[Harley613]

I have been wondering for YEARS why this perfect piece of land hasn't been developed. Who owns it? Look at all that premium waterfront! When you look at a map of Ottawa, this is the second largest untouched parcel after the experimental farm!
http://imgur.com/MBqdY.jpg

[Dado]

Too easy! Way too easy!

What institution in Ottawa could possibly hold onto that much land and leave it completely and utterly unused for anything?

Come on now...

The National Capital Commission!

http://www.capitaleducanada.gc.ca/data/2/rec_docs/6134_Urban_Lands_Jan07.pdf

Other than the hydro and rail corridors, most of it is classified as "to be determined" but part of it, the forest immediately west of McCarthy Rd (the yellow-orange lands in the above picture) is classified as "urban natural feature". The lands west of Riverside are basically classified as open space.

I believe this land was originally acquired as part of the railway relocations for use as rail yard or other related industrial purposes, but I'm not sure. Personally, I've eyed this land as a possible site for an intermodal yard, but its road connections are limited to Riverside. For that purpose it would be best to acquire the former CPR yard at Walkley and use that, but then some idiots at the City and/or the OMB approved a residential development on Johnston Rd. Luckily the Provincial Policy Statement has put an end to any more residential development around Walkley Yard, but the damage may already be done.

[Harley613]

That map is very helpful, answers a lot of questions for me! Thank you!

If this city (and the ncc) is ever going to get serious about density they have to stop sitting on land like this. This land is not park worthy (except perhaps west of riverside), it's absolutely perfect for infill. O'brien is talking about 'a new kanata' in the Southwest as part of his campaign....How about filling this sucker in with medium density and enjoying the infrastructure that is already in place!

[MaxHeadroom]

If you use the Ottawa eMaps application, you can see the parcels of land in this area and how they're zoned.

Zoning in this area includes:

O1 - parks and open space (includes the hydro and rail corridors)
EP - environmentally protected.
DR - Development Reserve.
L1 - Community Leisure (urban local facilities)
IL - Light Industrial (probably zoned this way because it's along the rail line)

No residential in this area. Vehicle access to this property is very limited right now.

[lrt's friend]

I used to have a NCC map of Ottawa from the 1960s that showed all the proposed parkways that eventually were never built. Relatives of mine were expropriated just east of this tract on Bank Street by the FDC (now the NCC) for a transportation corridor. This was partly used to develop Walkley rail yards in the 1950s but also for a Parkway. This parkway was to run through Alta Vista and I believe across the land in question then continue west on the north side of Colonade. It may have eventually connected up with the end of the Ottawa River Parkway at Carling. The NCC has abandoned the idea of a parkway on this corridor and has been selling off parts for development. The land north of Colonade is now being developed as has the land north and south of Walkley Road just to the west of the Albion Road intersection. Other parts of the corridor remain undeveloped including the tract in question and land between Heron Road and Smyth Road.

[eternallyme]

That would be ideal as expansions of the communities adjoining. Along Riverside Drive (which could be a potential transit station), it should be R6 (high density in my books - 10 to 25 storeys), the rest R3 to R5 (single family to 10 storeys) based on extending current development.

How I consider residential densities:

R1 - Real sprawl type, single family with less than 2 dwellings/acre (no transit potential)
R2 - Smaller sprawl type, single family with 2.5 to 4 dwellings/acre (limited transit potential)
R3 - Standard suburban low density, mostly single family, 4 to 6 dwellings/acre
R4 - Medium density, mixed single/semi/towns, 6 to 10 dwellings/acre
R5 - Medium-high density, towns/apartments of up to 10 storeys
R6 - High density, condos/apartments of 10 to 25 storeys
R7 - Very high density, condos/apartments of 25 to 50 storeys (only one place in Ottawa I would have such - on the Hurdman lands)

[Richard Eade]

Did this area have "Keep Out - Department of Defence" signs around it in the 60s & 70s? Or am I thinking of another training ground along Riverside Drive. I remember I used to go and play in 'the sand pit' along the river just south of there.

[lrt's friend]

Did this area have "Keep Out - Department of Defence" signs around it in the 60s & 70s? Or am I thinking of another training ground along Riverside Drive. I remember I used to go and play in 'the sand pit' along the river just south of there.

I seem to remember some defence installation somewhere very close to where Fines Flowers had its nursery and an adjacent apple orchard, maybe in between. There was also a rail line that used to service the military base at Uplands airport that cut across this property. It ran from just east of Riverside Drive and ran around the east side of the Hunt Club Golf Course. The track was pulled up in 1960 but the corridor may have been fenced off long after that.

I have very vague memories of a family outing to the sandpits along the Rideau at the end of Hunt Club Road. I think we even went swimming there. I read that sand was being excavated there and moved by boat to a factory along the Rideau Canal in Ottawa East in the early 20th century. I believe that a great uncle operated one of the boats that was transporting the sand.

[Uhuniau]

That map is very helpful, answers a lot of questions for me! Thank you!

If this city (and the ncc) is ever going to get serious about density they have to stop sitting on land like this.

The NCC has been unabashedly anti-density, anti-urban, anti-city for all of its existence.

[matty14]

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack this thread, but on the subject of who owns what land, I am working on my final project for my last year of school, and need to know if anybody knows who owns the piece of land enclosed by Lees Ave., and Robinson Ave. Or, how do I find out who owns this land?

[O-Town Hockey]

Not much help here, but it's a start:

http://apps104.ottawa.ca/scripts/CCExtension.dll?report=file:/prop_info_mg_public.rpt&init=pdf&prompt0=___A7Q9K

[Dado]

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack this thread, but on the subject of who owns what land, I am working on my final project for my last year of school, and need to know if anybody knows who owns the piece of land enclosed by Lees Ave., and Robinson Ave. Or, how do I find out who owns this land?

I was going to guess the MTO, but I just toured around on Streetview and found this sign:

http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Ottawa&ie=UTF8&om=1&hq=&hnear=Ottawa,+Ottawa+Division,+Ontario&ll=45.418143,-75.672154&spn=0.002801,0.004823&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=45.418175,-75.672075&panoid=INHdNBUvthQd3flJLMWrtQ&cbp=12,112.2,,2,6.43

So it's probably owned by the City.

At the very least it has been owned by the City, so even if they have since sold it, they should still have a record of it.


As an aside, I think that entire Lees overpass thing and the half-circle ramp is ridiculous. They should have gone under rather than over the Queensway.

[Richard Eade]

...As an aside, I think that entire Lees overpass thing and the half-circle ramp is ridiculous. They should have gone under rather than over the Queensway.
And the worst part of it is that (from the latest information I can find) that curved bridge is to be replaced with a like one. Check out the notation on this plate: http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/engineering/417ea/pic3/pdf/TPA7.pdf

And, yes, I think I remember that the City used to use that semi-circle of land as a snow dump. I beleive they still own it, but it would be contaminated. Of course my thoughts are always that brownfields should be cleaned up and re-developed, not ignored. Thus, I submitted this suggestion to the DOTT study ages ago:

http://REade.fileave.com/Lees/Road-Rail-Alignment.jpg

I think it was considered too expensive since I extended the rail tunnel under the Rideau River. My idea was to get the rail out of the current 417 underpass and off the current bridge over the Rideau River. The Transitway infrastructure would become general roadway (an extension of King Edward) and rise to a round-about with Lees. The LRT station whould extend from north of the 417 to the Lees round-about, as shown in yellow above to provide access to both development areas. (This also means that the buses could keep running on the Transitway from Hurdman to downtown while the tunnel and the new underground Lees Station were being built.

I also pulled the 417-Nicholas ramp closer to the 417 to get a bit more curve into it, hoping it would slow the traffic to the 70 Kph of Nicholas. And, just to make the re-developable area mare accessible, I added a ramp from south-bound Nicholas to Main.

I think the green area south of the 417 and east of the Transitway is owned by the University of Ottawa, and I believe that the City own all of the green area north of the 417 and the small area south of the 417 and west of the Transitway.

[waterloowarrior]

You can find out the owner at the land registry office in the Elgin St courthouse 4th floor

[Richard Eade]

You can find out the owner at the land registry office in the Elgin St courthouse 4th floor
Thanks. I'm just curious if you have any idea what the cost of such a look-up would be?

[Proof Sheet]

Thanks. I'm just curious if you have any idea what the cost of such a look-up would be?

Usually $9 or so per property search...or there are title searchers either working on their own or as sub-contractors to law firms who do the work either at the land registry office or via software that they purchase.