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Office of Councillor Jeff Leiper
June 6, 2020
 
 
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Welcome to the Kitchissippi Ward newsletter!
 
 
 

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Covid-19 updates

The latest updates from the City and from Ottawa Public Health are always available online. See the latest from OPH here including statements from senior officials and statistics, and updates from the City are available here.

Virtual pop-up office hours

I've got pop-up hours scheduled for Tuesday, June 9 from 9-11 am, and then again on Monday, June 15 from 3-5 pm as well as Tuesday, June 23 from 11-1. Send us an email if you'd like to join and we'll send you the link. Like in our physical pop-ups, these will be one-on-one and you'll be in a waiting room until it's your turn.

Police funding

This past week, Councillors have been receiving a high volume of email urging Council to "defund" police: to allocate fewer resources to policing and more to measures that would do more to improve community safety including providing housing and health care. I've written my thoughts about the campaign here.

Bike Ottawa asks to retain Holland measures 

During construction of the Harmer Avenue pedestrian bridge, several measures were implemented to provide a safer detour for cyclists including painted lanes protected with flex sticks, a lower speed limit, and an advance traffic signal for bikes. Bike Ottawa, which represents cyclists, has asked that those be retained once the bridge opens later this summer. Staff are reviewing the request. 

Summer camps 

The City will cancel its originally-planned summer camp programs, scheduled to run from June 29 to August 28, to be replaced by a new summer camp program that is reformatted around COVID-19 public health measures. Details on registration, dates, location and the camps’ operations will be announced in the future and will be conditional on the Provincial government permitting such programming.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the new summer camp program will follow physical distancing guidelines and emergency orders under the direction of the Province of Ontario. As a result, enhanced and strict safety measures will be in place when the City camps begin, which will include:

  • Smaller camp groups
  • Additional staff to assist with maintaining physical distancing requirements and sanitization
  • Screening protocols for campers and staff

For parents or guardians who currently have a child registered for a camp, the program will be automatically cancelled and a credit will be placed on their account. Once the account is credited, they can use it to register for a future program, including the newly formatted camp; save the credit for future use; or they can login to ottawa.ca and request a full refund. For those who paid by post-dated cheques, the cheques will be returned and any unprocessed credit card payments will be cancelled.

Committee of Adjustment June 17

There are several items on the agenda for the June 17 Committee of Adjustment meeting, with some items proceeding on the Panel 2 agenda as they deal with the backlog. For more details on these, visit the agenda here (Wellington, Parkdale, Iona) and here (Hinchey, Robin and Irving).

  • At 1195 Wellington (at Hamilton N.), the owners are seeking to build a two-tier outdoor patio on the west side of the building and construct a stairway leading to the second-floor deck. The proposed patio will operate in conjunction with the existing commercial restaurant known at Trii Restaurant Lounge. They're seeking variances for a commercial patio/deck to be located 66.5m from a residential zone without a 2m high fence, and to be allowed to have a commercial patio/deck located at a height of 4.01m where the by-law prohibits an outdoor commercial patio higher than 2m.
  • At 121 Parkdale, Brigil is seeking to create some easements between the new build and the newly-constructed project at 99, and they're seeking multiple variances associated with the new building. When the original zoning was provided, it was what we call "shrink-wrapped": highly prescriptive such that even minor changes require new permissions. I've had multiple conversations about the variances now being sought, and those were also discussed at a recent open house this winter. They are, in my opinion, truly minor and I have no concerns with them.
  • The application for 266 Iona street will resume after being adjourned in February. The owner is seeking to demolish the existing fire-damaged dwelling, seeking multiple variances associated with parking as well as a reduced corner side-yard setback.
  • At 135 Hinchey, the owner is currently renovating the second floor of their existing two-storey dwelling. This includes the construction of a two-floor deck at the rear of the existing dwelling. In order to continue the work, they are seeking variances for the deck for distance to the lot lines.
  • At 105, 107 and 109 Irving, the owners are seeking consent to create separate ownerships for each of the three existing townhouse dwellings. In order to proceed, they require variances associated with lot width and side-yard setbacks.
  • At 309 and 311 Robin Lane, the owner is seeking to subdivide the property into two separate parcels of land in order to establish separate ownerships for the existing semi-detached dwelling.

Towing regulations study

The City has begun its public consultation on regulating the towing industry. I've been frustrated in past as we deal with issues such as trucks idling in residential neighbourhoods near interchanges not to have more tools to deal with the issue, and obviously there are broader issues besides. I encourage everyone to look at the public consultation site here and participate in the discussion.

Solid waste master plan survey

The City has opened a new survey to help guide its solid waste master plan. That plan will guide how we deal with our garbage and is hugely important as the lifespan of our waste facility inevitably gets shorter each week. Please take 10-15 minutes to learn more and take the survey here.

1705 Carling open house

The full application for nine- and 22-storey towers at 1705 Carling are now online here. We're hosting an online open house on Monday, June 8 at 7 pm during which Claridge will present the plans and take questions. See here for more details.

250-252 Hinchey Avenue open house June 11

We've now scheduled a Zoom open house to look at the plans for the three-storey low-rise apartment building at 250 and 252 Hinchey Avenue for Thursday, June 11 at 7 pm. Visit here for full details.

2050 Scott application filed 

The application for 2046/2050 Scott and 295-301 Ashton is now in its circulation period. We held an open house in January for this, but the development has seen a number of changes including going from 28 to 30 storeys. See the new application here.

Rochester Field construction notice and layout 

While residents have already seen it start, this week I received the formal construction notice from the LRT Stage 2 office. Folks will note that in July, the builders expect to construct a "slurry pit" where excavated materials will dry before being hauled offsite. I've asked to be briefed on what exactly that will entail. The rail office has also sent me a diagram of how the different on Rochester Field will be configured. Find both the notice and that diagram here.

Besides the slurry pit, I am also working with the City to try to get more timely notice of significant construction activities at the site. The erection of fencing, for instance, was premature, and the City, residents and I expect better communications going forward. I'll be using my own newsletter, of course, to pass on what I know, but both I and the City encourage residents to sign up for the Stage 2 newsletter which has updates as well. Sign up here.

Route 14 & 53 changes 

Construction is expected to start in July on changes to the intersection of Parkdale and Scott that will allow southbound buses 14 and 53 to access Parkdale directly instead of its current Holland/Spencer jog. That should be completed by the end of summer barring anything unforeseen. The routes will take a quick detour through the Tunney's campus which, currently, will allow them to operate on current schedules.

The new bus stop at Spencer/Hamilton is proposed to be moved to Spencer/Parkdale. This would require about 10m of parking to be removed on Parkdale, but the parking that was removed for the Spencer/Hamilton stop will be restored.

OC Transpo recovery plan 

The Transit Commission got details this week of OC Transpo's plan to restore service, including new measures such as requiring passengers (with some exceptions) to wear masks when using the service. Normal service is expceted to be restored on June 28, and you can read about the various measures being implemented here.


At City Hall

In addition to a couple of committee meetings, City Council will meet this week. 

At the Built Heritage sub-committee on Monday, there are some administrative reports coming forward including the permits that were issued through delegated authority, and the annual report on the heritage registry. The latter includes a recommendation to add properties on Friel, Goulburn, Queen Charlotte and Range. There is also an application for construction at a property on Gilmour. Read the details of these and other heritage items on the agenda here.

At City Council on Wednesday, the Ottawa Markets will host its annual meeting. The Markets are now run by a hands-off municipal services corporation owned by the City, and we'll receive its annual report. The City's consolidated financial statements will also be presented. We'll also vote on recommendations coming from various committees to approve the electric kick scooter strategy, help for restaurant patios, and various zoning amendments. Ottawa Community Housing will also present its annual report. Read the full City Council agenda here.

At Planning Committe on Thursday, we'll vote on the deferred Innes Ward item at 3484 and 3490 Innes Road, as well as approval of a zoning by-law amendment that would allow a builder to build on land formerly designated as floodplain. Read the full details here.

 
 

For more, visit our site at KitchissippiWard.ca.

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110 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, ON K1P 1J1
Canada
   
 

Jeff Leiper, Councillor, Kitchissippi Ward

110 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, ON K1P 1J1
Canada
KitchissippiWard.ca / Facebook / Twitter

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