t its September meeting, the OSCA Board heard from several residents objecting to the proposed townhouse development on the property formerly owned by St. Margaret Mary Church and fronting on Sunnyside Avenue.
This property was popularly known as Church Hill. In a subsequent letter, they requested the Board object to the change of the zoning from I1 (institutional) to R3J (converted house/townhouse), a change the City has already approved. Specifically, the presenters asked the Board to consider an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) of the City's decision.
It is fair to say that most members of the Board and many members of the community, regret the manner in which the Church disposed of this property. No consultations were held on the sale of this land. While the Church was under no formal obligation to do so, we believe that this would have been the preferable way to proceed, given that this land has been used as a community open space for a number of generations.
Nevertheless, OSCA would be on very weak grounds to seek an appeal to the OMB of the zoning decision taken by the City of Ottawa. The loss of this space is regrettable but, that said, the proposed multiple townhouses are in keeping with the Neighborhood Plan's objective of increasing residential density in Old Ottawa South.
As an appeal to the OMB is an expensive undertaking requiring significant resources, the Board would only consider launching such an appeal in a case where the development had a significant negative impact on the community and was clearly counter to the spirit and intent of the Neighborhood Plan.
Unfortunately we do not believe the development, as currently proposed, meets these criteria. Further, for the reasons stated above, even if the zoning decision were appealed, we do not believe that the appeal would be successful.
Councillor Inez Berg announced at our October Board meeting that the City has decided to proceed with the construction of a new play structure for school aged children. (Readers may recall that a group of residents near the Park were successful this past spring in raising sufficient funds for a new play structure for pre-school children.) .
Thus, with two new play structures and the return to park land of the old Windsor Yard, this has been a year of marked improvements to Windsor Park. Many thanks to Inez for her diligent work in assisting the community in all of these initiatives.
The redevelopment of the Hopewell School yard has been another success story realized through the hard work of many volunteers in the community. Consequently, it is with much satisfaction that the OSCA Board passes its congratulations to the Hopewell School Council, which has just received one of the recently announced Community Pride Achievement Awards, for orchestrating this project in such an effective manner. This award program is administered by the City of Ottawa.
At its October meeting, the Board dealt with two traffic-related issues. The first focused on a recent evaluation for the City of Ottawa of traffic calming measures, two examples of which are in our community: the raised intersection at Sunnyside and Grosvenor and the speed bumps on Riverdale. The report is a long one and I won't try to summarize it. But one of its principal conclusions is that these "vertical" calming measures (as opposed to "horizontal" measures like street narrowing) were not desirable on major regional roads like Sunnyside or on roads frequented by emergency vehicles and buses like Riverdale.
Oddly enough, the report does not appear to provide adequate data to measure the impact of these 'vertical' measures on emergency response times, collisions, speed and volume of traffic. The new City will likely develop a policy on traffic calming. OSCA working with other inner core community associations will need to be diligent in trying to influence this new policy. From the Board's perspective, the traffic calming measures in our community have had a positive impact.
The second traffic issue that arose is the apparent increase in traffic proceeding the wrong way on Cameron Street, thanks, it would appear, to new signage announcing the west to east bicycle route. Regional police have promised to step up their surveillance of traffic on the street. Nonetheless, Board members were not convinced that this represents a long term solution and resolved to return to the issue in the likelihood that the problem persists.
Following a lively debate, the OSCA Board approved the recommendation of its Finance Committee to hire an appropriate firm to conduct a comprehensive review and audit of the Association's financial practices at a cost of approximately $6,000. Some Board members were not convinced that this expenditure would garner sufficient benefits to justify such a large expenditure. The large majority, on the other hand, argued for the proposal for a variety of reasons. For one, the Association has never had such a comprehensive review of its financial practices. That such an audit is critical to the Board's being transparent and accountable to our members was another reason for proceeding. More on the results of this audit in future columns.
Bad news on this front. The province's Alcohol and Gaming Commission has approved the licence application for an outdoor patio subject to four conditions: 1) the patio capacity not exceed ninety; 2) no service beyond 11:00 pm; 3) no live or amplified music; and 4) a wall to be constructed next to the abutting residence.
The OSCA submission opposing the proposal was given short shrift, in part because of a split in the Board on the issue and in part based on the testimony of an OSCA Board member, testimony that severely undermined the OSCA position. Patty's Pub still requires the approval of the City to proceed.
A City by-law prohibits the establishment of an outdoor patio within a prescribed distance of a residential zone. Determining OSCA's next step will be an early priority of the new Board.