OPINION
Connected to your community
EDITORIAL
No shocking new developments
I
ntensification is still the buzz word for development in Ottawa, so we should all get used to it. The city recently approved a swath of plans that will guide the city’s growth and development over the next two decades. Council gave the thumbs up to five master plans, including the Official Plan, the infrastructure master plan and the transportation master plan. The city said it will encourage intensification, not exactly a new concept, but one that usually sparks heated debate when development applications are discussed at community associations and at planning committee. Yet for some reason, it sometimes comes as a shock to residents when a developer takes the city at its word and proposes to build a high-rise or mid-rise in an established community. But it’s not willy-nilly development.The official plan encourages intensification in specific areas of the city, namely rural areas, villages, mixed-use centres and public transit stations. The plan requires development to fit the character of the community. Keep in mind, a developer can always apply to build a large building in an area the city may not prefer. All it requires is a little rezoning – and if the city objects, it risks fighting an appeal before the Ontario Municipal Board, and Ottawa hasn’t exactly racked
up a stellar record fighting those appeals, especially when the development requests are supported by the city’s own staff. We can only hope this type of unwanted development requests are few and far between, as the official plan offers preferred areas of the city for intensification. Residents should check out the planned extensions to the Transitway, as well as the future routes of the light-rail transit system, which will be built over the coming decades. Those plans will give a good indication what areas developers are targeting for intensification. The city’s Official Plan aims to promote smart growth, for instance, by discouraging urban sprawl, a costly phenomenon for taxpayers, as it requires providing roads, water pipes, storm water management and other services to previously undeveloped areas. Smart growth means encouraging public transit and reducing the number of motorists clogging our roads. The city’s master plans for growth offer solace for residents by giving them the relative certainty of where development can occur, and what type of development, with rules governing the heights and designs of buildings. To avoid unwelcome shocks, residents may want to check out the plans, specifically in areas near where they live.
COLUMN
Who can save downtown? Maybe nobody
L
ast time we looked, the cinemas at the World Exchange Plaza were doomed. No one was happy about that, apparently not even the people who were doing the dooming. But, as the current motto of the hopeless goes, it is what it is. The movie theatres at World Exchange are nice and, more important, nicely located. They have developed a bit of a niche following by blending in artier fare with the usual mainstream stuff. But one movie company decided to vacate the premises when its lease expires, and while another movie company has taken over the lease, there are no guarantees that it will continue to show movies in 2014. Meanwhile, the owners of the building are thinking about converting the theatres to office space. Yes, office space with sloping floors. But it is what it is. Ottawa city council has expressed concern, with various councillors asking city staff to explore all options, and noting rather pointedly that the city has been helpful to the World Exchange people in the past. It sure would be nice if someone with a sense of social responsibility and civic pride — perhaps even the current owners
Nepean-Barrhaven News !URIGA $RIVE 3UITE /TTAWA /. + % "
613-723-5970 Published weekly by:
CHARLES GORDON Funny Town — could step up and make sure that Ottawa continues to have a mainstream movie theatre downtown. It takes all the fingers of one hand to list the downtown theatres that have disappeared in the last two decades — Capital Square, Place de Ville, Elgin, Nelson, Somerset, and there others that go further back. That can’t have helped our downtown life. True, the suburbanization of just about everything has been a feature of our existence for some time. A lot of shopping is now done away from the core; entertainment complexes, not to mention sports facilities, have moved a distance away. People are getting used to heading away from the centre. But that doesn’t make it ideal. It means a lot of driving, a lot of traffic, a lot of oil consumption, a lot of greenhouse gases. And is it
Vice President & Regional Publisher Mike Mount mmount@perfprint.ca 613-283-3182, ext. 104 Regional General Manager Peter O’Leary poleary@perfprint.ca 613-283-3182, ext. 112 Group Publisher Duncan Weir dweir@perfprint.ca 613-283-3182, ext. 164 Regional Managing Editor Ryland Coyne rcoyne@perfprint.ca Publisher: Mike Tracy mtracy@perfprint.ca
DISTRIBUTION INQUIRIES !ZIZ (AQ ADMINISTRATION: $ONNA 4HERIEN DISPLAY ADVERTISING: 3ALES #OORDINATOR #INDY -ANOR 'ISELE 'ODIN +ANATA $AVE 0ENNETT /TTAWA 7EST $AVE "ADHAM /RLEANS #INDY 'ILBERT /TTAWA 3OUTH 'EOFF (AMILTON /TTAWA %AST 6ALERIE 2OCHON "ARRHAVEN *ILL -ARTIN .EPEAN -IKE 3TOODLEY 3TITTSVILLE *ANINE +IVELL /TTAWA 7EST 2ICO #ORSI !UTOMOTIVE #ONSULTANT 3TEPHANIE *AMIESON 2ENFREW $AVE 'ALLAGHER 2ENFREW
-EMBER OF /NTARIO #OMMUNITY .EWSPAPERS !SSOCIATION #ANADIAN #OMMUNITY .EWSPAPERS !SSOCIATION /NTARIO 0RESS #OUNCIL !SSOCIATION OF &REE #OMMUNITY 0APERS
8
Nepean-Barrhaven News EMC - Thursday, December 12, 2013
not also true that one of the aims of our city government has been to encourage population growth in the centre, getting people to move downtown in a bid to make the city more liveable, less dependent on the automobile? It can’t help this goal if the people who move downtown then have to get into their cars and drive for half an hour if they want to see a movie. (That is, a mainstream movie, because the Bytowne, on Rideau Street, does a good job of serving those whose taste in films leans to the less commercial.) And it’s not much in the way of consolation that a cinema is maybe going to open at the new Lansdowne development. That’s more than walking distance for many downtown people. So they will drive their cars to Lansdowne, giving the Glebe just what it needs: more cars. The situation is so dire that people have even begun to use what I call the G8 argument, to wit: “What a disgrace that in the capital of a G8 nation you can’t even find a movie theatre in the downtown!� And you know, that is a persuasive argument. But what can anybody do about it? Business will do what business will do, like it or not. City council can plead, citizens can mutter. But no one can force a cinema to stay
open. It is what it is. This is probably the kind of thing Justin Trudeau was getting at when he made his much ridiculed comments about his “level of admiration� for the Chinese government and that fact that a dictatorship can do things in a hurry. There’s something in that. If we had the Chinese government here and the Chinese government wanted there to be a movie theatre in downtown Ottawa, there would be one and we could all enjoy attending it. Of course, we’d also have the Chinese government.
Editorial Policy The Nepean-Barrhaven News welcomes letters to the editor. Senders must include their full name, complete address and a contact phone number. Addresses and phone numbers will not be published. We reserve the right to edit letters for space and content, both in print and online at ottawacommunitynews.com. To submit a letter to the editor, please email to patricia.lonergan@metroland.com, fax to 613-2242265 or mail to the Nepean-Barrhaven News, 80 Colonnade Rd. N., Unit 4, Ottawa, ON, K2E 7L2.
3ALES #OORDINATOR ,ESLIE /SBORNE !RNPRIOR 7# 0AULA )NGLIS CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING SALES: 3HARON 2USSELL !DRIENNE "ARR EDITORIAL: -ANAGING %DITOR 0ATRICIA ,ONERGAN PATRICIA LONERGAN METROLAND COM NEWS EDITOR: .EVIL (UNT NEVIL HUNT METROLAND COM REPORTER: *ENNIFER -C)NTOSH JENNIFER MCINTOSH METROLAND COM POLITICAL REPORTER: ,AURA -UELLER LAURA MUELLER METROLAND COM
THE DEADLINE FOR DISPLAY ADVERTISING IS THURSDAY 12:00 NOON
s !DVERTISING RATES AND TERMS AND CONDITIONS ARE ACCORDING TO THE RATE CARD IN EFFECT AT TIME ADVERTISING PUBLISHED s 4HE ADVERTISER AGREES THAT THE PUBLISHER SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF ERRORS IN ADVERTISEMENTS BEYOND THE AMOUNT CHARGED FOR THE SPACE ACTUALLY OCCUPIED BY THAT PORTION OF THE ADVERTISEMENT IN WHICH THE ERROR OCCURRED WHETHER SUCH ERROR IS DUE TO NEGLIGENCE OF ITS SERVANTS OR OTHERWISE AND THERE SHALL BE NO LIABILITY FOR NON INSERTION OF ANY ADVERTISEMENT BEYOND THE AMOUNT CHARGED FOR SUCH ADVERTISEMENT s 4HE ADVERTISER AGREES THAT THE COPYRIGHT OF ALL ADVERTISEMENTS PREPARED BY THE 0UBLISHER BE VESTED IN THE 0UBLISHER AND THAT THOSE ADVERTISEMENTS CANNOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE 0UBLISHER s 4HE 0UBLISHER RESERVES THE RIGHT TO EDIT REVISE OR REJECT ANY ADVERTISEMENT
Read us online at www.ottawacommunitynews.com