While Hopewell Avenue resident Janet Jull was delivering the "Petition About Infills" inspired by the 71 Hopewell redevelopment, yet another old house was coming down just metres away on the very same street.
Over 400 residents had signed the petition that Jull, with a handful of neighbours, had walked around the neighbourhood on the weekend of April 24-25. She delivered the signatures to Clive Doucet's office Tuesday morning, April 27, and Doucet's office was to pass the petition on to City Planners later that day.
One neighbour stated that if they'd had more time and more help, they could have multiplied that number "exponentially".
"I was getting practically 100 percent success rate," Jull confirmed. While City planners will show the developers of 71 Hopewell the petition in a meeting later this week, the online petition will be ongoing and can be signed here.
Petition to ask City to enforce urban infill guidelines
The petition is as follows:
"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."
Developers' design documents for 71 Hopewell can be seen here. At time of publishing this article, nothing was found on the City of Ottawa website about the 104 Hopewell redevelopment. Keep your eyes on this website for further developments!
- 3 STOREY SEMI DETATCHED (2 UNITS SIDE BY SIDE) EACH WITH SINGLE CAR GARAGE
- REQUIRED BY-LAW YARDS ... 3.0m FRONT / 1.2m EACH SIDE / 7.5m REAR --- ALL CAPABLE w/o VARAINCES
- REQUIRED LOT FRONTAGE ... 4.5m EACH ... LOT IS 9.6m WIDE --- CAPABLE
- REQUIRED LOT AREA ... 110 sq.m. EACH (220 SQ.M) TOTATL --- LOT 292 Ssq.m. --- CAPABLE
- MAXIMUM HEIGHT 11m --- HEIGHT OF PROPOSED UNKNOWN BY 3 sty. IS CAPABLE UNDER THIS
- BUILDING PERMIT HAS BEEN ISSUED
- DEMOLITION PERMIT HAS BEEN ISSUED --- THIS IS A CONTROL DOCUMENT REALLY TO ENSURE PROPER
SIGN-OFF RE. SERVICES DISCONNECTS BY APPLICABLE AGENCIES
....... SO (DOCUMENTATION UNSEEN) ALL APPEARS CAPABLE AS NOW UNDERWAY WITHOUT VARIANCES OR NEIGHBOURHOOD CIRCULATIONS, UNLESS SUCH AN OBLIGATION EXISTS BETWEEN OSCA ETAL. & CITY
........ NO VARIANCE SHOULD HAVE BEEN REQUIRED --- NO CITY RECORD OF ANY SOUGHT
........ ARCHITECTURAL MERIT TO NEIGHBOURHOUD VERNACULAR(S) UNKNOWN
To note:
@ 4.8m each lot frontage with a minimum of 1.2m required sideyard, each front wall would be a maximum of 3.6m wide which is sufficient only for the garage frontage without a door / corridor.
SO ..... these semi's will be all Garage door as frontage to street (possibly as close as 3m to lot line (tbv) with entry doors from the 2 sides at some 20 ft (6m) + rearward
..... minimal at best for there being any Ground Floor windows facing directly to the street
- maybe one very narrow or at 45 degrres out through a door alcove recess
..... level of main floor / Entry door relative to grade unknown ... could be low or elevated with walkway retining walls / railings
Don Brown, B.Arch.
http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=104+hopewell+ave,+ottawa&sll=49.891235,-97.15369&sspn=31.311745,64.423828&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=104+Hopewell+Ave,+Ottawa,+Ottawa+Division,+Ontario+K1S+2Y9&t=h&layer=c&cbll=45.391795,-75.687355&panoid=RyXdDeoc7p-J9S0Ag4t0oA&cbp=12,171.15,,0,-2.61&ll=45.391741,-75.687489&spn=0.001038,0.001966&z=19
Lynne Eagan
He is the City Planner who is keen on enforcing the "Infill Guidelines" (which are also on the City website--there is a link to it in the article above). He is currently trying to stop the 71 Hopewell infill from having garages at the front hard up against the sidewalk. The more he hears from the likes of us, the stronger his stance can be. I don't understand myself how 104 got so far without a peep out of anyone, including the City, to the neighbours.
Status: Application on hold.
YES!
It seems that residents' pressure is working.