City planners flagged costly challenges for Algonquins of Ontario vision as project team soothes concerns
Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Jan 28, 2021 • 28 minutes ago • 4 minute read
The rural-east land eyed by the Algonquins of Ontario for a new community could bring heavy costs because of a lack of water and wastewater infrastructure, no nearby public transit and highly sensitive ground conditions for construction, according to a city analysis of the site.
Those were some of the reasons why city planners marked the area as Category 3 land requiring “significant research, analysis and investment” if council wants to wrap the urban boundary around the site.
Lands judged as being Category 1 land were recommended for inclusion in an expanded urban boundary, largely because of less demand on city services.
This week, a joint committee of city council’s planning leaders decided the Algonquin lands should be treated like Category 1 land and brought inside the urban boundary as an acknowledgement of the city’s reconciliation efforts with Indigenous peoples.
The Algonquins of Ontario and its development partner, Taggart Investments, believe costs to municipal taxpayers will be mitigated by their own funding and creative development-related charges to cover public transit costs.
A closer look at the staff evaluation of the land — generally located south of Highway 417 between Bank Street and Boundary Road — reveals why city planners believed there would be significant challenges to building a new community in the area.
The Algonquins of Ontario and Taggart want to build a community called Tewin (which means “home”) using the guiding values of the Algonquin culture. The community could have 35,000-45,000 residents. The cornerstone of the Tewin development plan is a focus on being a One Planet Living community of sustainability.
The city considers 2,100 hectares of the 3,600 hectares of Tewin land “developable,” though the Algonquins of Ontario have told councillors it needs 500 hectares as part of the current urban boundary expansion.
The joint committee is recommending that council assign 445 hectares to Tewin.
In an evaluation of the land, the city observed there was no nearby water transmission main or sanitary collection system. The ground conditions, which include marine clay, would require all homes to have sump pumps, the city observed.
Stormwater runoff would empty into a watercourse with “sensitive valley slopes and insufficient outlet downstream,” the evaluation said.
The city pointed out a “very expensive and challenging construction” for water lines, which would add up to 20 kilometres of pipe.
“During the initial buildout of the community water quality would be a concern, which would result in greater operational costs and significant wasting of water due to the expected system flushing requirements,” the evaluation said.
Staff also said a roughly 8.3-kilometre-long sanitary sewer would come with additional maintenance costs early in the build-out because of low flows and sedimentation.
When it comes to transportation, the evaluation noted that the Tewin site is located far from existing and planned high-capacity public transit. Highway 417 would be a big help for motorists, and potentially buses, but some rural roads would need to be brought up to the standard of an urban arterial road, including in the greenbelt, the evaluation said.
The Tewin project team addressed the concerns on Thursday, saying there will be infrastructure costs covered by the project team, including costs related to the watermain system and any necessary quality management.
Upgraded water infrastructure will eliminate the existing trickle feed system, save the city million of dollars in maintenance costs and put an end to chlorinated drinking water pouring into the watershed, the project team said.
When it comes to the sanitary sewer, the project team said “the proposed trunk sewer connection to the South Ottawa tunnel takes advantage of one of the most under-utilized pieces of existing wastewater infrastructure in Ottawa.” The existing tunnel has reserve capacity for a development like Tewin and fulfills the original design intent from the 1970s, and there will be an operations plan, the project team said.
There will be no cost to municipal taxpayers for water or wastewater servicing, according to the project team.
As for the delicate soil conditions, the project team said they’re similar to communities like Half Moon Bay in Nepean, Avalon in Orléans, and Eastboro in Navan.
Two engineering firms agreed that “Tewin is capable of being engineered from a geotechnical perspective similar to what has been previously undertaken in those and many other communities,” the project team said, adding that the requirements for sump pumps would be determined through the planning process.
The project team said it would assume costs related to constructing stormwater management facilities while pointing out the One Planet Living philosophy calls for sensitivity to watercourses.
And, the project team believes it has come up with a way to help fund OC Transpo service to and from Tewin.
“The Tewin Transit Strategy commits to excellent transit service, day one, supporting a culture of transit ridership at no added cost to the taxpayer. Tewin will pay for this service through a first-of-its-kind area-specific transit development charge,” the project team said.
The Tewin plan envisions the community to integrate with the larger transit network and become part of an east-end transit loop.
Councillors have heard from residents and advocacy groups about the dangers of allowing development in far-reaching parts of the city. When the joint committee met in May 2020 to consider expanding the urban boundary, it heard from several public delegates warning the city about the cost of urban sprawl.
Council will decide on Feb. 10 if the Tewin lands should be included in the urban boundary expansion as part of a new official plan.
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