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Alta Vista wants say on fate of federal lands Social Sharing
Councillor calls on federal government to produce plans for properties on Heron, Tremblay roads
Kate Porter · CBC News
Posted: Jan 30, 2019 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: an hour ago
The Ottawa city councillor for Alta Vista is demanding residents be consulted before the federal government decides what to do with two large properties in his ward.
The federal government hasn't given any clues about its plans for either the former Federal Study Centre, which sits across Heron Road from the vacant Heron Gate community, or the former Ministry of Transportation yard at 530 Tremblay Rd.
Coun. Jean Cloutier will present a motion at council Wednesday to push the government to create master plans for the two sites.
"Ensuring that we are out ahead of these situations is to the benefit of the community," Cloutier said Tuesday.
Federal lands for sale in Alta Vista
Alta Vista is home to two properties owned by the Government of Canada: the Federal Study Centre at 1495 Heron Rd. and an undeveloped property at 530 Tremblay Rd.
The federal public works department bought the sprawling 10.5-hectare property on Tremblay Road near St. Laurent Boulevard from the Ontario Realty Corporation in 2008 for nearly $25 million.
Currently fenced off and covered in brush, the land became a concern for people living in nearby Eastway Gardens in 2016, when the Crown corporation Canada Lands Company sold off a small parcel near the railway tracks to residential developer CLV Group.
"It came as a surprise. There wasn't any consultation with the community on the sale," said Eastway Gardens Community Association president Nicole Reich.
The remaining property is still owned by Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), and Cloutier said he doesn't want to see any more of it sold without public input.
The property is near the St. Laurent LRT station, and at one point there was a plan to put federal offices there.
Cloutier is also urging Canada Lands Company to come up with a proper plan for the former Federal Study Centre on Heron Road once it takes over the property from PSPC, and before it sells it to a private sector buyer.
The timing is important, he said, because Timbercreek Communities is about to embark on a major redevelopment across the street at Heron Gate, where buildings are boarded up after last year's mass eviction.
The Alta Vista Community Association is keen to have a say in what happens to the federal property.
"It would give us an opportunity to look at what makes sense there, what will bridge the single family homes of Alta Vista with the busy Heron Gate area," said the association's president, Marty Carr.
Carr said some residents want to see more single family homes, while others would like to see an urban village with shops and services along the lines of what's being built on the former Bayview school site near Mooney's Bay.
Still others want to preserve some of the more interesting buildings at the complex.
"There's a huge opportunity for Alta Vista as a whole," Carr said.
PSPC has not yet transferred the Federal Study Centre lands for disposal. When it does, Canada Lands Company promises a "broad public engagement exercise". In a statement, a spokesperson said it would listen to what the community wants and then come up with a plan to submit to the city for approval, much like it did with the former Canadian Forces Base Rockcliffe.
As for the Tremblay site, Canada Lands and PSPC are working together on a future development.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...ands-1.4997457
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