Ontario Construction News staff writer
In an exceptional alliance, the Algonquins of Ontario and an Ottawa-based real estate developer are pressing the City of Ottawa to approve a 500-hectare site for development in an expansion of the eastern Ontario cityโs boundaries.
And they appear to be winning โ after the a joint committee of the cityโs planning and agricultural committees approved their proposal last Tuesday, overriding city staff, who had recommended other sites in the cityโs western side that they (and developers) considered much more suited for urban growth.
Committees approve lands for new neighbourhoods
The Algonquins claim the approval of the planned development called Tewin would be part of reconciliation with Indigenous communities.ย It will result in a vast community of 45,000 on land far from transit and other urban infrastructure services. They are planning to develop the site with the Taggart Group of Companies.
โWe are building a nation within this nation of Canada,โ Lynn Clouthier, the Algonquins of Ontario negotiation representative for Ottawa, told councillors during theย planning committee meeting last week on future development inside Ottawaโs urban boundary. โWe need that. Itโs a confidence boost, if you like. Thatโs part of being accepted and included.โ
However, the Ottawa Citizen reports that the city hasnโt included the land inside options for a proposed urban boundary expansion because it failed to meet the minimum requirements during a site-scoring-process. And the amount of land the Algonquins are seeking permission to develop is about twice the available land for consideration outside the cityโs current urban boundaries, meaning if it is successful some lands that would be eligible for development would have to be removed from consideration.
City planners had outlined 1,101 hectares of land to be brought inside the urban boundary.ย There is a scoring system that emphasizes proximity to public transit and other municipal infrastructure. As well, the city needs to identify an additional 270 hectares in the next few years (by late 2026) to accommodate population growth over 25 years under a new official plan.
If approved for development, the land outside the urban boundary will increase in value dramatically. The city, conversely, has sought to restrict growth in rural areas as part of its intensification policies designed to reduce strains on urban infrastructure and constrain urban sprawl.
The available 270 additional acres โ less than the Algonquins are seeking โ could be selected from three options: Considering lands that were just a bit below the previous selection standards, examining potential for three new communities outside of suburban borders, or focus studies on one of these communities.ย But the Algonquin/Taggart project means that other development sites in Kanataโs South March area will have to be removed from the development/growth list, and not surprisingly, the developers for these sites are not happy with the decision.
โIt is incredibly surprising that in an unprecedented move that politics have taken over a prescribed scoring process and months of work by city staff and included a parcel of land with a zero score on servicing,โ said Claridge Homes, eQ Homes, Uniform Developments, Multivesco and Minto in a statement. โThe joint committee has taken a step backwards in their supposed step into the future with a new official plan.โ
โThe Algonquins have waited long enough,โ Janet Stavinga, executive director of the Algonquins of Ontario, said before the committees decided to support the proposal. โ
โCouncillors were already trying to wrap their heads around their duty to responsibly plot development in the city, while respecting reconciliation with Algonquin communities,โ the Ottawa Citizenโs report said. โThe City of Ottawa has had a reconciliation action plan since 2018.โโ
There were many competing demands for the potential to expand the cityโs urban areas. Upwards of 50 delegations were scheduled for the โvirtualโ public meetings last week.ย Developers making presentations asserted the cityโs scoring wasnโt correct and the cityโs analyses didnโt properly assess their sites.
The cityโs intensification goal is to build more than 50 per cent of new all new homes in built-up areas; and this intensification rate will increase to 60 per cent between 2041 and 2046.
Accordingly, granting the Algonquin and Taggartโs request will give the partnership a priority over others in a scarce resource โ new land that can be developed.
Ottawa City Council will consider recommendations from the joint committee on Feb. 10. This decision reportedly cannot be appealed.