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Posted Nov 27, 2012, 7:53 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Toronto
Posts: 2,229
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DEWLine
So...who else here attended the CLC-backed Ideas Fair at the Aviation Museum yesterday?
Impressions?
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I didn't go, but this article makes it sound like it'll look like a suburban neighbourhood.
Quote:
Former airbase redevelopment must address roads and traffic
By Maria Cook, The Ottawa Citizen November 26, 2012
How do you insert a small town into the city without overwhelming surrounding neighbourhoods with cars and trucks on roads that are already stressed by traffic?
That’s a key question in converting the former Canadian Forces Base Rockcliffe to a new community.
After a five-year hiatus, planning for the 125-hectare site has resumed. Canada Lands Company (CLC), the crown corporation that owns the land, will host a public consultation on Monday.
“We want to engage the community not only to identify issues, but also to give us ideas about how those issues can be resolved,” says Don Schultz, CLC director of real estate, Rockcliffe.
CLC is inviting thoughts on how to manage traffic, develop housing for a wide range of people and bring employment. Because the project will take 20 years to complete, they want ideas on interim use of land, as well as suggested names for the area.
Located 5.5 kilometres east of Parliament Hill, the former military base is the largest development parcel within the Greenbelt. It sits on an escarpment overlooking the Ottawa River valley, east of St. Laurent Boulevard and north of Montreal Road. The site is ringed by mature neighbourhoods such as Rothwell Heights, Fairhaven, Thorncliffe Park, Manor Park, Rockcliffe Park and Vanier.
Jane Brammer, president of the Rothwell Heights Property Owners Association, says the big issue for existing communities boils down to “3-Ts” — traffic, transportation and transit.
“These residents will be relying on surrounding road linkages that are already heavily used,” says Brammer. “The 3-Ts are going to be a problem that cannot be effectively addressed without some innovative thinking.”
In 2007, a land claim by the Algonquins of Ontario blocked sale of the property by the Department of National Defence to CLC. The $27.2-million sale went through last spring after the Algonquins struck a $10-million deal with the federal government.
Five years ago, the CLC had a master plan for a mixed-use community that included 4,500 to 6,000 houses and apartments. It envisioned 10,000 to 15,000 residents, and aspired to be a model of sustainability and contemporary urban design.
That plan has been abandoned. “We will be respecting the broad principles of sustainability that the public supported, like walkability, protection of open spaces, positive streetscape environments and sidewalks that favour human activity rather than cater to the automobile,” says Schultz.
“I’d like to think we can move beyond neo-traditional town planning and design to more contemporary forms.”
The greatest change of the past five years is the City of Ottawa’s plan for light rail. CLC was counting on light rail along Montreal Road. But the eastern route has shifted to the Transitway corridor south of Ogilvie Road, far from the proposed development. The closest station will be at Blair Road.
Density is now an open question, says Schultz.
There could be fewer than the 6,000 residences the city’s official plan assigns to the site. Or there could be anywhere from 6,000 to 11,000 units.
“Transit and transportation is going to determine the intensity of development,” says Schultz. “If there are really strong solutions that emerge, that can have an effect on how much development can happen. The more enhanced the transit, the greater number of residential units.”
CLC is talking to city officials about providing rapid bus service between the site and the Blair Road transit station. It plans to approach the National Capital Commission about gaining access to the Aviation Parkway. Hemlock and Codd’s roads are currently the only access roads.
“I’d like to think trams or streetcars could be part of the equation,” Schultz said. He imagines trams on Blair Road as well as on Hemlock Road, Beechwood Avenue and St. Patrick Street where there are “significant traffic concerns.”
In addition, the district will include low-rise office buildings, in hopes of having residents work on site.
A wild card is the interprovincial bridge. If the NCC chooses Kettle Island, turning Aviation Parkway into a truck route, that will affect connections from the old base to the Aviation and eastern parkways, says Ottawa architect Barry Padolsky, a member of the previous design team.
“If you build a bridge and connect the Queensway with it, there are a lot of implications. How the Rockcliffe lands will be planned to cope with that is another big issue.”
CLC hopes to submit a community design plan to the city for approval in spring 2014. Before offering lots to builders in 2016, it would put in streets, services and public space.
Though the company would like to sell to a variety of smaller builders, it is not averse to a single large builder. As part of a participation agreement, the Algonquins of Ontario have right of first refusal.
Schultz foresees a mix of housing, including single-detached, rowhouses and stacked townhouses. Condo and rental apartment buildings would rise four to eight storeys. Affordable housing is also on the agenda.
“Tall buildings aren’t out of the question,” Schultz says, but Ottawa developers have suggested highrise isn’t viable outside downtown.
CLC will look to developers for guidance for the first phases “so our design is informed by what market conditions tell us. In the short term, the real estate market is an important consideration.” The trend seems to be for smaller, affordable units, he says.
Last summer, CLC invited six Canadian teams to apply for the job of creating an urban design, a landscape plan and architectural guidelines. It hired Toronto firms Brook McIlroy and Janet Rosenberg and Associates Landscape Architects.
“We’re looking at low-to-mid-rise forms to take advantage of the topography and not lose the sense of the rolling landscape and mature tree canopy,” says urban designer Anne McIlroy.
“Parking is something we need to look at aggressively if we’re going to make this a new community that is defined by walkable precincts and a network of paths and cycle trails.”
Landscape architect Janet Rosenberg says there will be greenery throughout, including a large central park, medium sized parks and small parkettes. Forested areas will be preserved; stormwater kept on site for reuse. “The land is really going to dictate what happens.”
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http://www.canada.com/business/Forme...775/story.html
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