|
,
Video version of newsletter
A video version of this newsletter is available here. Edited closed captions will be available before the end of the weekend. Enjoy!
Pop-up office hours
My next pop-up office hours will be held on Thursday, April 12 when I'll be at Little Jo Berry's at 1303 Wellington Street West from 2-5 pm. On April 19, I'll be at the Bridgehead at Golden from 9 am - 12 pm. Then, on Thursday, April 26, I'll be at Hintonburger, 1066 Wellington Street West, from 5-8 pm.
Hazardous waste depots
The City's annual hazardous waste depot program (for goods that can't go in the landfill like electronics, paint, chemicals, etc.) is back underway for 2018. There will be two in our ward, both at Tunney's Pasture, on May 6 and September 16 (note that I had the incorrect date in my newsletter last weekend). Full details are available at ottawa.ca.
Input sought on provincial candidate survey
Queen's Park calls the shots on multiple issues of interest to residents of Kitchissippi, such as the environment, planning and housing. I'll be asking candidates in Ottawa Centre where they stand. My draft survey is online, and I'm seeking to refine that with your input. Find more details here.
Concentrated street sweeping
Multiple streets in Hintonburg and Wellington Village have been slated for "concentrated" street sweeping this year as the program is extended further than the downtown core. Streets to be swept in this fashion (similar to snow removal) will generally be subject to a one-day, 7 am - 7 pm parking ban. I have more details here.
389-406 Roosevelt updates
The Urban Design Review Panel has weighed in on the proposed six-storey Domicile development on Roosevelt, and the developer has made some changes. It's still an inappropriate proposal. Take a look at the details here.
190 Richmond Road further technical amendments
The omnibus anomaly motion that will allow the towns in the 190 Richmond Road development will be further adjusted to account for the fact that those terraces actually sit on the garage that slightly projects from the ground. Read more details here.
Request a ring-and-post bike rack at a bus stop
The City is consulting on where to install up to 50 new ring-and-post bike racks at bus stops across Ottawa. Call dibs here.
April ward forum
Team Kitchissippi and I will be hosting our last ward forum of this term of Council on April 30. It's scheduled for 6-8 at the field house at Van Lang (29 Van Lang Pvt.) We'll have all the usual updates from community groups and BIAs. I'm thrilled that our guest speaker this time will be John Manconi, GM of Transportation at the city. It should be a good one.
Feedback on backup beepers sought
Some of you may have seen or heard the new backup beepers that were piloted this season on much of the City's snow operations equipment ("less beep, more woosh"). Particularly if you did see or hear those in action, the City wants your feedback. Please take the survey here.
Committee of Adjustment April 18
The agenda for the April 18 meeting is now online. Read the details of these here.
- At 18 (20) Gould, the owner is seeking to subdivide the property into two to build two new detached dwellings after demolishing the existing detached dwelling. They are seeking the usual lot width and area variances, as well as a required side-yard reductio from 1.2 to 0.6m on both the new properties.
- At 61 Spadina, the owner is seeking to construct a one-storey coach house on the property behind the existing three-storey detached dwelling, and would demolish the existing garage. They are seeking an increased setback to 5.5m from the rear lot line whereas the by-law permits a maximum setback of 1m where the rear lot line abuts a travelled lane.
- At 442 Mayfair, there is an application of some kind, but the documents are for a different property. I'll get that in the next newsletter.
- At 115 Spencer, the owners are seeking to convert the existing detached dwelling into a three unit-dwelling by expanding the one-and-a-half storey dwelling and renovating it with two additional units. They are seeking variances to permit a reduced required lot width from 12m to 10.09 metres, and a reduced side-yard setback from the required 0.63m to 0.59m.
- In addition to these items, the Committee will resume hearing the adjourned items for 533/535 Kirkwood as well as (196)/198 Carruthers.
Bike Ottawa spring AGM April 14
I'm particularly excited to attend the Bike Ottawa spring AGM this year on April 14 (more details here). As some of you may have read in the media, I funded a research project for $7500 with Bike Ottawa to undertake a mapping exercise and provide me with some analysis about biking routes. In the next term of Council, we'll undertake to refresh the Cycling Master Plan and Transportation Master Plan, and I'd like to have some hard data upon which to base any changes. With the
funding, Bike Ottawa and its volunteers have filmed much of the city from the cyclists' perspective, and used various mapping tools, the City's data sources, and automatic recognition software of things like street signs (parking, speed limits, bike routes etc.). They've been crunching that data to establish what are called "level of stress" thresholds for various routes and intersections around the city, with a focus on some like shopping and school routes in our ward. At the spring AGM, they'll be previewing the final results. Come take a look. My expectation is that they'll continue the work past what
I've funded, and I think it's going to be a one-of-a-kind dataset in which the City will be very interested.
Electronics and textiles recycling depot April 20/21
As a fundraiser for its school yard, Connaught Public School (Rosemount and Gladstone) is hosting an electronics and textile recycling depot on April 20 from 7:45 - 8:30 am and Saturday, April 21 from 8 am - 1 pm.
Hampton Iona AGM April 11
The Hampton Iona Community Group is hosting its AGM on April 11 at 7 pm in the upstairs teaching room at the Real Canadain Superstore on Richmond. The agenda will include a year-in-review, June gardening and park events, as well as the election of officers. Find out more about the Hampton Iona Community Group and get involved here.
Fisher t-ball/softball registration
The Fisher Park Council's T-Ball, Peanut Softball and Softball programs are accepting registrations. Find the registration forms here, and drop them off with payment at the Fisher Park Community Centre office in the lock box at 250 Holland Avenue. Registration forms are also available at the Fisher Park office.
Parkdale Food Centre gala May 31
Save the date for the fifth annual Parkdale Food Centre gala, this year being held at the Innovation Centre at Bayview Yards on May 31. Tickets and more info here.
Crime reporting: after the call
What happens after a resident reports a crime with the Ottawa Police Service? Find out on April 23 from 8:30-11 at City Hall when Crime Prevention Ottawa presents a behind-the-scenes look at how police use the information you've reported. Get all the details here.
Hintonburg street hockey tournament April 21
The Hintonburg Community Association's street hockey tournament is back on April 21 starting at 10 am. All the rules, regulations and registration are here.
At City Hall
Council and committees
I think it will be a fairly straightforward week at 110 Laurier. On April 10, I'll take my seat at Planning Committee where we'll consider some applications in Barrhaven and Rideau-Rockliffe. We'll also consider the planning department's ambitious workplan for 2018, and report on 2017 statistics and workplan. That document is always well worth reading if you're interested in city planning. I'll note that while there is still no review planned for Westboro, where spot re-zonings spurred by transit expansion continue to be a cause for concern, that is a conversation on which there has been some movement of late, and I look
forward to reporting back as I can. Take a look at the Planning Committee's agenda and documentation here.
The Library Board will meet on Tuesday and receive the OPL's annual report and semi-annual performance measurements. See its agenda here.
City Council meets on Wednesday. The headline item is likely to be the Meetings Investigator's report on the events that led to the "Christmas miracle" tax announcement during the last budget. Spoiler: no wrongdoing was found. We'll also be asked to approve the new Ottawa music strategy that has been a highlight for me in this term of Council. I and Councillor McKenney are bringing forward a motion to ask Council to support ongoing provincial funding for cycling initiatives. There are a number of annual reports related to financial matters, the Ontario
Building Code Act, accessibility, French-language services and more on the agenda, as well. Take a look at the full agenda and related documentation here.
The Built Heritage Sub-Committee meets on Thursday, with the demolition of former Prime Minister Pearson's home on the agenda. Take a look at the details and documentation here.
Team Kitchissippi
It's a pretty packed week in the office. I'll be at Devonshire on Monday to do a Q&A with the students who sent me numerous Parkdale Food Centre postcards on what they'd like to see changed in the ward and city, and knocking on doors on Holland to ensure they know about the soon-to-be-installed bike lanes there that are part of the Harmer Avenue bridge replacement detour. Just scanning my calendar, much of the week will be taken up with some of the planning files wending their way through their approvals processes, but it looks like Tom and I will get some updates on the Richmond cycling plans, Fiona and I will touch base with the
Farmers' Market on their upcoming season, and I'm very much looking forward to getting the latest from Robot Missions.
Shaken, not stirred, Kitchissippi.
|
