will be assessed in terms of the parcel’s contribution to
local greenspace, its location with respect to the Urban Greenspace Network,
and the feasibility of securing the land for public access or ownership.”
5. In
Section 2.4.5 Greenspaces policy 4, insert the words “and may consider
acquisition of the land in accordance with Section 5.2.1 policy 5 of this Plan”
at the end of the last sentence.
6.
In Section 2.4.5, Greenspaces modify the policy 8 by:
a. Deleting
the first sentence and replacing it with:
“Council will pursue the target
for total greenspace, in the form of open space and leisure lands, across large
areas of the urban area, to fulfill objectives expressed in the Greenspace
Master Plan - Strategies for Ottawa’s Urban Greenspaces.”
b. Modifying
the second sentence by deleting the words “... a minimum of...” before the
words “4.0 hectares per 1000 population”; and
c. Deleting
the last two sentences and replacing them with:
“These open space and leisure lands are land that is in public ownership
and is generally accessible to the public, such as: parks, major recreational
pathways, land designated as Urban Natural Features or Major Open Space, flood
plains and other hazard lands, and stormwater management facilities. Open space and leisure land where access is
restricted, such as school grounds, private golf courses or other facilities,
and land that is temporarily available for open space, such as land reserved
for major transportation corridors and infrastructure will not be included in the
target.”
7. In
Section 2.4.5 Greenspaces insert a new policy 9 as follows and renumber the
remaining policies accordingly.
“Through the Greenspace
Master Plan - Strategies for Ottawa’s Urban Greenspaces, Council supports a
target of providing the open space and leisure land that is referred to in
policy 8, within 400 metres of all homes in primarily residential areas in the
urban area. This target is to ensure
that greenspace is readily accessible to all residents. More specific targets for accessibility may
be developed in community design plans and other plans, where appropriate. For example, targets for a reduced distance
between residences and greenspace may be appropriate where residential
densities are higher and less private greenspace is provided, such as in
Mixed-Use Centres, or in residential neighbourhoods where seniors or young
children would benefit from a shorter distance.”
8. In
Section 2.4.5, Greenspaces policy 9, add after the words “Rideau Canal” in the
first sentence the following words: “…, as well as other rivers and
streams,…”
9. In
Section 2.4.5 Greenspaces, policy 10, insert a new sentence at the beginning of
the policy: “Pending completion of a
Forest Strategy, the City will maintain a target for forest cover for the
entire city of 30 per cent.”
10. In Section 2.5.4 A
Strategy for Parks and Leisure Areas, delete policy 1 in its entirety and
renumber the remaining policies accordingly.
11. In Section 2.5.4 A
Strategy for Parks and Leisure Areas amend policy 3, by:
a. Deleting
the first sentence and inserting in its place the words, “Council will pursue
targets for parks and leisure areas in the urban area in keeping with the
objectives of the Greenspace Master Plan– Strategies for Ottawa’s Urban
Greenspaces.”;
b. Deleting
the words, “...a minimum of...” in the second sentence before the words “...2.0
hectares per 1000 population; and
c. Adding
a new third sentence as follows:
“ the same
target will be pursued in Villages.”
In Section
2.5.4 – A Strategy for Parks and Leisure Areas, delete current policy 4 in its
entirety and renumber the remaining policies accordingly.
12. In Table 2.5.6
Structure of Community Design Plans, under the heading “C Establish Objectives
and Targets in Accordance with the Official Plan” in point 1, delete the words
“the provision of greenspace ” and insert the words “the amount and
distribution of greenspace”
13. In Table 2.5.6
Structure of Community Design Plans, insert under the heading “E Key Spatial
Components of the Plan” in point 3 the words “and potential or actual
connections to the Urban Greenspace Network” after the words “the location of
Greenspaces”
14. In Section 3.2.3
Urban Natural Features, delete the fourth sentence and insert the following
text:
“The
Council-approved Urban Natural Areas Environmental Evaluation Study
(March 2005) and Addendum Report (March 2006) identify features such as
woodlands, wetlands and vegetated ravines throughout the urban area, and
established their relative environmental values. An Urban Natural Features Strategy will be completed that
will establish appropriate methods and priorities for natural area protection
based on the findings of this study.”
15.
In Section 3.2.3 Urban Natural Features, policy 2
clause a) delete the words, “ Upon adoption of an Urban Natural Areas
Environmental Evaluation Study as part of the Greenspace Master Plan” and in
their place insert the words, “Upon implementation of the Urban Natural
Features Strategy”.
16. In Section 3.2.3
Urban Natural Features, policy 2 clause a) delete the words ““...as part of the
Greenspace Master Plan...”
17. In Section 3.3.1
Major Open Space, policy 1 delete the words “…in or intended to be in public
ownership, and are” in the second line.
18. In Section 3.3.1
Major Open Space, delete policy 3 and replace it with the following:
3.
The
following activities and uses are permitted where they do not adversely impact
the natural environment, cultural heritage and open characteristics of the
area:
a.
Sport,
recreation, leisure and cultural facilities including water-orientated
facilities and activities along shorelines;
b.
Uses
that involve scientific or educational study, conservation, interpretation or
restoration of the elements of the natural and cultural heritage of the area or
waterways;
c.
Roads
and other infrastructure identified in this Plan where they maintain the
overall quality and character of the open space, protect natural and cultural
features, and enhance public access and opportunities for leisure use.
d.
Small-scale
commercial activities and institutional uses that contribute to or are
ancillary to a use permitted in a) and b) above are also permitted subject to a
zoning by-law amendment.
19. In Section 3.3.1
Major Open Space, delete policy 7 in its entirety since the community design
plan for this area has addressed this matter.
20. In Section 4.2
Adjacent to Land-Use Designations, delete the third row of the table that
references Section 2.4.5 and the requirement for an Environmental Impact
Statement for wetlands, forests and ravines etc.
21. In Section 5.6
Summary of Studies referred to in the Official Plan, delete the contents of the
eighth row of the table that begins with the text “Greenspace Master Plan …”
and replace it with the following:
|
Forest Strategy
|
2.4.5
|
2007
|
The
implementation of this Amendment to the Official Plan shall be in accordance
with the policies of the Official Plan of the City of Ottawa.
The public was consulted at open houses in June, 2005 and
again in April and May, 2006, after the plan had been drafted. The notes below summarize the issues raised
in both consultations; describe how the Greenspace Master Plan was
amended in response to the comments, where possible; and indicates other City
initiatives that respond to the comment.
Comments from the Public Consultation, 2005
In June
2005, six public consultation sessions were held in Kinburn, Kanata, City Hall,
Greely, Barrhaven and Orleans. The
purpose of the sessions was to raise awareness of the issues related to the
acquisition and management of greenspace, to allow citizens to ask questions
and raise concerns about greenspace issues, and to solicit input on the
direction and scope of the proposed Greenspace Master Plan.
At each
session, storyboards were set out highlighting various aspects of the
Greenspace Master Plan, information sheets were provided, and participants
raised issues during discussion or on comment forms. The principal comments
from these sessions are summarized below, followed by a description of how the
issue has been addressed.
Landowner Rights and Concerns
This was an issue with some rural landowners, who said that
identifying private land as greenspace implies down-zoning or expropriation by
the City with a resulting loss of land value. Some rural landowners had bad
experiences with trespassing and wanted to avoid any expectation that public
access is authorised on private land. Some rural residents and many urban
respondents said the City should acquire environmental lands to protect them,
but without having to pay development value.
Response: The rural component of the Greenspace
Master Plan has been deferred to a later date.
Ottawa’s Record on Environmental Protection
Several residents said the City has a poor record of
protecting environmental land and once land is lost, it is gone forever. These residents cited instances where the
City sold natural environment land as surplus land, or allowed forested land in
the urban area to be developed, or failed to act quickly enough to protect
wetlands. The City was criticized for the management of the large woodlands it
owns and participants proposed that the City partner with the Province to “get
more clout”.
Response: The
Greenspace Master Plan responds to many of these criticisms. The inventories of greenspaces in the Greenspace
Master Plan will enable staff to identify the greenspace role of
surplus City lands, so that this function can be identified and considered
before decisions on disposal are made.
The implementation section of the Plan proposes that the greenspace
function of City lands be considered before land is declared surplus. The Urban Natural Areas Environmental
Evaluation Study (UNAEES) will lead to recommendations to protect natural
areas. Once secured, management plans
will be prepared that include the management directions included in the Urban
Natural Areas Environmental Evaluation Study (UNAEES).
Protection of Access to Water
Waterfront parks and walkways were a priority for many
participants.
Response: Official
Plan policies that give priority to acquiring waterfront greenspace are
reinforced in the greenspace Master Plan.
Land Acquisition
Acquisition was seen as the most effective method to protect
greenspace in the long term, although many participants believed the City
lacked sufficient funds for the purpose or the commitment to make greenspace a
priority over other municipal objectives. Some did not like the prospect of
higher taxes to cover the acquisition of land. Others felt that the City had enough
greenspace already.
Response: The acquisition policy adopted by Council
in 2005 establishes Council’s commitment to securing lands in various
designations in the Official Plan. The policy also encourages consideration of
methods other than acquisition to secure the greenspace function of land, such
as land exchange, donation of land, partnerships, application of covenants and
easements, and private stewardship. The
Greenspace Master Plan acknowledges that funding is an issue, with the
next challenge to acquire or otherwise secure the priority sites evaluated in
the Urban Natural Areas Environmental Evaluation Study (UNAEES).
The City’s Targets for Greenspace
Some participants believed that the City has more greenspace
than is needed. Others were concerned that there will be a loss of greenspace
in older areas undergoing intensification and that the City will be unable to
obtain more than the parkland dedication required under the Planning Act.
Different targets for greenspace are required for the rural area compared with
the urban area, participants said, and expressed concern that the lower
population density in the rural area results in less parkland and fewer public
facilities there.
Response: The Greenspace Master Plan provides
figures on the total amount of park and other open space in the various
communities, to help create an accurate picture of the current situation. Most urban communities meet or exceed the
targets for parkland and total greenspace as a result of the practices of the
former municipalities and the presence of federal lands. A full description of the targets and how
they are achieved is provided in the plan.
Targets for the rural area are proposed to be retained in the Official
Plan until further research and consultation confirms these targets or
proposes alternate measures.
Greenspace role of surplus school sites
Several groups and individuals requested that the City
acquire surplus school sites as a community resource and preserve the
greenspace role of the school lands.
Response: Council
has asked staff to prepare a policy on surplus school sites and such a policy
will be proposed in 2007. The Greenspace
Master Plan assists with this policy in that it includes criteria to
evaluate the proposed greenspace acquisitions.
Federal lands
Many participants at the June 2005 meetings wanted the
City to make sure that large areas of undeveloped land owned by the federal
government be used as open space. The
absence of clear plans and the uncertain future of these lands is of concern to
communities adjacent to these lands.
Response: The
Greenspace Master Plan acknowledges this issue and proposes that the
role of these lands be explored with the community and their federal owners
through individual plans for specific sites.
In some cases, these plans can be coordinated with a plan for
recreational pathways to be completed by the National Capital Commission and
the Cities of Ottawa and Gatineau in 2007.
The Greenspace Master Plan proposes to extend the network of
recreational pathways.
Partnerships
Several groups said community groups are currently doing a
lot to green the city. The City should
be doing more to publicise this work and encourage others to participate, for
example by profiling different projects.
The City should also provide incentives and recognition to developers
who do a good job of designing with nature, as a means of encouraging these
practices.
Response: The City’s new Green Partnership Pilot Program will be providing $1 million to fund
innovative projects that further clean and green the city. Individuals, community organizations,
service groups, business associations and non-profit organizations are
encouraged to undertake projects that green communities, restore natural
habitat, or create sustainable green spaces.
An Environmental Achievement Award Program has been recommended that
recognizes annually the exemplary contributions of private individuals and
groups to sustaining the environment.
Parkland dedication
The City needs to ensure that inner-city
intensification projects provide parkland.
Provision of parkland as either a land dedication or as cash-in-lieu can
be problematic in the inner city, where the land values are very high and a
land dedication may be too small to be usable. Participants at the public
meetings said that the City needs to provide clear and enforceable parkland
requirements for developers. They also
said the City should require the provision of private greenspaces within residential
developments.
Response: A revised parkland dedication by-law is
being prepared which will standardise development conditions and ensure that
older communities receive parkland contributions when intensification
occurs.
Change of focus for the Greenspace Master Plan
Animals, plants and ecosystems should have a more prominent
role in the Greenspace Master Plan and more policies should be directed towards
the protection of flora and fauna.
Response: The content of the Greenspace Master Plan, as established by the
City’s Official Plan, is primarily looking at the protection and delivery of
the land base that will support both the wildlife and biodiversity components
and public recreation components of greenspace. The lands that are identified
as having natural environment functions within the Greenspace Master Plan are
evaluated in the context of the wildlife and species characteristics that
define them, drawing on data from other, more robust scientific studies. Subwatershed studies, forest management
plans, and other such studies will continue to build the data base and policy
framework for environmental protection within the urban area.
Other comments
·
Greater emphasis should be placed on the provision of
networks of recreational pathways within communities
·
Stop development in the Greenbelt and convert
non-agricultural land to true parkland
·
Brownfields should be considered for natural
reclamation first and then for housing
·
Large parking lots in federal office campuses should be
converted to garages and the reclaimed land used as greenspace
Comments from the Public Consultation, 2006
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, May 4, 2006
Inner city redevelopment will likely lead to intensification
and pressures upon land that is perceived to be “park.” Neighbourhoods around the Central Experimental
Farm (CEF) will want to use the space as greenspace when it fact, the CEF is a
research facility. Noting that portions
of the CEF were identified as both natural landscapes and open space and
leisure lands, Mr. Falardeau said the CEF should not be perceived as park. He expressed concern about the target of
greenspace within 400 m of residential areas and noted that the CEF was
planning to post signs to make the community aware of the CEF’s primary use. The signs will clearly define the public spaces,
the research areas and their functions, and the historical values of the CEF
campus and past research accomplishments.
Response: The Greenspace Master Plan recognizes that
the CEF is not a park. Rather, most of
the CEF is shown as land that contributes to open space and leisure uses, in a
manner similar to commercial recreation areas or institutional campuses.
Building Owners and Managers Association, Meeting on April 24, 2006
BOMA invited staff to present the Greenspace Master Plan to
its members. The plan was later emailed
to all members with an invitation to provide written comments. No written comments were received. BOMA members asked about the recreation role
of school grounds: is the school land
used year-round? They also referred to their support of the Downtown Ottawa
Urban Design Strategy and urged the City to coordinate with the NCC on usable
greenspace in the downtown. They said
much of the NCC’s greenspace downtown is not usable and noted that the public
cannot access waterways easily in the downtown, giving the Rideau Canal near
the Rideau Centre or Arts Centre as an example.
They also asked how Ottawa ranks in comparison with other
Canadian cities. They strongly
supported cycling downtown as a means to reduce the need for automobile parking
and some indicated cycling routes serving the downtown were higher priority
than new parkland there. BOMA members
also asked questions about the Urban Natural Areas Environmental Evaluation
Study and the process for identifying sites that the City would protect.
Response: Questions were generally answered at the
meeting and a reference to the Downtown Ottawa Urban Design Strategy was added
to the draft Plan, along with greater emphasis on the need to partner with the
National Capital Commission.
Charles Caccia, April 24, 2006
Mr. Caccia sent a letter expressing support for a proposal
by Councillor Alex Cullen that the City establish a policy to acquire surplus
schools, noting trends towards intensification in the urban core and the
contribution greenspace makes to quality of life.
Response: See “Greenspace role of surplus school
sites” above.
Rob Campbell, Trustee Candidate Zone 9, April 28, 2006
Mr. Campbell said in an email that the City should protect
school sites that are surplus and that may be located in mature communities by
creating zoning barriers that discourage their sale by the school boards. There are few alternatives to school sites
in established communities and higher densities should be created within an
environment that includes public amenities.
Response: See “Greenspace role of surplus school
sites” above.
Conservation
Partners, May 18, 2006
The Conservation Authorities provided joint comments, in
addition to comments from the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority. The Conservation Partners provided detailed
comments in July 2005 based on the consultation materials and re-issued these
comments in May 2006. Thus, the most
recent comments do not respond to the current Greenspace Master Plan and its urban focus. The Conservation Partners made the following
points:
·
The 2005 Provincial Policy Statement should be the
basis for the Greenspace Master Plan and direct work towards ecosystem-based
planning of watersheds. A natural systems strategy should be identified, which
includes groundwater and surface water features, wetlands, and natural
features. An outline of permanently
protected areas is needed.
·
It is unclear how the NCC’s Greenbelt land will be
integrated into the Plan, apart from the Official Plan designation as Natural
Environment Area.
·
All areas outside the urban area, including Rural
Natural Features, must be included in the Greenspace Master Plan.
·
The Conservation Partners support acquisition of land
designated Natural Environment Areas, Urban Natural Features, and Major Open
Space.
·
The City should establish an ongoing advisory committee
on the Greenspace Master Plan.
·
The City should encourage the naturalization and
renaturalization of areas, including conservation areas.
·
The City
should encourage and promote land stewardship practices and greater use of
conservation easements.
The Conservation
Partners said that identification of rural natural areas has been left to
watershed studies and community design plans, but few of these studies have
been undertaken in many former municipalities such as Rideau and Osgoode. With respect to the Greenspace Network, the
Conservation Partners said it does not protect natural areas and where
multi-use pathways are proposed, a buffer should also be provided. They disagreed with including open space and
urban uses in a greenspace plan. The
role of the conservation authorities in the Greenspace Master Plan
should be clearly defined, and should include proper implementation of
ecological gift and stewardship programs and land trusts. Long-term funds should also be available for
restoration of environmental areas, where monitoring shows deterioration.
Response: Staff support many of the objectives
proposed by the Conservation Partners, but believe other plans and processes
will be more effective at achieving them.
In particular, staff share the view that more comprehensive analysis of
natural systems throughout the city is required. The information base required to advance our understanding of the
city’s natural systems, beyond the level achieved by the Natural Environment System Strategy undertaken by the former Regional
Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton in the mid-1990s, is building slowly through
watershed studies led by the Conservation Partners with support from the City,
and by subwatershed studies led by the City with support from our Conservation
Partners. This information base will be
further advanced through the work to implement the Clean Water Act. The Official Plan now requires a watershed
basis for land use planning and that approach is implemented using the best
information available. The Official Plan will be amended to be consistent with
the Provincial Policy Statement in 2008, as part of the 2008 Official Plan
review.
The purpose of The Greenspace Master Plan – Strategies for
Ottawa’s Urban Greenspaces is to
identify the broadest range of greenspaces in the urban area. Within that
framework, the plan has identified all natural areas in the urban area and has
linked the core natural areas where land linkages are possible. The Greenspace Master Plan has
been revised to reflect the Conservation Partners’ comments where appropriate,
particularly with respect to the need to buffer natural areas where multi-use
pathways are proposed and to recognize the conservation authorities as partners
in greenspace management.
In a separate
email, the Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority (MVCA) proposed that when
evaluating priority natural areas, that the City not adopt an “all or nothing
approach” to protecting only the priority sites and allowing the other
evaluated sites to be used for other purposes. For example, an Environmental
Impact Statement could be required to identify the main characteristics of a
site and ways to protect them as part of the development. Also, lower priority environmental sites
should also be considered and potentially retained for their community use, for
example as locations for dog walking.
The MVCA also said
the Greenspace Master Plan should identify interim measures to protect natural
features near the urban area, that could be overtaken by urban development.
Financial issues related to implementing the plan should also be clearly
identified, and annual targets should be set for acquiring land and developing
green infrastructure.
Response:
Crystal Beach/Lakeview Community Association, April 17, 2006
The association strongly supports preservation of school
buildings and their grounds for community use.
The City should acquire all schools declared as surplus and refuse
rezoning applications. The buildings
and grounds should be used for community uses, or turned back for school uses
if the community’s needs change.
Response: See “Greenspace role of surplus school
sites” above.
Environmental Advisory Committee, May 11, 2006
Following a staff review of the draft Greenspace Master Plan
with a subcommittee of the Environmental Advisory Committee, the committee
adopted a motion on the draft plan at its meeting on May 11, 2006. The motion included recommendations that:
·
Given the costs of securing priority natural
environment lands, environmental land in the rural area, and land identified in
the downtown urban design strategy, that staff estimate these costs and that
they be included in the next municipal budget;
·
The actions in the three-year implementation plan be
changed in order of priority;
·
The Greenspace Master Plan be included in the City’s
long-range financial plan and multi-year corporate plan;
·
Council implement the Greenspace Master Plan in
partnership with the committee.
The committee also said the plan should clarify what
elements are strictly urban and not city-wide, commit in the plan to develop a
rural, sustainable land-use strategy, and show the links between the plan and
related plans.
Response: The actions in the implementation plan were
reprioritized as per the committee’s recommendation and changes made to clarify
the urban nature of the plan and the links with related plans. The report to Planning and Environment
Committee proposes that a work plan for the rural area be prepared in
consultation with Council’s advisory committees and potentially coordinate with
other work proposed for the future.
Until the nature of the rural work is clarified, it is premature to
commit to a specific course of action. A detailed plan and budget estimate for
additions to the multi-use pathway system will be prepared; the potential
budget implications of the strategy to acquire or otherwise secure the priority
natural areas identified in the UNAEES will be considered in the future.
Lawrence Euteneier, April 17, 2006
While generally supportive of the plan, Mr. Euteneier asked
that the needs of pedestrians receive more emphasis. “In specific, how the City plans to link green spaces together
for pedestrians in a manner that provides a continuous quality network of
walking pathways, while at the same time, linking these pathways to the overall
pedestrian network to allow for more efficient general commuting by foot for
reasons in addition to the enjoyment of green space itself.” Rather than focussing capital spending on
greenspace acquisition, a portion of spending should go towards construction of
paths linking greenspace to each other and to other pedestrian routes. Responsibilities for pathways are divided
within various City departments and more coordination is needed, including
coordination of this plan with the City’s pedestrian plan. Mr. Euteneier is
vice-chair of Council’s Pedestrian and Transit Advisory Committee.
Response: Staff working on the Greenspace Master Plan
have also been contributing to the City’s Cycling Plan and the Integrated
Recreational Pathways Study undertaken by the National Capital Commission and
the Cities of Gatineau and Ottawa. The
proposed Urban Greenspace Network informed both of these projects. The
Greenspace Master Plan proposes that in 2007, staff bring forward a program to
develop those components of the multi-use pathway common to these plans and to
bring forward a plan to expand the recreational pathways in the urban
area.
Glebe Community Association, April 13, 2006
The association strongly supports inclusion of a policy on
the preservation of school greenspace, as part of the Greenspace Master
Plan. The association said that when
Mutchmor Public School was threatened with closure, the property would likely
have been sold without public consultation and the community would have lost a
large, centrally-located field used extensively by a neighbouring school the
community association and community members. The City should acquire such surplus sites.
Response: See “Greenspace role of surplus school
sites” above.
Hintonburg Community Association, April 16, 2006
The association supports the Greenspace Master Plan
and the discussion of the issues of intensification and greenspace in older
communities. The association supports
development of a policy and a budget to purchase surplus school sites.
Response: See “Greenspace role of surplus school
sites” above.
Denis Landry, April 27, 2006
Mr. Landry said it is critical that the City plan to
preserve whatever greenspace becomes available in the next few years, including
the purchase of surplus school sites.
Response: See “Greenspace role of surplus school
sites” above.
National Capital Commission, April 11, 2006 and April 28, 2006
In its preliminary comments, the NCC said the relationship
between the lands identified in the Greenspace Master Plan inventories, and the
zoning and Official Plan designations of these lands is not clear. Where the two contradict each other,
unreasonable expectations arise regarding their future use. The land use implications of inclusion of
specific lands in the Greenspace Network are unclear—is it the intention to
amend the Official Plan and zoning? The
categories of land identified in the Open Space and Leisure Lands and Natural
Landscapes maps are not carried forward to the Greenspace Network map. Do the functions identified in the first two
maps indicate the function of the land in the Greenspace Network? The Greenspace Master Plan should also note
that the Official Plan designation of certain NCC lands is under appeal. The NCC expressed concern about the amount
of time allowed for response to the Plan, and additional time was therefore
provided.
Response: Following discussions between City and NCC
staff, the City agreed to add interpretation notes to the key maps in the Plan,
indicating that portions of the network are subject to change as a result of
future planning decisions and will be updated as required. Staff also agreed to clarify in the Plan
that identification of open space and leisure lands in the greenspace network
was not intended to affect the underlying Official Plan designation of the
land. Boundary adjustments were made in
some locations to correspond with the boundary of Official Plan designations of
Major Open Space and Urban Natural Feature, which had been the intent of the
initial greenspace mapping. Several
parcels of NCC land that serve as greenspace were also identified, for
inclusion in the mapping.
National Research Council Canada, April 18, 2006
National Research Council said certain of its lands should
be deleted from the Greenspace Master Plan because they will serve the
NRC’s long-term need for employment land and are designated as Employment Area
in Ottawa’s Official Plan.
Response: Following discussions between City and
National Research Council representatives, several sites were removed from the
land inventories. Most of these sites were not publicly accessible or were
incorrectly identified due to data errors.
Open House, May 2, 2006
An open house and presentation was advertised in French and
English-language daily newspapers, to advise the community of the Greenspace
Master Plan and the proposed Official Plan Amendment. About 10 people attended the meeting. Questions and comments included:
·
Why is the plan only addressing the urban area?
·
How do you deal with intensification and increased
demand for parks? As the City grows,
there will be less per capita greenspace.
·
Is Rockcliffe Air Base included in the Greenspace
Network?
·
What are the definitions for greenspace, open space and
parkland? How do these definitions
relate to the targets?
·
The City should encourage provision of small parks
within building sites, as part of development review.
Many comments and questions were raised regarding the
National Capital Commission.
Participants wanted to know whether the City was circulated on surplus
NCC land and said that the NCC is selling its surplus land. They asked how the
City could get more cooperation from the NCC to use its lands as open space and
believed the City should protect surplus NCC land from development. More land
in the Greenbelt could be developed as public open space, participants said. (The Greenspace Master Plan does not count
Greenbelt land towards the supply of open space unless it is developed for
recreation and is accessible to the public.)
The question, “Why was the target set so low at 2 ha for
parks when we have 6 ha or more of total open space in so many areas?” led to
considerable discussion.
Response: Staff explained that the 2.0 ha was based
on precedents established by the former municipalities, precedents identified
by reviewing their Official Plans and measuring the amount of parkland secured
in all areas of the city. The
dedication of parkland required under the Planning Act provides about 1.2 ha
per thousand population, with the balance of the target to be secured through
acquisition and partnerships. Thus, the
target of 2 is ambitious. In some
suburban communities, considerable development and population is still
anticipated and the current rates of provision will decline over time. As the
city intensifies, in some neighbourhoods there may simply not be additional
land available for park space. However,
the park target could be achieved by adding recreational facilities to
undeveloped open space to provide additional land for park purposes.
Ottawa-Carleton Catholic
School Board, May 17, 2006
The OCCSB expressed concern that it was not appropriately
consulted on the Greenspace Master Plan and in a letter, included the
following points:
·
Since access to school board property is limited, all
sites should only be considered as “other open space” or “contributing lands”;
·
Criteria to guide decisions on the acquisition of
school sites are welcome in that they may help the City make decisions on
surplus sites within the time frames set by Provincial regulations on the
disposal of school properties.
·
The City should not limit the potential rezoning of surplus
school properties, as might be inferred by policies in the Greenspace Master
Plan that would seek to maintain a greenspace function on lands with a
greenspace function that are proposed for redevelopment.
Response: The
maps in the plan show school sites as supporting (the 2nd tier) on the map of the Open Space and Leisure Lands. The
definition of supporting lands is: “Lands that are intended for uses
other than the provision of open space and leisure, but allow for public access
and use and contribute to the overall greenspace experience in the
community. Includes: Municipal forests,
school grounds, grounds of public facilities and institutions, some utility
infrastructure, and transit and abandoned rail corridors.”
Also, the Official Plan Amendment indicates that the target
of 4.0 ha of greenspace per 1000 population does not include school sites,
privately-owned facilities such as golf courses, or other lands where access
may be restricted. The plan does not
have the effect of limiting the zoning on surplus school sites. Most schools are in some form of
institutional zoning which permits the use of the land for school
purposes. The Official Plan supports
efforts to maintain the community use or greenspace function of surplus school
sites.
Ottawa-Carleton
Homebuilders’ Association
Staff met with OCHBA twice following
the June, 2005 consultations to update the organization on the Greenspace
Master Plan, the Urban Natural Areas Environmental Evaluation
Study (UNAEES), and the Parkland Dedication
Bylaw. With respect to the Greenspace
Master Plan, OCHBA is primarily interested in what criteria are used to
identify the parkland dedication and how the City proposes to acquire land that
is not part of the dedication. OCHBA
does not have an issue with how the dedication is being used, nor with how the
Greenspace Master Plan proposes to link greenspaces in the city. In particular, the OCHBA has issues with how
the City protects greenspace land such as ravines, creek setbacks, and land
adjacent to designated Urban Natural Features.
If an Environmental Impact Statement for a woodlot requires a 30 m
setback from the woodlot, the City has to recognize that the setback is
developable land.
Concerns were also expressed with the
tone of the Greenspace Master Plan in some instances, where the impression is
conveyed that greenspace land approved for development through zoning or
Official Plan designations should not be developed. The developers are also challenged by the public whenever trees
are cut as part of the approved development, even on lands where the
environmental values have been rated at a low level.
When the parkland dedication by-law is drafted, OCHBA is
looking for clarity on how the City will request a land dedication or a
cash-in-lieu contribution, especially on land where more intense residential
uses are proposed.
With respect to the UNAEES, staff were
reminded that a few privately-owned sites were designated as Urban Natural
Feature and the City needs to plan for their acquisition. OCHBA was updated on
the UNAEES Addendum and the criteria used to identify priority sites for
securement. OCHBA also said the City
should reimburse landowners for costs they incur in the process of selling land
for greenspace.
Ottawa Forests and Greenspace Advisory Committee, April 24, 2006
The Committee provided written comments in support of the
plan following a staff presentation at their meeting of March 27, 2006.
The Committee also said it is very disappointed that the
plan only addresses land in the urban area, noting “Much of the greenspace that
protects the ecological services and functions from which that the urban area
benefits (e.g. head water stream protection, recharge areas) resides in the
rural area. How can the link between
these two be ensured if the City is broken into two pieces?” A commitment to preparing a greenspace plan
for the rural area in the future should be made within the urban plan, and the
urban plan should be revised throughout in its references to such terms as
“residents” and “the city” to make it clear the reference is only to the urban
portion of the city.
The plan should also expand on the reasons why greenspace is
important if the city grows by 50% and should consider a very long planning
horizon. Staff should consider work
underway by Environment Canada that model future changes in landscapes, work
that may help set targets for the amount of natural area needed to maintain
natural systems and viable populations of wildlife. Maintenance of natural systems, biodiversity and habitat needs to
be discussed more thoroughly in the plan.
Other comments requested minor editing changes, most of
which were subsequently made to the plan.
Other comments included:
·
Need for consistency in Section 4 regarding whether it
is “Council” or “the City” that undertakes certain actions.
·
The text should link the Greenspace Master Plan and the
Forest Strategy and Environmental Strategy, as well as links to other
greenspace studies such as the MNR/NHIC Bigger Picture Project that
examines natural systems in southern Ontario.
·
The target of providing greenspace within 400 m of
individual homes should clarify that the 400 m is not a walking distance, since
the route walked to the greenspace can be longer than a direct distance. How will accessibility be addressed in the
rural area?
Pedestrian Sub-Committee, Pedestrian and Transit Advisory
Committee, Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, April 11, 2006
The sub-committee members asked whether the City had a
budget for buying land and expressed concern about the waiving of the parkland
dedication in some areas. They believed
the Plan should identify the capital cost of some of the large components, such
as the cost of new Urban Natural Features or the cost of filling in all the
gaps in the Greenspace Network.
The principle of connectivity in the Plan should also
include connections between homes and schools or places of work, and the
objectives of the plan should include a healthy and active city where walking
and cycling is an easier and more natural choice. The City would benefit more from extending linkages rather than
acquiring more greenspace. A priority
should be to identify gaps in the pathway network and connect them—some balance
should be struck between acquiring new land and building pathways. The
committee believed responsibility for pathways was too fragmented among three
city departments. Opportunities for
pathways should also be protected in towns and villages.
The City should do more to partner with Ontario Hydro and
use its corridors for pathways. The NCC
should be encouraged to allow the community to participate in managing its
lands for public purposes.
They also asked the City to set priorities for road
reconstruction and provide wider roadways to accommodate pathways. They liked a “Greenspace Also” approach,
whereby capital projects are assessed for their contribution to
greenspace.
Response: Changes have been made to the Greenspace
Master Plan to reflect some of these comments. It should be noted that the City
already leases hydro corridor land for a number of purposes including
recreational pathways. All components
of the Urban Greenspace Network that rely on hydro corridors have been
identified and formed part of the City’s submission to the Province on secondary
use of former Hydro One lands.
RCMP Assets and Procurement, April 27, 2006
The RCMP operates three sites in the National Capital
Region, including a site on St. Joseph Boulevard identified as greenspace in
the Plan. No problem is seen with respect
to the RCMP’s future development plans, but the RCMP would like to be kept
apprised of the status of the plan and any changes that could affect RCMP
properties.
