City officials have disclosed information that reveals a large discrepancy between the percentage of approved rezoning amendments in Centretown compared with the rest of the city.
Richard Kilstrom, city manager for development and urban design, says 70 per cent, or seven of 10 site-plan applications in Centretown approved by city council in 2011 involved rezoning amendments.
A site-plan application is a development proposal that includes all of the features planned for the property. In some circumstances, it can trigger a review process if the plan requires changing a property’s land use or the construction of a building.
In contrast to the Centretown applications, only 11 per cent, or 27 of 241 site-plan applications across the rest of the city, included rezoning changes.
Despite the discrepancy, city officials argue the statistics don’t tell the full story.
“The reality is we have a lot of legacy-zoning that was put in place when the planning objectives for the city were completely different,” says Alain Miguelez, city manager for development and review for inner urban areas, in reference to the 1960s when the city encouraged urban sprawl.
To put it into context, five of the applications approved in Centretown allowed developers to build higher than the current zoning bylaw, says Miguelez.
City officials and Coun. Peter Hume, chair of the planning committee, say the statistics underscore the need to update Centretown’s zoning bylaws and to approve the new community design plan.
This would create a coherent planning strategy that reflects the city’s priority to increase urban density, they say.
“The issue is about whether our zoning bylaws meet what everyone would consider to be the modern realities of development in Ottawa,” says Hume.
“The new community design plans provide a lot more certainty for everyone and a clearer interpretation of what is expected.”
A community design plan translates the principles and policies of the city’s official plan to the community level.
It is created by the city through public consultation with residents, landowners and local businesses and is the backbone of any significant change in a community, according to the City of Ottawa's website.
In a recent example of an outdated zoning bylaw, city council approved the development of a 23-storey condominium tower at 203 Catherine St., despite the fact the current zoning bylaw allows seven-storey buildings.
In defense of its decision, council pointed to the new community design plan as justification that the current zoning bylaws along the Catherine Street corridor are out of touch with what the community wants.
Support for a comprehensive and up-to-date planning strategy is widespread among residents, as the Centretown Citizens Community Association and the Dalhousie Community Association are both in favour of the new community design plan.
“We know intensification is the aim of the city and understand developers often push the city to see what they can get, which is why we are updating the community design plan to make sure the city gets the intensification it wants while respecting the needs and assets that are important to the community,” says Robert Dekker, vice-president of the CCCA.
Eric Darwin, president of the Dalhousie Community Association, goes a step further.
He describes some of the zoning bylaws as backward policies, while emphasizing the need for a coherent planning strategy to get everyone on the same page.
“Buildings should be judged on their merit and not on whether they have the right to build it,” he says.