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The future of Little Italy’s skyline could be decided Tuesday.
A cluster of towers near the intersection of Preston and Carling, including a pair set to top out at 48 storeys, is already in the works, and developers are also eager to build up the small side streets that run west off Preston and dead-end at the O-Train tracks.
The planning committee Tuesday will hear a recommendation in favour of a controversial proposal to construct a nine-storey condo building on Norman Street. It will also debate an amendment to the Preston-Carling secondary plan — which seeks to open the door to another nine-storey development two streets north on Aberdeen — even though the plan itself is hot off the presses, and not yet approved.
Meanwhile, Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes, who says both the secondary plan and the Norman Street proposal could have a “profound impact on the future of Little Italy,” plans to introduce three motions that seek to chop heights as recommended by staff in the secondary plan.
She wants to limit heights on the north side of Norman and Adeline streets to four storeys (as opposed to nine) and limit heights to six storeys on the south side of Young (down from 15 storeys).
Tamarack Homes initially proposed an 18-storey building for the Norman site but has since reduced the maximum height to nine and five storeys, with a row of townhouses facing the street.
But even those heights require a zoning amendment from the city because under the old rules, the site is zoned for low-rise development, up to a maximum of four storeys.
Under the new rules outlined in the secondary plan, nine storeys is OK.
The city received more than 40 public comments expressing concerns about the proposed development, which is also opposed by the Dalhousie Community Association, the Civic Hospital Neighbourhood Association, and the Little Italy Business Improvement Area.
“If you allow one, more will come,” said Judy Girard, a member of the group Save Little Italy.
She said the city is “pandering to the developers” by zoning that piece of Norman for nine-storeys, even though the proposed, 112-unit building Tamarack wants to build would be surrounded by mostly single-detached, two-storey homes on the front and rear.
Girard, who doesn’t live on Norman Street, is worried that adding that many new units to the small street will bring all kinds of extra traffic, mean less privacy for residents, create challenges for emergency vehicles and possibly cast shadows over the immediate neighbours.
“To me, it’s ludicrous,” she said.
“We have a nice little vibrant community where people know each other and they look after each other. You start having towers all over the place and that sense of community will be lost.”
As for nearby Aberdeen Street, an Ottawa developer called Miramare Developments wants to build and operate a nine-storey retirement home at 75 Aberdeen.
The facility would house about 150 residents and include an entire floor of subsidized suites for people on low incomes.
The secondary plan calls for development on that stretch of Aberdeen to be capped at four storeys, but the committee is expected to debate a motion asking for an amendment to allow for nine storeys as long as any proponents promise to build a retirement home and design it in such a way that it successfully transitions in height from nine storeys down to fit adjacent low-house development.
“We’re just trying not to have the door slammed,” said Brian Casagrande of Fotenn Consultants, speaking for the developer. “We’re just asking them to keep it open so that something like this can actually come through and have a public process and have a dialogue because that’s how the planning process is designed to function.”
Miramare has also secured an agreement to purchase adjacent land on George Street and proposes to create a through-lot, so vehicle traffic can enter off Aberdeen and exit off George, thus addressing some of the traffic concerns raised about proposed developments on the short, dead-end streets, Casagrande said.
City planners, however, say a nine-storey building will create significant shadow and other microclimate effects on the abutting low-rise properties, particularly those along George Street, and likely “destabilize the neighbourhood and compromise the secondary plan objectives.”
The planning committee meets at 9:30 a.m.
mpearson@ottawacitizen.com
mpearson78
查看原文...
A cluster of towers near the intersection of Preston and Carling, including a pair set to top out at 48 storeys, is already in the works, and developers are also eager to build up the small side streets that run west off Preston and dead-end at the O-Train tracks.
The planning committee Tuesday will hear a recommendation in favour of a controversial proposal to construct a nine-storey condo building on Norman Street. It will also debate an amendment to the Preston-Carling secondary plan — which seeks to open the door to another nine-storey development two streets north on Aberdeen — even though the plan itself is hot off the presses, and not yet approved.
Meanwhile, Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes, who says both the secondary plan and the Norman Street proposal could have a “profound impact on the future of Little Italy,” plans to introduce three motions that seek to chop heights as recommended by staff in the secondary plan.
She wants to limit heights on the north side of Norman and Adeline streets to four storeys (as opposed to nine) and limit heights to six storeys on the south side of Young (down from 15 storeys).
Tamarack Homes initially proposed an 18-storey building for the Norman site but has since reduced the maximum height to nine and five storeys, with a row of townhouses facing the street.
But even those heights require a zoning amendment from the city because under the old rules, the site is zoned for low-rise development, up to a maximum of four storeys.
Under the new rules outlined in the secondary plan, nine storeys is OK.
The city received more than 40 public comments expressing concerns about the proposed development, which is also opposed by the Dalhousie Community Association, the Civic Hospital Neighbourhood Association, and the Little Italy Business Improvement Area.
“If you allow one, more will come,” said Judy Girard, a member of the group Save Little Italy.
She said the city is “pandering to the developers” by zoning that piece of Norman for nine-storeys, even though the proposed, 112-unit building Tamarack wants to build would be surrounded by mostly single-detached, two-storey homes on the front and rear.
Girard, who doesn’t live on Norman Street, is worried that adding that many new units to the small street will bring all kinds of extra traffic, mean less privacy for residents, create challenges for emergency vehicles and possibly cast shadows over the immediate neighbours.
“To me, it’s ludicrous,” she said.
“We have a nice little vibrant community where people know each other and they look after each other. You start having towers all over the place and that sense of community will be lost.”
As for nearby Aberdeen Street, an Ottawa developer called Miramare Developments wants to build and operate a nine-storey retirement home at 75 Aberdeen.
The facility would house about 150 residents and include an entire floor of subsidized suites for people on low incomes.
The secondary plan calls for development on that stretch of Aberdeen to be capped at four storeys, but the committee is expected to debate a motion asking for an amendment to allow for nine storeys as long as any proponents promise to build a retirement home and design it in such a way that it successfully transitions in height from nine storeys down to fit adjacent low-house development.
“We’re just trying not to have the door slammed,” said Brian Casagrande of Fotenn Consultants, speaking for the developer. “We’re just asking them to keep it open so that something like this can actually come through and have a public process and have a dialogue because that’s how the planning process is designed to function.”
Miramare has also secured an agreement to purchase adjacent land on George Street and proposes to create a through-lot, so vehicle traffic can enter off Aberdeen and exit off George, thus addressing some of the traffic concerns raised about proposed developments on the short, dead-end streets, Casagrande said.
City planners, however, say a nine-storey building will create significant shadow and other microclimate effects on the abutting low-rise properties, particularly those along George Street, and likely “destabilize the neighbourhood and compromise the secondary plan objectives.”
The planning committee meets at 9:30 a.m.
mpearson@ottawacitizen.com
mpearson78
查看原文...
