Good morning! The kids are out of school and summer is definitely in full swing. The newsletter may become a little less frequent over the next couple of months as our consultation, legislative and case work in the office slows down. I'll be around town most of the next couple of months, but reducing my schedule through August. With the office now fully staffed again, we'll be focused as a key priority on catching up on our traffic calming spending, and I'm looking forward to a busy summer of community events. See you around the ward!

Scott/McRae open house tonight

The second open house for the 19-storey tower proposed for 1976 Scott Street will be held tonight, 6-8 pm at at the Field House at Van Lang (29 Van Lang Private). This one's not to be confused with the 22-storey tower proposed for across the street at the Trailhead site, on which we held a pre-application open house last week. I'm opposing both projects as simply too great an increase in height over what the secondary plan proposes. The new LRT station proposed for Westboro absolutely changes the planning context, and our secondary plan has not kept pace. But, we shouldn't take that to allow wild west development. These proposed buildings are both in very close proximity to the nearby low-rise residential development. We all anticipate greater height and density on the north side of Scott at a likely future redevelopment of the 250 Lanark site, and I believe we need a more pronounced transition rather than a cliff.

Tunney's detour now in effect

I spent a couple of hours on Monday at the new Tunney's Pasture station to observe how this phase of the detour is proceeding. All in all, OC Transpo is to be commended for a well-thought-through and executed plan. I doubt riders are noticing much of a difference in their commute time, and it won't be long before passengers are well-acquainted with the new layout. For the next few weeks, buses are exiting the station at an egress at the northeast corner to get onto Tunney's Pasture Drive, then turning left onto Scott at Holland. That's a temporary route as they build a new embankment at the end of the trench, over which they'll build a new road. In roughly early September, buses will begin leaving the station area at a new signalized intersection just east of Smirle, roughly aligned with Goldenrod. I'm looking forward to that as it will reduce some of the stress on the Holland intersection, and also eliminate the occasionally uncomfortable point at which westbound passengers need to cross the buses' Yarrow exit. I'm in touch with OC Transpo to see how we can mitigate potential conflict there in the meantime.

Armstrong visoning

My thanks to everyone who came out on Saturday for a delightful walking tour of Armstrong, touching on Grant, to blue sky how we can encourage a safer pedestrian and cycling environment and better knit together the streetscape. The Wellington West BIA and Hintonburg Community Association are working with me on a focused planning study for the area. On Thursday, July 7 from 6-8pm, we'll continue the discussion at the Hintonburg Community Centre (1064) Wellington Street West.

Music event in Parkdale Park, August 20

I've booked Parkdale Park (behind the Market) for the screening of a music event on August 20 from 8 pm - 11 pm. 

Committee of Adjustment July 6

There are multiple applications scheduled for hearing on July 6 at the Committee of Adjustment on July 6, including for 137 and 141 Carleton Avenue, 458 Tweedsmuir Avenue, 294 Atlantis Avenue, 370 Avondale Avenue, and 22 Lynwood Avenue. See all the details here.

Pop-up today

I'll be at the Superstore site outside today from 2-5 pm at the outdoor seating area (on Richmond) for my regular pop-up office hours. Come on by and chat all things Kitchissippi!

Cyclelogik Hintonburg Centennial 5k and Newswest Kids 1k July 10

Ottawa's funkiest 5k is set to celebrate its 10th running on July 10! Because Spencer is dug up, there's a new route which will take it down Wellington Street West for a portion, about which I'm very excited. You can see the new route here. It's a more challenging route logistically, and I know the Hintonburg Community Association and race director Lisa Georges would love to hear from you if you can volunteer. Marshalling is particularly easy, and you'd be done by 10 am'ish. All the race details are at hintonburg5k.ca. See you on the course!

OMB reform

So long as the City, with its sophisticated planning capacity and holistic view of how the city should develop according to our well-considered Official Plan, isn't the final word on development, residents and I will continue to be frustrated at how ad hoc rezoning is proceeding (see McRae/Scott above). Recently, the Province announced (with many thanks to our MPP Yasir Naqvi) a consultation on Ontario Municipal Board reform. I'll be spending some considerable time in the next weeks preparing a response to that, consulting with colleagues. This is a critical juncture for us, and I encourage everyone to participate. Details are here. I would be, of course, very happy to chat with anyone who wants to discuss their potential input before submitting it.

Soul City Music Fest in Laroche Park, July 2

What looks to be a delightful, family-friendly music festival is set to get underway in Laroche Park on Saturday, July 2. I'll be popping by to offer a few words. It's free, and is advertising face painting, a bouncy castle, fashion show, graffiti portraits, food and a lot more. It will be held from 12-9 pm. Take a look here and hope to see you there! From the organizers on this inaugural year launch: "Soul City Music Fest is an all genre music festival in combination with all mediums of the arts. Aimed at attracting people from all walks of life regardless of culture, race and social status. It is a platform for local artists to showcase their talents, gain exposure and hone their skills." I'm thrilled that they've chosen Laroche as their venue. Kitchissippi really is music's home in Ottawa. Speaking of which, I've received a few notes hoping that Westfest will continue there next year. The park is set to undergo a big rehabilitation next year as they remediate the soil in preparation for a redevelopment and new Sens rink. I'm working with City staff to try to schedule the work so that Westfest can proceed, but it will be several weeks before we can say for certain what will happen. Stay tuned.

At City Hall

The legislative agenda is beginning to be cleared at City Hall as we head into summer. Yesterday, I was pleased to support the elimination or reduction of some minimum parking requirements in the urban area at Planning Committee, and at Transit Committee on Monday we voted in favour of expanding the eligibility for Para-Transpo to those with cognitive disabilities - a big step. The parking requirements vote will come to City Council on July 13. While it's not posted yet as I write, a proposal to change snow plowing standards will come to Transportation Committee on July 6. I don't sit on that committee, but am weighing attending and participating again.

My own meeting schedule is also clearing up. I'll be having several discussions with different stakeholders about the future of the Rosemount library in the next while, as well as some small development conversations with infill builders, update on the pet shop by-law that we adopted recently, resident meetings, and I continue to work actively with Councillor Brockington on the Queensway ramp closure issue.