The City of Ottawa has received two Zoning By-Law Amendment and Site Plan Control applications to develop the site at 400 Hunt Club Road with a storage yard and parking lot in two phases. The proposal includes a total of 79 parking spaces and 377 storage spaces, which are to be used by Otto’s BMW Car dealership located at 600 Hunt Club Road.
Application Details:
The actual application and all submitted plans, reports, surveys and accompanying documents can be found on the City’s Development Application Search Tool.
• https://devapps.ottawa.ca/en/applications/D02-02-21-0040/details
• https://devapps.ottawa.ca/en/applications/D07-12-21-0061/details
Summary of Application:
The proposed site is approximately 2.82 hectares of land located on the northeast corner of the property at 1000 Airport Parkway, which is the federally owned lands containing the Ottawa International Airport Authority. The site has approximately 137 metres of frontage along Hunt Club Road, and is immediately to the west of the Otto’s BMW Car Dealership site located at 600 Hunt Club. The majority of the site is forested with a red pine tree plantation, and a watercourse runs along the eastern limit of the property.
The purpose of the Site Plan and Zoning By-Law Amendment applications are to permit the development of a parking lot and storage yard to support employee parking and outdoor vehicle storage for Otto’s BMW Dealership. The lands will be leased from the Airport Authority.
The development of the parking lot and storage is proposed in two phases. The first phase proposes 69 employee parking spaces and 259 storage spaces on approximately 1.25 hectares of land to be leased, and the second phase proposes 10 additional parking spaces and 118 additional storage spaces on a total of approximately 1.57 hectares of leased land.
The proposed access to the new parking area will accommodate both pedestrian and vehicular traffic, and crosses a watercourse that runs along the east side of the Subject Property. The proposed parking lot will be gravel, and the proposal includes landscaping elements along the frontage of the site within a 13-metre landscaped setback along Hunt Club Road.
Media Reports:
CBC.ca
June 17, 2021 – BMW dealership plans to pave a forest and put up a parking lot
Hunt Club Community Association’s Position
During the June meeting of the Hunt Club Community Association, a motion was discussed regarding the Zoning By-Law Amendment and Site Plan Control applications for 400 Hunt Club Road.
The HCCA Board of Directors acknowledges Otto BMW’s plan to address their identified business needs by building a parking lot and a storage facility on federal land at 400 Hunt Club Road.
After careful consideration of the broader implications of this proposed business development, the Board of Directors, and members of the HCCA Environment Committee concluded that the development of a parking lot and storage depot would not be the best use of the land, given that 1.57 hectares of mature, red pine trees serve as a green-space buffer which mitigates against increasing climate change impacts. We also considered the fact that the red pine trees are an excellent absorber of carbon dioxide and that there really is not an adequate replacement strategy for 55-year old red pine trees. Moreover, such deforestation is contrary to and undermines the city’s climate change strategy, and would leave the adjacent communities, including Hunt Club, very vulnerable to the anticipated climate change impacts in our area.
While we are generally supportive of economic development proposals that benefit communities and businesses, in this instance, we are unable to support this proposal for the above reasons.
Councillor’s Position
I am aware of the application by Otto’s BMW to rezone up to 4 acres of land, owned by the Ottawa Airport Authority, for the purposes of car storage and parking. I am opposed to this application for two main reasons:
- The first is that this is not an appropriate planning use for this parcel of land. 4 acres fronting a major arterial road, should, if development must proceed, have something here that actually serves and benefits the community. There is nothing being proposed that makes this an ideal use for this parcel fronting Hunt Club Road.
- From an environmental side, there could be no proposed use that is in greater contradiction from a healthy, viable, 55-year old forest, to a car storage facility. This forest is alive, maintains a healthy canopy, has new regrowth and although predominately red pine, other species of trees have been observed. If City Council is serious about its Climate Resiliency Plan, which includes an ambitious target to reduce GHGs, it must not allow paving over a healthy forest to store vehicles.
I oppose this zoning bylaw application.
Riley Brockington City Councillor, River Ward
Get Involved:
The Hunt Club Community Association strongly urges all concerned residents to get involved.
1. Send Feedback to the Planner
The Hunt Club Community Association strongly urges all concerned residents to submit feedback to the City’s Planning Department and Development Review Planner working on this file.
Sarah Ezzio, Development Review Planner
Planning, Infrastructure and Economic Development Department
City of Ottawa, 110 Laurier Avenue West, 4th Floor Ottawa, ON K1P 1J1
Register for future notifications about this application or provide your comments by sending an e-mail to Sarah.Ezzio@ottawa.ca with File No. D02-02-21-0040 and D07-12-21-0061 in the subject line.
2. Present Your Comments to the Planning Committee Meeting
This Zoning By-Law Amendment application will be considered by the City’s Planning Committee on August 26, 2021. You can submit comments in writing or register to speak remotely at the meeting by emailing committees@ottawa.ca
3. Sign the Online Petition
Please consider signing the online petition and share this link with your neighbours and friends.
4. Social Media
Lots of local residents are gathering, discussing, organizing events and getting involved through various social media platforms.
#SaveHuntClubForest
