Burritt’s Rapids
Village Review Public Workshop Summary
April 16, 2011
Part I: Describing a vision for the village
The intent of the visioning session was to get residents to think about what they see as the ideal future for their village. Facilitators at the meeting asked residents to describe in a word or two, their ideal village. The following are the words, concepts and phrases that residents used to describe their ideal village.
- Some questions: Why are the village boundaries the way they are? Is there an opportunity for expansion, without increasing development potential? Many people associate themselves with BR but are not in the “land use” boundary.
- Integration is required with the North Grenville side. Need to look into if they have an established “vision” and also other context issues that could affect the City of Ottawa side BR “vision” statement.
- Keep BR vision statement very high level and let the people define BR – not political and land use boundaries
- Two main themes emerged from writing down the words:
- Heritage: This is a very sensitive topic in the community. Some people did not want designation but want heritage to be protected in the future. Commonly used words were: history, historic, not much change, peaceful.
- Environmental: increased bio-diversity; farm lands; enhance wetlands and preserve existing natural areas.
In the weeks ahead the village review team will use the words and themes from this vision session to prepare a vision for the village to include in the secondary plan.
Part II: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) discussion
The second part of the village workshop consisted of a discussion of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in and around the village. The intent of this exercise was to identify issues applicable to the village that can be addressed through land use designation changes or through policies specific to the village in the Official Plan.
During the exercise residents placed coloured stickers on a map of the village to illustrate the location of these different issues. Green denoted strengths, red denoted threats, yellow denoted weaknesses and blue denoted opportunities for the village.
Please see the map of dots which explains where SWOT items are located.
Strengths (Green)
- Rideau trail
- Rideau River – world heritage river
- Recreation on Rideau River
- Walking path on west end
- Church
Weaknesses (Yellow)
- Village boundary – possible expansion that recognizes the feel of the village but not necessarily more expansion and development
- Donnelly Road and Burritts Road – speed of traffic and traffic volumes
- Visibility of road at corner of Burritts and Donnelly
- Accidents at Dwyer Hill Road
- Cycling and safety on Dwyer Hill Road
Opportunities (Blue)
- Rideau trail – stony steps
- Natural use and agriculture
- Creek
- Old jail
- Hydro generation on river
- Dam on river
Threats (Red)
- Traffic
- Some housing on Burritts
Other comments/conversations:
- Explanation is needed, in any future outreach, on how land is designated for additional village style development – and that the BR land use map (schedule) is only for land use purposes. The City recognizes that the BR community does extend past the “land use map boundaries” – but it is not included as village style development at this time.
- The community wanted to hear Pro’s and Con’s from the City on expansion – for them to consider if they would support such a proposal. Villagers wanted the broader context of BR to be considered. For example: the jail lands, adjacent municipality, surrounding agricultural lands and other community residents.
The village review team will use the map and notes from the SWOT discussion to help recommend changes to land use designations for the village and may also recommend village specific policies if necessary.
Part III: Land use
Part II largely concluded the main village workshop. However, prior to leaving, residents were asked to review the land use map for the village and provide their comments. Below are the responses to the question we asked and any other observations that residents gave us about the village map.
- Residents did not feel capable of commenting on a land use schedule without the “proper” education on planning and land use.
- Some people did not understand the need for a land use map (schedule) all together and questioned why we are requiring one.
Thank you
The village plan review team is very appreciative of the input we received from residents and community leaders. Over the months ahead we will be completing our analysis and reporting back. We hope to see you again in the fall when we return with a draft vision statement, land use maps and village policies for the secondary plan.