Density targets to add new dimension to OMB hearings: city lawyer
Homebuilders 'deeply concerned' with intensification ambitions
By Peter Kovessy, Ottawa Business Journal Staff
Wed, Apr 8, 2009 2:00 PM EST
http://www.ottawabusinessjournal.com...9201439049.php
Ottawa's proposed residential intensification targets could be a new tool for developers and community groups battling over building densities at the Ontario Municipal Board, a city lawyer has said.
As part of Ottawa's five-year official plan review, city planners are recommending an average of 40 per cent of new homes in the city be built through intensification, namely infill and redevelopment projects, through to 2031.
This target is directed to occur in 10 per cent of the urban area and will be achieved by introducing minimum densities for new construction in the downtown, around major employment hubs and key transit transfer stations as well as suburban town centres.
During a technical briefing for councillors, staff and the media on the proposal late last month, senior legal counsel for the city Tim Marc said the targets could carry weight at the OMB, which hears appeals of municipal planning and development decisions.
In response to a question from Rideau-Rockcliffe Coun. Jacques Legendre, Mr. Marc said that if the city is not meeting its intensification targets, a developer could use that to argue for increasing the permitted density of a particular project.
But, he added, the same argument could also work in reverse.
"If we are achieving our goal, then we could use it to oppose a development," said Mr. Marc.
However, one municipal observer said the planned minimum densities, and accompanying zoning provisions, for specific areas of the city will introduce more predictability for developers and residents alike and prevent many of the battles over density.
"Everybody (will) know where (intensification) is going," said Bell Baker LLP partner Paul Webber, who specializes in land use planning.
"For the developer, it becomes much harder to argue for a highrise somewhere else. For the resident near those areas (targeted for intensification), it gets even harder to argue against it because the zoning is in place."
The province now requires municipalities to establish intensification targets and incorporate those targets into its official plan, according to a spokesperson for Ontario's Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
Additionally, municipalities must look to intensification and redevelopment before expanding their boundaries to accommodate residential growth.
Along with its target of 40-per-cent intensification, the city is proposing to expand the urban boundary by 850 hectares, an amount deemed insufficient by Ottawa's home construction industry, which suggested 2,000 hectares is more appropriate.
John Herbert, the executive director of the Greater Ottawa Home Builders' Association, said his organization is "deeply concerned" that the province may not allow subsequent expansions of Ottawa's urban boundary because the city can not meet its own intensification targets.
He argued the city's goals are unachievable, in part because the downtown sites most conducive to intensification projects have already been developed.
Additionally, said Mr. Herbert, high-density suburban developments are unlikely to occur in the absence of mass transit, a position at odds with the city, which has argued suburban densities must come first to justify the expansion of costly transit lines.
"There will be no reason for people to buy or rent in a location that doesn't provide them with the transportation service they need," said Mr. Herbert.
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