by Michael Jenkin
Lansdowne Park (Again and Again)
I am afraid you are going to be hearing a lot from me on this subject over the next several months as we grind through the various public input processes. At the time of writing, OSWatch is about to hold a public meeting on February 20 to discuss our input to the design discussions that are being hosted by the City dealing with the "front lawn" of the site (which faces the Rideau Canal and the Queen Elizabeth Driveway). Those design discussions will take place on February 25 and will deal with the design principals and design competition for the public part of the site and OSWatch will make a presentation on these issues. While the City is anxious to get public feedback on that part of the project, it is the one aspect of the Lansdowne development that troubles us the least and which is most likely to produce a good, if not a great, outcome for the City and our community. That is because it is all about how to use public land for a public purpose – in this case primarily as a space for parkland and public events.
The aspects of the development which cause us the most concern, the impact on traffic and our local businesses of the commercial part of the development (the stadium, the mall, the Cineplex, the hotel, the office buildings and the condominiums) are not part of these consultations. It is much harder to get our voice heard on the traffic and commercial issues as the City is not anxious to have these items as the focus of public discussions. Nevertheless, there has been some progress. City management proposed to have the Council mandate a Lansdowne traffic impact study sole sourcing it to a consulting firm that had done the original (and very positive) traffic study for the development's proponents (Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group). This was obviously of great concern to us as it was hard to see how a company that had worked for the proponents of the development on traffic issues could be seen to do an objective study on the issue of managing the traffic consequences of the development. We and other community associations argued against this proposal and the consulting company withdrew from the process, after which the City agreed to choose a contractor to do the study through a competitive process. We also managed to get the City to amend the study's terms of reference to ensure that a number of our concerns about the how the analysis would be conducted on traffic flows and about the geographic scope of the study.
The key issue surrounding the traffic study will be identifying the costs and effectiveness of the various strategies that can be deployed to manage traffic volumes. No one disputes that Lansdowne will generate significant traffic volumes. What is, and will be, a matter of debate concerns the question of whether these volumes are manageable and if the mechanisms that can be used to reduce the impact of traffic congestion are acceptable.
For example, one way to increase the ability of Bank Street to absorb greater volumes of traffic is to ban on street parking so that all four lanes of the street can be used. The cost of doing this for the City is fairly low – declaring a no parking zone and erecting "no parking" signs, plus enforcement costs, which are usually more than recovered by parking fines. The costs to others of these measures, however, may be very high. Because there is no on street parking, the few off street parking lots in Old Ottawa South and the Glebe become continuously full with the result that those people driving to Old Ottawa South and the Glebe to shop have nowhere to park. This could mean local merchants losing significant levels of business as they are critically dependent on out of neighbourhood shoppers to stay profitable and if out of neighbourhood shoppers can't park they are unlikely to visit local merchants. Costing out these, and similar impacts, will be key to a properly done traffic study.
Winter Carnival
As you will see elsewhere in OSCAR and on the OSCA website, the Winter Carnival was a great success with wonderful weather and lots of people turning out. Many OSCA members turned out to volunteer to help with events, serve food and make food donations, especially lots of chilli! People were very generous with their donations this year and as a consequence the event paid for itself. Many thanks to all the volunteers and organizers who got the show on the road, and to all of you who turned out.
OSCA Finances
At the February Board meeting Steve Mennill our Treasurer gave a report on our financial results for 2009. I am happy to report that we had a very positive outcome last year on our operating budget, and despite having to move our programming to temporary facilities half way through the year, and incurring additional accommodation costs, our programming and other revenues held up well at just over $400,000, and our operating costs declined. Instead of running a deficit on programming this year as we thought might be the case because of the move out of the Firehall, we finished the year with a modest surplus of just over $41,000. Steve will present a full Treasurer's report at our Annual General Meeting (AGM) in May for those of you interested in the full details and the results for all OSCA's operations (OSCA programs, committees, Firehall Fund and OSCAR). The report will also be posted on the OSCA website after the AGM.
Program Planning for New Community Centre
The Program Committee held a brainstorming session in late January on what new programs we should consider for the new community centre when we launch our fall programming there. There were lots of ideas kicked around about new kinds of programs for adults and children, as well as for seniors. We are in the process of creating a shortlist of what look to be the most promising ideas. One other related project we are considering is a possible fitness room in the in the basement of the new addition. The committee is looking at what other community centres have developed in the way of fitness rooms and how a fitness facility could be linked into our other program offerings. This will require a major investment in fitting out a room and obtaining equipment, so a business case is being developed for the Board's consideration later in the year.
New OSCA Board members
Just a reminder that we are looking for new Board members to be elected at our Annual General Meeting on May 4th. If you are interested in serving and are a resident of Old Ottawa South, please contact Deirdre McQuillan at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 613-247-4872 for details on how to apply. OSCA has a 20 person Board and the executive and committee chairs are chosen from it. The Board meets once a month except for July and August, and most Board members also serve on a committee or help with a special project. It is not a huge commitment of time, but it is a very worthwhile way to engage in your community and help make Old Ottawa South a better place in which to live. Please do give it some serious consideration. Click here for more information about OSCA and its board.