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Rockcliffe
park newsletter
octobRE
2006
Light Rail – My Reasons for Voting NO
Increasing public-transit ridership from 17% to 30% is a crucial
part of Ottawa’s “smart-growth” strategy for developing the
urban area. I did not believe that the proposed North-South
Light Rail Transit would help us achieve our target or that the
system would actually work as intended. My rationale (and
potential solution) was published in major daily newspapers
(Citizen July 2005 & 2006; Le Droit, juillet 2006). The articles
are available on the Rideau-Rockcliffe web site.
I felt obliged to vote AGAINST the system proposed - not because
it was imperfect, but because I fear that it will fail too often
in the congested downtown. I did so with considerable regret. I
hope that I will be proven wrong because I would take no joy in
saying "I told you so". I was in the minority, so the system
will go ahead as proposed. I truly hope that it works, but I
could not in all conscience rely on hope for such an important
decision.
C.F.B. Rockcliffe
The first public meeting at the Aviation Museum on the evening
of June 27th was very well attended. The Canada Lands
Corporation (CLC) introduced themselves, and their team of
consultants, to the community. Jim Lynes, acting president of
CLC, and Mr. Ken Greenberg, on behalf of the consulting team,
spoke in broad terms of their intentions to focus on sustainable
development and to maintain a close and open dialogue with the
surrounding communities. Jane Brammer & Charles D’Amour, spoke
on behalf of CARAD - Community Action for Rockcliffe Airbase
Development, the newly created network organization representing
community associations in the surrounding area. Many remarked
that the stated intentions of the proponents and the wishes of
CARAD were closely aligned. It seemed to be a good start.
I have established a special ‘corner’ of the Rideau-Rockcliffe
web site as an information centre for CFB Rockcliffe issues. CLC,
consultant and CARAD PowerPoint presentations are available as
well as an audiovisual reproduction of the Rogers TV broadcast
of the Q&A portion of the meeting. Look also for the excellent
article by Jeffrey Thiessen, “Rockcliffe Base: Principles for
Sound Development” first published in the May 2006 issue of the
Manor Park Chronicle and other relevant background information.
Regular updates on upcoming meetings will be posted.
Beechwood Community Design
Planning Committee, on September 12th, approved the Beechwood
Community Design Plan. There were two amendments of note. One
dealt with the controversial ‘restaurant-pavilion’ notion for
the southern tip of Stanley Park. The restaurant option was
removed. The possibility of a pavilion or a facility of some
sort was retained. It is important to remember that the City
owns the land. As such, the City has full control of the use to
be made of this land. I believe that leaving the possibility for
some imaginative proposal that would be fully compatible with
the gateway entrance to the park, adjacent to the river,
preserves a healthy flexibility. Any proposal would of course
have to meet with significant community approval as determined
by a thorough consultation process. You should also know that
currently no proposal exists to my knowledge. The second
amendment sought to preserve the existing view sightline of the
Peace Tower on parliament hill from the newly inaugurated
“Poet’s Hill Literary Heritage Site” of Beechwood Cemetery.
Poet’s Hill is the point of departure for a proposed extended
Poet’s Pathway network that will connect sites of
literary-historical importance throughout the capital. The
amendment called for a study of any height restrictions that
might be necessary along this sightline.
Speed Limits on Residential Streets
Ontario sets the ‘default’ speed limit at 50 km/h on roadways
within local municipalities. This limit applies to all roads,
regardless of the nature of the road (local, collector, major
collector, etc.), unless signed otherwise. In June, I requested
information on the procedure to change the default limit on
local residential streets to 40 km/h.
Basically, a Council request to the Ministry of Transportation
is necessary.
The Safety and Traffic Services Division are prepared to do a
comprehensive speed zoning report, with public consultation, in
2007, should Council approve. The report would include a section
addressing the issue of 40 km/h speed limits on residential
streets or in school zones and near playgrounds on a
case-by-case basis. Prior to amalgamation, various
municipalities (e.g. Gloucester) signed many, or most, of their
residential streets at 40 km/h. Staff has estimated the cost of
following this approach everywhere in Ottawa at over $2 million!
Councillors receive many requests every year to have lower speed
limits posted in some of their neighbourhoods. Even if
successful, and not many are, the effort is long, difficult and
costly (to count only the staff time!). Then there are the
implementation costs for those that succeed. The way things work
now, communities wishing lower speed limits on their streets are
forced to make the case. If the default speed on residential
streets was 40 km/h ‘the shoe would be on the other foot’.
I believe that this approach would be in greater harmony with
Ottawa’s Official Plan and its emphasis on safe streets.
Moreover, it has the potential of being a lot less costly than
the current situation. The question will be debated at the
October 18th meeting of Transportation Committee. I invite your
comments and your participation in that debate.
A Better Way to Recycle Surplus Public Schools
In recent years, schools in the urban core have been under
increasing pressure and many have closed. In Rideau-Rockcliffe
alone, I can recall at least five such cases, two of which were
high schools! In August, I asked Council to approve making a
request to provincial authorities to modify the regulations
dealing with the disposal of surplus public school sites.
Currently, a public school Board must offer any of its surplus
sites to other public school Boards and other public agencies,
including the City and the Province, at market value (determined
through professional evaluations and negotiations). If the
property finds no interested public agency, the site is placed
on the open market. Since the City has not often been in a
position to purchase, this usually results in the site becoming
a housing project of some sort and a valuable community resource
is lost. Private schools have frequently bid on existing school
sites but have seldom been successful in an aggressive open
market. The motion that I advanced, and that Council approved,
would ask that private schools be afforded the opportunity to
purchase the surplus property, at market value, on the same
basis as the municipality. This way the property, although now
private, would remain a functioning school. Moreover, my
experience of private schools in this ward is that they are
quite happy to make their facilities available to the
surrounding communities for after-school community functions,
events or meetings. Typically the schoolyards could be utilized
as well when not required for school programs.
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
Web Site:
www.rideau-rockcliffe.com
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