The City is planning a Rural Summit in the fall of 2024. It is being led and organized by the rural councillors, who are appointing two residents from each their wards to form an organizing committee. The last such summit occurred over a decade ago. Members agreed that it was important to get rural greenspace conservation and environmental sustainability on the agenda of this gathering and also the ecological interdependence of rural and urban residents of Ottawa.  This would be best arranged by rural partners who have access to the organizing committee.

Action: Paul to contact Rural Woodlands Ottawa and other rural partners about means of getting these topics on the agenda.

Follow up on Baseline and Fisher apartment tower project

The zoning for this project was approved but the decision left considerable latitude for further design changes that would minimize the shadowing impact of the proposed towers. It is expected that such changes would be dealt with through Site Plan control. Members agreed that it was imperative to ensure further public engagement on the site plan. The decision also indicated that a promised working group on building heights on the periphery of the Farm was finalizing its Terms of Reference. Members agreed that we should press to ensure that there is participation by civil society in this working group, which at this point includes only City staff, AAFC personnel and representatives from the NCC.

Action: Paul to draft a letter to the Mayor, the Chair of the NCC and the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and engage the Coalition to Protect the Farm to secure participation on the working group.

Update on Conservancy development in Jock River floodplain

The Conservancy development in Barrhaven was recently the subject of some media attention following the tabling of the City Auditor General’s report on the controversies surrounding the project approval. This report stated that certain aspects of this controversy were beyond her purview, which is limited to City of Ottawa actions and decisions. The actions of provincially mandated agencies such as the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, which played a role in this controversy, are out of scope of this report. As per the action agreed by Members at the December meeting, a request was sent to the Auditor General of Ontario to investigate the process and decisions that led to this massive site alteration in the Jock River.

Update on Tree removal, 290 Holmwood

The Committee of Adjustment heard this case on December 13 2023 and in the absence of agreement between the City and the proponent on tree conservation, it adjourned the hearing sine die.

Action: Paul to circulate the staff report.