Larga Baffin [1452-1470 Hunt Club Rd] | 26m | 5f | Proposed

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by originalmuffins

The NIMBYs here are a disgrace. They really are horrible people. "We were here first", what a disgusting statement.

Not what Canada is about, and shouldn't be moving forward. The indigenous deserve better treatment and this would be one step towards that. They deserve this and they should get it. And hey, if there's downtime in patients there, maybe it can be utilized for emergency responses? I would gladly appreciate that if I lived in the area. Even if it didnt, it should still be welcomed. It is a need, and this better get built. I don't like the design of the building but that means nothing to how many people this could benefit.

I don't believe we should give in to NIMBY attitudes but they are horrible people? Kind of ironic you are disparaging their "we were here first" argument in the same post praising indigenous people.

[originalmuffins]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

I don't believe we should give in to NIMBY attitudes but they are horrible people? Kind of ironic you are disparaging their "we were here first" argument in the same post praising indigenous people.

Lol. When they make statements like that, yes they are. That wasn't a comment about "oh what about the noise", no it was an outright statement saying they aren't welcome.

Kind of ironic to defend someone who makes a statement like that yet try to chastise my statement saying our indigenous deserve that proposed building instead of that nasty attitude attached with such a statement.

[rocketphish]

Larga Baffin proposal for medical boarding facility in Upper Hunt Club gets planning committee approval
"This application has to do with Ottawa opening their arms to people in need."

Taylor Blewett, Ottawa Citizen
Jun 23, 2022 • 49 minutes ago • 3 minute read

Larga Baffin has secured the backing of planning committee for its proposal to build a six-storey supportive boarding residence in the Upper Hunt Club area for Inuit who’ve travelled from Nunavut to Ottawa for medical care.

Committee members weren’t convinced by the dozen-odd area residents who shared concerns Thursday about the development’s potential impacts on their community, from congestion and cut-through traffic to incongruence with neighbouring low-rise residences, and requested that the committee withhold approval at this time.

“This application has to do with Ottawa opening their arms to people in need,” said Alta Vista Ward Coun. Jean Cloutier, who noted many of the clients in the 350-bed residence will be shuttled to medical appointments at CHEO and The Ottawa Hospital through his community.

Larga Baffin is an Inuit-owned company that operates a smaller medical boarding facility on Richmond Road. It finalized its application for official plan and zoning bylaw amendments for the new project last fall and quickly encountered opposition. Some neighbours raised concerns about increased traffic, noise, pollution and community safety and started a petition in protest.

In January, Larga Baffin agreed to a temporary pause on its application, but reactivated it in March. Project team member Jacob Bolduc of Fotenn Planning + Design told planning committee Thursday the pause had been a request by the area councillor, Gloucester–Southgate’s Diane Deans, to allow time for her and city staff “to work through some of the perceived issues they and the public had identified.”

Deans, who does not sit on planning committee, told her voting colleagues she was sympathetic to the proposed use for the Hunt Club Road property was very happy to be welcoming to Nunavut residents travelling south for medical care, but also thought legitimate land-use planning concerns shouldn’t be diminished.

“Whether it be an application for Larga Baffin or a high-rise development in Kitchissippi Ward, it’s critical that we allow residents to voice their legitimate planning concerns and not pass judgement or assume they have ulterior motives,” Deans said.

Deans brought forward a motion to defer approval of the application to allow for a city-led land use planning exercise, which failed, and was also unable to convince committee to maintain the existing height limit at the back portion of the property, which faces the Upper Hunt Club neighbourhood. Staff said this latter motion would require a “substantive change to the proposal” and felt the transition to surrounding low-rise residential communities was adequate.

Committee did, however, pass several motions from Deans to address traffic concerns and a specific height issue related to the project.

Some 350 comments were collected during the review of this development application, staff said, with 100 supportive and 250 opposed.

Staff recommended that committee support giving Larga Baffin the development permissions it sought, which would also allow for future residential development of up to four storeys facing Sieveright Avenue on the site’s southern portion, in addition to the proposed residential care facility.

It’s a use that better aligns with the surrounding residential community, staff said, compared to the outdoor storage warehouse and car sales and service garage currently on the “underdeveloped” site.

The bulk of the critique by public delegates Thursday related to the proposed building and concern over traffic impacts, plus perceived procedural shortcomings and disagreement with the work of staff on the development application. An area resident also shared her view that concerns related to health and safety and the need for nearby social supports had yet to be addressed by staff and councillors.

A different perspective was offered by Janine Flood, a ward resident who works for the federal Crown-Indigenous relations department. She highlighted the “very traumatic shadow” that past experiences of being brought south for medical care had cast over Inuit and positioned Larga Baffin’s proposed facility and the services it’s to include, such as translation and transport, as “the end of a long-term cycle of trauma for Inuit that we can all be a part of by actively supporting this proposal.”

For Coun. Jeff Leiper, it was a “very worthwhile use,” on a site that’s close the airport and already permitted to host a range of high-traffic uses, such as a community health centre, car dealership or grocery store. Planning Services director Derrick Moodie said the expected traffic impact would be minor.

All 10 committee members present for the vote supported the application. It’s to go to council on July 6.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...nt-club-gets-planning-committee-approval

[Harley613]

Approved today, just heard it on CBC

Edit:
https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/la...tawa-city-council-to-build-new-facility/

Larga Baffin gets OK from Ottawa city council to build new facility
Medical boarding home on track to start yearlong site plan approval process


Ottawa’s city council has approved an application for a new Larga Baffin centre to be built. (Image courtesy of Dtah Architects)

By Madalyn Howitt

Ottawa city council has approved Larga Baffin’s proposal to build a new facility, clearing the way for the start of a site plan approval process that could take a year to complete.

The temporary-care facility for Nunavummiut receiving advanced medical care in Ottawa got approval Wednesday to build a six-storey, 220-room centre at the intersection of Hunt Club Road and Sieveright Avenue. It will be able to accommodate up to 350 clients.

Larga Baffin spokesperson Bill McCurdy did not say when construction might start, but said it won’t happen before the site plan is approved.

The facility’s current building on Richmond Road can accommodate 195 visitors, but is often over capacity with clients having to bunk in nearby hotels instead.

After a brief discussion Wednesday morning, council approved the zoning bylaw and official plan amendments.

“We are very pleased with the support we have received from the city planning staff and councillors,” said McCurdy.

The thumbs-up from city council followed a recommendation from the city’s planning committee to approve the project.

Council’s approval includes a 60-day period for people to appeal the decision. After that, the site plan approval process will require developers Fotenn Planning + Design and Dtah Architecture to submit more detailed design work to the city, according to McCurdy.

“We expect that to take another year,” he said.

There is no estimate available for how much construction might cost.

Coun. Diane Deans, who represents the ward where Larga Baffin will be built and who opposed the application in the weeks prior to the meeting, said she would have liked “to see more dialogue between the applicant and the community.”

She held a public meeting in April to discuss Larga Baffin’s application to build a new centre.

There were strong reactions at that meeting from some neighbourhood residents, including concerns that the institution would create more traffic and lead to people loitering in the area.

Others at the meeting spoke strongly in favour of Larga Baffin being situated in the community and accused those expressing concerns of NIMBY-ism.

“There’s certainly a lot of work to be done at the site planning stage, but it is certainly my hope that the community and the applicant can develop a meaningful and long-lasting relationship into the future,” said Deans.

[Williamoforange]

Haven't mastered the formatting here yet but looks like the Hunt club Community association has taken this to OLT.

https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/co...larga-baffin-build/#.Y0nKErZsFM8.twitter

Lastly, any councilor defending the CA participation in planning, really need to be pushed on exactly why they think they a deserving of the status they get and why these consultations need to take place.

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by Williamoforange

Haven't mastered the formatting here yet but looks like the Hunt club Community association has taken this to OLT.

https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/co...larga-baffin-build/#.Y0nKErZsFM8.twitter

Lastly, any councilor defending the CA participation in planning, really need to be pushed on exactly why they think they a deserving of the status they get and why these consultations need to take place.

Good luck for the CA in their ability to pay for expert witnesses. In most cases, the expert witnesses are from out of town as most local consultants have too much of a vested interest in working with City Planning staff (or at least put on a veneer of wanting to work with them).

[rocketphish]

Originally Posted by Williamoforange

Haven't mastered the formatting here yet but looks like the Hunt club Community association has taken this to OLT.

https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/co...larga-baffin-build/#.Y0nKErZsFM8.twitter

Lastly, any councilor defending the CA participation in planning, really need to be pushed on exactly why they think they a deserving of the status they get and why these consultations need to take place.

Community group files appeal against Larga Baffin build
Hearing before Ontario Land Tribunal set for Dec. 14

By Madalyn Howitt, Nunatsiaq News
Updated Oct. 14 at 4:40 p.m.



Plans to build a new Larga Baffin facility in Ottawa have hit a snag.

The Upper Hunt Club Community Association, a neighbourhood group, has filed an appeal with the Ontario Land Tribunal in a bid to halt development of the planned six-storey, 220-room complex at the intersection of Hunt Club Road and Sieveright Avenue.

The proposed centre, to service Nunavummiut receiving advanced medical care in Ottawa, would accommodate up to 350 clients.

That’s a jump up from the 195-visitor capacity at Larga Baffin’s current location on Richmond Road, which is often over capacity with clients having to bunk in nearby hotels instead.

In July, developers cleared a big hurdle when Ottawa city council gave the greenlight to the application by amending a city bylaw, paving the way for a year-long site plan approval process to begin.

But the appeal, filed in August, means the site plan approval process cannot begin until after the OLT holds a public hearing and publishes its decision, said Larga Baffin spokesperson Bill McCurdy in an email to Nunatsiaq News.

This is not likely to occur until next year, he said, provided the appeal is unsuccessful.

In the 31-page appeal filed with the OLT, the community association cites a dozen concerns about Larga Baffin’s application.

The list includes increased traffic, a lack of procedural fairness by council and developers and “irrelevant decision factors considered by council so as to unduly influence the decision outside of planning act matters.”

“The UHCCA is appealing the decision to the Ontario Land Tribunal based on land planning issues,” said association president Sylvie Lee.

“As the matter is in front of the court, we cannot comment further.”

In June, Lee shared her concerns before Ottawa’s planning committee, describing the size of the proposed building as “massive.”

The OLT has scheduled a one-day case management conference for Dec. 14, where it’s expected to clarify the issues in dispute and decide who will have standing to participate in the hearing later.

Plans to build a new building for Larga Baffin in the neighbourhood have been met with resistance from residents. In April, a public meeting organized by outgoing city councillor Diane Deans drew hundreds of participants and at times became heated.

Many people cited concerns about traffic and the impact of the height of the building on surrounding properties, but drew criticism from others who support the build that their disapproval amounted to a not-in-my-backyard attitude.


https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/community-group-files-appeal-against-larga-baffin-build/

[waterloowarrior]

Supportive and affordable housing proposals need to start going straight to Council and the Minister’s offices for an MZO like they are doing in Toronto. Hopefully the next wave of planning reform will limit third party appeals of these projects.

[rocketphish]

Appeal filed against Larga Baffin plan, slowing process
Sylvie Lee, president of the Upper Hunt Club Community Association, said her organization is appealing the decision to the Ontario Land Tribunal "based on land planning issues."

Elizabeth Payne, Ottawa Citizen
Oct 16, 2022 • 4 hours ago • 2 minute read

A community group has launched an appeal against construction of the first purpose-built medical boarding home in Ottawa for Inuit — a development that could significantly delay the project.

Sylvie Lee, president of the Upper Hunt Club Community Association, said her organization is appealing the decision to the Ontario Land Tribunal “based on land planning issues.”

The plan to build the 350-bed residence for Inuit from Nunavut receiving medical treatment in Ottawa has faced significant local opposition throughout the process.

The planning firm behind the Hunt Club Road project has described it as akin to the Ronald McDonald House, but some neighbours raised concerns about increased traffic, noise, pollution and community safety, and started a petition in protest.

The project, slated to be built at Hunt Club Road and Sieveright Avenue, was approved by the city’s planning committee this summer after an earlier temporary pause in the project’s application requested by area councillor, Diane Deans. Deans, who is not on planning committee, raised a number of concerns about traffic and height issues.

Deans has said she welcomes Nunavut residents travelling south for medical care, but added that legitimate planning concerns should not be diminished and people should not pass judgment or assume those raising concerns have other motives.

Critics say the appeal is evidence of NIMBY-ism and thinly veiled racism.

Dean Tester, co-founder of the advocacy group Make Housing Affordable, has followed the issue closely. He said he was shocked, but not surprised, that an appeal had been launched.

“Anybody can appeal these things.”

He said the planning system is often used to discriminate against renters, working class families, racialized communities and other marginalized groups.

“There is a systemic problem when small groups of wealthy homeowners hold so much decision-making power over who is allowed to live in a neighbourhood,” he said.

“The Larga Baffin case is perhaps the worst example of clear discrimination through so-called ‘city planning’ we’ve ever seen in Ottawa.”

Earlier, John Fraser, MPP for Ottawa South, put his support behind the project, saying, “Welcoming our neighbours from Nunavut who are seeking urgent and lifesaving care is about building the kind of community we all want for each other.”

Larga Baffin is located on Carling Avenue in the Britannia neighbourhood and has outgrown its current facility.

Residents of Nunavut travel to Ottawa for treatments for cancer and cardiac care, among other things.

Earlier, Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, told CBC radio, “The comments that have been made about basically the fear of Inuit receiving medical treatment in Ottawa” were shocking.

No one from Larga Baffin was available for comment at time of publication.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/appeal-filed-against-larga-baffin-plan-slowing-process

[lrt's friend]

This is a great improvement on a degraded light industrial site. Sometimes I wonder what people complain about.

[rocketphish]

Larga Baffin to fight zoning appeal of Inuit health-care facility
Community group filed an appeal focused on issues with the land use planning

CBC News
Posted: Oct 23, 2022 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

The plan for the first purpose-built medical boarding home in Ottawa for Inuit has likely been delayed by a zoning appeal from the local community association.

The Upper Hunt Club Community Association is appealing city council's decision this summer to amend the area's zoning to allow for the 220-room facility.

But Larga Baffin, the organization that wants to build the home at Hunt Club Road and Sieveright Avenue in south Ottawa, says it will fight the appeal made to the Ontario Land Tribunal.

Harry Flaherty, board chair of planning firm Larga Baffin Ltd., said though the appeal may cause delays, he's still hopeful the six-storey building will be ready to host Inuit from Nunavut by 2027.

The firm described the project as akin to the Ronald McDonald House, with some guests coming for short stays to see a specialist while others stay several months to receive more intensive treatment.

"Inuit from the Baffin region who go south for medical care should be comfortable," Flaherty said in Inuktitut. "This is a big deal. As Canadians, we too have human rights."

The community association filed its appeal on 11 different grounds, with a note that it could add more.

The first reason listed in the appeal documents is that the approved zoning is not good land use planning. The association also cites concerns about parking, traffic mitigation measures and the building's height.

The document concludes by arguing that Ottawa city council "allowed concerns of no relevance under the Planning Act to fetter their analysis" when granted the zoning changes.

Before the city's planning committee met to discuss the site proposal, Coun. Diane Deans, who represents the ward where the home would go, held a public meeting that drew hundreds of participants expressing a wide range of concerns.

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president Natan Obed, whose organization represents Inuit across Canada, said he was "personally hurt" by some of the concerns raised at the meeting and called some comments misguided and racist.

Other residents spoke in favour of the development. The current Larga Baffin facility on Richmond Road is often overcapacity, with staff booking patients in local hotel rooms.

The community association declined to speak with CBC, saying "the matter is in front of the courts." It's slated to appear before the Ontario Land Tribunal for the first time on Dec. 14.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/larga-baffin-appeal-hunt-club-assocation-1.6625301

[DarthVader_1961]

NIMBYs strike again

[waterloowarrior]

5 day hearing April 2023
https://www.canlii.org/en/on/onlt/doc/2022/2022canlii122406/2022canlii122406.html

[rocketphish]

Larga Baffin facility hearing enters final day after dismissal rejected
Proposed Inuit medical boarding home has caused community tension

Joseph Tunney · CBC News
Posted: Apr 14, 2023 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

An Ontario Land Tribunal hearing around a new purpose-built medical boarding home for Inuit will push into its fourth and final day, despite attempts by its owners to have the appeal dismissed.

Larga Baffin, an Inuit-owned company which provides health care in Ottawa for people from Nunavut, wants to build a new facility near the airport.

City council approved the plan last summer, but it's been delayed by a zoning appeal.

The Upper Hunt Club Community Association has filed the appeal, citing issues that include parking, traffic mitigation measures and the building's height.

Even before the appeal was filed, tensions had been mounting in the community over the facility.

The proposal has divided community members, with some voicing concerns about everything from the building's height to the potential for "unlawful" activities after it opens.

On the first day of the hearing, Larga Baffin lawyer Michael Polowin called the community opposition a display of "bigotry."

Letters from community members to City of Ottawa staff and councillors, submitted by Polowin as an exhibit, expressed unease at the fact the facility was near parks, two residential homes and — in the words of one letter — "areas that are frequented by minors and by seniors."

"There is no good or positive outcome if these vulnerabilities are exposed or exploited," the same letter continues.

Another letter suggested the facility's medical designation would bring change and new risks to the neighbourhood, "particularly if it is to house drug and addiction treatment-related facilities."

"Increases in loitering, disturbing gatherings and homeless usage of the Sieveright Park can take place and will deter its use by its current users," the letter said.

During the hearing, Polowin called their viewpoints prejudiced and something he hasn't seen in his decades of practice.

"Honestly, I've seen bigotry in cases. I've been doing this a long time," Polowin said by phone Thursday. "But I've never seen it like that."

More drama came when Polowin announced at the end of Wednesday — the second day of the hearing — that he'd heard enough and would be asking for the appeal to be dismissed.

In a phone interview, Polowin expanded on that request, saying he felt that the appellant's transportation planner, Robert Vastag, admitted under cross-examination that the appeal was not really about the proposal to build a new facility.

"He not only agreed that the traffic impact of this development would be minimal," Polowin said. "But he agreed that the appellant's position, when finally boiled down, was not about this development. It was about trying to force the city to do something they haven't done yet."

On Thursday morning, however, the tribunal opted to push forward, citing procedural fairness.

The lawyer for the community association, Joshua Moon, declined to speak about the dismissal request when CBC contacted him on Wednesday and could not be reached for further comment Thursday.

The community association itself has also declined to comment in the past, saying last October that the matter was "in front of the courts."

The City of Ottawa, which also has a lawyer at the hearing, declined to comment Thursday as the tribunal was ongoing.

Closing arguments are scheduled for this morning at 10 a.m.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/larga-baffin-facility-hearing-final-day-1.6809885

[originalmuffins]

What a waste of public resources and money. Suck it up and accept that this development helps more than it doesn't. Classic NIMBYs.

[Harley613]

I don't use the term NIMBY in Ottawa anymore. I use BANANA (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone). Far more suitable. Quick example: Residents of Qualicum resisting towers at Bayshore. There are maybe 7 houses in the entire neighbourhood that would see the tops of the towers due to the hill in Mohawk park, the 417 barriers, the mature trees in the neighborhood, and the distance.

[originalmuffins]

Originally Posted by Harley613

I don't use the term NIMBY in Ottawa anymore. I use BANANA (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone). Far more suitable. Quick example: Residents of Qualicum resisting towers at Bayshore. There are maybe 7 houses in the entire neighbourhood that would see the tops of the towers due to the hill in Mohawk park, the 417 barriers, the mature trees in the neighborhood, and the distance.

BANANA it is.

What a bunch of stupidity. Those Bayshore towers are much needed beside a very important mall and transit station. These people are delusional.

[McKellarDweller]

Originally Posted by Harley613

I don't use the term NIMBY in Ottawa anymore. I use BANANA (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone).

Haha
...and now I have Hollaback Girl in my head. Thanks

[lrt's friend]

A one purpose community association.

[waterloowarrior]

Approved at OLT
https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/larga-baffin-gets-the-go-ahead-for-new-ottawa-facility/