New home construction may be frozen in Kanata west
A June 22 meeting of the City of Ottawa planning and environment committee could lead to a year-long freeze on new development in Kanata West.
City council is considering the freeze as a way to halt new development until an Environmental Assessment regarding an upgrade to the Hazeldean Pumping Station is completed.
Developers who already have building permits will be allowed to continue with current projects, but no new permits will be issued if the freeze is put in place.
Kanata South councillor Peggy Feltmate attempted to pass a similar motion last fall following the July 24, 2009 rainstorm that flooded parts of Glen Cairn. At the time, she said she believed development had to cease until upgrades to the sanitary sewer pumping station could be undertaken.
Her motion read in part that, "the City of Ottawa shall prevent building from proceeding in all lands drained by the Carp River or its tributaries within the urban boundary where it has the legal means to do so."
However, council did not support the motion at that time.
Since then, opposition to development has been raised by groups such as The Friends of the Greenspace Alliance (FGA), which is waging a legal battle at the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) level with developers and the City of Ottawa regarding the Fernbank development.
In addition to the FGA, Glen Cairn resident and municipal watchdog Faith Blacquiere has registered concerns with the City.
"I object to the Plan of Subdivision for 5465 Fernbank Road proceeding at this time and believe it should be withdrawn," said Blacquiere's submission to the public comment portion of the process. "The major infrastructure which is required to support this subdivision will not be available until the 2014 to 2016 time period and significant changes are proposed for all infrastructure. The Hazeldean Pumping Station has to be upgraded before any building permit is issued. These upgrades are being reviewed by a separate environmental approval process."
At a public information meeting in May, City of Ottawa engineer Eric Tousignant of the Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability branch, said the Hazeldean Pumping Station has become an integral link in efforts to resolve flooding in the area. Not only does the station manage sanitary sewers, it also acts as a link for storm water management.
Tousignant said the pumping station is to be evaluated to ensure it has the capacity to alleviate surcharges caused by surface water as well as being able to adequately handle flows from future development in the area.
Now city council appears ready to freeze development until the report on upgrading the pumping station is complete.
When councillor Feltmate called for a halt in development last year following flooding, she said city development staff was being "prudent" in moving ahead with the upgrades to the pumping station, which moves sewage out of Kanata and Stittsville.
A freeze could delay construction of up to 15,000 new homes planned in Kanata and Stittsville. Feltmate applauded the plan to freeze development until the pumping station and other issues related to local flooding can be addressed.
"The pumping station needs more capacity. We are feeding from Stittsvile, Bridlewood and from the Hazeldean area," she said.
John Herbert, executive director of the Greater Ottawa Homebuilders Association, told the CBC recently that local developers have never before seen a freeze of this magnitude. He added that delays of this nature could significantly increase the price of a new home.
Feltmate noted that developers aren't happy with the plan.
"It's unfortunate," she said, "but we need to protect the residents that are living in the area at the present time."
Ted Cooper, a City of Ottawa engineer who has been involved in the projects both at City Hall and as a private citizen, agrees that development should be frozen until the pumping station is upgraded, and other flood-related development issues are adequately resolved.
"This whole (development) plan is predicated on a pipeline and overland flow to the Hazeldean Pumping Station. They have come up with a servicing plan that won't work under flood conditions.
"While the Hazeldean Pumping Station is not located in the Glen Cairn community, or for that matter, in the Carp River watershed, it clearly falls within the scope of investigation required to resolve the persistent flooding issues in Glen Cairn.
"The proposed Holding Zone the city wishes to apply to future development lands in the catchment area of the Hazeldean Pumping Station includes lands as far away as Stittsville, and even lands in South Stittsville that are in the Jock River watershed, not the Carp River watershed. "These two recent notices of city-led initiatives concerning flooding in the west end clearly indicate that there are concerns about the Hazeldean Pumping Station and how it affects flooding in Glen Cairn."
source: http://www.emckanata.ca/20100617/news/New+home+construction+may+be+frozen+in+Kanata+west