The Clemow, a new 17-storey apartment building on Carling near Bronson, is the subject of numerous complaints from Glebe residents of noise pollution from air conditioners on the roof.
Photo: John Richardson
The Clemow clamour
By Alan Freeman
Dr. Jill Fulcher, a hematologist who lives on Powell Avenue, is accustomed to loud noise. From her office window at the Ottawa Hospital, she frequently hears the intense racket of emergency helicopters landing with patients.
But in recent months, that kind of noise has invaded her home on Powell Avenue. According to Dr. Fulcher and scores of residents in the neighbourhood, the din comes from rooftop air-conditioning equipment at The Clemow, a new 17-storey apartment building on Carling Avenue.
Dr. Fulcher says the noise is even worse than a chopper because it’s constant. “I work as a physician caring for people with leukemia,” she says. “My backyard was a place where I found peace in the morning over coffee in preparation for the workday ahead.” But the ambient noise is so intolerable that she now avoids her garden – “I have lost my peaceful place.”
“It’s brutal,” says Heather Irwin, who lives on Clemow Avenue between Percy and Bronson. The noise is a “gut punch” each time she steps outside. “It’s like there’s a kid with a drone who won’t go away.”
From Renfrew Avenue south to the avenues and in the Glebe Annex, residents are staying inside and closing their windows, even on hot days. John Sims on Second Avenue and Powell resident Paul Jenkins are spearheading a grassroots effort to get the owner of The Clemow, KTS Properties, to rectify the problem. They’ve complained to the City and hired their own acoustic engineer.
The Glebe Community Association is calling on KTS to take mitigation measures, noting that excess noise “has been linked to a range of negative physical and mental health outcomes, including heightened stress, sleep disturbance and impaired concentration.”
The City’s bylaw office says it has received 59 complaints related to The Clemow and sent officers to take readings but has observed no violations of the 50-decibel limit. It is continuing to work with The Clemow’s owner to explore “potential ways to reduce the noise.”
Councillor Shawn Menard says the City can’t force KTS to act because there’s no legal ground to do so. He has yet to meet personally with residents but says he and his staff are working “non-stop” to find a solution.
As for KTS, it insists it is complying with the rules. In a statement to the Glebe Report, Tanya Chowieiri, a partner in the family-controlled firm, said both the City’s bylaw staff and a testing firm hired by KTS “confirm our systems are operating within the City of Ottawa’s Environmental Noise Control Guidelines.”
Chowieri said compliance with regulations is “just the baseline,” adding that the company is “actively exploring additional noise abatement measures to further reduce any impact on the surrounding community.” There are no details yet about any measures or timeline.
Residents are frustrated. Jason Christie, a neighbour of Dr. Fulcher, complained about the noise in May. Two bylaw officers turned up on May 13, when temperatures hit a high of 26 degrees. Christie says they captured a reading above 50 decibels and told him they believed there was a violation.
Five days later, another bylaw officer returned at 3 a.m. when records show it had cooled to about 12 degrees – it was unclear whether the AC at The Clemow was even running at the time. The officer wrote Christie that the “newer more accurate noise reading” showed no violation, so he closed the case because it was “frivolous.” Says Christie, “To me, it highlights that bylaw didn’t take this seriously and seemed to want to close the file.”
The dispute echoes one 15 years ago when local residents complained about noise from AC units at the Lord Lansdowne retirement home on Bank Street. After a concerted campaign, the landlord installed panels around the equipment, and the issue was apparently resolved.
KTS Properties is a sister company to Katasa Group, a developer based in Gatineau controlled by the Chowieri family. In addition to The Clemow, KTS owns the adjacent office building Carling and Bronson, which it plans to convert to residential use.
KTS also owns a large vacant lot across Carling where it got Council approval in 2023 to build a 22-storey apartment tower. A controversy erupted in 2024 when it was disclosed that the developer had agreed to provide $300,000 as a “voluntary contribution” for affordable housing and traffic improvements in an arrangement negotiated by Shawn Menard.
Katasa rescinded the offer after Council determined the money should be spread across the city rather than be linked to a specific project or ward. KTS says the proposed high rise is still in the planning stages.
The prospect of problems at future KTS developments is another reason why local residents want to resolve the current one at The Clemow.
Alan Freeman is a journalist, columnist and academic who lives in the Glebe and is also bothered by the noise.