Report to/Rapport au :

 

Planning and Environment Committee

Comité de l'urbanisme et de l'environnement

 

and Council / et Conseil

 

21 January 2005 / le 21 janvier 2005

 

Submitted by/Soumis par : Ned Lathrop, Deputy City Manager/Directeur municipal adjoint,

Planning and Growth Management / Urbanisme et Gestion de la croissance

 

Contact Person/Personne ressource : Richard Kilstrom, Manager / Gestionnaire

Planning, Environment and Infrastructure Policy/Politique d'urbanisme, d'environnement et d'infrastructure

(613) 580-2424 x22653, richard.kilstrom@ottawa.ca

 

Kanata (4), Beacon Hill - Cyrville(11)

Ref N°: ACS2005-DEV-POL-0010

 

 

SUBJECT:

OFficial Plan Appeal 78 - Richcraft Homes

 

 

OBJET :

APPEL 78 INTERJETÉ AU SUJET DU PLAN OFFICIEL – RICHCRAFT HOMES

 

 

REPORT RECOMMENDATION

 

That the Planning and Environment Committee recommend that Council:

 

1.         Support the redesignation of a parcel of land owned by Richcraft Homes adjacent to the Carp River and Walter Baker Park, from Major Open Space to General Urban Area;

 

2.         Postpone a decision on the designation of a parcel of land owned by Richcraft Homes adjacent to the Aviation Parkway, pending completion of the Greenspace Master Plan in April;

 

3.         Communicate this position to the Ontario Municipal Board at a pre-hearing scheduled for February 28, 2005

 

RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT

 

Que le Comité de l’urbanisme et de l’environnement recommande au Conseil :

 

1.         d’appuyer la redésignation d’une parcelle de terrain adjacente à la rivière Carp et au parc Walter Baker et appartenant à Richcraft Homes de « Principal espace libre » à « Secteur urbain général »;

 

2.         de reporter une décision sur la désignation d’une parcelle de terrain adjacente à la promenade de l’Aviation appartenant à Richcraft Homes, en attendant l’achèvement du Plan directeur des espaces verts en avril;

 

3.         de faire connaître cette position à la Commission des affaires municipales de l’Ontario à l’occasion de la conférence préparatoire prévue le 28 février 2005.

 

BACKGROUND

 

Council adopted the Ottawa Official Plan in May, 2003 and the Minister of Municipal Affairs issued a Notice of Decision on November 19, 2003.  At the end of the 20-day appeal period, 85 appeals had been filed with the Ministry for forwarding to the Ontario Municipal Board.

 

The Appeal:

 

Appeal 78 relates to the land-use designation of two land parcels owned by Richcraft Homes Ltd. and to four separate policy provisions.

 

The first parcel is 1.64 hectares in area and is located at the corner of the Aviation Parkway and Ogilvie Road, in former Gloucester, as shown in Location Plan 1.  This site is designated Major Open Space on Schedule B of the Official Plan and the appellant is requesting a General Urban Area designation.

 

 

 The second parcel is 1.2 hectares in area and located between the Carp River corridor and the existing limits of Walter Baker Park in former Kanata, as shown in Location Plan 2.  This parcel together with the adjacent park  are designated Major Open Space on Schedule B of the Official Plan.  The appellant is requesting a General Urban Area designation on this parcel.

 

 

 

 The following policies have been appealed:

 

·         Greenspaces, Section 2.4.5, Policy 1(d) because the appellant states this policy proposes the City develop an acquisition policy for Greenspace but does not state what the policy will be or when it will be adopted;

·         Greenspaces, Section 2.4.5, Policy 3, which prohibits the redesignation of any greenspaces pending completion of the Greenspace Master Plan.  The appellant states that this inappropriately allows the City to prohibit and frustrate applications;

·         Greenspaces Section 2.4.5, Policy 5, which allows the City to acquire environmental lands in advance of the finalization of an acquisition policy.  The appellant argues that this should not be a discretionary policy;

·         Major Open Space, Section 3.3.1, Policy 1 which states that Major Open Space lands are intended to be in public ownership.  The appellant argues that this means the City should acquire its lands.

 

 

DISCUSSION

 

When the new Official Plan was prepared no new decisions were made about lands protected for environmental purposes.  Those lands that were protected in previous plans or zoning by-laws continued to be protected in the new Plan.  A very specific policy was included in the Official Plan (Section 2.4.5, policy 1) which states that “the City will develop a Greenspace Master Plan by the end of 2004” that will, among other things, review the designation of each parcel of land and will develop a land acquisition policy.  In December, 2004, Planning and Environment Committee received a report indicating that the date for delivery of the Greenspace Master Plan to Committee has been extended to April, 2005 to accommodate some targeted consultation.

 

Parcel 1 Gloucester

 

The Aviation Parkway parcel is still being assessed as part of the Greenspace Master Plan and staff will bring a recommendation forward on it in April.    The outstanding evaluation relates to how a recreational pathway can be accommodated through or around this site.  As can be seen on Location Map 2, the parcel has frontage at 1298 Ogilvie Road and wraps around the existing residential area as far south as the hydro corridor.  The parcel was designated as Open Space in the former Gloucester Official Plan and this was carried forward as a Major Open Space designation in the new Plan.  The parcel was purchased from the NCC by Richcraft Homes and therefore, unlike most Major Open Space lands, is no longer in public ownership.

 

The Greenspace Master Plan, to be delivered in April, 2005 will identify whether all or part of this parcel is required for a recreational pathway and will also propose a securement policy for lands that the City wants to protect as publicly accessible Greenspace.  When Council is making decisions about this parcel it will be important to look at it in the context of the entire Greenspace network to assess the relative value of it and its contribution to the system.

 

Parcel 2 Kanata

 

Sufficient work has been done to indicate that the City does not require the Kanata parcel of land for Greenspace purposes and a General Urban Designation can be supported on Schedule B.  This parcel was interpreted to be part of Walter Baker Park at the time that the Official Plan was being prepared and as such the designation of the land was carried over to the new Plan as Major Open Space.  On receipt of the appeal by Richcraft Homes, staff investigated the need for this property as part of the greenspace system and determined as follows, that: 

·         The major environmental values of this property are already protected through a reservation of 30 metres along the Carp River corridor.  This corridor is to be retained as public land  in the plan for Kanata West.  This corridor, which only impacts a small part of the Richcraft site, is sufficient to provide  for a continuous pathway along the river and to protect the lands in the floodplain.

·         The parcel is not identified as having any significant natural features or functions and is not a candidate Urban Natural Feature.

·         The parcel is not of sufficient size or connectivity to be required by the City for expansion of Walter Baker Park.  Due to its size and shape, the parcel is too small for the construction of playing fields or to add any significant functionality to Walter Baker Park.

·         There is no formal public use being made of the property that will be jeopardized by its development for General Urban purposes.

·         The site is not required as parkland for the development of Kanata West.

 

 

CONSULTATION

 

There has been no additional consultation on this matter.  However, the Greenspace Master Plan will be subject to public consultation and will impact on the decision for the Aviation Parkway parcel  The Ward Councillors were provided with information on this item.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

 

The recommendation to remove the Major Open Space designation from the Kanata parcel is consistent with the environmental objectives of the Official Plan.  The recommendation to consider the Aviation Parkway parcel in the context of the complete system is also consistent with the objectives of the Official Plan.

 

 

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

 

Re-designation of the Kanata parcel will remove one matter from the list of appeals of the new City of Ottawa Official Plan and avoid the time and expense of dealing with that matter at a hearing.  Retaining the Major Open Space designation on the Kanata parcel would oblige the City to acquire the land when the City’s interests in the parcel will already be achieved on part of the site located along the river corridor.

 

 

DISPOSITION

 

Staff will communicate Council's position to the Ontario Municipal Board on February 28, 2005.