Claridge Homes, one of Ottawa’s largest developers, has asked Ottawa city councillors to rezone the northwest corner of Laurier Avenue and Lyon Street. Currently, the largest structure that can be built there is a 23 storey apartment building. Claridge wants to build a wider and longer building than is allowed.
The reason for this is that the developers would be forced to inflate the cost of its apartments if the building is any smaller. A larger highrise would be more profitable for Claridge and Claridge officials say the cost of each apartment would end up costing less to those who live there. That means more medium and low-income housing.
At a recent planning and environment committee meeting, the rezoning proposal was narrowly defeated by a five to four vote. Those against the rezoning said that it would cause too much intensification. But at city council last Wednesday, the issue was sent back to committee by another narrow majority.
Jane Jacobs, Canada’s urban planning guru, says the best way to make a city livable is to ask the residents what they want. This does not seem to happen in Ottawa. The councillors on the planning and environment committee come from all regions of the city and in cases like this, decide issues that affect those in a very specific area. Peggy Feltmate, from Orleans Ward, and Herb Kreling, from Kanata can’t fully comprehend what it is like living on Laurier and Lyon.
There is only one councillor currently living in the general area of this proposed building, and she represents Somerset Ward.
Diane Holmes is vehemently against any more highrises on this street corner. In cases such as this, councillors are put in a difficult place. They are frequently asked to make decisions about areas of town that they might only drive past every so often.
The people deciding the design of a neighbourhood should be those who live there. It’s true that committee meetings or city council meetings are held in public and everyone is welcome to participate. But quite frankly, retirees, housewives and businesspeople with a stake in the results of the decision, attend these weekday meetings.
Every citizen may have access to his or her councillor either through e-mail, phone, or in person. But not everyone wants to, or can, take the time to tackle the bureaucracy that is Ottawa’s municipal government. Surveys on contentious issues such as this would be very useful. There is no guarantee that councillors will listen to these opinions of course, but maybe it could help in the effort to change the trend of disillusionment with local politics.
Jane Jacobs would be pleased and Ottawa would no longer be the product of people who are sometimes disconnected from the decisions they need to make. Additionally, part of the burden of deciding about these niche issues would be taken off of the backs of councillors who aren’t intimately familiar with the geography of the area.
—Louise Brown