8/3/2019 Letter to Mayor Before Ward Council, Feb 22, 2012

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February22nd,2012

To: MayorJimWatson

CC: CityManagerKentKirkpatrick

CouncillorMarianneWilkinson

CouncillorPeterHume,PlanningCommitteeChair

YourWorship,itiswitheageranticipationthatwelookforwardtoyourvisittoWard4,Kanata

North,onFebruary27th

forCouncillorWilkinsonsWardCouncilmeeting.

Inanefforttogiveyouaheadsuppriortothemeeting,wehaveoutlinedinthismessage

someofthetopicswehopeyouwillbeabletoaddress.

As

you

may

be

aware,

the

community

associations

in

Kanata

North

have

united

to

form

the

KanataNorthCouncilofCommunityAssociations.Createdtoaddressthesharedissuesfacing

ourcommunity,andtoreachouttoothercitizenorganizationsacrossthecity,wearetakinga

proactiveapproachtoplanningourcity.WehavebeenworkingwiththeFederationofCitizens

Associationsandhavealsodiscussedourdesireforchangewithseveralotherkeyorganizations

withinOttawawhoshareourgoal.Manycitizengroupsareseekingchangetothecurrent

planningparadigm,andtoenshrinemeaningfulchangestotheOfficialPlanoftheCityofOttawa,thePlanningActandtheProvincialPolicyStatement,asdeemednecessarytoremedythecurrentfrustrationsofthewidercommunity.

Spotrezoning

is

of

particular

concern

to

communities,

including

ours,

as

this

process

does

not

lenditselfwelltopredictabilityinurbanplanningforresidentsacrossthecity.Ourcommunities

wereheartenedbyyourspeechinwhichyoudirectedtodevelopersthatsomearetreatingZoningandCommunityDesignPlansasmeresuggestions,andthatwillend.ExactlythatishappeninginBeaverbrook.Thenewownersofalotat2TheParkway,thesiteofalowrise

CanadaPostbuilding,areseekingtochangetheexistingzoningfromInstitutionalto

Residential.Thisissoughtbythedevelopertobuildaproposed16storeycondominiumhigh

rise.Beaverbrookis,ofcourse,BillTeronsGardenCityinception;comprisedoflowrise,

singlefamilydwellings,withmanyopenandgreenspaces.Thesizeandscopeofthebuilding,

manycontend,

would

better

fit

within

the

Kanata

Town

Centre,

which

is

specifically

geared

towardsappropriateintensificationandwrittenintoSecondaryPlans.Theproposalis

fundamentallyflawedandsymptomaticofcitywideissuesrelatedtorezoning.BillTeronshares

ourgoalforplanningreformandheservesasatrustedadvisortoourCouncilofCommunity

Associationswithparticularregardtorandom,spotrezoning.Weapplaudyourwordsandwe

8/3/2019 Letter to Mayor Before Ward Council, Feb 22, 2012

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standreadytoassistyouindemonstratingyourresolvethatthistypeofrezoningmustnotbe

allowedi.

OffurtherconcerntoourCouncilofCommunityAssociationsistheongoingdevelopment

planningwithintheSouthMarchHighlands(SMH).Weareaskingforyourattentiontothe

KNLiiowned

property

north

of

the

Beaver

Pond

in

Kanata

Lakes.

Recent

events

have

alerted

us

tothefactthatStormWaterManagement(SWM)fortheareaiswoefullyinadequate.Areport

performedfortheCitybyAECOM(andonlydeliveredtothepublicthroughanAccesstoInformationRequest)notedthattheBeaverandKizellPondsareunabletodetainthevolumeofwater,requiredbylegislation,forappropriateSWMintheproposedsubdivision.Moreover,the

CertificateofApprovalforthedevelopmentiiiwasbasedupondatacollectedbyengineering

firmIBI(commissionedbyKNL)nowdemonstratedtobefactuallyincorrectbytherecent

AECOMreport(commissionedbytheCity).Alsonotableinthisdevelopmentareaisthe

ProvinceofOntariosrecentdesignationofKizellPondasProvinciallySignificantWetland.Therearemanydetailsthatcannotproperlybeconveyedinthisletter,butyouwillnotethatin

bothoftheaforementionedcases,itiswhatmaybeperceivedasthepiecemealapproachto

developmentandplanningthatgivesrisetotheseongoingissues.Forthelatter,athorough

studyofalltributariesandwaterwayshasnotbeenperformed,butindividualdevelopment

proposalsareallowedtoproceedthataffecttheentirewatershed.Fortheformer,planning

oughtnottobesubjecttorandomrezoningthatdoesntfittheexistingcommunity.

Itisourhopethatthismessagewillallowyouandyourstafftovisitthesepressingissuesbefore

discussionscommencewiththeWardCouncilattendees.Weknowthatyourleadership,

togetherwith

our

Councillor,

City

Council

and

with

many

other

citizen

associations,

we

can

find

solutionstobetterplanforthefuturegrowthofourgreatcity.

Sincerestregardsonbehalfoftheexecutiveofeachassociationandthecommunity.

TheKanataNorthCouncilofCommunityAssociations

MattMuirheadPresident

KanataLakes

CommunityAssociation

PaulArbourPresident

BriarbrookMorgans

GrantCommunity

Association

GarySealeyPresidentKanataBeaverbrook

CommunityAssociation

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iTheKanataBeaverbrookCommunityAssociationhasraisedtensofthousandsofdollarstocommissiontheexpert

opinionofDr.BarryWellarfromtheUniversityofOttawa.Inhisreport,heagreeswiththecommunitysposition

that,formanyreasons,theZoningBylawAmendmentsoughtbythedeveloperisisinappropriate,doesnotcomply

withtheOfficialPlan,anddoesnotrepresentgoodplanning.iiKNListhepartnershipbetweenUrbandaleandRichcraftiiiPhases6through9ofKNLsproposeddevelopment