Proposed 18-storey tower meets chorus of opposition in Sandy Hill
City staff, councillor and community reject plan
By Alex Robinson
Ottawa East News, Jun 05, 2015
A Montreal-based developer has shrunk its proposal to build a mammoth 32-storey residential tower in Sandy Hill to 18 storeys, but city staff, the community and the local councillor are still not happy.
Rio Vista Apartments first proposed to build the 32-storey tower in 2013 next to an existing high rise at 400 Stewart and immediately met community opposition.
The developer was asked to go back to the drawing board by city staff and the project was put on hold. A new proposal was submitted in January, but it was not made public until the end of April.
Don Herweyer, a manager of development with the city, said the delay came from administrative issues, including a change of lead on the file.
“We felt that the resubmission needed more work, so there was also some delay setting up a meeting with the applicant,” he said. “We wanted to say we don’t think from our perspective this is going to fly and we don’t think the community is going to be on board. Do you want to go back to the drawing board? We finally met with them in April and they said to post it.”
City staff has rejected the new proposal, saying the scale is still far too big and out of context with the area.
“We’re trying to focus those types of developments around our transit stations, town centres, main streets and downtown areas,” Herweyer said. “This isn’t one of those sites we see as a high priority for intensification and further development. The key here will be getting something that fits in well with the neighbourhood.”
The proposed building would front onto Daly Avenue, and would have 163 residential units, down from 226. The site currently has a parking lot and a patch of green space.
In addition to concerns over size and scale, the developer has still not submitted all the necessary paperwork for its application. Herweyer said some of the more technical studies would not be updated until the developer either decides to try to push through the current proposal or submits an alternative.
The community has remained opposed to the building in its most recent rendition, saying the developer has given no consideration to the development’s placement.
“It is as though they copied and pasted something from another city and stuck it into the proposal,” said Elizabeth Grace, a resident, who along with her husband, Marc Tremblay, were a few of many nearby residents opposed to the high rise complex.
Residents see the proposed site as a buffer between their homes and the existing high rise building.
“We need to have some green space to compensate for this concrete block,” Grace said of the existing building.
“To balance off the footprint of the tower there is designated green space. I think the developer is hoping to forget about the need for green space so he can build on it, which would get rid of the needed buffer.”
When the original Rio Vista tower was built in the 1960s, the city included a floor space index, which was a cap that prevented further building on the property, but that was removed when the city amalgamated, Herweyer said.
Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury said he was pleased to see city staff was quick to reject the proposal.
“It’s rare you see planning staff right off the bat shutting it down,” he said.
“I never thought you’d see development proposed for that site as there is already a pretty massive development there.”
Action Sandy Hill, the neighbourhood’s community association, also added its voice to the chorus of opposition against the building.
Rio Vista Apartments could not be reached for comment before this paper’s deadline.
http://www.ottawacommunitynews.com/news-...eets-chorus-of-opposition-in-sandy-hill/
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