A styrofoam representation of Ottawa skyscrapers was the centrepiece at a planning committee meeting at city hall that considered the Centretown Community Design Plan.
City council's planning committee recommended the approval of a new plan for the development of Centretown Wednesday; however, the community is still in the dark about the proposed character of the neighbourhood, says the vice-president of the Centretown Citizens Community Association.
“We did not get any certainty of how high anything would go,” Rob Dekker said in an interview.
“We were looking for certainty.”
Dekker said there were “good things” in the community design plan that was approved, but that the community association is unhappy with how vague the document is about height restrictions, particularly in the designated heritage areas east of Elgin Street and west of Kent Street.
He said the landmark provision is one example that demonstrates the uncertainty the plan creates. The provision allows builders to exceed height restrictions on projects that are outstanding architecturally and provide green space and a focal point for the community.
“They could go 50, 60, 70 storeys high as long as they meet the criteria and get approved,” Dekker said.
George Dark, the urban design expert hired by the city to create the design plan, told the meeting that the main purpose of the document was to allow for the intensification of Centretown.
In his plan, the areas of Centretown between Elgin and Kent streets would be re-zoned to allow buildings to reach a maximum of 14.5 metres – three and a half metres taller than the current maximum .
As well, some residential areas would also be rezoned as mixed-use space.
He said that, because it is a centre for growth in Ottawa, the neighbourhood must plan to move past the post-war idea of urban design that favours single-family dwellings.
It must also plan for the creation of “apartment neighbourhoods” that cater to families living in high rise buildings.
That plan would require innovative ideas such as the landmark provision to help set aside green space.
However, many people in the neighbourhood did not share his vision.
More than 20 Centretown residents, business owners and group members spoke about the proposed plan at the committee meeting, including representatives of the CCCA.
Dekker said the association felt ignored to the point where it teamed up with its “former enemy” to affect change.
“We felt like the things we said over the past three years (during the development of the plan) weren’t listened to,” he said.
“Surprisingly, the other group that felt that way was the developers.”
At the meeting, Joshua Charbonneau, the association’s president, and a group including representatives from The Taggart Group of Companies, Ashcroft Homes, Claridge Homes and Hulse, Playfair & McGarry Holdings Ltd. presented a plan the two groups jointly created that included 13 amendments to the design plan.
Most important, they suggested replacing the landmark building provision.
They proposed a “small moments policy” that allows up to a 25-per-cent increase in density for projects between Elgin and Kent Streets if developers build green spaces such as a terraces on the property.
Dekker said the deal was controversial, but had to be done.
“Nobody was happy with what the city put out,” he said.
“We want to know what Centretown is going to look like going forward.”
Coun. Peter Hume, chair of the planning committee, conceded that there may be good advice in the group’s proposal. However, he said in an interview he thinks the association and developers have the wrong idea about the purpose of a community design plan.
“A lot of people like their communities and never want to see it change so they say, ‘Let’s do a CDP,’” Hume said.
“The CDP is not a mechanism to preserve the status quo, it’s about channelling and shaping growth,” he said.
“The CDP will define the character of Centretown, it won’t preserve it.”
City council will vote on the Centretown community design plan on May 8. If it is approved, it will be included in the city’s Official Plan.