Arianna Danganan, Centretown News
Norman Street residents are worried the construction of a nine-storey condo will cause disruptions.Opponents of a planned nine-storey condo building in Little Italy, slammed as incompatible with the existing low-rise homes on Norman Street, have lost their appeal at the Ontario Municipal Board and say they won’t pursue court action to stop the development.
To the Dalhousie Community Association and even Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, the scale of the proposed condo makes it a poor fit for the neighbourhood.
DCA President Michael Powell says the association’s appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board to prevent Tamarack Homes from proceeding with the condo has been denied.
The OMB ruled against the group’s claims that there is no rationale in allowing a nine-storey building that does not abide by other planning visions for the Preston-Carling area.
According to Powell, the only way to continue the fight is through a court appeal, which opponents will not be doing.
Tamarack is expected to begin construction in the spring of 2017 at the earliest. The project includes the nine-storey condo as well as a row of townhouses.
Yvonne Carroll, a Little Italy resident, says she doesn’t think the condo will blend well with the low-rise charm of the neighbourhood.
“I’m OK with the other condos being built, because they’re on the outskirts and on the corners (of Little Italy), but this one is nine stories right in the centre of the neighbourhood,” she says.
Powell also argued that the nine-storey unit would not be a welcome addition to the neighbourhood.
“We want to make sure that it remains a low-rise residential neighbourhood,” says Powell. “What we don’t want are towers being built on streets that are 150 feet long when they would be (a) better fit somewhere else.”
According to Rod Lahey, the principal of Roderick Lahey Architects Inc., the firm that is designing the condos, the project will make Norman Street more accessible to everyone.
“We improved the parking situation because right now, there’s no parking on that side of the street – actually on either side of the street – because it’s all driveways,” says Lahey.
Even with the promise of more accessibility, some Centretown residents are not happy with the impending condo.
Watson fought against it in 2014 by supporting an amendment that tried to cap most building heights in the Preston-Carling area at four stories. The amendment was defeated.
In a statement sent to Centretown News from Watson’s office on April 5, his objections were reiterated: “Mayor Watson’s position on the Norman Street condos has not changed since the initial proposal. He raised concerns in regards to parking, traffic and height of the condo building.”
According to Powell, the typical rule for building height in the centre of Little Italy is four stories, which is less than half of what Tamarack Homes is building.
He went on to say that the condo could set a precedent and cause other streets to lose their height protection.
“We worry that if one gets built, there will be efforts to undo that and the low-rise character of the neighbourhood will disappear,” says Powell.
Lahey defended the residential unit, saying that there is not much on Norman Street that the condo will take away from.
“This whole section of the street is made up of garages and mini office buildings, so there’s only, I think, three houses on this section of the street and we’re replacing it with 10 townhouse units all the way down the street,” says Lahey.
Construction is expected to take between 18 and 24 months.