4401 Fallowfield Rd. (Business Park) | Proposed

[rocketphish]

DCR Phoenix has put forth a proposal for the development of its 27 acre parcel at 4401 Fallowfield Rd. (corner of Strandherd Dr.), which includes a hotel, office buildings, a warehouse facility and a gas station:

http://app01.ottawa.ca/postingplans/appDetails.jsf?lang=en&appId=__7XBJ6C

Proposed siteplan:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4467402064_ae20a4f512_o_d.jpg

[adam-machiavelli]

Le Corbusier would approve.

[Dado]

Oh joy, an R&D building, an office building and a hotel that are isolated from anything else. I wonder where people will go for lunch or supper... perhaps the gas station or the Frito Lay warehouse. I suppose the hotel might end up having a restaurant in it.

Most of this stuff doesn't belong here. It belongs at the so-called South Nepean Town Centre that we're currently building a transitway into where restaurants and cinemas and shops exist.

The odd thing is that the one thing that probably does belong here - the warehouse - is what requires the most requests for amendment and rezoning.

[eternallyme]

Oh joy, an R&D building, an office building and a hotel that are isolated from anything else. I wonder where people will go for lunch or supper... perhaps the gas station or the Frito Lay warehouse. I suppose the hotel might end up having a restaurant in it.

Most of this stuff doesn't belong here. It belongs at the so-called South Nepean Town Centre that we're currently building a transitway into where restaurants and cinemas and shops exist.

The odd thing is that the one thing that probably does belong here - the warehouse - is what requires the most requests for amendment and rezoning.

Isolated? What about incoming tourist traffic on Highway 416 coming from the south and southwest? I see potential for numerous hotels and surely that would lead to restaurants in the area. The warehouse is out of place though I think.

What is the current zoning for the land south of Fallowfield?

[waterloowarrior]

Isolated? What about incoming tourist traffic on Highway 416 coming from the south and southwest? I see potential for numerous hotels and surely that would lead to restaurants in the area. The warehouse is out of place though I think.

What is the current zoning for the land south of Fallowfield?

Here's the Secondary Plan for the area

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4468725076_fb9bf3774b_o.jpg
http://www.ottawa.ca/city_hall/ottawa2020/official_plan/vol_2a/former_nepean/south_nepean/area_9_10/index_en.html

[eemy]

I agree with Dado here, and this example really does show one of the shortcomings of zoning.

[Dado]

Isolated? What about incoming tourist traffic on Highway 416 coming from the south and southwest?

Being next to a freeway interchange doesn't make it not isolated. There's no other urban retail/commercial development around at the moment. How are the employees to get there? And what of the tourist traffic? It's not possible to see the site from the freeway due to the treed berm that screens the entire area. That means anyone looking for a hotel at random has to be told to exit by way of signage, and once that's the case it's not a lot more difficult to drive to the area around the Greenbank intersection. Anyone who has preselected their hotel will already know where it is or will have instructions on how to get there, which is not going to be difficult in this case.



I see potential for numerous hotels and surely that would lead to restaurants in the area.

There are already restaurants at the town centre and there can be more if hotels are added. That's the entire idea of the town centre - have a sufficient density of mutually-supporting land uses served by rapid transit.


The warehouse is out of place though I think.
It's at the interchange of a freeway and a major east-west arterial. How is this not a good place for a distribution warehouse? I'd concede that warehouses would probably be better located on the other side of Strandherd between the freeway and the railway, especially since that side has the potential to be rail-served in the future, but in general sites around major interchanges are suitable places for distribution warehouses.

[waterloowarrior]

Staff report - refusal recommendation
http://ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/citycouncil/pec/2010/07-05/4%20-%20ACS2010-ICS-PGM-0089%20-%20OPA%20-%20Fallowfield%20Rd.htm

An Official Plan Amendment has been received to amend the Secondary Plan designation of the property from “Prestige Business Park” to “Business Park” in order to allow a warehouse/distribution facility and undefined industrial uses.

Staff recommend the proposed amendment be refused based on the following reasons:

1. Inconsistency with the Intent of the Secondary Plan - The proposal does not meet the objectives of the Secondary Plan to present a positive image and a corporate showcase of South Nepean from Highway 416. It will impair the gateway function for this strategic location and impact the consistency of design quality along the gateway corridor.
2. Discrepancy with Employment Land Strategy - Planned "Business Park" lands to accommodate the proposed uses are in proximity to the south, with convenient highway access. Changing the designation of the subject site as requested by the proposal will not achieve the job generation objectives planned for the land.
3. Compatibility Concerns - Potential noise and heavy vehicle traffic impacts to the adjacent residential uses are unable to be addressed. The proposal is incompatible with the existing uses in the surrounding areas.
4. Inconsistency with Council Approved Motion - The proposal does not respect a previously Council approved Motion regarding the site, dated April 27, 2005, which has legal status.

[waterloowarrior]

Frito-Lay loses appetite for Barrhaven warehouse build proposal
Fate of Fallowfield/416 lands likely to rest with OMB, developer says

http://www.obj.ca/Real-Estate/Non-residential/2010-07-12/article-1534287/Frito-Lay-loses-appetite-for-Barrhaven-warehouse-build-proposal/1

Published on July 12th, 2010
Peter Kovessy
Ottawa Business Journal


A global snack-food manufacturer is back in the market for a new Ottawa distribution centre after pulling away from a proposal to build a 100,000-square-foot facility in Barrhaven.

Frito-Lay Canada says it is in discussions with several landlords and developers to accommodate the company’s expansion.

“Our business has been growing in Ottawa and Eastern Ontario,” says company spokesperson Sheri Morgan.

“As our business grows, so do our space requirements.”

Frito-Lay currently leases space inside a one-storey, seven-bay building at 37 Enterprise Ave. in the Merivale Industrial Park south of Hunt Club Road. The property has a total of 31,225 square feet, according to the BOMA Ottawa Commercial Space Directory, and is owned by Freedman Holdings Inc.

Ms. Morgan says an expansion of Frito-Lay’s current location is also on the table and that the company does not expect to finalize its plans until next year.

Frito-Lay was listed as the lead tenant in a development application filed with the city for a vacant triangular 27-acre land parcel near Highway 416 and Fallowfield Rd. in Barrhaven.

Along with the 100,000-square-foot Frito-Lay warehouse and office, which would house 230 employees, application documents show there is also potential for a 220,000-square-foot office, a 105,000-square-foot industrial building, a 130,000-square-foot R&D facility and a 60-room hotel on the site.

Developer DCR Phoenix had applied to amend the city’s official plan to allow warehouses on the property, which is currently designated for “prestige” business park uses.

The application was scheduled to be dealt with by the city’s planning committee last week, but was referred back to municipal staff after Frito-Lay withdrew from the proposal, according to a city spokesperson.

DCR Phoenix planning manager Bill Buchanan confirmed Frito-Lay is no longer being considered as a potential tenant.

He says he hopes the application will come back to the planning committee in the next two months. While Mr. Buchanan says his firm is looking at whether to continue pursuing warehousing opportunities, he believes there is a “very strong argument” to support it and predicts the application will ultimately end up being appealed to the Ontario Municipal Board.

City staff, the head of the Barrhaven Business Improvement Area and the councillor for the area all oppose allowing warehouses to be built on the site.

“We already have suitable space for (warehousing) and plenty of it,” says BIA executive director Andrea Steenbakers, pointing to the vacant land in the South Merivale Business Park, at Prince of Wales Drive.

She argues the DCR Phoenix property should be set aside for high-value employment. Ms. Steenbakers adds the area is a gateway to Barrhaven and says the community would be ill-served by the sight of industrial buildings and tractor-trailers off the highway.

The “gateway” concept is also cited by city staff, who say the application is inconsistent with the Nepean Secondary Plan. However, Mr. Buchanan says that planning document is a decade old and in need of updating. He also notes the property cannot be seen from Highway 416 because of landscaped berms and says “gateways” are poorly defined by the city.

“They keep saying Strandherd Drive is a gateway and we want it to look nice.

That’s fine. So tell me, what do you define as a gateway? What do you feel is needed to make it look nice? And frankly, we get nothing out of them,” says Mr. Buchanan.

The opposition to DCR Phoenix’s proposal comes as the city faces a shortage of serviced industrial land in accessible locations.

Colliers International sales representative Warren Wilkinson says many logistics companies are being forced to make do with older, dilapidated buildings. He adds build-to-suit opportunities are few and that companies are being forced into short-term lease renewals.

“The challenge, especially if it is located within the Greenbelt, is the cost per acre,” he says.

“If you are using it as an investment, it is difficult to get a decent return and make the numbers work.”

Last year, a municipal consultant released a report that concluded too much of Ottawa’s vacant industrial and business park land is unserviced, far from highways or cut into unworkably small parcels to accommodate the city’s future employment growth.

Ottawa’s new economic development strategy, tabled at a city committee last week, calls for a more active approach to managing the supply of employment land.

Suggestions include putting a higher priority on extending trunk water and sewer lines to high-demand properties, establishing a fund to brand and market existing employment areas and swapping low-demand employment lands for those that are in higher demand, but inadequately zoned or publicly owned.

[waterloowarrior]

http://www.emcbarrhaven.ca/20110929/news/Possible+church+worries+Orchard+Estates

Possible church worries Orchard Estates
Posted Sep 29, 2011 By Steph Willems



Click to Enlarge

Steph Willems, Nepean
Barrhaven EMC
EMC News - Residents of the Orchard Estates neighbourhood in western Barrhaven are concerned what a rezoning amendment submitted by a developer will mean for their neighbourhood.

DCR Phoenix is requesting a change in permitted use for a portion of 4401 Fallowfield Road to include a place of worship. The land in question, bordered by Strandherd Drive to the south, O'Keefe Court to the north, and Highway 416 and Fallowfield Road on either end, has been zoned Prestige Business Park for years.

In the past the developer had sought to change the land useage to accommodate residential development, but this request was declined by the city. In 2009 a warehouse proposal was also rejected.

With the Salvation Army listed as the likely occupant of the site, residents were encouraged to give feedback on what they thought of the proposal at a Barrhaven open house held at the Walter Baker Centre last week.

Several residents of Orchard Estates who lived near the site voiced their opposition to the proposed zoning amendment, citing traffic and noise concerns. O'Keefe terminates at a dead end near Lytle Park and the 416 and represents the southernmost of the two access points to the community (Cedarview Road being the other).

The worry is that traffic will increase not just on O'Keefe, but also on Foxtail Ave and Spring Cress Dr., which connects to Cedarview north of the intersection with Fallowfield Rd. Having different uses on the site would also increase off-hours traffic.

"(Access) to business parks are typically around daytime business hours, while a religious place of worship implies off hours and weekends - as well as big events," said nearby resident Paul Rachniowski. "It sets the tone for the entire property. My position and the community's is that the city should exercise some vision and promote a higher end vision for the park...instead of building more of the same."

He added, "it's not about the volume - this (land) was always going to be developed at some point," saying it was the timing of the traffic that concerned him.

A nearby resident who wanted to go by the name Helen agreed with Rachniowski, saying, "when you get 200 cars leaving (the site), you know they're going to back up from the highway (416) on their way home - they're going to cut through Orchard View to get to the 416 (via Cedarview), it's faster than going around....that's our concern, that the traffic and noise is going to be higher the more uses you permit (on the site)."

In the past, residents sought to have a separate access point onto the site considered for business park users, but Barrhaven ward Coun. Jan Harder told the EMC this option doesn't seem possible given the dimensions of the property and proximity to major intersections.

"There isn't the room because of the access to the 416 - the ramp is a long ramp and it needs to be that because of the volume of traffic, the queuing factor and the type of traffic," said Coun. Harder, adding archived minutes show staff stating to residents that every attempt would be made to design a different access point for business park traffic.

"It clearly shows every attempt would be made to not use O'Keefe, but every attempt has been looked at."

The parcel of land has carried the Prestige Business Park designation since the creation of the City of Ottawa, and before that it was slated for high-tech sector development.

"In the (Nepean) Secondary Plan, Nortel was going to be across the street - it owned 100 acres, and it was going to be an IT park," said Coun. Harder.

"You (have to) come up with something that works for the time you're moving towards - which doesn't mean I'm saying 'give away the farm and change the use from prestige.'"

"I fought and that community fought very hard against the Frito Lay plant that wanted to go there - that wouldn't be appropriate. But I look at the Salvation Army as being a place that will be able to minimize parking at other uses within it that are daytime uses, (resulting in) more green space and that kind of thing."

swillems@theemc.ca

[Proof Sheet]

I think that anything would 'worry' the residents in Orchard Estates. Honestly though a Salvation Army church and they are all upset. It boggles the mind....

They didn't like the idea of a business park, then a manufacturing plant got them upset and now a church has them in a frenzy.

What about the playing fields to the west with their lights and the highway next to that.....to me, those would tend to have a bigger impact than a church which is generally a off peak traffic generator.

[Cre47]

Seems that Barrhaven also has its fare share of NIMBYISM. Give a break about the increase of traffic, at least it's not going to be increased traffic at 1 AM.

[waterloowarrior]

new application

OPA
http://app01.ottawa.ca/postingplans/appDetails.jsf?lang=en&appId=__9PJUJS

An application to amend the Secondary Plan for Nepean Urban Areas 9 & 10 - to add "place of worship" as a permitted use, to allow additional building heights of up to 12 storeys, and to reduce the minimum lot area

subdivision
http://app01.ottawa.ca/postingplans/appDetails.jsf?lang=en&appId=__9PJU71

An application to develop an industrial park subdivision containing 12 development blocks, three public streets, as well as blocks for drainages, walkways and a stormwater management pond.


zoning
http://app01.ottawa.ca/postingplans/appDetails.jsf?lang=en&appId=__9PJU1E

An application to amend the IP[1219]H(11)-h zone by adding additionally permitted uses, increasing maximum building heights, reducing the minimum lot area and lifting the holding provision

[waterloowarrior]

staff report - correcting a minor error
http://app05.ottawa.ca/sirepub/item.aspx?itemid=315725

[waterloowarrior]

recommended for approval
http://app05.ottawa.ca/sirepub/agdocs.aspx?doctype=agenda&itemid=331921

[canabiz]

http://www.obj.ca/Real-Estate/Non-residential/2015-05-26/article-4159691/Planning-committee-approves-Barrhaven-business-park-development/1

Good to see the approvals are in place so that the developers can carry on with their business.

I will be glad to see a hotel/medical facility here, as opposed to the Frito-Lay distribution centre or Salvation Army Church.