A design plan for mid-Centretown needs to include public input sooner rather than later in its planning process, says Centretown Citizens’ Community Association board member Judy Forrest.
“Most of the public consultation seems to be more to the end of the process [of the plan] – this is way too late. You have to involve the community from the very beginning,” Forrest says.
The Mid-Centretown Community Design Plan will set out a number of urban design enhancements, including open public space and street beautification, according to a draft terms of reference released recently.
Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes says she agrees with the CCCA’s concern. “Getting public information earlier is the desirable thing to do,” she says.
City manager of policy development and urban design Richard Kilstrom says the CCCA should not be concerned with the exact sequence of the draft terms of reference.
He says that once a consultant team and design plan are chosen, “[public consultation] is the first thing we do.”
“We set up an urban design framework so that people can see what it is,” he says.
But the CCCA says they already have problems with the plan,which Forrest says lacks initiatives that will better serve the community.
“There is no reference in this document to community facilities, or community centres, and no reference to affordable housing,” Forrest says.
Besides its design initiatives, Holmes says the plan should help smooth out zoning and height regulation inconsistencies and give clear-cut rules to developers.
“There are some areas with no height limits, and others with no density [regulations] . . . developers will play these pieces of land up against each other,” she says.
CCCA president Shawn Menard says the plan should stop the approval of buildings with heights that do not meet Centretown regulations.
A prime example, he says, arose in 2008 when two condominiums, 20 and 24 storeys, were approved by the Ontario Municipal Board to be built at Metcalfe and Lisgar streets.
Menard says the condominiums were an illustration of “atrocious planning by the city – [the condominiums] were much above the height restrictions, they offered no public space and there was no benefit to low-income housing.”
Once the terms of reference for the project are finalized, they will be presented for approval to the Planning and Environment Committee.
Holmes, who sits on the committee, says it won’t be until next year at least until the project is fully set in motion.
Menard says he is hopeful that the community’s voice is heard.
“If they’re doing true consultation,” he says, “then we are hoping that they take community opinion to heart.”