Old Ottawa South

30-40 neighbours met with City staff, Councillor Doucet, and the developers of 71 Hopewell Ave on April 19, 2010 to discuss whether there should be three garages at street level or a central carriageway with outdoor parking behind, but it was soon clear that residents had more on their minds: namely, that the design plan was incompatible with City infill guidelines and neighbouring homes. Afterward, several neighbours worked quickly to develop a petition (which can be signed online here) requesting that the City ensure that developers adhere to those guidelines.

Volunteers will walk the petition around Old Ottawa South this weekend, April 24-25, and petition results will be presented by City staff to developers of 71 Hopewell Avenue at a meeting next week, provided there are sufficient signatures.

Old Ottawa South petition to City to ensure property developers adhere to infill guidelines

"We, the residents of Old Ottawa South, petition the City of Ottawa to ensure that property developers adhere to the Urban Design Guidelines for Low-Medium Density Infill Housing. We petition the City to ensure that our public streetscapes are preserved and that building design is harmonious with existing homes."

• Click here to read and sign the online petition.
• Read the Urban Design Guidelines for Low-Medium Density Infill Housing here.
• Click here for information on guidelines that city staff have been working on as part of the strategies for implementation of the policies in the city's Official Plan.

For additional articles and photos on this website about the 71 Hopewell development:

• 71 Hopewell: Another Piece of OOS History Lost?
• Residents' Letter to City on 71 Hopewell Development
• A Neighbour's Response to an Infill Development

If you are a registered user on this website, you can add your voice to the discussion on the OSWatch forum, too. (To register as a website user, click Create an Account on the website homepage.)

Comments (2)

1Thursday, 22 April 2010 19:37

Christopher Solar

The city has clearly spent a lot of time and money (our money) developing a wide range of development guidelines. Why did they bother? A non-binding development guideline is about as useful as a non-binding highway speed limit: "80km/h max, but if you'd rather go 140, hey, no one's stopping you."

If the city can't turn these guidelines -- even some of them -- into actual bylaws, they should just stop pretending that they're doing anything useful.

The kind of developer who follows the guidelines would likely be doing so anyway. For the rest, we need _rules_.

2Friday, 23 April 2010 06:31

John Calvert

In the case of Old Ottawa South, the defining features of the streetscape include substantial ground floor windows facing the street, substantial or full width front porches, front yards or gardens, all of which projects a clear heritage/social/culture theme of engagement with the street by the building, by the property and by the residents.

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