Residents fear Lincoln Fields revitalization will be just another suburban mall
Joanne Laucius, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: June 28, 2019
Plans are taking shape for the future of Lincoln Fields: demolishing the aging shopping mall, building a new Metro grocery store in the near future and hundreds of rental units in residential towers somewhere down the road.
Neighbourhood groups say they have no problem with intensification, but they want redevelopment done in step with the city’s plans to revitalize Carling Avenue and a new LRT station that will turn the neighbourhood into a transit hub.
“We want it to be pedestrian and transit-friendly,” said Jonathan Morris, president of the Britannia Village Community Association. “This is about a third of the size of LeBreton Flats and it’s also on the LRT. We should give it some serious thought.”
There’s no dispute that Lincoln Fields is a dying shopping centre sitting on 16.2 acres of increasingly prime real estate. The mall first opened its doors in 1972. A Loblaws store departed in 1984. Walmart arrived in 1994, occupying 120,000 square feet, and departed in 2016. That space remains empty. A Wendy’s restaurant located just outside the mall was demolished following a fire in November.
The city’s plans for the Lincoln Fields area include converting bus rapid transit lanes into light rail. The Lincoln Fields station is scheduled to open in 2025.
“We’re all excited about the redevelopment. It would be better than what is there now. But we don’t want it to be another Centrum, just a bunch of big box stores,” said Annie Boucher, president of the Lincoln Heights Parkway Community Association. “What’s missing is the city’s vision for how this huge hub will connect to the LRT.”
Two weeks ago, representatives from owner RioCan and Metro met with representatives from six community associations and outlined plans for the shopping centre. A new Metro and Rexall will be built on the site to replace stores in the mall. Wendy’s will also rebuild and Pizza Pizza will remain in its current location, said Terri Andrianopoulos, RioCan vice-president of marketing and communications.
Demolition is expected to start in November, although the city has not yet received a demolition application for the mall, said Derrick Moodie, the city’s manager of development review.
Alex Cullen, president of the Belltown Neighbours Community Association, said residents wanted to see “main street frontage” where stores were street-oriented, not separated from the street by parking lots.
Although the number of parking spots will be reduced, there will still be room for hundreds of cars. The two parking lots near former Walmart will lose 103 parking spots, leaving 487. The parking lot in front of the new Metro will have 270 spots, an increase of 30, while the lot near the old Wendy’s will lose 44 spots, leaving 276.
RioCan’s draft master plan shows the two new retail buildings could fit into a larger mixed-use development with high rise apartment buildings and ground-floor retail space, but that’s intended only to illustrate possibilities, Andrianopoulos said.
“This will be determined by the city’s secondary plan process. We will work with the city to explore additional opportunities for growth, but we will not finalize our future intensification plans until their review process is complete.”
The city’s planning policy staff is undertaking the process of creating a secondary plan. The current draft boundary is from about Richmond Road/Maplewood Avenue at the west, Ancaster Avenue to the east, Regina Street to the north and the southern edge of Woodroffe High School to the south, Moodie said.
The study will identify appropriate built form, building heights and density and orientation, specifically frontages along the main roads, and general land uses. “We will examine infill development, differentiating between stable areas and candidates for significant intensification. The study also includes analysis of the transportation network to identify opportunities to enhance the pedestrian environment, safe cycling, and connections to the O-Train station,” said Moodie. He expects consultations will begin this fall, with the plan to be adopted on the same timeline as the new official plan in 2021.
Residents consider the site to be a barrier to be crossed, said Kathy Vandegrift, vice-president of the Queensway Terrace North Community Association and chairwoman of its planning committee. The shopping centre’s parking lot is a “wasteland,” she said.
“We’re all eager to see revitalization,” Vandegrift said. “The tension now is in the shape of that and how it relate to the neighbourhood around it. It’s a missed opportunity if we don’t do this well.”
https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-new...ation-will-be-just-another-suburban-mall
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