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| Credit: Google Earth / VanierNow (2013) (click to enlarge) |
It’s not uncommon to hear from those who live and work in Vanier about aspirations for Montreal Road. So, will a new policy guiding development on Montreal Road, McArthur and area streets – to be presented to the City’s Planning Committee on September 24– help or hinder these visions?
Since January, the City has been reviewing the Official Plan and Zoning By-law, documents that guide development in an area formerly known as “downtown Vanier” (click here for a map of the study area). The changes will impact how this neighbourhood evolves – with implications on how we get around, what our mainstreets will look like, where we gather, and yes, the size (and height – all 28 storeys) of our buildings. Curious? Read on.
Vanier’s Traditional Mainstreets (with a nod to Palace)
With Montreal Road currently “designated” a Traditional Mainstreet, the update aims to encourage development to help the street “be” a traditional mainstreet. The revised plan calls for mixed-use development, with most sites on Montreal Road not to exceed 20m (or six storeys). Currently, there are huge variations in the zoning; today, the owner of the Shell gas station property (#6 on the map above) would be allowed to build up to 42m (approximately 12-13 storeys), despite the property being next to low-rise housing on Mark Avenue and areas north. The Shell site’s zoning would change to 20m with the revised plan.
There are, of course, exceptions. On larger sites, including the EconoLodge (#1) or Concorde Motel properties, heights of up to 30m (about 9 storeys) would be permitted. “Gateway” sites at either end of Montreal Road are handled separately – and are a separate discussion, below.
Rezoning would also occur on and around Palace Street (south of Montreal Road); properties on the street today are zoned as General Use or Mainstreet, even allowing buildings 42m high and restricting residential components to 30 percent or less. It is worth recalling that development patterns in this area date back as far as 1875, with Palace Street even considered in the mid 1990s as a candidate heritage district. Today’s revised plan proposes that these properties be zoned residential, and lower-density, to retain some of this streetscape character.
In thinking of traditional mainstreets, we increasingly recognize the need to prioritize pedestrians’ and cyclists’ safety and comfort. The revised plan calls for improved cycling facilities on Montreal Road, McArthur Avenue and the Vanier Parkway, along with 5.0m wide sidewalks, improved bus shelters, retention of street trees, additional benches and planters, and public art reflecting the history of the District. At major intersections, pedestrian and cyclist safety is to be prioritized with reduced crossing distances. New automobile service stations or surface parking lots would also be prohibited on Montreal Road – seen as out of place on a traditional mainstreet, and as interferences with the pedestrian environment (think of cars crossing in and out).
These are all good things.
Referring to these improvements, the proposed policy for Vanier also states that some “may only happen when properties themselves are (re)developed, Section 37 benefits are applied, or when City undertakes major capital projects.” Across Ottawa, improved pedestrian and cycling facilities frequently take shape after road reconstruction (or other capital projects), when sewers and underground infrastructure are rebuilt. Think of the sidewalks on Wellington West, Bank, Somerset or Rideau. With reports that sewers below Montreal Road are viable for the new few decades, where might we see the resources for these changes in Vanier? Will improvements be dependent on property redevelopment, or the application of Section 37 (community) benefits? This brings us back to the gateway sites.
Gateway sites
The revised policy defines gateways– here referring to the Eastview Shopping Centre site (#3) and the Belisle site (at the corner of St Laurent and Montreal Road) -- as "unique sites ... able to accommodate significant mixed-use and residential intensification. Development or redevelopment of gateway sites will be distinctively different from any other development within the Sector.” It’s hard to disagree; the Eastview site sits on the Rideau River and is a visible entry point to the community as one travels east along the Cummings Bridge.
On both of these gateway sites, the policy calls for accessible open spaces, the incorporation of public art and better ties to the street. Buildings will need to face the street, with windows and doors giving direct access to Montreal and North River Roads at Eastview (no more blank facades or loading docks, as per the Beer Store), and to Montreal Road and St. Laurent at the Belisle site. With both sites on major intersections, the sites’ developers would also be asked to support intersection improvements, focusing on pedestrian and cycling safety.
Notably, these gateway sites are also where additional height is envisioned. On the Eastview site, In addition to improved pedestrian and cycling connections to Riverain Park (#5) and the multi-use pathway, the revised policy envisions buildings up to 28 storeys (the tallest of the nearby Place Vanier towers, #4 on the map, tops out at 17 storeys). At the Belisle site, another gateway to Vanier, the Policy specifically calls for accepted heights of up to 20 storeys, with buildings stepped down towards adjacent residential and institutional uses (think of the Soeurs Filles De La Sagesse, or Notre-Dame cemetery across the street).
While the sites would not be specifically zoned for these heights, permission would need to be granted through the development application / approvals process, at which point the community could presumably negotiate Section 37 benefits arising from the zoning amendments. With the revised Official Plan clearly envisioning development of up to 28 or 20 storeys, it is difficult to imagine a developer not being granted permission to go that high.
...in closing
The revised plan reflects a number of positive directions in which to take Vanier, and there is no doubt that city (and neighbourhood) building is the work of many sectors. The tools for realizing the plan’s objectives, however, introduce a number of important questions. Would buildings of these heights be necessary to fund area streetscaping and pedestrian / cycling safety enhancements? Are intersection improvements really dependent on developers’ contributions? What of stated improvements at the intersection at Montreal Road and the Vanier Parkway, where no major redevelopment is currently expected? And, would the community be comfortable with the proposed building heights?
Mike Bulthuis