In preparation for the next revision of the Official Plan, the City has launched the Beyond 20136 Sounding Board. Around 50 representatives from a wide spectrum of organization and interests, public, private and from civil society have been invited by the City to advise it on how to frame and position the next revision of the Official Plan. What approach should it take? What kind of public engagement? Clean slate or amendments to the existing Official Plan?
Paul Johanis, the current chair of the Greenspace Alliance, was one of those invited to be a member of this sounding board. A first meeting of this group was held on October 26 at City Hall. It was a general introduction to the group, the process and the expectations, although fairly loosely framed as the City would like to keep all options open at this time.
Stephen Willis, the General Manager of Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development, welcomed all the participants and laid out the general outline of what was expected in a brief presentation.
This was followed by presentations by planning consultations, including a very stimulating talk by Joe Berridge, of Urban Strategies.
The next meeting of the Sounding Board is scheduled for January 10, 2018.
(February 12)
Paul attended, reporting that attendees were asked to come up with ideas of what kind of city they can realistically see Ottawa becoming four decades out, based on specific criteria such as economic development, built form and greenspace. These ideas will be combined by city staff into scenarios, which will form the context for the next round of the Official Plan. There will be two more meetings before the results of the study are compiled and brought forward to Planning Committee near the end June.
Action: Paul will circulate the scenario that was developed at his table as an example.
New updated content: 2019-02-25 08:51:32
Launch of 2036 Official Plan Review
The 2036 Official Plan review was officially kicked off at the Planning Committee meeting of February 14 with the tabling of the report Ottawa Next: Beyond 2036. We provided written comments on the report, which Paul also delivered orally at the meeting. GA members Erwin Dreessen, David McNicoll, member organization the Federation of Citizens’ Associations and FCA Transportation Committee chair Alex Cullen also made submissions. All are posted on our website here.
New updated content: 2019-04-29 09:30:11
Official Plan strategy
Paul led a discussion on how the GA plans to become involved in the development of the City’s new official plan. We are currently engaged in the FCA preparation process, with Erwin taking part in a meeting on April 10 of their OP review/Planning and Zoning Committee, ahead of the April 17 General Meeting, when an OP panel was assembled, including a representative of GOHBA, Jay Balz, Hintonburg CA , Councillor Menard and the lead City Planner on the file, Alain Miguelez. The FCA has been invited to participate in technical working groups that will deal with specific growth and intensification topics. Erwin is one of five nominees that the FCA was given the opportunity to put forward. The first meeting of these so-called policy groups is on April 30. The GA made a pitch to be invited to participate in its own right but was turned down, and redirected instead to a second engagement stream, the so-called equity and inclusion group, the first meeting of which is on May 9. Meanwhile, the City has published a series of nine discussion papers, with an invitation to provide comments by May 31; the GA has committed to the FCA to comment on three of these papers. There is also an online survey that will be open until June 30.
There does not seem to be any concerted “environmental” stream and limited access for environmental groups to engage directly with City staff other than through vehicles designed for the general public. Paul and Daniel had had prior discussions about potentially reaching out to other environmental groups to see if we could interest them in developing a distinct environmental channel to put forward the vision of an official plan with climate change as a central unifying theme. Ecology Ottawa has already expressed an interest in exploring the possibility. It was agreed to test out the idea with a limited number of other organizations and see where this might lead.
Action: Daniel to convene an initial meeting of the “People’s Climate Change Official Plan”.
New updated content: 2019-05-27 09:52:03
Official Plan discussion paper responses
Paul and Daniel reported on the initial meeting of the “People’s Official Plan” on May 15th, which was well attended with about 20 participants, including several from beyond the immediate sponsoring groups – the GA, the FCA, Ecology Ottawa and CAFES. At that meeting, it was agreed that a joint response to the discussion papers produced by the City should be prepared, along the lines of the framework developed by Paul to make climate change the central organizing theme of the new Official Plan. Paul presented this framework and the draft response to the discussion papers and invited comments and suggestions. Following an in-depth and engaging discussion, the proposed response was supported, with some modifications.
Action: Paul to coordinate with FCA, Ecology and CAFES to submit this joint response to City staff prior to the deadline (originally May 31, it was subsequently extended to June 30 by the City).
New updated content: 2019-08-26 10:04:58
Official Plan update
Paul gave an update on what has been a very busy summer of organizing and animating a broad coalition of environmental and other organizations to ensure that effective climate action is taken in the City’s new Official Plan. This culminated in a very effective, coordinated set of interventions and submissions to the Joint Meeting of the Planning and Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committees on August 22, at which the draft strategic directions were approved for public consultation over the period of September to December 2019. A full accounting of these activities and resulting notes and papers can be found here.
On July 22, Erwin circulated a draft op-ed on the City’s stated intention to consolidate all extant secondary plans, underlining the immense technical difficulties, but in particular the lack of public consultation that would be needed to avoid further erosion of the public’s trust in the value and adherence to these plans. The op-ed was published in the August 12 edition of the Ottawa Citizen and made quite a splash, being cited by the City’s lead planner on the Official Plan at a workshop the day following its publication.
New updated content: 2019-09-23 10:11:21
Official Plan update
Paul gave an overview of the People’s Official Plan activities over the period of September to December 2019. A meeting of the POP group is planned for October 1, outreach meetings with community associations will be held over the month of October, Ecology Ottawa will launch a “hold the line” petition to advocate for not expanding the urban boundary in the new Official Plan, we will hold a mid-November workshop on Climate Solutions and the Official Plan, and an event will be organized in support of “hold the line” ahead of the joint Planning/ARAC meeting of December 12.
New updated content: 2019-11-25 10:18:19
Official Plan update
Paul gave an update on the workshop held on November 15 and 16 on Climate Solutions and Ottawa’s new Official plan. Some 100 people gathered for a day and a half at Bayview Yards in Ottawa to discuss the climate crisis face to face and define priority actions that must be included in the new Official Plan. The organization of the workshop was led by Daniel Buckles and Paul Johanis of the Greenspace Alliance, with significant support from Ecology Ottawa, The Energy Mix and a group of Youth Climate Ambassadors. It built on the People’s Official Plan for Ottawa’s Climate Emergency, initiated by Daniel and Paul in April, and supported strongly by Ecology Ottawa, the Federation of Citizens’ Associations, Community Associations for Environmental Sustainability (CAFES), Bike Ottawa, the Healthy Transportation Coalition, OREC, Just Food and others.
Dianne Saxe, former Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, provided a recorded opening address. Her comments covered urban expansion, smart intensification, rural development, canopy cover and access to greenspace. She also provided for distribution her presentation at the recent conference of the Ontario Professional Planners Institute.
To broaden our outreach leading up to the workshop, the Youth Climate Ambassadors under the mentorship of the GA went out to meet with community associations and other groups to seek their input on the climate action we were recommending and assess how it matched their needs and realities, They met with groups in the rural area (West Carleton), the suburban area (Kanata North and Riverside South), the inner urban area (Kitchissippi) and the downtown core (Vanier), in addition to multi group meetings with a broad cross-section of community associations through events organized by the Federation of Citizens’ Associations. They compiled the results of their interviews with all of these in a report, which they delivered in a presentation to 100+ attendees of the Workshop on Climate and the Official Plan.
The outputs of the workshop include a declaration, an Executive summary, a graphic summary and full report to be published at a later date. The results of the workshop are to be communicated to City staff and elected officials ahead of the Joint Meeting of the Planning and Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committees on December 9 and the full Council meeting of December 11, at which the strategic directions for the new Official Plan will be finalized.
New updated content: 2020-01-20 10:26:09
Official Plan update
Paul and Daniel gave an update on a preparatory meeting of the People’s Official Plan on January 27 regarding a new workshop planned for March 7. (Note: the date of the workshop was subsequently changed to February 22). This workshop would continue the work of the November workshop on Climate Solutions and Ottawa’s New Official Plan, but focus more narrowly on intensification and urban expansion. The main outcome would be the organizations of a series actions in support of denser, just and healthy neighbourhoods, and against urban expansion ahead of the March 30 joint meeting of the Planning and ARA Committees where this issue will be considered and a recommendation made for Council approval. Nicole mentioned an approach called Vivre en Ville which is being adopted in Gatineau and which focuses on demographic trends, in particular the aging population. JP suggested that the sale by City of vacant or surplus City land should factor in the possibility of using such land for affordable housing prior to going to market.
Action: Nicole to circulate reading material on Vivre en ville. J.P to investigate whether there is an inventory of city-owned vacant or surplus lands and the process by which these are brought to market.
New updated content: 2020-02-17 10:59:34
New People’s Official Plan workshop
The date was moved up to February 22 to take into account the availability of key organizers and to avoid conflicting with the annual women’s march scheduled for March 7 now that Citywide All Women’s Initiative is an organizing partner for the workshop. It will be held at the Nepean Sportsplex from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M., with a vegan low waste catered lunch provided. The program has been finalized, a slate of excellent speakers has been assembled and registration has been very successful with about 150 participants registered. The objective remains to organize a series of actions in support of denser, just and healthy neighbourhoods, and against urban expansion, ahead of the March 30 joint meeting of the Planning and ARA Committees where this issue will be considered and a recommendation made for Council approval. (Note: This meeting was subsequently postponed until May 4.)
New updated content: 2020-03-16 12:32:24
New Peoples Official Plan workshop
The workshop on February 22 was well attended, attracting 125 participants from across the City. It was a generally more inclusive gathering than our previous events, with significantly more indigenous, women’s and mobility impaired voices thanks to the co-sponsorship of the event by the City-wide All Women’s Initiative and the Healthy Transportation Coalition. Also attending was Keith Egli, in his role as Chair of the Ottawa Board of Health. The presentations and a report on the meeting can be found here .
The main outcomes of the meeting include additional support for the Hold the Line petition, plan for participants to organize face to face meetings with councilors, a plan for engagement of CAs to communicate their objection to urban expansion to their local councilors and energized participants who plan to mount their own initiatives in support of POP objectives of no urban expansion coupled with denser, inclusive, healthy, green and connected neighbourhoods.
New updated content: 2020-03-16 12:32:24
Councillor meetings
A number of in person councillor meetings occurred prior to the Covid emergency. Paul and Roland Dorsay of the FCA met with Jeff Leiper for a detailed technical briefing on March 9, Paul met with staff in Shawn Menard’s office for the same purpose on March 10, and, accompanied by Ecology Ottawa staff and local constituents, with Keith Egli on March 11. The first two are considered supporters of our position while the latter is an undecided in our estimation. As such, this meeting provided valuable insight on the issues that cause the undecided councillors to resist our appeal as did a detailed letter received from Scott Moffatt by one of our workshop participants as a result of her outreach to him. Other workshop participants reported on subsequent meetings or encounters with Councillors Fleury, Kavanagh and McKenney, confirming our assessment that these are likely supportive of our position while a meeting with Councillor Cloutier, who we believe is a likely supporter of urban expansion, was put off as a result of the Covid emergency.
New updated content: 2020-03-16 12:32:25
Joint meeting of ARAC and Planning Committee postponed
The Joint meeting of ARAC and Planning Committee which was to occur on March 30 was postponed until May 4. This decision was taken prior to the Covid emergency and we believe it reflected the City’s need to take on board the impact of the PPS 2020, which was released on February 29. The main change in the PPS 2020 that affects the urban boundary issue is the requirement for the City to “maintain at all times the ability to accommodate residential growth for a minimum of 15 years.” Previously, this was 10 years. This constraint has in the past been used as justification for expanding the urban on its own merits, beyond the requirement to supply housing for projected population growth. Even if there is sufficient housing planned to fully accommodate the projected growth over the 25 year period of the plan, there is the additional requirement to ensure that by, for example, year 24, the City has the ability to accommodate 15 years of residential growth. There must always be 15 years in the bank.
In the past the City demonstrated that it met this requirement by maintaining a large inventory of vacant greenfield lands in the outer suburbs. By boosting the requirement to 15 years, the existing greenfield inventory will no longer be sufficient. This could be used by the City, lobbied by landowners, to expand the urban boundary even more than they had previously planned. The PPS allows, however, in fact insists, that the 15 year requirement be met “through residential intensification and redevelopment” and, only if necessary, greenfield lands. Counting on intensification as part this required minimum supply will require the development of new methods and analysis to quantify intensification in years of supply. We will be preparing a paper putting forward a basic approach for doing so and, using the City’s own numbers, demonstrate that it can maintain a 15 year supply of residential growth while also maintaining the current urban boundary. (The Joint meeting of ARAC and Planning Committee was subsequently pushed back to May 11.)
New updated content: 2020-03-16 12:32:25
Advertising and social media in support of urban expansion
Members and contacts have reported a number of instances of advertising in newspapers and on social media by builders associations and allied parties in support of expanding the urban boundary. These have used inflammatory and inaccurate language to promote urban expansion. We, collectively with POP members, have responded to these on social media and through a number of published op-eds and letters. We will need to remain vigilant and respond to further messages in this campaign in addition to launching our own.
New updated content: 2020-04-20 12:42:32
Preparation for the Joint Meeting of Planning and Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committees on May 11
Outreach to Community Associations
In recognition that, in addition to the voices of the various members of the Peoples Official Plan collective, Councillors would more likely be moved by voices from their own wards, we set out to engage community associations to have them communicate directly to their ward councillor that they oppose urban expansion, that they understand that this might mean more density for their neighbourhood but that this is a trade-off they are willing to accept. A <sample letter> was prepared and <distributed> directly to CAs from a mailing list that had been compiled by the GA and other POP members. This letter will be presented to CA representatives at the April 22 General meeting of the Federation of Citizens’ Associations, where we will seek the FCA’s endorsement. It was also distributed through our new Ottawa Climate Solutions listserve.
New updated content: 2020-04-20 12:42:32
Joint Collective letter to Mayor and Council
As part of our general plan, Ecology Ottawa took the lead in preparing a <joint letter> to Mayor and Council and collecting signatures from all participants in the POP collective.
New updated content: 2020-04-20 12:42:32
Online Rally May 8
Ecology Ottawa is also taking the lead on the online rally that is planned for May 8, which will feature a number of speakers, including Dianne Saxe, the former Environment Commissioner of Ontario, and the current GA Chair. The joint letter to Mayor and Council and a petition to Hold the Line with 4000 signatures will be formally transferred to the Mayor and Council as part of the rally.
New updated content: 2020-04-20 12:42:32
Expansion Land Criteria, April 16 e-meeting
The City has invited the builders/community stakeholders group, which includes the GA, to comment on the latest version of the criteria that will be used to evaluate land parcels for inclusion in an expanded urban area, should an expansion be approved. A draft was circulated and the issues we are focused on are the recognition of wildlife corridors, which was the result of the settlement of a previous GA appeal, the protection of agricultural land, which the PPS 2020 leaves potentially vulnerable.
New updated content: 2020-05-25 12:51:24
Official Plan update
At the April 22 general meeting of the Federation of Citizens’ Associations, the GA presented a proposal to have CA representatives write directly to their councillors in support of holding the line on urban expansion, even if this meant more intensification in their local areas. This received the FCA’s endorsement and a draft model letter was sent to all members for customization as required. .
The online rally to Hold the Line organized by Ecology Ottawa took place on May 8 and was attended by 500+ participants. Dianne Saxe, the former Environment Commissioner of Ontario, and the current GA Chair spoke at the rally, among others. The joint letter to Mayor and Council signed by POP coalition organizational members and a petition to Hold the Line with 4000 signatures was transferred to the Mayor and Council as part of the rally.
At the marathon May 11, May 12 and May 19 Joint Meeting of Planning and ARAC, an urban expansion of 1650 hectares was approved, with Councillor Leiper the sole vote in opposition. This despite 43 in-person delegations opposed vs 41 landowner and allied delegations for, 64% of written submissions opposed versus 8% for and a survey conducted by reputable pollster EKOS finding 52% of Ottawa residents opposed. The proposed expansion was subsequently reduced to 1281 ha at the May 27 Council meeting, on a motion from Councillor Menard.
New updated content: 2020-07-20 09:20:47
The 15 minute neighbourhood
Paul reported on the multitude of initiatives and approaches that the concept of 15 minute neighbourhoods has elicited. The City’s has stated its intention to make this a strategic direction of the new Official Plan. We support this direction as it is consistent with more density, which reduces pressure on outward expansion into the rural area. Achieving intensification through such a neighbourhood design has the potential to bring more benefits and quality of life to residents affected than the current approach and be more broadly supported by the population.
Exactly what, where and how to achieve it remains to be determined. The City is currently working on this in the draft Official Plan, more or less behind closed doors. It has posted an online survey on what features constitute a 15 minute neighbourhood. The survey closes on September 15. The FCA plans to follow up the work it did in Barrhaven with the Telfer School of Management at UOttawa on assessments of neighbourhoods from this perspective. Plans to conduct similar assessments in Overbrooke and Carp are underway. Ecology Ottawa is running a major campaign on 15 minute neighbourhoods and Roseline Hill, an architect who is a member of GOHBA, is running a series of webinars and discussions, called Walkable Ottawa, on transitioning and building typologies for 15 minute neighbourhoods. Finally, through the POP process we initiated, the GA will focus on the preservation of greenspace, canopy and permeability in the context of 15 minute neighbourhoods.
New updated content: 2020-09-21 09:46:52
As part of the continuation of the Peoples’ Official Plan process funded by an Ottawa Community Foundation grant, POP members have committed to prepare position papers on the City’s Five Big Moves ahead of the release of the draft Official Plan expected at the end of November. These short papers are expected to deepen the analysis and sharpen the “asks” in each of the five areas taking into account what we have learned since last December when the draft Strategic Directions were published. The Greenspace Alliance has committed to write a paper on the Growth Management big move. It is anticipated that one of the City’s main strategies for achieving its intensification targets will be the regeneration of inner urban areas as 15 minute neighbourhoods. The paper will a focus on greenspace protection in the context of 15 minute neighbourhoods.
Paul asked members for ideas on what the paper should cover. Suggestions included community gardens, distinction between greenspace and trees on public and private lands; reclaiming public lands for public uses; communal or coop land tenure; reworking of roads: intersection design, roadworks, to incorporate trees and greenspace; harvesting ideas on this issue from papers produced for the November 2019 POP workshop (on ottawaclimatesolutions.net). A draft will be circulated in late October with a target to deliver it to the POP team by October 31.
Action: Paul to circulate a draft for comment.
New updated content: 2020-09-21 09:46:53
Plans for a workshop on 15 minute neighbourhoods
Also as part of the OCF funded extension of POP, a virtual workshop is planned in late November on the theme of 15 minute neighbourhoods, with a goal of popularizing the idea as a green, climate smart approach to growth, adapting it to the unique characteristics of neighbourhoods and generating content and momentum for the public consultation on the draft OP in the new year. The GA is expected to play a role in supplying content for the workshop and helping with its organization and conduct.
New updated content: 2020-09-21 09:46:53
Ambassadors meetings, July 27, September 2
Paul attended the Ambassadors virtual meeting on July 27 and both Paul and Daniel attended the one of September 2 (this is the City’s social equity and inclusion lens consultation group). Paul reported that the online format provided a better forum for all participants to speak and have their views heard distinctly in comparison to the in person meetings he previously attended. The theme of the July 27 meeting was the 15 minute neighbourhood. Alain Miguelez, the lead planner on the OP, gave a presentation on 15 minute neighbourhoods and participants were canvassed on their experience in their current neighbourhoods and what would need to be improved to achieve the goals of a 15 minute neighbourhood. This led to a good exchange with a number of useful insights that would not have surface otherwise. The theme of the September 2 meeting was the Energy Evolution plan and it followed a similar format. The project lead gave a presentation and participants each in turn asked questions and put forward views and opinions from the point of view of the communities they represented.
New updated content: 2020-09-21 09:46:53
Planning Staff Update, September 9
The Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development department (PIED) held an information session on the status of its work on September 9 organized by the FCA for the benefit of Community Associations. It covered the full scope of PIED’s work, including its role in responding to the COVID 19 emergency. Stephen Willis, GM of PIED hosted the meeting and gave an introductory presentation. Alain Miguelez gave an extensive presentation on the new OP, and in particular on the new concept of Transects (labelled contexts in early 2019 discussion papers). High level zones called transects will divide the city in concentric areas starting from the downtown, though to inner urban, outer urban, greenbelt, suburban and rural transects. These will be the highest level geography of the OP and policies in subordinate levels will be tailored to the characteristics of each, including a new Zoning Bylaw. Although not unanticipated – the concept was included in early discussion papers – this is a major departure from the structure of the current OP and will require extensive consultation and development. The full public engagement resources of the City will focus on transects in the November-December timeframe, and further consultation and refinement will occur in Q1 2021.
New updated content: 2020-10-19 10:11:28
City OP Ambassadors meeting, September 22
The City’s Public Engagement team organized another session to sound out the equity and inclusion groups on aspects of the new OP, this time the Transportation Master Plan. The engagement website for the TMP will be launched on October 23. Robert Grimwood, the project lead, gave the presentation and took many questions. This topic was close to the concerns of participants and they raised many thoughtful issues and suggestions. The impact of the pandemic on transportation patterns is of particular concern. An immediate impact has been the postponement of the Origin and Destination Survey by one year, now scheduled for fall 2021. This will delay the TMP by another year, likely to 2023. Concerns we brought up include the lack of a common definition for a neighbourhood, the exclusive focus on commuting for employment purposes to the exclusion of destinations like shopping and other activities of daily living and distance and ease of travel to greenspace as a TMP issue. These issues fall out from a seeming lack of recognition in the TMP of the changes on transportation patterns that would be brought about by the successful implementation of the 15 minute neighbourhood as a growth management strategy.
New updated content: 2020-10-19 10:11:28
Official Plan update. FCA/GOHBA stakeholders group, September 24
The City organized another briefing session for this group on September 24, in which the GA participated. A lot of new information was shared in a presentation regarding the structure and concepts of the new Official Plan. A significant new concept is the “transect”, which was called “context” in earlier documents. These represent large areas of the city that share similar characteristics: downtown, inner urban, outer urban, Greenbelt and suburban. Policies would be adapted to the characteristics of each of these transects. Paul led a discussion with members on this issue and a number of points were raised by members. An interesting one as yet unanswered is how heritage districts and other heritage designations are represented in this new structure. A suggestion was made that some kind of illustrated mapping, showing the boundaries of the transects and the built forms that could be expected in each, would be a useful communication tool.
New updated content: 2020-10-19 10:11:28
POP Update, Timelines
The Peoples’ Official Plan process carries on in a slightly altered configuration, with Ecology Ottawa now playing more of a coordinating role than before. Policy papers are being drafted in relation to the five Big Moves in anticipation of the draft OP. The GA has prepared a paper on the Growth Management Big Move. A virtual workshop is now planned for Saturday, December 12 with a focus on the draft OP and the 15 minute neighbourhood.
New updated content: 2020-10-19 10:11:28
Algonquins of Ontario/Taggart New Southeast Suburb Proposal
A new <proposal> for a new 35,000 resident suburb in the southeastern part of the City has been announced. Located on 1100 ha near the intersection of Boundary Road and Highway 417, on the urban boundary, it offers a whole new way of accommodating residential growth forecast in the new Official Plan that had not been previously considered. This will surely complicate the City’s decision on which properties to include in the urban expansion it announced in May 2020. This decision is not expected until late 2021.
New updated content: 2020-11-23 10:15:26
Draft Official release November 20, 2020
Paul gave an overall summary review of the policies dealing with greenspace in the new draft Official Plan. This was based on a compilation of all policies in the new draft OP that deal with greenspace issues. The material presented will also form part of the presentation he will give at the POP workshop on December 12.
New updated content: 2021-01-18 10:18:05
Urban Expansion Land selection, Joint Meeting of Planning and ARAC, January 25
A staff report and recommendations on which land should make up the 1281 ha urban expansion approved in May 2020 was released on January 15 2021. Paul gave a presentation with visuals on the report and the location of the expansion parcels and sought direction from members on the GA response. A very good discussion ensued, which formed the basis of our submission to the Joint Meeting.
New updated content: 2021-01-18 10:18:05
Draft Official Plan review, February 17 deadline
Paul did a run through of the policies dealing with greenspace in the draft Official Plan and of the compendia he produced of policies in specific domains (for example, Parks, Trees, Access to Greenspace, Protection of Greenspace). These, which range in length from 5 to 8 pages, compile policies extracted from the full 263 page OP and allow reviewers to quickly focus on specific topics. He reported that a number of external reviewers had agreed to provide feedback on individual topic compendia and sought direction on how to enlist more reviewers. It was agreed that the full membership and GA list subscribers should be engaged. In addition, a number of past members or known authorities in the various domains were proposed, on which Paul will follow up.
In parallel, the GA is participating with other organizations as part of the Peoples Official Plan in a similar review covering a broader scope of policies that are relevant to the City’s climate change response.
Erwin reported that he had undertaken a page by page review of the entire document, the results of which he will gladly share, and David indicated that he intended to make a submission as well.
Members present also raised a number of points and observations from their own review of the draft OP to this point.
– a compilation of the What We Want to Achieve statements in the boxes at the start of each section of the OP could prove to be a useful summary of the plan
– There should be a list of the Urban Natural Features as an Annex
– Volume 2, Secondary Plans, should not be neglected
– Results and performance of the previous OPs should be referenced
– There should be a much better developed Monitoring section
– There should be an Annex listing the guidelines and other documents referenced in the OP
– Many unanswered questions on 15 minute neighbourhoods, hubs, transects
– The 21 feedback forms provided by the City on Engage Ottawa are random and shallow
New updated content: 2021-02-22 11:02:28
Draft Official Plan review, New March 12 deadline
Paul presented a draft of the Greenspace Alliance comments on the greenspace related policies in the draft Official Plan, with particular reference to those dealing with protecting tree canopy and greenspace. Members offered many comments and suggestions, mostly in the direction of strengthening our response, resulting in this new version, which became part of our submission. Our comments were amalgamated with those of Ecology Ottawa, Community Associations for Environmental Sustainability, Ottawa Transit Riders and Walkable Ottawa, and reviewed and endorsed by many others. This combined document was submitted to the City on March 12.
New updated content: 2021-02-22 11:02:28
Results of Urban Expansion Land selection, Joint Meeting of Planning and ARAC, January 25
In May 2020, the City adopted what they now call a hybrid scenario: a 1281 ha urban expansion, with 51% of projected growth achieved through intensification, the balance on vacant greenfields inside the urban area and new urban expansion lands. It also decided to exclude Agricultural Resource Areas as potential expansion lands. This reduced the stock of land from which to choose additions to the urban area.
The staff report on the results of its search for suitable expansion lands was considered at the January 25 Joint Meeting of Planning and Agricultural and Rural Affairs Committees. Only 1011 ha of land fully met the minimum criteria to qualify for expansion. Staff recommended adding these 1011 hectares to the urban area immediately, and setting up a study, to conclude no later than Q4 2026, on where to locate the additional 270 needed to fill their quota. They provided three general options that would be studied.
Instead Committee removed 175 ha from the recommended 1011, and reassigned them to one of the study options, the Tewin lands proposed by the Algonquins of Ontario and Taggart Investments, with a direction to include all 445 ha immediately as well, without study. Many other Algonquin communities, who had not been consulted, have now opposed this recommendation. The Greenspace Alliance, along with the other organizations under the umbrella of the Peoples’ Official Plan issued this PRESS RELEASE in protest.
New updated content: 2021-03-22 12:04:03
Draft OP, POP Submission
Paul reported that the POP collective submitted its detailed policy review of the draft Official Plan to City staff on the March 12 deadline. The end result was a 117 page technical document addressing a wide range of policies dealing with climate change, greenspace, mobility, densification and other areas relevant to the Peoples Official Plan for Ottawa’s Climate Emergency. The Greenspace Alliance was a major contributor to the document, which was a truly collective effort co-authored with Ecology Ottawa, CAFES, Walkable Ottawa, Ottawa Transit Riders, Just Food and was reviewed and commented on by many others. City staff acknowledged the value of this joint effort and a meeting is being organized with senior planning staff to go over our policy proposals. Additional work is planned to produce a summary document and a more public facing communications piece.
New updated content: 2021-03-22 12:04:04
Greenspace Protection in OP, Meeting with Nick Stow
As part of the detailed review of greenspace related policies in the draft OP, many questions arose regarding the exact meaning of many of them. In addition, because they are spread out over several chapters of the draft OP, it was difficult to comprehend the full scope and extent of the actual protection being extended to greenspace. Paul assembled a summary table of all of the protections and requested a meeting with Nick Stow, the City planner who is the main author of these policies. He agreed and spent considerable time clarifying and validating this work and the table has been submitted with the POP technical document as a proposed new Annex to the Official Plan.
New updated content: 2021-03-22 12:04:04
Official Plan timeframes
There has been considerable debate over the rush by City elected officials to have the new Official Plan approved prior to the next municipal election in 2022. This item was put on the agenda to develop a GA position that could be communicated to the City. However, on the same day as the GA meeting, Stephen Willis, General Manager, Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development, issued a memorandum to City Councillors on the issue espousing essentially the position that the GA Chair planned to propose to members. This position was to agree to a package of policies which could be passed in late 2021, pushing forward the largely underdeveloped policies surrounding densification of neighbourhoods into the new term of council in 2022. Completing this work could then be done over a two year period in concert with the review of the Zoning Bylaw and Secondary Plans giving effect to the new policy directions. Members were generally supportive of this approach although much work remains to be done to ascertain what should be included in the pared down package, and what would be deferred.
New updated content: 2021-04-19 12:15:02
Draft OP, POP Submission
Since the submission of the detailed Technical report on March 12, the GA has been working with its POP partners on a summary communication piece to convey the top level messages it wants to deliver to a broader audience. This would be part of a home stretch campaign through to the fall that would include a press release in May, a response to the As We Heard It report, a survey of councillors, a summer workshop and a review of the final draft OP ahead of the Section 26 meeting currently scheduled for September 13-15. On a positive note to start, the City has confirmed a June 2 two hour meeting with POP representatives to go over our technical submission.
New updated content: 2021-08-23 08:57:11
New Official Plan
POP held a workshop on July 26 2021 with a view to refining messages and generating support for our positions leading up to the Joint Meeting of Planning and ARAC, initially scheduled for September 13, 14 and 15 (subsequently deferred to October 14, partly as a result of a request from the FCA). Around 80 people participated. The workshop led to the crystallization of 8 key focus areas for the development of proposed changes and amendments to the revised draft of the Official Plan (by the time of workshop Sections 1 to 3 and 5 to 8 of the revised draft of the Official Plan had been released by the City).
A second POP initiative ahead of the JPARAC meeting is a survey of Councillors on the Official Plan. With the scope of the OP being so vast, it was agreed to focus the survey on a specific aspect, targets and metrics. This was seen as a fairly neutral, good governance topic, which could be of interest to a wider audience of councillors, but would yet give us a way of introducing climate and greenspace themes. After preliminary testing with two councilors, the questionnaire was finalized. It was agreed to give preference to conducting these interviews in person rather than in writing and to start with perceived swing councilors. The response has been good, with four councilors interviewed by the end of August and several more scheduled through September.
A media campaign has also been launched in parallel, with several op-eds prepared and published and a series of press releases planned.
New updated content: 2021-09-27 09:00:06
POP held its second workshop on September 23 with the express purpose of mobilizing attendees to make presentations at the Joint Meeting of Planning and ARAC on October 14. Around 60 participants were given practical training on how to prepare, how to register and what to expect. They subsequently collaborated in small groups sharing the messages and positions they intended to put forward. It was very well received. The POP political survey continued through September with many more councillors participating, including the co-chairs of Planning Committee and Deputy Mayor Dudas. In the end, we met with 12 councillors and established a very good rapport with all of them. This was extremely useful in the development and sponsoring of motions ahead of the October 14 Joint Meeting. The City hosted an Open House on September 29, which was the mandatory Section 26 meeting for the new Official Plan. Not much new was learned for anyone who had followed the development of the OP but it was a well-run meeting that confirmed a few of the commitments heard in prior meetings with staff.
New updated content: 2021-09-27 09:00:06
Members considered the specific policies regarding greenspace and tree canopy in the revised draft OP so as to prepare a final position for our delegation at the October Joint Meeting. It was agreed that we would reiterate our opposition to urban expansion, emphasize the importance of community engagement in local intensification and tree preservation planning, support baseline studies of access to greenspace and tree canopy against the new standards for access and call for operational support for planning and forestry staff tasked with carrying out these policies. On specific greenspace concerns, better protection for urban open space and parks was highlighted as was excluding the Natural Heritage System from consideration for urban expansion. As regards canopy protection, in addition to coverage, the importance of maintaining healthy populations of trees of various ages through under-planting was discussed.
Action: Paul to prepare the GA’s oral submission for the October 14 Joint meeting.
New updated content: 2021-10-25 09:02:03
New Official Plan
The City held an open house on September 29 on the new Official Plan. This was considered the mandatory public meeting under the Planning Act for a new official plan. There was nothing new at this meeting for anyone who had followed the development of the OP over the last two years but it was a well-run presentation and Q&A session.
The Joint meeting of Planning and Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committees was held on October 14. Due to the large number of public delegation (96), the meeting was extended over three days, with all public delegations completed by the end of Friday October 15, and questions to staff, motions and final decision deferred to Monday October 18. Many of these delegations were from the POP group. From CAWI (City All Women’s Initiative) early on day 1 to Just Food late on day 2, we bracketed this meeting with compelling and effective messaging that was enhanced and amplified by many other delegations. As a bonus, the last speaker, number 96, a Mr. Tim Lash gave a very eloquent talk that included a vision statement, principles, and metrics that aligned exactly with ours. The GA’s submission can be found here. In addition, GA Director Daniel Buckles made a submission representing the overall perspective of POP: notes, slides
The POP group had put forward 16 motions for amending the draft Official Plan. Thanks to extensive one on one interactions with City Councillors in the 6 weeks leading up to the meeting (through POP’s political survey), all of these motions found a sponsor and were introduced on day 3 of the meeting, most of them on the consent agenda, meaning that a sufficient consensus existed on the Joint Committee for these to be adopted without further deliberation. The list of motions and their disposition can be found here. A number of other motions were passed which built on or were congruent with our positions. Many of these had been proposed by community associations and other groups with which we had interacted as part of the POP process or were self-initiated by Councillors we had met. See the list below:
Carlington Woods protection, Brockington
Public realm additions, McKenney
Alta Vista Transportation Corridor, Menard
Low rise design guidelines, Menard
Hunt Club forest protection, Brockington
Financing, Gower
Setbacks for tree planting, Leiper
Fisher Woods protection, Brockington
Moodie station greenbelt protection, Kavanagh
Hydrologic features in Fairhaven protection, King
Public vacant land strategy, Fleury
McCarthy Woods and CEF protection, Brockington
Healthy Streets, Menard
Park minimum size, Menard
Two of our motions were referred to Council without a recommendation. (Post meeting note: Both of them were adopted by full Council vote at the October 27 Council meeting, when the final Official Plan was approved.)
While not every amendment we proposed was fully adopted, most were and at a minimum led to directions given to staff to act upon them in its future work program. In the end, we can safely say that our activism had an impact, which both blunted developer influence and resulted in significant improvements to the Official Plan.
New updated content: 2021-11-22 09:03:53
New Official Plan
Council approved the City’s new Official Plan at its October 27 meeting, including a number of amendments brought forward from the Joint Planning and ARAC meeting based on POP inspired motions. All of these were passed. The POP group had sent a letter to Mayor and Council on the eve of the meeting urging them to act now on climate change. This followed a Press Conference held on October 25, which was well attended and led to significant media coverage leading up to the Council meeting.
In the end, the entire campaign was quite successful in engaging City staff and elected officials and putting forward effective, actionable proposals that were on the whole adopted. However, the resulting Official Plan still suffered from major deficiencies due to the lack of commitment and foresight of a majority of councilors in the Mayor’s camp regarding climate change and greenspace issues.
New updated content: 2021-11-22 09:03:53
These shortcomings were addressed in a last ditch effort to effect changes in the Official Plan by calling on the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to exercise his authority in the review and approval of the Official Plan. Members reviewed and commented on a draft of a joint letter from POP to the Minister and passed a motion in support.
(Post-meeting note: The letter was sent on November 26.)
New updated content: 2022-01-17 09:09:38
New Official Plan
The final version of the letter to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing on the new Official Plan, which members reviewed at the November 22 meeting, was sent on November 26.
New updated content: 2022-11-21 10:30:12
Official Plan
Paul reported that the Province had finally approved the City’s new Official Plan, adding almost 50% more urban expansion lands than what had been approved by Council. This will provide more incentive for urban sprawl and likely hinder intensification efforts, so the opposite of what the GA had been advocating. The OP is not appealable so this is the new reality with which we will have to contend.
New updated content: 2023-11-20 12:54:07
The province has announced that it will reverse its decisions to add urban expansion lands to the Official Plans of municipalities, including Ottawa. This is very good news as they had added 500+ hectares to the 1280 approved by Council in 2021. Whether the other changes to policies they made are to be reversed as well, indeed whether there is an opening to revisit provisions approved in 2021 is an open question. Paul reported on the letter that the POP coalition issued calling on the City to take this opportunity to reverse the urban expansion approved by the previous Council and to increase intensification targets instead. The GA signed on to this letter, which was circulated for review and approval earlier in November.
