KEY ISSUES DISCUSSED AT 4 SEP 96 MEETING

ATTENDEES

• Fred McLennan, President
• Alan Asselstine, Vice-President
• Bill Royds, Treasurer
• Ken Donnelly, Community Development
• Nancy Seaby, Community Development
• Peter Vasdi, Memberships
• Wendy Stewart, RMOC Councillor
• Karin Howard, City Ward 0T8 Councillor
• Bruce Peever, Reporter for The News - Hunt Club/Riverside
• Jeff Hunter, Planner, Planning Department, City of Ottawa
• Prescott McDonald, Planning Department, City of Ottawa

KEY ISSUES

The following summarizes the issues discussed at the 4 Sep 96 meeting of the Hunt Club Community Organization (HCCO) at the Hunt Club Riverside Community Centre (HCRCC).

Regional Councillor, Wendy Stewart, presented a report. Call Wendy's office at 560-1223 for more information.

City Ward 0T8 Councillor, Karin Howard, reported on the following:

• Booking space at the HCRCC. Centre is booked solid for fall/winter. Suggestions and offers for alternative sites would be appreciated. City is interested in working with the community to help expand the HCRCC.
• Increased accountability for City management. The independent auditing effort is highlighting some inconsistencies in the flow and assignment of money at City Hall. These are being addressed as they come up.
• Road maintenance for City and Region. After looking at other alternatives in order to save costs, the Region determined that the least-cost alternative was to continue to use the City to maintain Regional roads, as long as the total cost over 3 years does not exceed $6.2 million.
• 1997 budget consultation initiatives. City budget for 1997 is going to be $13.7 million less than for 1996. Public is invited to attend hearings and submit opinions on 11,12 Dec in Council chambers in City Hall. Final budget deliberations are scheduled for 16,17,18 Dec.
• Ottawa Rough Riders. City cannot afford to subsidize the Riders with taxpayer money.
• Comparative financial analysis of community services. An analysis is available that compares the cost of running community centres by the City or by Purchase of Service groups. For information, call Dan Chenier at 244-5300, ext. 3425.
• Friendship windmill. On 19 Aug, Mary Sardelis, co-chair of the Public Advisory Group (PAG), met with John Westeinde, chair of the Friendship Windmill Corporation (FWC). FWC is proposing to locate the windmill at the north end of Mooney's Bay. The PAG will communicate any decisions with the public.
• Actual Value Assessment (AVA) of property values is scheduled to be completed mid-Sep97. The impact on Ottawa real estate values and property taxes will be determined after that date.
• One single client service centre at City Hall is now open to handle all information and basic services, such as parking tickets, marriage licenses, zoning permits, taxes, etc. For an e-mail of all services, contact Diane Gibbs at 244-5300, ext. 3552.
• Ward Briefing Series is published 4 times a year and provides timely information on things going on in our area and in the City. Comments and feedback are welcome. Contact Gail Mounteer of the Research and Information Team at 244-3230.
• Crime prevention in Hunt Club (see "Vandalism" below).
• Hunt Club Neighborhood Plan (see below).
• Draft Z2020 zoning bylaw (see below).
• 3390 Riverside Dr. signs bylaw amendment (see below).
• Greenway System Management Plan/Natural and Open Spaces Study (NOSS) (see below).
• 1-year plan for City (see below).
• Heron/Walkley corridor lands (see below).

Vandalism at Owl Park:

• Several incidents involving young people have been reported separately to both the Region (Wendy) and the City (Karin): drinking, torching a portable, bonfires, and subsequent vandalization of the property of a nearby owner who complained.
• Wendy is meeting with the inspector of the Regional Police on 9 Sep to review strategy.
• Karin is arranging a community safety meeting (between residents and crime prevention experts) in the gymnasium of R. Byrns Curry School, 185 Owl Dr., at 7-10pm Mon 7 Oct.
• Role of City is crime prevention, which is the promotion and implementation of activities and changes that make it difficult for crime to occur. For example, the City has trimmed the trees at the edge of Owl Park to improve visibility.
• Role of Region is more in the area of law enforcement (policing, for example).
• HCCO members' suggestions and comments included:
  • Rather than having police presence in the area, encourage active use of the facilities by a wide variety of age groups. Individuals will then have less opportunity to do negative things.
  • Needs of certain children in the neighborhood are not being met.
  • Meet with those young people who are causing the problem, and their parents.
  • Turn lights on in the sports area.
  • Are these incidents only an early fall late summer issue, or would they continue to occur?

Regional development strategy:

• Region has released its proposed 25-year Regional Development Strategy (RDS), which sets guidelines for regional development up to year 2021. Deals with future population growth, jobs, land use, transit, roads, water, and wastewater requirements.
• This strategy is the single most important issue that Region will be involved in this term.
• A Planning, Environment, and Transportation meeting to discuss this draft RDS to be held beginning 9am 23,24 Sep: public input heard on 23 Sep; deliberations on 24 Sep.
• Copies of the Executive Summary, Daily Plan-it newsletter, or detailed reports, available on request.

Protecting our green spaces - NCC land corridor between McCarthy Rd. and Riverside Dr.:

• Coady Coop petition has been read by Mayor Jacquelin Holzman and forwarded by her to Anna Hercz (NOSS) and Anne Ernesaks (Z2020).
• The new Z2020 zoning bylaw is to be enacted in early 1997.
• For the meantime (until the NOSS can be completed), current zoning will be translated into the closest approximate equivalent Z2020 zone. For this land corridor, the currently zoned industrial portion will become zone IL (light industrial) in the north, and L3 (community leisure) in the south.
• The final zoning category will depend on the results of the NOSS, scheduled for mid-1997.
• Rezoning of the McCarthy Woods area is scheduled for completion by end of 1988.

Hunt Club Neighborhood Plan:

• Hunt Club to receive a full neighborhood plan.
• Planning process may take 12-18 months.
• City has assembled a team to work with the community on this plan: team composed of Jeff Hunter, Prescott McDonald, and Marina Danikas.
• First deliverable, the Terms of Reference, is available:
• City would like to get comments from the community and discuss these comments at a public meeting later in the fall (Oct). City would like to include neighborhood-specific issues they may not currently be aware of.
• Some HCCO comments were:
  • Boundaries of the plan should be extended to include the Airport (an Airport Master Plan is in the works but is not scheduled to begin until early 1997), the new development beside the Rideau River, and other areas from which people focus into Hunt Club.
  • Areas in other jurisdictions, such as Windsor Park, should be consulted so that the Hunt Club plan also meets their requirements.
  • How detailed and up-to-date is the demographic information upon which to plan?
  • Apparently the information is up-to-date as of last census (1994), is computerized, and is down to the detail level of census tract. Even though a census tract is larger than the area of Hunt Club, the City has calculations that can further interpolate the information to the Hunt Club area.
  • How will community feedback be kept track of and responded to?
  • Planning team will keep a file of and track all community feedback. Although each idea cannot be addressed individually, the team will consolidate common themes and integrate them into the plan.
  • Non Hunt Club area lands could be divided into several areas, depending on intended use; for example, the Airport, residential communities, business parks, etc.
  • The HCCO freenet site can provide a (virtual) area where users can exchange and record planning ideas.
  • Next step is to fund the plan. Jeff Hunter is in the process of reserving funds:
  • If HCCO inquires in writing about the funding, then Jeff will need to respond in writing as well. This response will provide a written, though unofficial record, commitment from the City.
  • Next deliverable from this planning exercise will be a Secondary Policy Plan to replace that from the 1970s. This exercise includes a safety audit to assess the impact of zoning and structures on personal security.
  • The Hunt Club Plan must integrate with the Regional 25-year plan (see "Regional Development Strategy" above).
  • We should ensure that we get NCC involvement and feedback:
  • Jeff intends to have a member of the NCC on the committee for this plan.
  • Karin can get someone from the Airport involved.

Rezoning for a better community - Z2020 bylaw and other efforts:

• New draft of the Z2020 bylaw is now available.
• New draft Z2020 bylaw is scheduled to be presented to the Planning and Economic Development (PED) Committee on 24 Sep, with public hearings to follow.
• The 0T8 Ward hearing is at City Hall: Whitton Hall, 2nd floor, Sussex Pavilion at 1:15-5pm and 7-9pm on Tue 22 Oct. This is the opportunity for members of the community to voice their concerns and make their contributions.

Advertising billboard planned for Riverside Dr.:

• Application to change bylaw to allow this sign on Ontario Hydro land west side of Riverside and north of CN rail tracks - has been unanimously refused by the City.
• Also, when it became clear that this was a contentious issue, the sign company withdrew its application.

Greenway System Management Plan/Natural Open Spaces Study (NOSS):

• Community brainstorming workshop for south Ottawa is scheduled for 7-9:30pm on Thu 19 Sep at the Hunt Club Riverside Community Centre (corner of Paul Anka and McCarthy):
• Results from this brainstorming will impact on the final zoning changes to the Z2020. If we're concerned about protecting green spaces around our area, then come to the workshop.
• Public workshop on the NOSS is scheduled for 7-10pm on Tue 22 Oct at the McNabb Community Centre, 180 Percy St., corner of Gladstone.

Karin's 1-year plan for the City - objective is to make the City more accountable to the public. Karin proposes the following steps:

• Performance appraisals for senior managers.
• Set departmental goals, and measure departmental performance.
• Ensure complete and objective advice to Council directly from: the City auditor, the City solicitor, the City clerk, and the City treasurer.

Heron-Walkley development:

• City has approved NCC application to rezone 48 acres of eastern corridor lands south of Heron Rd.
• This rezoning reduces the greenspace in that area and cuts the continuity of the corridor. It also shows that existing greenspace can be rezoned in favor of development.

Access between South Keys Shopping Centre and the people living around McCarthy Rd.:

• HCCO has sent a letter to the Region requesting such access; however, at the time of the letter, the Region did not own the Parkway lands.
• An underpass (under the Parkway and train tracks) of some kind does exist, but is awkward for the average person to use.
• Region doesn't want this underpass used because of liability issues. HCCO members suggest that, rather than having the Region spend money for insurance and maintenance, they put up a sign "use at your own risk".
• South Keys OTC station has no access to the West, and it is illegal for the public to use OTC services from unofficial entry points. Perhaps the OTC can be contacted to open up and make other entry points official.

HRCC community fair scheduled at the Centre for Sat 7 Sep: Decided to have a table to advertise our organization and sell memberships. Call Nancy Seaby at 736-0659 for more information.

Misc. items: Pop cans being stolen from recycle bins. Suggestion is to crush the cans. Call Fred McLennan at 521-0682 for more information.

Next HCCO meeting is the Annual General Meeting at which HCCO members elect their representatives for the year 1 Aug 96 - 31 Jul 97. To be held Wed 2 Oct at 7:30 p.m. at the Hunt Club Riverside Community Centre at the corner of Paul Anka and McCarthy. Anyone is welcome. Call Fred McLennan at 521-0682 for more information.