Old Ottawa South needs your support

by Susan Brousseau

The Southminster Church across from the Sunnyside library is selling land to Windmill Development Group. The developer proposes to build four townhouses and a 19-plus-metre-high, six-storey condominium. The condominium will be higher than the church and higher than any building currently allowed in our neighbourhood.

The condominium will replace the annex at the back of the church and wrap around the canal side thus obstructing the view of the church, an important landmark and gateway to our community, and dominating the view from the Bank Street Bridge and along the Rideau Canal, a UNESCO world heritage site.

The entire city block on which the church resides is to be rezoned from Institutional to Traditional Main Street (TM) before the land is severed and sold to allow a condominium of such height to be built at the back of the church with no frontage on Bank Street. The developer is also asking for substantial setback exceptions along Galt Street and Aylmer Avenue.

We are asking that the height limit on the property be a maximum of 15 metres as it is on our part of Bank to allow the building to proceed while protecting church views and keeping the church as the site’s dominant element in this heritage rich section of the canal. A 15-metre height limit would allow for a five-storey condominium.

The developer has finally made available renderings of the north side. Residents have been requesting these for many months, as the north side (canal view) will be most impacted. Unfortunately, the renderings depict a summer scene with all currently existing trees in place, although a mature maple is to be removed for construction and trees abutting the property line may not survive construction. It is unfortunate, as well, that the renderings do not include a winter scene, when, like most of the year, there will be no leaves on the largely deciduous trees that grow here. It is important that City Council take this into consideration.

We expect City Council to vote on this application in November. We ask that you consider writing to all members of the Council to express your concerns. Height concerns, as they relate to heritage and a development that exceeds 15 metres are the crucial issues, as are concerns about the north side renderings. Please contact developmentwatchsouthminster@gmail.com to receive an easy copy-and-paste format of the addresses below.

We need your support.

Susan Brousseau is a member of Development Watch Southminster.

Ottawa City Council

email addresses

Mayor
Jim.Watson@Ottawa.ca

Councillors

Jan.Harder@Ottawa.ca
Jeff.Leiper@Ottawa.ca
Tim.Tierney@Ottawa.ca
Rick.Chiarelli@Ottawa.ca
Shad.Qadri@Ottawa.ca
Jean.Cloutier@Ottawa.ca
Riley.Brockington@Ottawa.ca
Stephen.Blais@Ottawa.ca
Tobi.Nussbaum@Ottawa.ca
Allan.Hubley@Ottawa.ca
Diane.Deans@Ottawa.ca
Keith.Egli@Ottawa.ca
Mathieu.Fleury@Ottawa.ca
Mark.Taylor@Ottawa.ca
Michael.Qaqish@Ottawa.ca
Scott.Moffat@Ottawa.ca
George.Darouze@Ottawa.ca
Bob.Monette@Ottawa.ca
Marianne.Wilkinson@Ottawa.ca
Jodi.Mitic@Ottawa.ca
Catherine.Mckenney@Ottawa.ca
Eli.El-Chantiry@Ottawa.ca

Capital Ward Councillor
David.Chernushenko@Ottawa.ca