URBANDALE
PLANS FOR BRIDLEWOOD SEEN AS BAD NEWS
Last week, Bridlewood residents
had a chance to hear what Urbandale is planning
for the properties it owns at 74 Stonehaven
and 310 Stonehaven and make comments. The message
from Bridlewood residents was clear.
Until congestion problems on
Stonehaven are fixed, it would be a mistake
to even think about approving more development.
That is the message I will be taking to Planning
and Environment Committee and City Council.
Stonehaven is already congested
in the morning. For people travelling east in
the morning, it is usually a twenty minute journey
just to get as far as Stonehaven and Richmond.
Journey times of up to an hour have been reported.
Proposals by Urbandale to add
roughly 300 homes along Stonehaven threaten
to make the situation even worse.
Under these proposals 223 houses
will be built at 310 Stonehaven between École
élémentaire Élizabeth Bruyere
and St. Anne Catholic Elementary School. Six
blocks of stacked townhouses and four blocks
of townhouses are proposed for 74 Stonehaven
opposite Deevy Pines Park.
Currently, the construction
of townhouses is already permitted at 74 Stonehaven.
The proposed zoning change would add stacked
townhouses as a permitted use.
310 Stonehaven currently has
a holding zone applied.
The designation for both properties
in the Official Plan means they will be developed
eventually. That decision was made long before
most of us moved to Kanata. Were the city to
try to reverse it that decision would likely
be overturned at the Ontario Municipal Board.
But that doesn’t mean
that development should take place when “segments
of Stonehaven Drive are approaching physical
capacity”, to quote from the developer’s
traffic impact study.
SO WHY ARE DEVELOPERS ALLOWED TO DO THEIR OWN
TRAFFIC STUDIES
At the meeting on the development
proposals for 74 Stonehaven and 310 Stonehaven,
a number of people were wondering why developers
were allowed to do their own traffic studies.
There is concern that if developers are hiring
the traffic engineers doing traffic studies,
it will affect the outcome.
Last year, when I moved a motion
that would have had the city do traffic impact
studies, it was approved by Planning and Environment
Committee and then gutted at Council after the
development industry expressed opposition. Those
arguing against the city doing studies suggested
that since traffic engineers must abide by professional
standards it makes no difference who hires them.
The problem is that for the current system to
work people doing studies for developers have
to be able to completely ignore the fact that
if developers don’t like their conclusions
they will have a hard time getting work. In
the eyes of most people that is unrealistic.
PEDESTRIAN PLAN CONSULTATIONS IN KANATA
If you are concerned about
places where it is difficult or dangerous to
walk, now is your chance to speak out. Consultations
on the Pedestrian Plan for the City are being
held in Kanata to ensure our concerns are addressed.
The consultations will be:
Tuesday, May 29
6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Holy Trinity Catholic High School Cafetorium
180 Katimavik Road
POLICE TARGET STOP SIGN VIOLATIONS
As part of the City of Ottawa’s
Integrated Road Safety Program the police have
been targeting drivers who do not obey stop
signs.
Most drivers who run stop signs
don’t mean to do so. People are in a hurry
and don’t pay attention to stop sign safety,
including near schools.
But the consequences
are serious. Between 2004 and 2006, 1638 people
were injured at stop sign-controlled intersections.
Ten others were killed.
WORKING
FULL-TIME FOR KANATA SOUTH
I
appreciate the chance to hear from you about
issues affecting our community. You can reach
me at 613-580-2752 (office), 613-580-2762 (fax),
or peggy.feltmate@ottawa.ca |