By Allen Brown
Last November, Ottawa City Council approved a motion (19-2) asking Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Paul Calandra, to institute a higher nine-storey height limit for buildings along minor road corridors. This would replace the four-storey limit Council had approved in its 2022 official plan. Rideau-Vanier Councillor, Stephanie Plante, voted for the motion.
In a controversial decision in 2022, former Ontario housing minister, Steve Clark, had more than doubled the height limit. Last December, Calandra, Clark’s successor, reversed the higher limit. The new Ottawa Council wasn’t happy with this, and the province is now reviewing the City’s motion to reinstate the higher limit.
Council also refused a request by the Federation of Citizens Associations of Ottawa-Carleton (the umbrella group for community organizations) to refer the issue to the Planning and Housing Committee where public concerns could be raised. Committee Chair, Jeff Leiper, defended the refusal because of overwhelming Council support for adding “new density where it makes sense – on corridors and the edges of communities.” In any case, he said, “the change in height [was] fairly minor.” Many Lowertown residents would beg to differ.
Council’s motion has denied Lowertown residents the chance to weigh in on a decision that is likely to increase building heights along the minor corridors of Dalhousie and St. Patrick Streets in the heart of the ByWard Market and Lowertown West Historic Conservation Districts. Even the building of nine-storey structures on just the existing vacant and parking lots on these two streets would irrevocably alter the historic streetscape of the oldest part of the nation’s capital.
The decision potentially subjects Lowertown to a much higher density than other parts of the city. This could worsen the impacts of traffic, noise, and lack of green space, while diminishing the area’s historic character and built-heritage – trends that are already negatively affecting our neighbourhood.
