By Megan Ion
Developers who will be designing the new LeBreton Flats development area are trying to avoid the noise problems that currently plague the city’s downtown core by planning ahead.
In what the NCC hopes will become an area comparable to the Byward Market, the LeBreton Flats development is to be “a community to live, work and play,” says NCC spokesperson Eva Schacherl.
Phase one of the LeBreton Flats development has begun with a call by the NCC for developers to submit proposals for the site.
The first building phase, which will begin after a developer has been chosen later this year, will consist almost entirely of residential homes with a few spaces for retail stores and offices.
The plan calls for approximately 800 units of which 25 per cent will be affordable housing. One of the planned features of the development is an area called the Commons, a large open area with a stage which will be used as an outdoor venue for festivals, concerts and public events.
Designed to hold approximately 20,000 people, there are concerns that such a venue may cause some louder-than-normal noise issues for the future residents of the area.
“I think it has been quite responsible on our part to have the study done to ensure these things are in the foundation,” says Schacherl.
A required part of any new development is a traffic noise impact study, says Schacherl.
But the NCC has taken it a step further by also studying the potential noise level from concerts and events that may take place at the Commons, she says.
“What was identified [in the study] was this will have to be built into the design,” says Schacherl.
Using special windows and the proper placement of trees and shrubs are all methods builders can use to prevent noise from becoming a nuisance for the future residents of LeBreton Flats, says Schacherl.
“We think people are willing to live in an area like the market where you know you’re moving into an area with events,” she says.
This is a great idea but not the only solution in terms of noise control, says Linda Anderson, manager of enforcement for the city’s bylaw services.
“The issue is that the people that are involved have to remember to pull us into the process. What happens with us is that things get built, then we start getting complaints,” says Anderson.
Bylaw officers have been able to assist residents in the city’s downtown core affected from noise issues by meeting with the source of the noise, such as bar owners.
For example, says Anderson, something as simple as turning the speakers in a bar to a different angle can make a huge difference in how the sound is projected.
Anderson hopes the NCC will consider problems faced by the city’s downtown area which generated the most noise complaints for the entire city last year.
“I’m hoping the planners will take into account these issues for LeBreton Flats,” she says.
Centretown resident Bill Brown, who lives close to Elgin Street, isn’t sure there is such an easy solution to the noise problems in the city’s centre.
“I live downtown and as we all know the amount of noise is continuing to grow downtown, so noise is a concern of mine,” he says. “I just think people’s sleep is very important.”