[Kanata] 30 Goulbourn Forced Road | 104m | 30 fl | Proposed

[Cre47]

http://www.ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa...E-PLA-0179.htm

There is rendering of the tower in this city document about zoning amendments in that area.

[waterloowarrior]

In September 2005, the applicant submitted a site plan application to permit a single-storey retail building in the southern portion of the site with a gross floor area of 4705 square metres. The retail building is to be used for one or more retail warehouse and/or retail store uses. In July 2006, the applicant filed Official Plan amendment and Zoning By-law amendment applications to add a retail store as a permitted use, to change the parking provisions, and to reduce the front yard setbacks. In January 2007, the applicant appealed all three applications to the Ontario Municipal Board on the basis that the applicable approval authorities did not make decisions on the applications within the prescribed timelines in the Planning Act.

In August 2007, the Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendment applications were amended to reflect a new development concept that relocates the proposed retail building to the northern portion of the site, and adds a 30-storey office/hotel building, a 24-storey apartment building, and a five-storey above-grade parking garage in the southern portion of the site. A conceptual site plan and bird’s eye view of the revised development proposal are shown in Documents 2 and 3, respectively.

The office and hotel uses are proposed in the southern 30-storey tower located closest to Highway 417. This tower will have a gross floor area of 28506 square metres including 10745 square metres of office space and an estimated 264 hotel rooms. The apartment building is proposed to be located in the northern 24-storey tower, and is planned to contain 179 dwelling units and a gross floor area of 19345 square metres. The roof of the parking garage is to be used as an outdoor amenity area. The revised development proposal also increases the gross floor area of the retail building slightly from 4705 square metres to 4999 square metres. Four driveways are proposed to provide vehicular access to Goulbourn Forced Road.

The site is bisected by the future east-west transitway, which is proposed to extend westerly from Terry Fox Station at Kanata Centrum to Scotiabank Place and south to Hazeldean Road. The portion of the proposed transitway extension between Terry Fox Drive and Goulbourn Forced Road is to be situated below grade. The applicant proposes to construct a tunnel for the rapid transit corridor through the site, and to construct the retail building above the tunnel.

The development is to be constructed in three phases. Phase 1 will include the construction of the retail building, the rapid-transit corridor tunnel, and the ground level of the parking garage. Phases 2 and 3 would involve the construction of the 30-storey office/hotel tower and the 24‑storey apartment building, respectively, and the completion of the parking garage.

The applicant has not resolved the traffic issues associated with the full development proposal, and has now requested that staff proceed with a recommendation on the proposed Phase 1 development only. Therefore, the analysis and recommendations in this report are focused on the parts of the Official Plan and Zoning By-law amendment applications that relate to the Phase 1 development only. A separate report and recommendations will be prepared at a later date to address the Phase 2 and 3 proposals.

[Davis137]

I think having the height restrictions because of the Peace Tower is stupid. You can't see ANY of Parliament hill from the south/queensway, and it's only easily visable from the Gat side of the river too.

I think it's cool of Kanata gets more Highrises, as well as the other suburbs...it will help create a better sense of the size of the NCR.

[Aylmer]

Wow. I was irrational wasn't I?

[Davis137]

No, I wouldn't say so. I think that perhaps letting taller buildings be built in the burbs, this might set a precidence for the downtown. I like the location and layout of this project, and it will certainly make the west end of Kanata more impressive as you approach it from Highway 7 or further west.

I'd like to see some more highrises in Gatineau and Aylmer visable above the treeline from the river parkway...that'd also add to the overall appearance of the two cities.

[drawarc]

Nice seeing this proposed, it'll really help densify the Centrum area in Kanata, though as others have said, wish more buildings of this height were permitted downtown.

[Davis137]

I can't understand that there aren't 35+ storey buildings allowed downtown, or at least going further out from the CBD. Toronto is going like gangbusters with 50+ floor buildings monthly, and often in areas where they completely dwarf their surrounding neighbourhoods...

[waterloowarrior]

staff report for zoning/OPA (phase 2 and 3, including the towers)
http://ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/cit...ury%20Road.htm

Applicant wants 30 storeys/104 metres, staff is recommending 15 storeys/45 metres

[citizen j]

^Because 10 minutes before the sun goes down, a 30-storey tower might cast a shadow across the corner of someone's backyard pool on the other side of the 417/Terry Fox interchange? Curious.

[Dado]

<wondering out loud>
If staff recommend against density in Kanata Centrum where there are no neighbours to be affected, then how do they expect there to be enough of the density they now seem to require to support extending light rail to Kanata?

If one were conspiratorially-minded, one might easily conclude that it's as if they don't want light rail to go to Kanata, ever.
</wondering out loud>

[reidjr]

The city's planning committee opened the door on Tuesday to a proposed 30-storey office/hotel tower, immediately west of the Kanata Centrum shopping centre, after unanimously endorsing a rezoning application and official plan amendment.

The 4.7-acre property is located at 143 Didsbury Rd., at the northwest corner of Terry Fox Drive and Highway 417, and would also include a 24-storey apartment tower and a single-storey large-format retail store if the development proceeds according to plans.

The owner of the property is not explicitly identified in a staff report, but a conceptual site plan includes a Richcraft logo.

The homebuilder, which recently added condominiums to its portfolio and owns and manages several commercial properties, also sent a company representative to Tuesday's planning and environment committee meeting.

The first phase of development includes a large format retail building of up to 53,800 square feet constructed above a rapid transit tunnel in the northern part of the site, according to a report tabled at the committee meeting.

The 307,000-square-foot commercial tower is part of phase two and includes 264 hotel rooms as well as 115,700 square feet of office space.

The 179-unit apartment building would be part of phase three. The development would also include a five-storey above-grade parking garage.

A separate site plan application, accompanied by a rezoning application and official plan amendment for the same address, shows Dymon Self Storage is proposing a three-storey, 208,200-square-foot facility. City staff were not immediately available to explain how it fits in with the committee report.

At Tuesday's meeting, Kanata South Coun. Peggy Feltmate inquired whether the development could be allowed to proceed before Terry Fox Drive is widened from four to six lanes or the Terry Fox Drive/Earl Grey Drive underpass is constructed.

City staff responded that a public traffic impact study would have to be completed before a site plan is approved, which alleviated the councillor's concerns.

The staff report said the intersection of Terry Fox Drive and Didsbury Road cannot support the full development of the site, along with other proposed developments in the area, based on the existing road network.

The rezoning application and official plan amendment must now go before full council for approval.

[waterloowarrior]

I don't think the OBJ article above is correct about the height... according to the disposition and other media reports they approved the staff recommended 15 floor height
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/enterta...350/story.html

[Dado]

This city is officially hopeless.

There's more opposition to this on Laurier Ave than there is in suburban Kanata. The locals didn't even complain about height. Here is the list of concerns presented by the Katimavik-Hazeldean Community Association:

1. Fire Route for site is not indicated on drawing.
2. Handicapped parking for site is not indicated on drawing.
3. Bicycle Parking for site is not indicated on drawing.
4. Truck Route is not defined. Truck access, travel direction and truck departure route from site is required.
5. Right of way for future transit way must be maintained by city. Provisions as how to construct transit-way while maintaining store parking during and post construction must be considered.
6. Property must be structured to also minimize work and provide for the future extension of Earl Grey Drive to Goulbourn Forced Road (now Didsbury Road) under Terry Fox Drive.
7. Address or Street Name of Goulbourn Force Road (now Didsbury Road) should be changed to avoid confusion of emergency services with the other non contiguous portions of Goulbourn Forced Road.
8. Traffic Study must show traffic can be handled without affecting neighbouring commercial stores or residential community.
9. Site Plan must be submitted to address the above concerns which are not covered by the OPA and Zoning.

So there you go - even they didn't care about the building's height. A Transitway station is also proposed between 220 m and 650 m to the west. This rezoning ought to have been a slam-dunk. Frankly I hope they appeal it to the OMB.


P.S. Can someone change the title of this thread to replace "30 Goulbourn Force Road" with "143 Didsbury Road" to reflect the above-mentioned street name change?

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by Dado

This city is officially hopeless.

There's more opposition to this on Laurier Ave than there is in suburban Kanata. The locals didn't even complain about height. Here is the list of concerns presented by the Katimavik-Hazeldean Community Association:

1. Fire Route for site is not indicated on drawing.
2. Handicapped parking for site is not indicated on drawing.
3. Bicycle Parking for site is not indicated on drawing.
4. Truck Route is not defined. Truck access, travel direction and truck departure route from site is required.
5. Right of way for future transit way must be maintained by city. Provisions as how to construct transit-way while maintaining store parking during and post construction must be considered.
6. Property must be structured to also minimize work and provide for the future extension of Earl Grey Drive to Goulbourn Forced Road (now Didsbury Road) under Terry Fox Drive.
7. Address or Street Name of Goulbourn Force Road (now Didsbury Road) should be changed to avoid confusion of emergency services with the other non contiguous portions of Goulbourn Forced Road.
8. Traffic Study must show traffic can be handled without affecting neighbouring commercial stores or residential community.
9. Site Plan must be submitted to address the above concerns which are not covered by the OPA and Zoning.

So there you go - even they didn't care about the building's height. A Transitway station is also proposed between 220 m and 650 m to the west. This rezoning ought to have been a slam-dunk. Frankly I hope they appeal it to the OMB.


P.S. Can someone change the title of this thread to replace "30 Goulbourn Force Road" with "143 Didsbury Road" to reflect the above-mentioned street name change?

That community association are notorious for nitpicky comments that most people shrug their shoulders about.

The scary thing about dealing with the City is that for the most point the actual look of a new building is often a minor consideration. The Development Approvals group (who are often the front line people at the City on site plan applications) are often not the main players in the process. The main players are the Infrastructure Approvals Branch (the guys who make sure that the City is designed so that a snow plow operator can get by) who have no interest in the look of the building. The big fights are over maximums slopes and inverts and obverts to sewers..not how the building will fit on the street.

I can see why that group of architects threw up their hands...the City development process is not run by designers or those for a interest in design...it is run by bureaucrats and civil engineers.