Committees approve Official Plan amendments to align with Province

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Committees approve a series of amendments to the City’s Official Plan to ensure it is consistent with recent provincial legislation.

In a joint meeting today, the Planning and Housing and the Agriculture and Rural Affairs committees approved amendments to the City’s Official Plan (OP) that would ensure it is consistent with Provincial Planning Statement, 2024 (PPS 2024). The Province adopted this land-use planning policy framework in October and the required OP amendments relate to the following five subjects, in line with an update the committees received in April:

• Settlement area expansions – PPS 2024 and Bill 185 Planning Act changes enabled privately initiated OP amendments for urban and village area boundary expansion. The amendments establish that such applications may only be considered where the City does not have enough land for 15 years of residential growth. Applicants would need to demonstrate there is existing or planned capacity of infrastructure and public service facilities to support expansion, or the applicant would need to fund the costs of upgrades. Expansion lands must avoid impacts on the agricultural system and be evaluated based on how the location helps achieve OP strategic directions.
• Strategic growth areas – PPS 2024 outlines that growth should be focused in "strategic growth areas.” The amendments clarify that areas designated Hub and Corridor in the OP are Ottawa’s “strategic growth areas," and are where new mid-rise and high-rise growth will be focused. In support, the amendments also propose height increases in some secondary plans.
• Major transit station areas – PPS 2024 requires municipalities to delineate the boundaries of areas within a radius of 500 to 800 metres of existing or planned transit stations that operate in partially or completely dedicated rights-of-way. The amendments identify and establish density targets for these areas.
• Employment areas – The Industrial and Logistics, and Rural and Rural Industrial and Logistics designations in Ottawa’s OP are “employment areas” as defined by PPS 2024. The Province has further limited the types of uses permitted in these areas and the amendments adjust the list of permitted uses accordingly. PPS 2024 also permits “employment area” lands to be converted to another designation, and the amendments establish the criteria for such conversions.
• Agriculture – PPS 2024 requires municipalities to use an agricultural systems approach to consider the impacts of land-use planning decisions on the entire agricultural system. The amendments add a new section to implement this approach. It defines Ottawa’s agricultural land base and outlines requirements for agricultural impact assessments. PPS 2024 also permits three dwelling units on prime agricultural lots, under certain conditions, and the OP, which currently only permits up to two, would be updated accordingly.

Committees offer direction for updating Ottawa population projections
The two committees also received a report outlining a forthcoming review of growth projections in the OP that will also assess whether the City has enough land to accommodate growth. The growth projections update would follow a three-step process.

• Step 1 - Growth projections: Staff will update Ottawa’s population projections based on those published by the Ministry of Finance. This would be followed by analysis of housing needs and employment needs stemming from the future population.
• Step 2 - Growth Management Strategy: Staff will use the updated growth projections to analyze whether there is enough land within urban Ottawa and the rural villages to house our projected population. If not, the City would develop a selection process for additional settlement area lands. A similar review of existing industrial lands will also be undertaken.
• Step 3 - Expansion Exercise: If new lands are required, the City will develop a selection process similar to the one used when the current OP was being considered.

Staff will draft recommendations for OP amendments and seek public input before bringing forward a report to a future joint meeting of these committees.

Progress toward OP targets and annual development statistics
The Planning and Housing Committee met separately earlier in the day and received a report monitoring the effectiveness of OP policies and assessing whether the City is on track to meet its strategic directions and objectives. The report tracks data that show the OP is still performing well when it comes to economic development and mobility indicators, as well as aspects of growth management related to intensification and land supply.

The Committee also received the 2023 Annual Development Report, which supplements the monitoring report with general development and economic indicators. As of the end of 2023, Ottawa’s population increased by 1.5 per cent over 2022, reaching 1,083,550. Net migration to Ottawa-Gatineau increased, with 23,507 new migrants. Housing starts were down 14.3 per cent over the previous year, with 8,632 new starts. While most housing types saw a decrease over the previous year, the number of apartment starts increased. By contrast, single detached and rowhouse development fell to 14 and 18 per cent of starts respectively, representing the lowest annual growth share for single detached homes and rowhouses in the last 20 years. All employment clusters showed growth in 2023, and the number of employed residents increased 5.7 per cent over 2022. Overall, the City’s retail vacancy rate decreased from 3.6 to 2.9 per cent, reflecting a strengthened retail market.

New City facilities approved as part of Little Italy development
The Committee approved OP and zoning amendments to facilitate development of City-owned lands southwest of Somerset and Preston streets, in line with a concept plan that Council approved in December. The proposal is for a recreational facility, an addition to the Plant Recreational Community Centre, a park, an elementary school and daycare, residential buildings with about 608 dwellings, and parking. The OP amendment is primarily needed to revise the relevant secondary plan, shifting the location of the future park to align with the approved concept plan. The change would ensure proximity between the recreational facility and school to ensure functionality.

Zoning approved for two subdivisions promising more than 2,000 dwellings
The Committee approved zoning amendments to facilitate two residential subdivisions, including one in Stittsville and one south of the Ottawa airport. Between Hazeldean Road and Abbott Street in Stittsville, the rezoning would facilitate a community of 1,379 dwellings in the Abbott’s Run subdivision. A school block, multiple park blocks, a mixed-use commercial block and lands designated for open space are also proposed. The draft plan for the overall subdivision has been approved and the amendment would implement the appropriate zoning, which includes a mix of Residential Third Density, Arterial Mainstreet, Minor Institutional and Parks and Open Space zones.

The Committee also approved zoning for a residential subdivision north of Hunt Club Road, between Riverside Drive and the Rideau River. The overall development would add 660 dwelling units to the area, including four apartment buildings ranging in height from nine to 17 storeys. The applicant plans to build a signalized intersection on Riverside Drive near Uplands-Riverside Park.

To help address the housing crisis, Council committed to providing home builders enough opportunities to build 151,000 quality market homes by 2031 – or 15,100 per year. If Council approves, the land-use permissions that the Committee recommended today will help put applicants in a position to build 2,887 new dwellings in Ottawa. Visit ottawa.ca/residentialdwellings for a graphic showing quarterly progress towards Ottawa’s housing pledge targets.

Items from today’s meetings will rise to Council on Wednesday, June 25.

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