Official plan approved by committees after dozens of amendments

Ottawa city councillorsapproved a very long list of modificationsto the new official plan on Monday, before approving the entire city-building document that's intended to shape Ottawa for decades to come.

Only Coun. Jeff Leiper registered his dissent on the official plan document itself, thoughcouncillors Riley Brockington, Carol Anne Meehan and Shawn Menarddissented on the map that represents the urban boundary expansionand the future suburb of Tewin.

Councillors Scott Moffatt, Eli El-Chantiry, Glen Gower, Catherine Kitts, Laura Dudas, Tim Tierney, George Darouze, Allan Hubley, and Jean Cloutier voted in favour of the whole package, which now goes to full council Oct. 27.

It's a sign of the complexity and significance of the City of Ottawa's new official plan that it drew nearly a hundred residents to speakovertwo days, and then led to a similarly highnumber of motions by councillorstweaking the document.

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The smorgasbord of amendments, dealt with at a joint meeting of the planning committee and the agricultural and rural affairs committee, touched on everything from affordable housingto employment hubs in the south endto water servicing for rural businesses.

At one point Menard remarked on the long list and noted he feels "slammed" by all the city businessthismonth.He wondered if city staff felt they could have used more time to craft the important document some community groups have long argued itshould wait untilafter the 2022 municipal election.

But, the City needs to wrap official plan so important work likezoning to intensify rather than spread outwards can get underway,explained Steve Willis, general manager of planning, economic development and infrastructure.

Willis wasn't concerned by the approximately 80motions and directionscouncillors tackled Monday, either.

"This to me is the point where staff hand council our planand council makes it [its] plan," Willis said.

City-wide ramifications

Moffatt, who co-chaired the meeting and helped navigate the long list, said many changes stemmed from points raised during public delegations last Thursday and Friday. All of the amendments improved the official plan and made it more clear, added Willis.

Residents had repeatedly raised fears about losing tree canopy, especially in older neighbourhoods that face infill development. A motion by Riley Brockingtoncalled on city staff to drill down its target for 40 per cent tree canopy city-wide to create"sub-targets" for smaller areaswithin the next couple of years.

Another change sees buildings capped at four storeys for streets called"minor corridors", down from five or six.

Residents had worried six storeys would be too high and change the character ofstreets such as Kilborn Avenue in Alta Vista, Hemlock Road in Manor Parkand Fisher Avenue along the Central Experimental Farm. Leipersucceeded in convincing his colleagues to remove the designation from Sherbourne Avenue in Kitchissippi ward altogether, meaning the street will likely remain houses.

The committees restoredlanguage about natural heritage areas to "exclude"them from development rather than to "avoid" them, a change that had alarmed some worried about ongoing protection.

A pair of motions also dealt with affordable housing. A motion by Menard increased the target of new units that are affordable to20 per cent, up from10 to 15 per cent, while one by Gower redefined"affordable".

No revisiting of urban boundary decisions

Among the many motions, not one spoke directly to the proposal by the Algonquins of Ontario and partner Taggartto create a new, sustainable suburb in the rural south-east called Tewin.

Asked if he was surprised, given four councillors registered disapproval during the final vote, Moffattnoted, "We're not at council yet." He expects a motion on Tewin to land there on Oct.27.

Moffatt himself tried, but failed to revisit the other urban boundary change from last winter, when council allowedmore than 100 hectares ofagricultural landsin the Riverside South area to be developed,after originally promising to protect such land.

Moffatt said some farm owners might now let soils degrade, expecting they too might someday have their properties brought inside the urban boundary. But he didn't convince any of adozen other councillors to support him in reversing the move.

The councillor for Riverside South,Carol Anne Meehan, said it didn't make sense to leave a gap of farmland between Riverside South and the future urban area that will grow around the future Bowesville LRT.

A motion by Moffatt did pass, however,large-scale wind turbines will not be permittedinagricultural zones.