Councillor commits to looking into street closure in Vanier
By Michelle Nash Baker
Ottawa East News, Sep 30, 2016
The conversation about Emond Street has finally hit a dead end.
It’s been a rough summer for residents living on Emond Street in Vanier.
Emond has the benefit of a 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 🞵🞵🞵🞵 at one end and a children's park at the other, Mixed in are homes.
In the spring, residents met with Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury to discuss their desire to close off the street to Montreal Road traffic.
They feel the idea is simple – close the street just after the businesses and issues would stop: johns circling, speeding, crime and disorderly patrons from area businesses.
“A street closure has been shown to eliminate these types of issues,” said long-time resident Kathryn Greer-Close.
On Sept. 29, Fleury hosted a meeting to address the frustrations. He invited residents, the owners of the Playmate 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵 🞵🞵🞵🞵 at the building at 175 Montreal Rd., Stephane Godard of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, and community police officer Jonathan Kenney.
Playmate owner Patrick Campeau said he is open to listening to residents’ concerns, as well as their ideas to fix the problem.
For Greer-Close, as well as her neighbours Charlotte Taylor, Grant Mcneill, Karen Fuoco, John Maloney and Babette Tasse, the only answer they will consider is a road closure.
According to Greer-Close, there are studies showing crime can be reduced by design and there are studies showing the crimes and dangers they are experiencing can be significantly reduced by the simple and cheap insertion of two posts and a chain between the residences and the businesses, to block through traffic.
Campeau said if there are studies and this is what would improve the quality of life of the neighbours, he would support it.
“If it works, then it’s an easy fix,” Campeau said. “If there are proven facts with police then you've got a pretty good solution for little effort.”
The meeting was heated at times, but between Fleury, residents and Campeau the end result was something everyone was happy with.
Fleury committed to seeking a temporary closure – but wanted to be clear that a closure might not end all the activity residents are concerned about.
The timeline is not set and Fleury said he still needs to knock on doors along the street to ensure that is what everyone wants. Campeau said he would bring the idea forward to other tenants in the Playmate's building, and then Fleury will seek a closure at transportation committee, and then city council.
“I’m comfortable going back and saying we are looking for a temporary closure and look at permanent closure for 2018,” Fleury said at the end of the meeting.
Montreal Road is scheduled for renewal in 2018. Currently Fleury is seeking residents' input on what changes – small or large – they would like to see, so he can submit them for consideration.
The idea to close the road is not a new one. The old city of Vanier’s secondary plan suggested the closure of side streets Emond, Olmstead, Cyr and Dupuis streets. Dupuis was the first street the old city of Vanier closed.
The thought was that prior to amalgamation, the city of Vanier wanted to redevelop and rebrand the area as a francophone district. By closing off the side streets it was thought to create quaint and decorative areas along Montreal Road.
Currently, Dupuis Street has park benches and pedestrian-friendly access.
Lampposts, red brick walls, granite sidewalks were part of this redevelopment plan, only money ran out in the late 1980s early 1990s and then soon after came amalgamation.
The city amended the Official Plan, including the Montreal Road secondary plan in 2013, where according to acting general manager of the planning and growth management department Michael Mizzi, there was some discussion with residents at two public meetings, and a presentation at a Vanier Community Association and a Vanier BIA meeting about the closure of streets.
Mizzi said the discussion brought forward differing opinions.
“During the open house discussion about the potential closure of the streets, city staff informed residents that the closure of the streets was not proposed to be carried forward in the new Montreal Road secondary plan,” Mizzi said in an email.
At that spring meeting with the councillor, short term solutions included speed signs, as well as parking on alternating sides of the street, and adding parking and planters to encourage slower traffic.
During this past summer, residents seemed exasperated.
Between July and September, residents called 911, emailed the councillor, reported to 311 and their community police officer about
:
* Dangerous driving – a man who appeared to be on drugs backed right into the city's planters, then got out to ask why the planters are there; another car raced down the street going what seemed like 100 kilometres per hour.
According to the resident, the man was amazed when told the planters were there to stop speeding.
*Crime – drug deals, 🞵🞵🞵 workers and johns, one resident was threatened by a man who said he would put a bullet in her head; gunshots have also been reported; porch chairs stolen; open drug use constantly seen
*Fights – Three men got into an argument shouting, swearing and fighting in front of a resident’s house at 12:30 a.m.
*Property standards – garbage strewn across the area and broken glass and graffiti
Greer-Close said this is a typical list of problems, mostly occurring Thursday to Saturday between 11 p.m. to 3 a.m.
http://www.ottawacommunitynews.com/news-...o-looking-into-street-closure-in-vanier/
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