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Sweeping arts, heritage plan garners support ‘As cohesive and comprehensive of a document as you’re ever going to find’ Laura Mueller
laura.mueller@metroland.com
Photo by Kristy Wallace
Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes, left, chairwoman of the Ottawa Board of Health, and Kitchissippi Ward Coun. Katherine Hobbs awarded Domicile Developments for their new smoke-free condominium. John Doran, president of the development company, accepted the award.
Ottawa Public Health honours smoke-free condo Kristy Wallace
kristy.wallace@metroland.com
EMC news – The first condo development in the city to prohibit smoking in its units has been honoured for its efforts in keeping smoke-free spaces for Ottawa residents. As part of National NonSmoking Week, Domicile Developments was awarded for its One3One Condominium project, an eight-storey tall development to be built at 131 Holland Ave. “I want to recognize the work of public health staff and community partners to stop what has been the most difficult addiction to stop,” said Somerset Coun. Diane
Holmes, chairwoman of the Ottawa Board of Health. “Too many of our residents smoke ... we recognize the work that lays ahead of us, and we want to recognize our partners who are working with us.” John Doran, president of Domicile Developments, said the building will offer an incentive for people to quit. “Of you’re a smoker, you’ll have to come down the elevator, and off the grounds to smoke,” he said. “I think there’s a part of this puzzle that will be positive for people who smoke.” In a previous interview with Metroland Media, commercial real estate, municipal
and planning lawyer Michael Polowin said a condominium is unique and ultimately, a condominium can set its own rules through its declaration, which is a legal document made up initially by the developer. It doesn’t infringe on anyone’s rights to have a smokefree condo, he added. According to the City Of Ottawa, smoke-free multi-unit swellings decrease the chance of fire hazards and reduce unit cleaning, painting and other smoking-related damage and maintenance costs. For more information on smoke-free housing, visit: smokefreehousingon.ca .
EMC News – A brand new five-year plan for arts, heritage and culture is drawing support for ideas like building a new downtown library, re-introducing a local poet laureate, overhauling the city’s process for commemorative naming and establishing a plan for archeology. In the $5-million plan, a total of $2 million will be added to the city’s contribution to local arts, heritage and cultural groups over the five years as part of a “seed” investment. “We invest in these communities and they will grow themselves,” said Lilly Koltun, the chair of the steering committee that developed the plan. The city will also put $1.5 million over five years towards renewing and preserving capital facilities for the arts, heritage and culture. There are a few other programs, including $25,000 for a poet laureate in 2014 and $100,000 in the same year for a pilot program to create new cultural initiatives at a neighbourhood level. The goal is to foster the grassroots development of cultural “districts” or clusters throughout the city. Heather Jamieson of Arts Ottawa East said the plan is strong because of the geographic component that considers the role of arts in rural,
suburban and urban areas. “This is validating the contribution each area makes to our arts sector,” she said. The plan was roundly applauded before the community and protective services committee endorsed it on Jan. 19. Advocates lined up to convey their accolades for the plan, with a notable lack of criticism of a nature rarely seen from public delegates at city hall. “It’s as cohesive and comprehensive of a document as you’re ever going to find,” said Catherine O’Grady, the chair of the city’s citizen advisory committee on arts, heritage and culture. David Flemming of Heritage Ottawa said he and the group are pleased with the inclusion of a plan to not only preserve Ottawa’s built architectural heritage, but also to create a new archeological plan for the city. “This really ties in the built heritage and the importance of that,” Flemming said. “It’s important to recognize that it’s part of arts and culture.” The National Capital Commission was also happy with the plan, particularly the archeological aspect. Part of the plan that stood out to arts advocates who spoke at the Jan. 19 meet-
ing was the focus on creating spaces for arts and providing easier access to existing spaces. The plan wants the city to look at finding ways to boost access to underused spaces, encourage the private developers to include cultural space in their buildings, along the lines of the Great Canadian Theatre Company in Wellington West. One of the spaces contemplated in the plan is the development of the long-planned concert hall for Ottawa, which was originally contemplated to be part of a new building at 150 Elgin St. in Centretown; however, privet sponsors weren’t forthcoming, so that plan was dropped. “This expression of engagement of the city is much appreciated,” said Alan Bowker of the Friends of the Concert Hall group. “Now, we no longer have to deal with the refrain that the concert hall is dead.” Part of the plan looks at responding to the city’s changing demographics as the population ages. In the next 20 years, the percentage of seniors in Ottawa will more than double. But the plan also looks at nurturing the opportunities for youth to get established in the art community from a young age, and creating crossgenerational opportunities for collaboration and learning. Council will vote to give final approval to the plan on Feb. 8.
No link between open data, lost revenue: Tierney Alex Lougheed, the group’s easier to use, Lougheed said, spokesperson, said open data and that will help OC Transpo and revenue generation aren’t achieve its main goal of inmutually exclusive, and he creasing ridership. In fact, just a 0.5 per cent was disappointed to hear the issue framed that way by OC increase in ridership would generate the same amount of Transpo. He suggested the city could money OC Transpo hoped to keep more money in its pocket raised through monetizing the by ditching a plan to develop GPS data, Lougheed claimed. He encouraged anyone who its own transit app – a costly process – and leave private de- is concerned about this issue to contact their city councillor, velopers to do that. Opening the data is a great transit commissioners and the way to increase confidence in mayor and make their voices the transit systemyour and make it heard. Making final arrangements is the right
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Where is My Bus?, an app developed by Nepean resident Jonathan Rudenberg, won the people’s choice award, but some other bus apps didn’t work and left OC Transpo to field calls about the bad information they were putting out to the public, Delage said. But that message from Delage and Mercier came under harsh criticism from some commissioners, including Kanata North Coun. Marianne Wilkinson and Beacon HillCyrville Coun. Tim Tierney (the former and current heads of the city’s information technology subcommittee). They decried OC Transpo’s move away from its previous commitment to release the open data and challenged the notion that preventing public access to the information could make the city more money. If the city’s app, which it intends to release before any bus-location data would be made public if the commission approves, is better than other developer’s apps, it will make more money off advertising, Wilkinson said. Tierney has examined other
models, including the system used in Winnipeg, and he said he doesn’t see a correlation between open data and lost revenue. OC Transpo has an advantage because it is in the best position to integrate additional information about bus cancellations and other special messages with the GPS data in its app, so the transit agency already has an advantage that will guarantee it can attract more advertising than other apps, Tierney said. He disagreed with the change in direction he heard from commission chair Coun. Diane Deans (GloucesterSouthgate) and Mercier, and the IT subcommittee chairman said he would not back down on this issue. In the future, Tierney said he would prefer to see another member of the commission’s four-person working group on technology issues deliver updates on that group’s work to the full commission, rather than Deans. Those statements were good news for Open Data Ottawa, an advocacy group that has been pushing for the release of bus-location info.
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February 15 February 15 -- 19, 19, 2012 2012
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