General Ottawa Planning Issues

[rocketphish]

Why a 4-storey apartment could be coming to a residential street near you
Task force's draft report makes 58 recommendations on improving housing supply

Joanne Chianello · CBC News
Posted: Jan 24, 2022 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

The task force asked to find ways to make Ontario housing more affordable wants to do away with rules that entrench single-family homes as the main option in many residential neighbourhoods, according to a draft report.

The nine-member Housing Affordability Task Force, chaired by Scotiabank CEO Jake Lawrence, wants to "create a more permissive land use, planning, and approvals systems" and throw out rules that stifle change or growth — including ones that protect the "character" of neighbourhoods across the province.

The wide-ranging 31-page draft report, which is making the rounds in municipal planning circles and could look much different when it's officially released Jan. 31, makes 58 recommendations.

It includes discussions on speeding up approval processes, waiving development charges for infill projects, allowing vacant commercial property owners to transition to residential units, and letting urban boundaries expand "efficiently and effectively."

It also calls for all municipalities — and building code regulations — not to make it just easier for homeowners to add secondary suites, garden homes, and laneway houses to their properties, but also to increase height, size and density along "all major and minor arterials and transit corridors" in the form of condo and apartment towers.

But perhaps the most controversial recommendation is the one to virtually do away with so-called exclusionary zoning, which allows only a single-family detached home to be built on a property.

Instead, the task force recommends that in municipalities with a population of more than 100,000, the province should "allow any type of residential housing up to four storeys and four units on a single residential lot," subject to urban design guidance that's yet to be defined.

According to the report, Ontario lags behind many other G7 countries when it comes to the number of dwellings per capita. And housing advocates have long argued that more modest-projects — duplexes, triplexes, tiny homes and townhouses — are needed in established neighbourhoods, especially if the environmental and infrastructure costs of sprawl are to be avoided.

But neighbourhood infill and intensification is often a hard political sell.

"While everyone might agree that we have a housing crisis, that we have a climate emergency, nobody wants to see their neighbourhoods change," said Coun. Glen Gower, who co-chairs Ottawa's planning committee. "So that's really the challenge that we're dealing with in Ottawa and in Ontario."

After last week's housing summit with Ontario's big city mayors, reporters repeatedly asked Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark if he supported doing away with zoning for single-detached homes, as other jurisdictions like Edmonton and major New Zealand cities have done.

Clark said he'd heard the idea but did not give a direct answer one way or the other.

Many of the recommendations revolve around making it easier and faster for builders to construct homes.

According to the draft report, not only would a streamlined process allow dwellings to get on the market faster, but reducing approval times would also save developers money which, in theory, could be passed onto residents.

The report cites an Ontario Association of Architects study from 2018 showing that costs for a 100-unit condo building increase by $193,000 for every month the project is delayed.

That's why, for example, the task force is recommending that any "underutilized or redundant commercial properties" be allowed to be converted to residential units without municipal approvals.

The draft report also calls for quasi-automatic approval for projects up to 10 units that conform to existing official plans and zoning, and goes so far to recommend that municipalities "disallow public consultations" for these applications.

The report speaks to reducing what the task force characterizes as "NIMBY" factors in planning decisions, recommending the province set Ontario-wide standards for specifics like setbacks, shadow rules and front doors, while excluding details like exterior colour and building materials from the approval process.

The task force would even eliminate minimum parking requirements for new projects.

The report touches on a number of subjects it believes unnecessarily delay the building of new homes, including how plans approved by city councils can be appealed.

It recommends the province restore the right of developers to appeal official plans — a power that was removed by the previous Liberal government.

And in an effort to eliminate what it calls "nuisance" appeals, the task force recommends that the fee a third party — such as a community group — pays to appeal projects to the Ontario Land Tribunal should be increased from the current $400 to $10,000.

That doesn't sit well with NDP MPP Jessica Bell, the party's housing critic.

"My initial take is that any attempt to make the land tribunal even more difficult for residents to access is concerning," said Bell, adding the NDP is asking stakeholders and community members for feedback.

The tribunal can overturn a municipal council's "democratically decided law," she said, "and I would be pretty concerned if it costs $10,000 for a third party to go to the land tribunal and bring up some valid evidence."

While she was pleased to see the task force address zoning reform to encourage the construction of townhomes, duplexes and triplexes in existing neighbourhoods — the so-called "missing middle" between single-family homes and condo towers — Bell said increasing supply is not enough to improve housing for all Ontarians.

"We need government investment in affordable housing," she said.

"We need better protections for renters, and we need measures to clamp down on speculation in the housing market … We need a more holistic and comprehensive approach than what we are seeing in this draft report right now."

(While the task force was directed by the province to focus on increasing the housing supply through private builders, it acknowledges in the report that "Ontario's affordable housing shortfall was raised in almost every conversation" with stakeholders.)

From his first reading of the report, Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreiner agreed with the zoning recommendations but said streamlined processes need to be balanced with maintaining public consultations and heritage designations.

"One of my concerns with my very quick read of the draft report is that it talks about expanding urban boundaries … and I'm opposed to that," he told CBC.

"We simply can't keep paving over the farmland that feeds us, the wetlands that clean our drinking water [and] protect us from flooding, especially when we already have about 88,000 acres within existing urban boundaries in southern Ontario available for development," he said.

Schreiner said he's also "deeply concerned" that the report discusses aligning housing development with the province's plan for Highway 413 in the GTA.

"I simply don't think we can spend over $10 billion to build a highway that will supercharge climate pollution, supercharge sprawl, making life less affordable for people and paving over 2,000 acres of farmland, 400 acres of the Greenbelt and crossing over 85 waterways," he said.

According to the draft, the task force consulted with builders, planners, architects, realtors, labour unions, social justice advocates, municipal politicians, academics, researchers and planners.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/draft-report-housing-task-force-ontario-1.6324869

[SL123]

lots of interesting bits in there like this one "The task force would even eliminate minimum parking requirements for new projects." We definitely need a reform.

[Proof Sheet]

Wait until the homeowners of Westboro, the Glebe and the Bulldog provide their feedback.

Four storey buildings or 4 unit buildings are a great idea...just not on my street etc.

[rocketphish]

Planning committee struggles for 'balance' in redevelopment projects kicking out tenants
The city doesn't yet have an inclusionary zoning policy that mandates affordable housing in new developments.

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Jan 27, 2022 • 13 hours ago • 3 minute read

The city’s planning committee has entered new territory trying to protect tenants of affordable homes while considering proposals that would add more units in redevelopment schemes, a committee co-chair says.

Coun. Glen Gower says the city is “flying blind” trying to help tenants of buildings slated for demolition to make way for new residential developments, which boost the number of homes through intensification.

“There’s also a human impact to that and I think this is an area all of us are trying to find the right balance,” Gower said during a committee meeting Thursday before councillors approved a development application for 641 Rideau St., just west of the Rideau River.

Theberge Homes proposes a 25-storey, 311-unit apartment tower with a four-level, 228-spot underground parking garage. The project, which has the support of city planning staff, requires amendments to the zoning bylaw and official plan to allow the proposed high rise and density.

There are currently five three-storey apartment buildings on the site that would need to be demolished. Those units have rents in the $1,500 range, property owner Joey Theberge said.

The committee heard from one of the tenants, Darin Lowey, who dismissed the redevelopment plan as a “demoviction.”

Lowey, who has lived there for 18 years, said rental prices for comparable units were unaffordable.

“Working-class people shouldn’t live in fear of homelessness,” Lowey said.

People who live on the south side of Rideau Street also aren’t thrilled about the development.

Andrea Harrison said the historic triplex she owns with her husband is directly across the street from the development site.

Harrison said the construction would create turmoil for them and their tenants and the new tower would loom over the community

“It will shut down the last piece of northern skyline in the area,” Harrison said.

“It will overpower anything in the area,” added Michael Barnes, a board member of Action Sandy Hill.

Coun. Shawn Menard said he was less concerned about the height than the displacement of tenants at the current apartments.

“There should be affordable housing here,” Menard said.

The city doesn’t yet have an inclusionary zoning policy that mandates affordable housing in new developments.

While a $797,933 agreement under Section 37 of the Ontario Planning Act would help improve parks, road safety and cycling/pedestrian connections in the area, Menard said he was disappointed there was no contribution to an affordable housing fund.

However, Coun. Mathieu Fleury, who represents the area, helped strike a deal with the developer.

There’s no official planning mechanism the city can use to force a developer to make commitments for existing tenants, but Theberge expressed support for subsidizing tenants’ rent differential at other units for one year, covering their relocation costs and giving them the right of first refusal on units in the new tower.

Committee members pushed harder for more tenant protections.

Coun. Jeff Leiper wanted Theberge to cover tenants’ rent differential for five years, while Menard wanted the developer to match the length of the rent differential payments to the time tenants have lived in the existing apartments.

Theberge said most of the units were rented by students for short periods.

The details of the memorandum of understanding still need to be worked out before council considers the staff-recommended planning amendments.

Menard was the only committee member who dissented on the staff recommendations, but he said he might change his vote when the application comes to council on Feb. 9, based on what’s in the memorandum of understanding.

Social justice organization ACORN has rallied against redevelopment projects that remove affordable homes from the rental market.

The planning committee is also expected to consider an application by a different developer to demolish a low-rise apartment on Nepean Street in Centretown to allow a parking lot . In that case, the developer is offering tenants the same rent price for two years at units in other buildings, plus relocation expenses.

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...development-projects-kicking-out-tenants

[rocketphish]

Are we about to totally mess up Ottawa again?
The headline to all of this — t'was ever thus — is Crown versus Town aspirations that appear to exist in silos.

Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Feb 25, 2022 • 1 hour ago • 3 minute read

It’s been a wild news cycle in 2022 — the Eastway Tank tragedy, the trucker convoy, wall-to-wall emergencies, a Ukraine crisis — so little things have slipped by.

Like the future of Ottawa: Are we on the verge of botching it? Several city-building issues are creeping up on us, coming ripe at the same time, but on separate branches without much attention to whether the moving parts fit together.

Monday is the deadline for “expressions of interest” for two large parcels of empty land at LeBreton Flats, 6.3 and 1.2 acres. So there’s one piece. The joint archives/central library project has shovels in the ground on the eastern Flats, where primary housing builders have also been chosen. That’s another.

The City of Ottawa is undergoing a rethink of the Civic Centre arena and north-side stands at Lansdowne Park, with an eye on demolition. Another slice. The Ottawa Hospital is about to break ground on its massive parking garage for the new Civic campus near Dow’s Lake. Another big piece.

Tunney’s Pasture is being rethought, and about time. Slice. There is a re-imagining of almost 500 acres at Confederation Heights, centred at Heron and Riverside. Potentially massive slice.

We’re also completing Stage 2 of LRT as a $4.6-billion commuting spine for workers who may never commute in the same way, ever again. And now we’re in the early wrestling about the future of Wellington Street.

The headline to all of this — t’was ever thus — is Crown versus Town aspirations that appear to exist in silos. Take Lansdowne Park, say, and subject it to the magic of broader possibilities.

If the north side of the stadium, opened in 1967, is demolished, it opens many avenues, including more “air-rights” housing in a redesigned complex, and moving a smaller Civic Centre off-site altogether.

Would a 5,000 to 8,000-seat stadium (as the city wants) work better on LeBreton Flats, for instance, in some kind of city-federal project that would be the anchor it has long been after, served by two LRT stations, with a heavy community-use component?

(We asked the Ottawa Senators if they were among those submitting an “expression of interest” on the Flats parcels, but did not hear back.) Or could a new Civic Centre be moved to metro Confederation Heights?

The point is plain: The possibilities widen if the two levels of government plan together and the NCC stops shackling itself with unrealistic “national interest” imperatives in looking at land-use ideas.

Back up for a second and appreciate why this matters. Why wasn’t LeBreton considered as a site for the new Civic? The land was essentially “stolen” from working-class local people. What better way to repay their descendants than to build a heath-care institution that will tend to the sick — the local sick! — for generations.

(It was not on the list of 12 potential sites when the NCC first chose Tunney’s Pasture as the best location in 2016, a decision that didn’t stand for a week.)

Instead, we ended up with a compromise site that will, among other weaknesses, rob much-needed green space from hundreds of new high-rise dwellers in the Preston and Carling area.

(This is too often planning in Ottawa: A blindfolded man is walking towards a cliff, everyone is yelling “Stop,” until he takes that last step and, whoosh, he’s gone, deaf to the end.)

As for the NCC, well, we shall see. You do wonder what happens if the smaller chunk (1.2 acres) is assigned to a private interest, but the larger one sits idle? Does that leave enough room for a big venue, like an 18,000-seat arena, and are the two adjacent uses compatible?

(Remember, too, there are some 7,000-plus new residents to be squeezed in somewhere in the Flats area. This makes sense anymore?)

If you take a longer look at the history of urban planning in Ottawa, it can be broken into pieces: a) founding of 1855 to the Gréber Report, b) Gréber’s main chess-piece moves (parkways, rail relocation, Greenbelt), a post-war housing boom; c) expanding federal presence (multiple centennial projects), Place du Portage, museums, NAC, National Gallery; and now d) LRT and how to replace the major, end-of-life builds from the 1967 era.

The lesson, though — one we can’t seem to take to heart — is that somebody should be looking at all the moving pieces, no matter who “owns” the land. (And, hello, we own the land.)

At street level, there’s really no federal and municipal. There’s just Ottawa, there’s just us — living with past mistakes, not even seeing new ones coming.

To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-291-6265 or email [email protected]
Twitter.com/kellyegancolumn

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/egan-are-we-about-to-totally-mess-up-ottawa-again

[Harley613]

This is the first I've heard about 'There is a re-imagining of almost 500 acres at Confederation Heights, centred at Heron and Riverside. Potentially massive slice.'

[TransitZilla]

Originally Posted by Harley613

This is the first I've heard about 'There is a re-imagining of almost 500 acres at Confederation Heights, centred at Heron and Riverside. Potentially massive slice.'

https://engage.clc-sic.ca/realize-the-potential

There was an initial public meeting in November.

[Harley613]

Originally Posted by TransitZilla

https://engage.clc-sic.ca/realize-the-potential

There was an initial public meeting in November.

Awesome thanks!

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by TransitZilla

https://engage.clc-sic.ca/realize-the-potential

There was an initial public meeting in November.

Is there a thread for this? If not, should we create one or is it too soon?

[JHikka]

This thread?

[rocketphish]

City fights to retain local planning powers in response to provincial housing task force
There are several recommendations from the task force that received pushback from the city as it fights to retain municipal control over land-use decisions under provincial planning law.

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Mar 01, 2022 • 59 minutes ago • 3 minute read

The City of Ottawa is defending the local planning process in response to a report by a provincial task force recommending ways to increase the number of homes and make housing more affordable in Ontario.

The city says it disagrees “with those recommendations that completely remove local context considerations” or create “barriers to participation in the development approvals process,” according to a response to the task force’s recommendations submitted to city council on Monday by Steve Willis, Ottawa’s general manager of planning.

Willis wants council to endorse the position proposed by city staff now that they have reviewed all 55 recommendations from the task force.

The Ontario Progressive Conservative government created the housing affordability task force in December and a report with the recommendations was published in February.

The task force recommended a provincial target of building 1.5 million homes over 10 years, a goal that the City of Ottawa calls “incredibly ambitious.”

The city finished a lengthy process to create a new official plan last fall and the council-approved document is awaiting approval by the provincial government.

The city says the new official plan, which calls for more than half of all new homes to be built through intensification in existing communities, responds to issues brought up by the task force.

“The city does not support recommendations in the report that would rush development applications or create efficiencies at the expense of meaningful engagement,” according to the report submitted by Willis.

There are several recommendations from the task force that received pushback from the city as it fights to retain municipal control over land-use decisions under provincial planning law.

The task force suggests allowing residential buildings up to four storeys and four units on a single lot, but the city doesn’t like that such a decision would be imposed on municipalities.

The task force says municipal planning policies attempting to preserve neighbourhood character should be repealed. The city doesn’t agree.

“Individual municipalities are in the best position to identify which of their tools are working and which are being used as barriers to intensification. The city believes that intensification can be achieved while preserving character,” the city’s response says.

The city also doesn’t like the task force’s idea of giving developers automatic approvals for projects if legislated timelines for application decisions aren’t met.

There are several task force recommendations with which the city agrees, like converting underused commercial properties to residential uses and allowing secondary suites and garden homes “as-of-right,” meaning a property owner doesn’t need regulatory permission.

The city is also OK with providing incentives for increasing density near schools with excess capacity.

But the tone of the city’s response comes back to maintaining local control over planning decisions.

Where the task force recommends unlimited building heights and density near major transit stations if municipal zoning isn’t sufficient to meet density targets, the city argues the ultimate decision should be made locally, even if the city agrees with the idea of increased height at transit stations.

The city also wants to retain decisions over building heights along streets with public transit as the task force calls for as-of-right zoning between six and 11 storeys along those corridors.

The city observes that the task force report’s “primary limitation” is the shortage of measures to increase affordable housing for low-income residents, which is a front-burner issue for Ottawa as the city sees homelessness increase.

The task force report “does not meaningfully account for other legislative tools like inclusionary zoning, interjurisdictional partnerships, or public-private partnerships that could also support affordable housing development,” the city says.

A local inclusionary zoning policy, which is expected to mandate affordable units in residential projects, is under development by the city.

The planning committee will consider the city’s response to the task force report on March 10 and send a recommendation to council.

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...esponse-to-provincial-housing-task-force

[rocketphish]

And here's the Report of the Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force:

https://files.ontario.ca/mmah-housing-affordability-task-force-report-en-2022-02-07-v2.pdf

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

City fights to retain local planning powers in response to provincial housing task force
There are several recommendations from the task force that received pushback from the city as it fights to retain municipal control over land-use decisions under provincial planning law.

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Mar 01, 2022 • 59 minutes ago • 3 minute read

The City of Ottawa is defending the local planning process in response to a report by a provincial task force recommending ways to increase the number of homes and make housing more affordable in Ontario.

The city says it disagrees “with those recommendations that completely remove local context considerations” or create “barriers to participation in the development approvals process,” according to a response to the task force’s recommendations submitted to city council on Monday by Steve Willis, Ottawa’s general manager of planning.

Willis wants council to endorse the position proposed by city staff now that they have reviewed all 55 recommendations from the task force.

The Ontario Progressive Conservative government created the housing affordability task force in December and a report with the recommendations was published in February.

The task force recommended a provincial target of building 1.5 million homes over 10 years, a goal that the City of Ottawa calls “incredibly ambitious.”

The city finished a lengthy process to create a new official plan last fall and the council-approved document is awaiting approval by the provincial government.

The city says the new official plan, which calls for more than half of all new homes to be built through intensification in existing communities, responds to issues brought up by the task force.

“The city does not support recommendations in the report that would rush development applications or create efficiencies at the expense of meaningful engagement,” according to the report submitted by Willis.

There are several recommendations from the task force that received pushback from the city as it fights to retain municipal control over land-use decisions under provincial planning law.

The task force suggests allowing residential buildings up to four storeys and four units on a single lot, but the city doesn’t like that such a decision would be imposed on municipalities.

The task force says municipal planning policies attempting to preserve neighbourhood character should be repealed. The city doesn’t agree.

“Individual municipalities are in the best position to identify which of their tools are working and which are being used as barriers to intensification. The city believes that intensification can be achieved while preserving character,” the city’s response says.

The city also doesn’t like the task force’s idea of giving developers automatic approvals for projects if legislated timelines for application decisions aren’t met.

There are several task force recommendations with which the city agrees, like converting underused commercial properties to residential uses and allowing secondary suites and garden homes “as-of-right,” meaning a property owner doesn’t need regulatory permission.

The city is also OK with providing incentives for increasing density near schools with excess capacity.

But the tone of the city’s response comes back to maintaining local control over planning decisions.

Where the task force recommends unlimited building heights and density near major transit stations if municipal zoning isn’t sufficient to meet density targets, the city argues the ultimate decision should be made locally, even if the city agrees with the idea of increased height at transit stations.

The city also wants to retain decisions over building heights along streets with public transit as the task force calls for as-of-right zoning between six and 11 storeys along those corridors.

The city observes that the task force report’s “primary limitation” is the shortage of measures to increase affordable housing for low-income residents, which is a front-burner issue for Ottawa as the city sees homelessness increase.

The task force report “does not meaningfully account for other legislative tools like inclusionary zoning, interjurisdictional partnerships, or public-private partnerships that could also support affordable housing development,” the city says.

A local inclusionary zoning policy, which is expected to mandate affordable units in residential projects, is under development by the city.

The planning committee will consider the city’s response to the task force report on March 10 and send a recommendation to council.

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...esponse-to-provincial-housing-task-force

None of this surprises me. I deal with City Planning often and there isn't a process that they are in favour of missing. So much of the review is redundant, communication is so broken and fractured and with almost all staff only accessible via email the timelines consistently get extended which as we all know increases costs.

Years ago, when the province was trying to roll out the Development Approvals process (which Carleton Place and a few other municipalities took up), the City of Ottawa Planning Department had a table at the seminar put on by the province. The Planning Manager there basically refuted any of the supposed time and cost savings that the system would bring as it would take away their powers. It is a real 'father knows best' attitude.

Has anyone ever said, "I loved dealing with City Planning' :?

[bartlebooth]

I personally don't want to cede more power to developers. Not all are bad but regulating them less seems like a bad idea to me.

I haven't read the full report yet but there isn't any mention about the fact that 25% of Ontarian's own more than one property. That's a major part of the affordability problem in my eyes. How can we guarantee that adding more housing to the market won't just end up in the hands of people that already own one or more properties?

[rocketphish]

City of Ottawa doesn't want to lose local planning powers to province
Ottawa's planning department skeptical same rules can apply to all Ontario cities, towns

Kate Porter · CBC News
Posted: Mar 04, 2022 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

The City of Ottawa could lose some local control over how future developments and buildings fit into existing neighbourhoods if the Ontario government were to enact sweeping recommendations from its housing task force, according to this city's chief planner.

The ability to preserve a neighbourhood's character was a key concern for residents during the two years of debate that led to Ottawa's new official plan. Some of the compromises made — especially over building heights along certain roads — would be supplanted by Ontario-wide rules if a few of the task force's recommendations were enacted.

That task force struck by Premier Doug Ford made 55 recommendations in all as part of a report published a little less than a month ago. Ford wanted to find ways to boost housing supply and the report determined 1.5 million more homes were needed in Ontario for buyers and renters.

That's a "very ambitious target" for housing construction, said Stephen Willis, Ottawa's general manager of planning, real estate and economic development.

The city takes no issue with the push to build more densely, especially near transit, or recommendations to allow underused commercial buildings to be converted for homes, he said.

"If you look at the report, much of what they're recommending we just did in our official plan," said Willis, who took part in the provincial consultations that fed into the report.

Many of the suggestions from the provincial report would have a big impact on city finances and operations.

Some would strip the city of existing zoning and site plan tools, said Willis, such as the "streetscape character analysis" it uses to help infill developments blend into existing neighbourhoods.

"When Ottawa's actually doing what they want, we don't want those powers taken away from us," said Willis. "I don't think you can set a set of rules that are the same in Kenora and in Ottawa."

One recommendation calls for zoning to allow property owners the right to build six- to 11-storeys on any street that has a public transit route. City staff say that decision should be made locally and not imposed by the province.

Just last fall Ottawa decided zoning for "minor corridors" should be limited to four storeys — although main streets could allow up to 40.

Jason Burggraaf, executive director of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders' Association, says he would welcome taller buildings on transit routes because it "brings those units back into the fold, which we desperately need."

Burggraaf said some recommendations could help spur more of the so-called "missing middle" style of housing the city has long sought: housing that is neither a highrise apartment building nor a single-detached home.

He pointed to a recommendation that would waive development charges for new buildings of up to 10 units, but that's one of the recommendations the city rejects. It needs those fees to pay for new infrastructure, staff say.

Willis is also concerned about the task force recommendation to override any local policies to protect heritage areas — the task force said heritage preservation and registers had "become a tool to block more housing."

Even though the Ford government has less than three months before the June 2 provincial election, it is still expected to table legislation to change at least some of the rules governing development and planning approvals before the legislature rises.

That's why Willis will lay out Ottawa's position on each of the 55 recommendations in a report that heads to the planning committee next week.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/city-ottawa-response-provincial-housing-task-force-1.6371503

[rocketphish]

City committee to debate stronger green-building standards in Ottawa
Focus on new developments follows Toronto's lead as buildings are big emitters of greenhouse gases

Kate Porter · CBC News
Posted: Mar 05, 2022 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 9 hours ago

The City of Ottawa wants all new subdivisions and larger developments to meet a new, stronger set of municipal green-building standards.

When city council approved tougher targets a few years ago for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and a road map to reach net-zero by 2050, city staff started working on standards aimed at one of two main sources of emissions locally: buildings.

It's easier to design a new building to be energy efficient from the get-go than to retrofit older buildings, staff note in a report that goes to the city's planning committee on March 10.

City staff have crafted a "high performance development standard" for Ottawa, which they anticipate would take effect in a bylaw on June 1. They based it on the Toronto Green Standard, which that city has used since 2010, and say the provincial Planning Act gives municipalities the authority to roll out such rules.

During consultations some environmental advocates felt it didn't go far enough, city staff note, while the construction industry felt they would be too hard to hit and would add costs. Delegations can sign up to five-minute presentations to planning committee next week.

The new rules would not apply to projects that need only a building permit, or small residential infill projects or low- or mid-rise buildings.

Larger buildings that require the city to approve a site plan would have 15 new metrics to meet, though. They would have to show a building would use only so many kilowatt hours of energy per year, for instance.

Other rules would lead to more bird-friendly glass, green roofs, and high-quality soil for street trees while not planting any invasive plant species.

Subdivisions would have three metrics, such as submitting a "community energy plan." It would give scenarios for how much energy the community would use, and show how that could be reduced through high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, overhangs to shade from the sun, and preparing for electric vehicles, for instance.

To push builders to hit even loftier goals, staff intend to come up with financial incentives by the spring of 2023. They also anticipate this new standard will need updating to get to its ultimate goal of net-zero emissions, so versions two and three are already anticipated for 2026 and 2030.

All of these steps only relate to the exterior, and are separate from the specific construction criteria of Ontario's building code. Staff recommend Mayor Jim Watson also write the Ontario government to update those rules to align with climate change targets.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-high-performance-development-standard-report-1.6354176

[DarthVader_1961]

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/info/2022/03...sport-commun-changements-climatiques/en/

[rocketphish]

Councillors urged not to 'battle' province over housing ideas as city frets over losing planning powers

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Mar 10, 2022 • 11 hours ago • 3 minute read

Public delegates and councillors expressed fear during an Ottawa planning committee meeting on Thursday that municipalities will lose control over residential development as the city eagerly awaits the Ontario government’s big move to address home affordability.

But some delegates urged councillors to agree with recommendations in a provincial housing affordability task force so more homes could be built quickly.

Dean Tester, who helped start a local group called Make Housing Affordable, told councillors about his problems trying to find a home to buy and urged them to “not go to battle with the province” while trying to protect a “broken” planning system.

Tester said he and his wife recently made an offer on a “starter condo” in Kanata, but the winning buyer paid more than $200,000 over the listing price.

Patrick Sylvain talked about the growing rental costs in Ottawa, noting that the high costs of buying residential properties would be passed on to tenants.

Sylvain criticized the city’s new official plan for using “loose qualitative wording” about what kind of density there could be in neighbourhoods. On the other hand, the provincial task force has mused about allowing four storeys and four units on single lots as a blanket policy.

The task force made 55 recommendations to build 1.5 million homes in Ontario over 10 years, and, while the City of Ottawa agrees with many of the ideas, it takes issue with several proposals that would dramatically impact and in some cases override the municipal planning process. The city doesn’t agree with 11 recommendations.

Among the city’s main grievances is the fact council recently approved a new official plan with policies that, in the city’s opinion, respond to the province’s goal of increasing housing supply.

The official plan responds to a projected population increase of 400,000 through to 2046 and recommends that the majority of new homes are built through intensification, with the target increasing to 60 per cent in the plan’s last five years.

“Council did it the Ottawa way and customized it to local conditions,” said Stephen Willis, the city’s general manager of planning, real estate and economic development.

Willis acknowledged “choke points” in the local approval process and he said he was mindful of increasing home prices, but he defended the work of the municipal planning activities.

City planning staff have been researching the surge in Ottawa housing prices and have found the same reasons that counterparts have discovered across Canada. Baby boomers are still in their homes and millennials are trying to find homes to buy, reducing what Willis called the “natural migration” through the housing market.

The “sleeper factor,” Willis said, is people moving to Ontario from other provinces. The pandemic has also been contributing to the crowded market, with current homeowners looking to “trade up,” he said.

Willis said the city’s position had not been to eliminate the “R1” zone, which is the density classification permitting only single-unit homes.

However, one of the committee’s co-chairs, Coun. Scott Moffatt, said the city should consider ending R1 to meet its aggressive intensification targets.

Community associations across Ottawa are worried about the Ontario Progressive Conservative government’s plans to act on the task force’s recommendations, potentially altering the character of their neighbourhoods.

Laura Urrechaga of the Old Ottawa South Community Association criticized task force recommendations attempting to reduce the amount of community consultation in development proposals. Urrechaga said there was a “bias” favouring the development industry in the task force’s report.

John Dance, the planning chair for the Old Ottawa East Community Association, said there were “gross deficiencies” in the task force report and he warned councillors about the threat posed to the character of neighbourhoods if the provincial recommendations were turned into law.

“Developers should not have the dominant hand,” Dance said.

Willis said there needed to be a quick turnaround for the city’s response because the province is keen on introducing legislation.

Council will need to endorse the committee’s recommendations on March 23 before staff send their response to the provincial government.

Later in the meeting, the planning committee approved applications proposing hundreds of new homes in Stittsville and Riverside South.

The committee also approved a residential redevelopment of the Canadian Nurses Association building on The Driveway in the Golden Triangle neighbourhood and a multi-tower project on Montreal Road near the Vanier Parkway.

A decision on a major transformation of the Manor Park community was delayed, however, due to the length of the meeting. A special meeting will be held on March 24 to discuss that redevelopment application.

Manor Park Management envisions 3,800 new homes replacing 654 aging townhouses in areas off St. Laurent Boulevard, north of Montreal Road, with new residential towers included in the development plan.

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https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...s-city-frets-over-losing-planning-powers

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Debate over 'inclusionary zoning' requiring affordable housing to be settled by next council
While adoption of this affordable housing planning tool draws closer, debate on its final form will stretch through the upcoming municipal election and culminate in a vote that will be the next council's to take.

Taylor Blewett, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Mar 14, 2022 • 4 hours ago • 4 minute read

City staff will present council members with a recommended plan this spring for the implementation of inclusionary zoning in Ottawa.

While adoption of this affordable housing planning tool draws closer, debate on its final form will stretch through the upcoming municipal election and culminate in a vote that will be the next council’s to take.

In a memo to council members last week, city general managers Stephen Willis (planning, real estate and economic development) and Donna Gray (community and social services) advised that their goal, in putting together an inclusionary zoning policy framework for Ottawa, is creating housing affordable for those in the 30th to 60th income percentiles (households with incomes higher than 30 per cent of the population and lower than the top 40 per cent of the population), and ensuring that new development in “protected major transit station areas,” which is where inclusionary zoning is permitted by the province, is “financially viable for the development industry.”

The challenge, the GMs explained, is that requiring that development proposals include affordable housing through inclusionary zoning (IZ) could delay or even kill development projects if, for example, the required discount for the rent or purchase price is too steep, or the number of affordable units demanded is too high.

“The current state of the local housing market is best described as ‘highly volatile’ with rapid escalation in housing price and rents across all demand sectors, and commensurate increases in construction and materials costs across the supply-side,” the GMs wrote. “These market forces create significant uncertainty and unknowns as to the actual ability for the industry to accept IZ rates and maintain viability and production of housing supply.”

Another consideration is the potential for developers to face multiple new costs at the same time due to other policy changes, such as a new community benefits charge, the memo noted.

“A cautious phase-in approach accompanied by monitoring is recommended to evaluate the impact of these changes on the market, the pace of development applications and the overall viability of projects moving forward.”

Sometime this spring, staff will present council a report outlining a recommended IZ framework, with proposed rates and percentages and other details about how the policy would work. A detailed implementation report and amending bylaws will be prepared for consideration in the next council term, after a “full public consultation.”

The addition of inclusionary zoning to the suite of local planning tools has been in the making for a while, (the mayor campaigned on it in 2018), and the long runway means stakeholders have had plenty of time to think through the implications and to watch what’s happened in Toronto.

In November, it became the first city in Ontario to adopt an IZ policy framework, which plans for five to 10 per cent affordable housing in condo developments over a certain size, in certain areas, starting this year, and growing to eight to 22 per cent affordable units by 2030. Exact affordable unit counts will depend on location and whether they’re planned for rental or ownership.

One of the questions that local developers have, according to Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association executive director Jason Burggraaf, is how the cost associated with providing subsidized units required by inclusionary zoning will be accounted for.

“Our overriding concern … is that the IZ bylaw is well-crafted, and is a partnership model between industry and the city rather than a burden to be completely taken on by new home buyers and renters,” he said, via email.

“The cost to build the units doesn’t go down simply because you want or direct subsidized units to be in a building. There are still all the normal hard and soft costs that come with construction.”

Housing policy consultant and researcher Steve Pomeroy contests the notion that developers have to pass on the price tag associated with subsidized housing to other end users. Between appreciation in housing prices and values associated with increased density, he sees plenty of room in the profit margins for developers to eat the cost of inclusionary zoning themselves. As for the fear that too much burden on developers could curtail supply and drive up prices further, Pomeroy says, “None of them are going to sit on their — and do nothing. … They will whine a lot, but they were still build.”

For Ray Sullivan, the first executive director of the Ottawa Community Land Trust, inclusionary zoning is an important tool — but important too is being clear about what it can actually accomplish.

“It’s not going to be a tool that can deliver deeply affordable housing. But at the same time, it’s not going to be this problem for the financial viability of development that some people are afraid of,” said Sullivan. “It’s a middle-ground policy that will be able to deliver a modest number of modestly affordable housing units.”

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...y-zoning-will-be-settled-by-next-council

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Doug Ford's plan to tackle home prices is coming today
Bill to tackle delays that slow down home construction and drive up prices, says official

Mike Crawley · CBC News
Posted: Mar 30, 2022 5:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Premier Doug Ford's government will on Wednesday unveil the first phase of its plan to deal with the skyrocketing cost of buying a home in Ontario, CBC News has learned.

The government will table a bill that takes aim at delays in city planning approvals slowing down home construction and driving up prices, said a senior provincial official with knowledge of the legislation.

The bill "lays the foundation" for what the official described as the government's long-term strategy to address the root causes of Ontario's housing problem.

While high housing prices are nothing new in the Greater Toronto Area, the cost of buying a home just about everywhere in Ontario is also soaring.

In 2021, the average sale price of homes in the province was 44 per cent higher than two years earlier, according to figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association.

The legislation is to be tabled Wednesday by Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark.

"The bill is really focused on making the planning process work better and smoother and faster," said the official. The legislation also includes measures that make it easier to build affordable housing and to preserve Ontario's existing stock of affordable housing, the official added.

The measures come after a provincially appointed task force on housing affordability urged the government to set a target of 1.5 million new homes to be built in the coming decade. That target is double the current pace of new construction.

To get more homes built more quickly, the task force recommended the province impose sweeping changes on cities. The proposals include increasing density in neighbourhoods of single-family homes, spending less time spent in public consultations on housing projects and imposing deadlines for housing approvals.

Ford has blamed high house prices in part on city councils moving too slowly to approve housing developments. At a summit in January with mayors from Ontario's 30 biggest cities, he announced a $45-million fund to streamline approvals.

The task force report did not go over well with many of the mayors and councils, particularly in suburban cities of the GTA.

That could influence the Ford government's willingness to forge ahead with the recommendations, since seats in the 905 region are expected to be key battlegrounds in the upcoming provincial election and could ultimately sway the result.

The official said the bill reflects a balance between what the task force recommended and the feedback the government received from municipalities and the public.

Municipal councils "have been frank about needing to be involved in the design and development of the policies in the task force report," said the official, adding that the government acknowledges it needs to work together with the municipalities to make things happen.

It's far from certain whether the measures coming from the government Wednesday will have any short-term impact on the price of buying a home in Ontario.

The task force's recommendations were almost entirely focused on boosting the supply of housing over the coming years.

Some real estate analysts and the opposition parties are calling on the government to address demand factors that drive up prices. Recent sales figures show that 25 per cent of Ontario home purchases are being made by investors who own more than one property.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the Ford government announced it is boosting Ontario's foreign buyers tax on residential real estate to 20 per cent and expanding its scope to apply province-wide.

Ontario's "non-resident speculation tax" was introduced in 2017 by the then-Liberal government of Kathleen Wynne at a time when home prices were rising sharply. It had a significant impact, pushing prices downward into 2018.

The tax rate was 15 per cent on purchases by non-resident buyers of homes in the GTA and across a swath of southern Ontario stretching from Peterborough through Barrie, Waterloo and the Niagara Peninsula.

The new 20 per cent rate and its application across the province takes effect immediately.

The Opposition New Democrat and Green parties are proposing additional speculation taxes as well as a vacancy tax to try to dampen demand from investors who don't live in the homes they buy.

"This government has had four years and they finally discovered there's a housing crisis," NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said at a news conference on housing last week in Stratford.

Horwath dismissed the task force recommendations as "pretty much one side of the coin" for their focus on the supply of market housing.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-doug-ford-housing-affordability-plan-1.6395946