Second seniors' home proposed for historic Manotick Village
Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: December 17, 2014, Last Updated: December 17, 2014 6:42 PM EST
A plan to build a second retirement home in the historic heart of Manotick Village might not quite transform the area into the cultural hub some were hoping for, but it will bring permanent residents and help to liven up Dickinson Square, says the area’s councillor.
Princiotta Construction and Development has applied for a zoning bylaw amendment to construct a three-storey building at 1125 and 1129 Clapp Lane, which is east of Manotick Main Street and tucked in along the Rideau River.
The proposed red-brick building with green mansard roof would consist of 45 independent-living apartment units with underground parking and a coffee shop on the ground floor. The plan also includes amenities such as a library, gym, dining area, spa and medical services for use by residents.
Princiotta already owns a much larger three-storey retirement home on Bridge Street, across from where it proposes to build the new one.
The difference between the two is that residents in the proposed building will have their own kitchens; the one across the street is full-service residence.
The project is essentially intensification, but on a village scale, said Rideau-Goulbourn Coun. Scott Moffatt.
If the current application is ultimately approved, Princiotta will have replaced half a dozen homes, some of which had been vacant for years, with about 170 units.
“In a village that people don’t want to see grow outward, growing inward is a good thing,” he said.
The Clapp Lane lands are located within and around the Manotick Mill Quarter, an area the city has long hoped to redevelop.
The historic mill just southeast of the subject property is one of the Ottawa’s most historic buildings, having been built for lumber baron Joseph Currier and Moss Kent Dickinson, a river trader who named Manotick and went on to be mayor of Ottawa and a member of Parliament.
Besides the mill’s museum, though, there’s not much going on at Dickinson Square. It hosts the Manotick Farmers’ Market and is the site of the cenotaph, but the nearby buildings don’t hold much beyond a few small offices. A spa is slated to open soon.
The city bought seven properties in the area in 2007, including one of the two subject properties on Clapp Lane, with the hopes of redeveloping the quarter in a manner that would fit with Manotick’s blueprint for community development, ensure the preservation of the quarter’s heritage resources, and foster the establishment of a vibrant cultural tourism district.
Part of the site was later rezoned to expand the possible uses to include a retirement home while at the same time removing uses seen as inappropriate for the vision of the quarter, including drive-thru, gas bar and automobile service centre.
The land was then sold to Princiotta. The company also bought the neighbouring Clapp Lane property, which had not been rezoned, from a private owner.
The developer is now asking the city to harmonize the zoning so that the proposed development is subject to the same requirements across the entire property.
The developer says the proposed retirement home will provide a form of housing currently lacking in the village and will be designed to complement the architecture and materials of the historic Ayers House and Weaver House on the south side of Dickinson Square.
No date has been set for the city’s planning committee to consider the rezoning application.
mpearson@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/mpearson78
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