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MANOR PARK CHRONICLE
MAI 2004
Karen Way Rezoning - Next Meeting
Richcraft have indicated, through their architects, that they are
ready to present an alternative development proposal for the site
on Karen Way. A meeting has therefore been scheduled for May
5th, 7:30 p.m. in the basement assembly hall of St. David &
St. Martin Presbyterian Church. City planning staff will be on
hand. All are welcome.
Birch Avenue & Its Lighting
Rehabilitation works on this street will resume as soon as ground
conditions permit – likely in early or mid May. The worst, of
course, is over. All that remains to be done are the curbs, the
sidewalk, two finishing layers of asphalt, AND, of course, the
street lights.
Birch is a 9.0 metre local road. A local road of this width is
required to be illuminated to a level of 4 lux. Birch Avenue is,
however, classed a residential collector because bus route #7 uses
the street for part of its circuit. A collector requires 6 lux
illumination. To meet this ‘collector’ standard of illumination,
staff proposed a design consisting of flat-glass cobra-head
fixtures with 150-watt high-pressure sodium (HPS) bulbs mounted on
30-foot poles (25’ above ground) spaced approximately 49 metres
apart.
This design was not in harmony with the existing coach-style
fixtures already in place in the area. The cobra-head fixtures
were viewed as more appropriate to a major arterial corridor. In
this context, a third consultative meeting was held on January
12th 2004 to discuss the options and allow residents the
opportunity to provide additional input on the possible design of
the fixtures and on the colour of the lighting while respecting
the budget that was already allocated for the project.
Three hours of discussion brought forth a compromise which
consisted of using Coach Style fixtures using 70 watt HPS bulbs
mounted on 20 foot poles at 49 metres spacing (same spacing as the
cobra fixtures). Mr. Scott Edey, Program Manager for Street
Lighting and Community Lighting, was asked to provide lighting
calculations for this option over the following week. The results
were disappointing in that it resulted in substandard light levels
and unacceptable uniformity on both the sidewalk and the roadway.
Mr. Edey was then asked to provide additional options which might
be acceptable to staff.
Leaders of both communities, Manor Park and Rockcliffe, were
consulted throughout this process. The option finally proposed to
Transportation Committee had Coach Style fixtures with 150-watt
High Pressure Sodium bulbs mounted on 25-foot poles (20’ above
ground) at 49 meters spacing. This proposal allowed the project to
remain within budget, as it did not generate any additional cost
over that proposed by our staff, while meeting three of the four
criteria. This scenario provides an acceptable light level at 8.36
lux and uniformity level at 5.3:1 for the sidewalk. There is a
minimal lack in terms of light level on the road where it reaches
4.05 lux but does have an acceptable uniformity level of 4.21:1.
The light level on the road, while 2 lux below standard for this
road classification (but does meet the standard for the actual
road geometry) provides an acceptable level when combined with the
illumination from vehicle headlights. The proposal provides a safe
environment, is a clear improvement over the existing light levels
and respects the character of the neighbourhood. Residents were
canvassed on this compromise by e-mail from my office and
door-to-door through the good efforts of Misters Glen Kidd, Trevor
Milne and Neil Bliss. Thanks are due as well to the past-president
of the Manor Park Community Association, Mr. Len Babin and Mrs.
Jane Dobell, president of the Rockcliffe Park Residents
Association, for their participation and attention as this file
evolved. In the end, Transportation Committee did not debate the
issue as senior staff decided to accept those parameters through
their delegated authority. It is my sincere hope that everyone
will find the result acceptable in every respect.
The City’s 2004 Budget- last comments
The implication (concern?) of the community was unprecedented
during this year’s budget process. That is no small wonder when
proposals included threatened multiple library branch closures,
loss of City support for community volunteers providing recreation
and other services at the neighbourhood level, grants to arts,
cultural and heritage as well as economic development
organizations and reductions to every sort of City service. All of
this in the context of a possible a property tax hike. The tax
hike itself was problematical due to an antiquated property tax
system no longer able to support all of the services expected of
it. Recent changes had only exacerbated the problem by imposing
caps on some property classes. Finally, a vigorous real estate
market provided the coup-de-grâce.
I don’t believe that Council did an adequate job, given all of the
advance preparatory work (U.P.R., Opportunity Log, extensive
community input) that went into this exercise. Moreover, it
appeared that all of the planning work of the previous term of
Council, known as Ottawa 20/20, supposedly providing the new City
with a cost-effective direction for the long term, was largely
ignored. In the end, I voted against the ‘Budget-as-amended’. Some
of my reasons for doing so are: the severe cuts to OCTranspo, our
failure to provide needed additional life-saving paramedics, our
failure to make reasonable cuts to the fire service that would
have saved significant sums without compromising community safety.
We will soon be starting the process of preparing for the 2005
Budget. Maybe we can correct some of this year’s shortcomings
including addressing problems that were ignored. Although I will
admit that this process can be frustrating, it is important that
we all stay engaged if we are to have any hope of improving
things.
Jacques Legendre
Councillor, Rideau-Rockcliffe
You can communicate with me at (please include a telephone
number):
City of Ottawa
110 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa ON K1P 1J1
Tel: 580-2483, Fax: 580-2523
E-mail:
jacques.legendre@ottawa.ca
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