Our Community

Playfair Towers

March 2009 Update

The Regional Group has submitted a site plan on behalf of the Playfair Towers Group. I encourage you to go to the City of Ottawa's Development Applications website to view the detailed plans along with the supporting documents.

http://app01.ottawa.ca/postingplans/appDetails.jsf?lang=en&appId=__7JN0HC

A detailed review of the plans submitted will be undertaken to ensure the proposal addresses the consensus position that was developed and agreed to during the zoning discussion. The concerns outlined in the consensus position are applicable to the site planning process in most regards.

What the Regional Group is proposing fits within the existing zoning in terms of height and setback. However, the proponent needs to revise his plan to address the following concerns outlined in the consensus position:

In addition to the consensus position I will be proposing two other conditions to protect the residents of 1705 Playfair Drive. These conditions flow from individual meetings that I have had with residents of 1705 Playfair and Carleton Condominium Corporation # 500. These conditions are:

I will be forwarding these issues to the City Planner and the Proponent for a response and integration into the site plan and I am prepared to impose them if required.

The above-mentioned concerns should be addressed relatively easily. More difficult and of greater concern is the fact that the current design of both the tower and the town homes does not integrate, from a design standpoint, with the adjacent community.

During the zoning process we requested that the proponent redesign the plans and it does not appear that any meaningful revision has taken place.

Urban design of this project is very important and the City may have to retain expert planning and architectural counsel to make sure that the site plan agreement ensures that the tower and the town homes integrate, from a design standpoint, with the adjacent community.

I will be meeting with City staff in April to determine how to move forward on this important element of the site plan.

Although the deadline for comment is April 7th, I will not give my approval to the site plan until our concerns are satisfactorily addressed - a process, which may take 3 to 4 months. Therefore, if you have concerns other than the ones outlined above before or after April 7, please forward them to me.

I will keep in touch with you as this process unfolds and look forward to working with you to make this project work for us all.

January 2009 Update

I am pleased to advise you that Playfair Residents Limited has withdrawn their zoning application. They have agreed that any new development on the Playfair property will have to respect the existing zoning on the site.

I understand that the owner will soon be bringing forward a site plan application that will propose a development that respects the existing zoning. The zoning outlines what is permissible to build on a particular site and a site plan details how the site will be developed. A site plan deals with all of fine details of a development such as access, grading, loading zones, landscaping, locations of parking, urban design and other detail features of any proposed development.

One of the most important parts of a site plan is the urban design aspect. As I am sure you are aware both the City Planners and the local community felt that the design of both the tower and the town homes, in the former proposal, did not integrate, from a design standpoint, with the adjacent community. City planning staff will be reviewing any proposed site plan to ensure that the design integrates well with the existing community.

In my last update to you I outlined a consensus position with myself, city staff and the local community. A site plan is where we implement the consensus position. Therefore, any new site plan will have to contain the following:

Once we have received a site plan we will be meeting with the individuals and groups representing those most closely affected by the application to develop a consensus position. They include NoRezone, the Board of Directors of the Carleton Condominium Corporation (CCC) #500, the Board of Directors of Rosewood Estates and Protect Vista on the Park.

Fall 2008 Update

Since my last update I have had several meetings with the individuals representing those most closely affected by the proposed zoning application at Playfair Towers. They include NoRezone, the Board of Directors of the Carleton Condominium Corporation (CCC) #500, the Board of Directors of Rosewood Estates and Protect Vista on the Park.

Throughout the process I relayed the community's concerns, along with my own, to the developer. The City's Planning Staff has also been working with the proponent on the matter the project's urban design features and their impact on our community.

I am pleased to report that joint consensus within the community was reached on the following:

In addition to the consensus position, I have agreed to impose 2 other conditions during the consideration of the site plan to protect the residents of 1705 Playfair Drive. These conditions flow from individual meetings that I have had with residents of 1705 Playfair, Protect Vista on the Park and Carleton Condominium Corporation # 500. These conditions are:

Next Steps:

Once the developer has revised his plan to the satisfaction of City Staff, I will host a community meeting to allow the community the opportunity to view and comment on the plan.

Summer 2008 Update

As you have learned from various newspaper articles, flyers and web blogs on the subject, the owners of the property at the corner of Playfair and Kilborn have applied to redevelop and intensify their site. They are proposing to add 217 units to the site in the form of a new condominium tower and condominium town homes.

You can see the development information on line at http://app01.ottawa.ca/postingplans/appDetails.jsf?lang=en&appId=__671474.

Politically, the easiest thing for me to say and what I am sure most of you want to hear, is that this proposal will be fought and defeated and that the property at Playfair and Kilborn will remain exactly as it is today.

Unfortunately for all of us, the situation is not that clear cut. It will be almost impossible to prevent additional units from being developed on the site. This is not what you want to hear, but regretfully it represents the reality of the situation.

The owner has applied to amend the zoning that was approved in 1996. That zoning controlled development, on this site and many others across the old City of Ottawa, by way of a floor space index. A floor space index relates the size of a building or buildings to the area of land upon which the building sits. On this particular site the floor space index is set at 1.5 times the land area and the zoning does not have a height limit.

In 2005, the City of Ottawa began the process of updating and harmonizing the 1996 zoning by-law. The new zoning by-law harmonizes the existing 36 zoning by-laws from the former municipalities into one by-law and implements many of the policies of the City's 2003 Official Plan, which focuses growth within the urban part of the City. Planning and Environment Committee held public hearings on the new zoning by-law on June 8, 2007, October 22 & 23, 2007 and April 8, 2008. City Council gave final approval to the new by-law on April 23, 2008.

The new Council approved by-law eliminates floor space index as a means of controlling development on this site and all other similar sites across the City. Instead of a floor space index the new zoning bylaw imposes height limits as a means to control development. The new zoning by-law imposes a 14 storey height limit on the Playfair and Kilborn property.

This means that zoning permits the owner to build, as of right, up to a maximum of 14 floors and neither the community nor I have any mechanism to prevent these additional units.

However, the owner has proposed a development that asks for increased height and reduced setbacks and they have not yet filed a detailed site plan. Therefore, we do have some leverage to minimize the impact that these additional units may have on the surrounding community.

The City staff and technical agencies are currently reviewing the owner's proposal. I, along with the City's urban planner, have organized meetings with abutting neighbours to identify local issues. We have met with the organizer of the No Rezone Playfair petition, the Executive of Rosewood Estates Co-Tenancy and the Condominium Board at 1705 Playfair. These meetings have been very successful at identifying community issues and we will be meeting again to discuss potential resolutions to the issues identified. In addition we have received a wealth of information from the surrounding community.

We have identified a number of common issues for which we will be seeking resolution:

These are not all the issues that are being explored, just the most common. Other small issues such as gate access to Grasshopper Hill Park and pedestrian pathways are also being discussed. If you have issues that you would like to be researched and explored please feel free to forward them to me by E-mail.

The development review process is a very thorough review and as a result what is originally proposed can and often does change. Along with the City Planner, I will be meeting with the owner to seek resolution of the issues that the neighbours have identified. Once we have the final proposal, I will host a public meeting. I expect this meeting to take place in late June or early September.

Planning and Environment Committee and City Council will not be considering this proposal until late fall - this gives plenty of opportunity for a thorough community review. I assure you that I will provide the community, as I always do, with the necessary legal, planning & architectural support to understand and fully participate in the review process.

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