Bayview development spurs creation of advisory team
Retail addition, loss of green space at centre of brainstorming session
By Erin McCracken, Ottawa South News
December 5, 2016
An advisory team is being pulled together to work with River Ward’s councillor and the developer of the vacant Bayview site before concept plans for the site are set in stone.
The group will be made up of Riverside Park residents and members of the Riverside Park Recreation and Community Association, who will be tasked “to try and get what’s best for the community,” Craig Searle, vice-president of the association, said during a community meeting that drew an estimated 90 people to the Riverside Churches on Nov. 30 to discuss changes made to the Bayview concept plan earlier this year.
“Maybe we’ll have an impact of where things go and tweak them,” said Searle, who walked residents through changes made to a community concept plan for the 4.3-hectare parcel on Riverside Drive.
Many residents are upset the plan, which was approved by council in 2009, now makes room for ground-floor retail shops fronting Riverside Drive, that a multi-use park replaces a field house and sports field and that green space has been scaled back.
Carolyn Percy-Searle, who has lived in the area for 32 years, said while it is “a blessing” the density is not higher than six storeys, the addition of a commercial component will bring more traffic.
“I moved to this neighbourhood because of the green space,” she said. “We want our parks protected.
“But to have a strip mall on Riverside Drive is idiotic.” she said, drawing applause. “We don’t need a library. We don’t need stores. We need our green space.”
Tracy Murray said she moved to the neighbourhood 25 years ago largely because of the quiet and green space.
She said the addition of retail will add to the problem of cut-through traffic.
“Something’s got to give,” she said. “When I hear other people talk of having more retail, it’s not something I would want to see.”
Laura Duliner added her voice to the chorus by asking what kind of retail is planned. Those details have yet to be disclosed, but city staff insist there won’t be a strip mall and that R5 zoning includes ancillary or local, small-scale commercial or service use, such as a florist shop, laundromat, newsstand, medical facility, veterinarian clinic and office space.
Considering there are vacancies in the nearby Riverside Mall, Duliner said “I question the appropriateness from a marketing point of view of commercial and retail. I’m also very concerned how the traffic situation comes into play in all this.”
She is also against the impact to the view of Mooney’s Bay.
“The prime view” is the reason why the advisory group will try and have the commercial element located deeper into the property away from the main road, said Searle.
But Heather Parker had a different take.
Citing a provincial policy statement that sets out official plan guidelines, she said the goals of that include a mix of housing and employment in communities to shorten commutes and reduce congestion.
“So we’re trying to get more planning so that people will walk to places instead of having to rely on their cars all the time,” Parker said.
Riverside Park suffers from a lack of retail, which needs to change for current and future generations.
“We’re forcing them to have to buy a car so that they can go to South Keys or whatever to do … really basic shopping because we don’t have these kinds of services in our community,” she said, adding that small shops in Westboro and the Glebe are good examples of a model that would work.
In response to concerns raised, River Coun. Riley Brockington noted that public consultation meetings will be triggered when the developer submits zoning, subdivision and site plan applications.
As well, he said the multi-use park at the site will be developed based on community feedback.
“You need to speak up,” he said.
The councillor said he plans to meet with the developer once he knows who it is, but in the meantime he has been assured the buyer is “keen to meet with us.”
“The intent is to have preliminary discussions with the community,” Brockington said.
Erin McCracken is a reporter/photographer with Metroland Media’s Ottawa South News. She can be reached at
[email protected].
http://www.ottawacommunitynews.com/news-...lopment-spurs-creation-of-advisory-team/
Threaded Mode