OSWatch Minutes of Meeting
February 2, 2010
7:30 – 9:00 PM
Southminster Church
Attendees:
Mohammad al-Asad
Missy Fraser
Neil Grant
Julie Harris
Kathy Krywicki
Donald Leffers
Heather Martin
Brendan McCoy
Geoffrey Murphy
Brian Tansey
Regrets:
Gary Shechtman (traveling)
Agenda
OSCAR articles:
It was agreed that OSWatch should have a continuous presence in the OSCAR and to make it a point to contribute an article to every issue (once a month). The following agreed to contribute articles:
Heather: March; introducing the City’s infill guidelines
Neil: April; discussion of the City’s infill guidelines
Brian: May; presenting new directions that OSWatch has taken
Julie: June; assessing the City’s notification policies on new construction projects
Neil raised the issue of whether these articles should be presented as representing the individuals who write them or OSWatch as a committee. It was agreed that for the time being, they would be presented as representing the individuals writing them.
OSWatch page on the new OSCA website:
The new OSCA website was inaugurated early this month. There was considerable agreement that OSWatch should have a strong presence on it. The OSWatch minutes of meetings since May (when the new OSWatch committee came into being) and until September have been placed on the OSCA website. Since the website was being reconstructed in the fall, we were advised to wait until the new website is functional before adding new minutes (October and later). Subsequent minutes now will be added to the site (Mohammad already has contacted the web editor and has sent her the backlog of minutes for upload).
In addition, upcoming OSWatch meetings as well as their agendas will be placed on the OSCA website’s calendar.
Suggestions also were made to add new sections to the OSWatch section of the website. These may include the OSWatch OSCAR articles; ongoing issues (such as the Lansdowne development project), new developments (new building activity, store openings or closings ...); and useful links. (Contacts have been made with the web developers to add those sections).
The main challenge with expanding the OSWatch page on the website is to get one or more OSWatch members to take ownership of those sections and to ensure that they are being updated. Otherwise, they can quickly become obsolete and outdated. It also would be helpful to have someone take on the role of “webmaster” for the OSWatch page. Julie volunteered to follow up on the current developments relating to Lansdowne; Don volunteered to follow up on the Links section; Geoff volunteered to follow up on the new developments section in a month’s time.
71 Hopewell and developing a Community Design Plan (CDP) or height and setback study:
The members are generally concerned about the increased number of new residential infill projects taking place in the neighborhood that are out of scale, or ones where the front façades are dominated by garage doors, rather than porches, entry doors, or windows, thus giving these infill structures the appearance of being places for housing cars rather than people, and weakening the interaction between the houses and adjacent streets.
Based on OSWatch’s recommendation, OSCA had asked the city to develop a CDP for OOS, but we are waiting for a decision to be taken on this request. We also have been getting contradictory feedback regarding the effectiveness of CDPs, in terms of controlling development, that may compromise the urban and architectural character of the neighborhood.
It therefore has been suggested to bring in an urban planning specialist with the relevant experiences who would facilitate a meeting for interested members of the community on the subject, and also advise the community on available zoning interventions that would direct infill developments in a manner that achieves higher levels of integration with their surroundings and that would maintain characteristics we value regarding the neighborhood, whether relating to scale or pedestrian friendliness. Don, Julie, and Geoff will contact colleagues of theirs for recommendations regarding such as specialist.
This suggestion also will be presented to the upcoming OSCA meeting to get feedback from the OSCA board members. OSWatch has funds to cover the costs of bringing in the specialist, and would like to keep the costs down to about 1,000 CAD.
Sunnyside Traffic Audit:
The study, which is being referred to as Old Ottawa South Area Traffic Management Study, is being carried out for the City by the firm Morrison Hershfield. The first session of the Public Working Group for the study will take place on February 10. Brendan McCoy from OSWatch, local resident Leo Doyle, as well as Neal Hill from the Hopewell Avenue Public School Council will be taking part in the Public Working Group sessions. Mohammad was to attend, but will be out of town on that day.
Lansdowne developments:
Michael Jenkin and Mohammad had attended a meeting that the City organized with stakeholder community associations regarding the terms of reference for their proposed traffic management study. Mohammad prepared a report on the meeting, which was circulated to OSWatch members. Gwenn Gall, the OSCA web editor, will be writing an article based on the report and feedback. The article will appear on the web site and a link to it will be made from the OSWatch page of the site. Mohammad and Michael also are preparing a response regarding the terms of reference to be sent to the City by the end of the week. A copy of the response will be circulated to OSWatch members.
Meetings regarding Lansdowne so far have been attended by Brendan McCoy, Michael Jenkin, and Mohammad (one, two, or all of them) and reports have been prepared on all those meetings. The new website will allow us to make those reports accessible to the community at large.
Julie also suggested that a public meeting for OOS will need to be organized regarding developments being proposed for Lansdowne, and that documentation of meetings on Lansdowne between the community and relevant stakeholders be made available to the public. Now that the new OSCA website is up and running, such documentation may be placed there. Julie volunteered to follow up on the placement of such documentation on the OSWatch page of the site.
A meeting is scheduled on February 4 between community association stakeholders and the Lansdowne Strategic Design and Review Panel, which has been appointed to oversee the competition being proposed for the Lansdowne “Front Lawn.” The meeting is being organized by Councillor Peter Hume. Brendan and Mohammad will be attending it on behalf of OSCA, and will report on it.
Meeting with Heron Park Community Association on Billings Bridge:
As OSWatch meeting went over time, it was not possible to update the committee members on the meeting that took place between Brendan and Mohammad and James McLaren of the Heron Park Community Association regarding new developments taking place in the Billings Bridge Mall complex and how the two associations may join forces and cooperate on issues of common concern. The update will need to be given during the upcoming OSWatch meeting.