Rural Issues

[waterloowarrior]

Building outside the rules
Councillor fears ignoring official plan, experts sets bad precedent

Jake Rupert
Ottawa Citizen

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

OTTAWA - Councillors have voted to approve a construction project on prime farmland outside Edwards, violating the city's official plan and bypassing experts' advice. It's just the latest such decision, part of a pattern that has at least one councillor worried.

The application, by Adrian Schouten, is for creation of two residential lots with wells and septic tanks on Yorks Corners Road. Last week, city planners recommended against the rezoning at a meeting of the agriculture and rural affairs committee.

The planners said it would contravene a provincial policy aimed at protecting good agricultural land, and the city's official plan. Furthermore, there isn't enough groundwater to support homes on the site, and what's there is poor quality. Plans for septic tanks are incomplete, there is plenty of other rural land in the area that could be developed instead, and building on the lots would not leave enough access to the property's remaining farmland, the staff planners said.

The advice was clear: Reject Mr. Schouten's rezoning application. Despite this, councillors voted to accept the application and the matter will go to city council for a vote next week.

In a similar case earlier this year, the committee and council again went against the advice of experts and voted to allow residential construction in an area of West Carleton where the groundwater could be salty enough to pose a health risk.

Innes Councillor Rainer Bloess said allowing such

rezoning needs to stop.

He said provincial and city planning policies are developed, reviewed, and amended constantly by experts because there is public value in having them.

"The goals are to preserve farmland, in this case, because we don't have enough of it," he said. "In other cases, the rules are there to protect health, provide buffers or curb urban sprawl, and there's good, sound logic to aiming for these goals.

"This application looks like development in the wrong way. All the rules in place are being (flouted). If council approves things like this, it means the rules don't mean much, and the rules are there for reasons."

The city's director of planning approvals, John Moser, agrees that there are "valid reasons" behind provincial and city land-use policies, and in this case, they are there to preserve prime agricultural land.

He also said the city should be careful about setting precedents because each time an exception is made, it chips away at the strength of the policy or plan it violates. City planners won't see exceptions as precedents, Mr. Moser said, but it still becomes easier for other approval bodies to fall into the "we did it before, why not again" approach.

Osgoode Councillor Doug Thompson represents the ward that includes the project outside Edwards and he sits on rural affairs committee. He said he understands the concerns cited by Mr. Bloess and Mr. Moser, but he thinks the provincial policy on rural land use is "draconian."

He said it's very hard for farmers to even get lots on their own land to build retirement homes when passing the farm on to relatives.

While that's not the point of the Edwards application, Mr. Thompson says there are already houses on either side of the proposed lots and across the road. As well, the land, although designated as prime agricultural, is configured in such a way that it is too difficult to farm. As far as the water problems, Mr. Thompson said they can be dealt with and the land is suitable for septic tanks.

"When you look at it in total in this area, it makes sense to me," he said. "In many other areas, it wouldn't."

He's going to support the rezoning at council, but he knows there may be a price to pay.

"Every time you sort of tinker with the rules or bend them - and in this case, I admit, that's what we are doing - it leaves the door open a bit wider for people to say, 'Well, you did that there, so why not here'," he said. "But in this particular case, I think it's one that begs for support (of the rezoning application)."

© Ottawa Citizen 2008

here's the staff report
http://ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/cit...%20Corners.htm

this proposal clearly goes against the PPS/OP, and there are numerous water issues, and the consultants hydrogeological study doesn't give conclusive evidence that there will be enough/good quality water for these lots. The 'sympathy' of rural councillors is part of the reason these requirements for municipalities to be consistent with the PPS were put in the first place; rural severances keep getting approved because everyone has a sob story. It leads to losses of agricultural land, groundwater issues, loss of rural character, increased conflict between residential and agricultural uses, etc etc. These type of decisions make me question the role of the ARAC and how well they can be trusted to make decisions like this (and calls into question more rural delegation/devolution that people keep calling for). It doesn't matter if Councillor Thomson thinks the rules are draconian, he still has to follow them...

[c_speed3108]

Out where my parents live I have seen a number of rezoning proposals in the rural area get fought tooth and nail with petitions and all the rest.

It falls on the deaf ears of the so-called city planning staff. (if we had a plan we would not need to change it) Perhaps the local councilor votes against it at committee but they still pass thanks to the votes of councilors from clear at the other end of the city and probably have never set foot within 20km of the property in question.

As I have said many times: what we need a comprehensive city-wide property zone that sets out what is permitted where (instead of what is presently there) and only rezone properties once in a blue moon. Then it would be up to developers and businesses and whomever else to buy land that is zoned for whatever it is they are trying to do.

[clynnog]

Originally Posted by c_speed3108

Out where my parents live I have seen a number of rezoning proposals in the rural area get fought tooth and nail with petitions and all the rest.

It falls on the deaf ears of the so-called city planning staff. (if we had a plan we would not need to change it) Perhaps the local councilor votes against it at committee but they still pass thanks to the votes of councilors from clear at the other end of the city and probably have never set foot within 20km of the property in question.

As I have said many times: what we need a comprehensive city-wide property zone that sets out what is permitted where (instead of what is presently there) and only rezone properties once in a blue moon. Then it would be up to developers and businesses and whomever else to buy land that is zoned for whatever it is they are trying to do.

I was before ARAC and City Council a few weeks ago and it was an eye opener. The local Councillor told me in very vague terms that he had to 'fall on his sword' which turned out that he would vote against the proposal as that is what his constituants wanted. Planning Dep't and all agencies were in favour of the application and after 2 public meetings the supposed position of the residents that they were going to fight this 'tooth and nail' etc went from a petition of 75 people to nobody coming to ARAC or Council in opposition. Despite this at ARAC the vote was 4-2 I believe (one Councillor not there) and I doubt if any Councillor other than the local Councillor ever went to the property in question.

[clynnog]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

here's the staff report
http://ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/cit...%20Corners.htm

this proposal clearly goes against the PPS/OP, and there are numerous water issues, and the consultants hydrogeological study doesn't give conclusive evidence that there will be enough/good quality water for these lots. The 'sympathy' of rural councillors is part of the reason these requirements for municipalities to be consistent with the PPS were put in the first place; rural severances keep getting approved because everyone has a sob story. It leads to losses of agricultural land, groundwater issues, loss of rural character, increased conflict between residential and agricultural uses, etc etc. These type of decisions make me question the role of the ARAC and how well they can be trusted to make decisions like this (and calls into question more rural delegation/devolution that people keep calling for). It doesn't matter if Councillor Thomson thinks the rules are draconian, he still has to follow them...

To me, the lack of any credible technical advice that these lots can be serviced etc should be proof enough that this should not have been approved. I'd be interested to see the minutes of the ARAC meeting to see how much arm twisting went on. You are right that many rural councillors see that traditional farming is a hard slog in the soil and climate conditions in Ottawa but the PPS was put in for a reason.

I'd be surprised if they can get a building permit for this one.

With the press coverage this has got, it may be hard to convince all of Council to approve this...I'd be surprised if some of the left leaning councillors will go for this.

[waterloowarrior]

Originally Posted by c_speed3108

As I have said many times: what we need a comprehensive city-wide property zone that sets out what is permitted where (instead of what is presently there) and only rezone properties once in a blue moon. Then it would be up to developers and businesses and whomever else to buy land that is zoned for whatever it is they are trying to do.

well we just got our new comprehensive zoning by-laws and the latest OP update is being worked on, but anyone still has the right to apply for an official plan amendment and/or zoning bylaw.

an OP is a 'living document' and zoning is the implementation of the OP and secondary plans, but is not meant to be inflexible.

and it's very hard to have updated zoning throughout a city, as there are always new planning ideas, new OP policies, new areas are opened for development, neighbourhoods change, and updated local plans are always happening; zone changes are a necessary part of Ontario's current planning framework.

[waterloowarrior]

City rejects plan to build houses on farmland
The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Wednesday, October 08, 2008
OTTAWA - City council has overturned a rural-affairs committee vote and refused an application to build two houses on prime agricultural land just outside the village of Edwards. The application violated city and provincial land-use rules designed to protect agricultural land, and city planning experts had serious concerns about the quality and quantity of ground water in the area.
Despite these concerns, city council's rural-affairs committee approved the houses two weeks ago, but a majority of councillors said with so much evidence against the application, they couldn't support it.
The application, made by Adrian Schouten, was rejected by a vote of 15 to eight.

© The Ottawa Citizen 2008

[waterloowarrior]

Repairs to ditch threaten to drain west-end wallets
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Repairs...271/story.html
Small group of resident, farmers fighting city over $700,000 bill

BY DAVID GONCZOL, THE OTTAWA CITIZENJUNE 10, 2009 10:45 PM


OTTAWA-West-end homeowners and farmers are facing huge bills to fix damage to a drainage basin — damage likely worsened when the Department of National Defence quietly changed municipal drainage patterns on its JTF2 site at Dwyer Hill.

A small group of nearby homeowners and farmers have been slapped with most of a $700,000 bill from the City of Ottawa for the work, with one farmer facing a $31,000 assessment and several others left with bills of between $12,000 and $15,000.

The farmers and homeowners say they never asked the city to fix the Dowdall Drain, but the city contends that a picnic-table meeting between locals and city staff in 2005, about the regular flooding of a roadway in Heron Lake Estates, constituted an official petition. Residents say they were told nothing about expensive studies that were conducted over the last four years until they each received their shares of the bill last month.

The two-kilometre drain is essentially a small stream flowing quietly through farmland and Heron Lake Estates before emptying into the Jock River. Under Ontario’s Drainage Act, anyone who owns land along the Dowdall Drain must pay for the studies and upgrades.

At a meeting Monday night of area residents and city officials hosted by Rideau-Goulbourn Councillor Glenn Brooks, engineer Andy Robinson presented the results of his four-year study and tried to lay out his plan to fix the drainage problems. Frustrated residents let loose with a unrelenting four hour attack.

Robinson now says, given the opposition, the city should only fix the annual flooding problem where the drain flows through Heron Lake Estates.

He said the city could face legal action if it does not fix this problem, where inadequate culverts become overwhelmed by spring runoff.

The drainage basin includes the property of farmer Ron Mayhew, who fought a long battle with the Department of National Defence over his treatment at the hands of the elite military unit JTF2, whose base is next to his farm. The dispute included a fight over a trench Mayhew found dug across his property, draining water from the base. In 2002, he received a legal notice from the city ordering him to clear blockages in the drainage basin connected to the trench, which he insisted he’d had no part in digging or permitting. The city eventually paid the bill.

Another part of the drainage problem apparently arose from changes to the Dowdall Drain by Goulbourn Township, prior to amalgamation.

Dave Western, president of the Heron Lake Community Association, said no one can understand why they are being forced to pay for an enormous culvert “that could accommodate mayor Larry O’Brien’s underground (transit) tunnel.”

Similarly, farmers outside of Heron Lake Estates, like Annette Anderson, say they have no drainage issues, but she will be paying $21,000, which was the cost of building the entire Dowdall drain in 1969.

Jack MacLaren of the Ontario Landowners Association said “shoddy” engineering of the culvert at Heron Lake estates and changes to the drain by former Goulbourn Township officials are both now the responsibility of the City of Ottawa, which should pay for any costs under Robinson’s report.

“The Department of National Defence were bad neighbours to Mr. Mayhew and they were bullies … and to the city and to the drainage superintendents and to all their neighbours. They just went ahead and trampled around on Mayhew’s farm and they went ahead and redug the ditch anyway they wanted to suit their needs and they just didn’t think they needed to consult anybody. They were immune to laws like the Drainage Act. They interfered with drainage on Mayhew’s property, changed the drainage for the municipal drain and DND just walked away and left the problem in Mr. Mayhew’s hands,” said MacLaren.

City council’s agricultural and rural-affairs committee is to decide tonight whether to accept the Robinson report and whether to recommend that council vote to proceed with the work.

Brooks, the local councillor, said Wednesday he will propose that the city only fix the bottleneck of water flow from Heron Lake Estates to the Jock River and split the cost between the city and the 40 property owners who live there. Under this plan the farmers upstream would not have to pay for the improvements.

However, he said, he was unsure whether the city can ignore Ontario’s Drainage Act to proceed with his plan and a legal opinion would be required. The committee meeting takes place tonight at 7 p.m. at the Alfred Taylor Centre, 2300 Community Way, North Gower.

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen



http://ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/cit...wdall%20MD.htm

[waterloowarrior]

New wind farm rules won’t hurt North Gower project
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/wind+fa...240/story.html
Regulations to keep turbines a least half kilometre from buildings already met

BY LEE GREENBERGJUNE 10, 2009 10:28 PM


TORONTO-New rules forcing wind farms to keep their giant turbines at least half a kilometre from the nearest building will not affect a proposed local wind project, according to the firm behind it.

Luke Geleynse, vice-president with Kemptville-based Prowind Canada Inc. says a wind farm planned for the North Gower area had always intended to put its 8-10 turbines (which stand 120 metres tall) at least 550 metres from the nearest house.

On Tuesday, the McGuinty government suggested that distance will be the new minimum buffer between turbines and homes. Louder and larger windfarms could face setbacks of up to 1.5 kilometres.

“From Day 1, we’ve been counting on these setbacks,” Geleynse said, scoffing at predictions the new setback will stop some wind projects. “I don’t think this is going to affect much of the wind development in Ontario.”

The proposed new regulations also set 40 decibels as the target noise level at the nearest dwelling. That should sound like a quiet office or library, according to officials.

“To exceed 40 decibels means you’re placing too many turbines too close to buildings,” says Geleynse.

York University professor Mark Winfield, an energy expert, says the large buffers could put affect wind projects in southern Ontario.

“It clearly complicates the deployment,” he says. “It means the locations these things can go into will be restricted.”

The proposed regulations fill in some blanks in the Green Energy Act, legislation aimed at boosting Ontario’s renewable energy production.

The proposed wind farm in North Gower would produce 20 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 6,000 homes.

But some local residents are concerned about the possible side effects caused by low frequency noise emitted from the turbines. They say a study shows those sounds — imperceptible to the human ear — may cause epilepsy, depression and other disorders.

It is a concern echoed by other community groups and is vigorously disputed by the wind industry.

Environment Minister John Gerretsen says the new setbacks, which increase the minimum buffer by 100 metres, are designed to deal with those concerns.

“Our position on that is that at 40 decibels we feel that the health and safety of people with respect to low frequency noise has been addressed,” he said in an interview. “So that’s what we’re going with.”

Prowind is leasing a four kilometre by eight kilometre swathe of farmland from “six or seven” farmers for the North Gower project, Geleynse says.

The farmers, who will continue to till the land, will be paid a percentage of the electricity generated by the turbines.

The North Gower wind farm is still undergoing a provincial environmental assessment. Once complete, the public can comment before the province makes a final decision on approval.

The public can comment on the proposed setbacks on Monday in Ottawa at the Tudor Hall on North Bowesville Road between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

Repairs to ditch threaten to drain west-end wallets
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Repairs...271/story.html
Small group of resident, farmers fighting city over $700,000 bill



A small group of nearby homeowners and farmers have been slapped with most of a $700,000 bill from the City of Ottawa for the work, with one farmer facing a $31,000 assessment and several others left with bills of between $12,000 and $15,000.

The drainage basin includes the property of farmer Ron Mayhew, who fought a long battle with the Department of National Defence over his treatment at the hands of the elite military unit JTF2, whose base is next to his farm.
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen



http://ottawa.ca/calendar/ottawa/cit...wdall%20MD.htm

Ron Mayhew is the farmer on the lands next to DND who got the royal shaft from DND...they tapped his phone, tried to bully him off his land, followed him etc and he kept his composure throughout...we need more people like him to stand up to groups like DND.

It seems to me from reading this article that the group who should be getting the bill are DND and not the residents nearby. DND in messing with drainage on Mayhew's property, caused downstream problems on the Heron Lake estates lands.

[Dado]

Originally Posted by waterloowarrior

Repairs to ditch threaten to drain west-end wallets
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Repairs...271/story.html
Small group of resident, farmers fighting city over $700,000 bill

BY DAVID GONCZOL, THE OTTAWA CITIZENJUNE 10, 2009 10:45 PM

It's not hard to see why rural people get annoyed at the City at times with nonsense like this.

"The farmers and homeowners say they never asked the city to fix the Dowdall Drain, but the city contends that a picnic-table meeting between locals and city staff in 2005, about the regular flooding of a roadway in Heron Lake Estates, constituted an official petition. Residents say they were told nothing about expensive studies that were conducted over the last four years until they each received their shares of the bill last month."

Since when in the bureaucratic City of Ottawa does a picnic-table meeting constitute a petition, much less a rationale to actually do something? And what of the City's painful consultation process that it usually carries out before doing anything? Aaaah... I see the difference: the City does that when it might spend 'its' (i.e. taxpayers') money, but when it's going to spend your (i.e. residents') money, well, then it naturally doesn't need to consult anyone. Makes perfect sense, really.


What does the City want to do? Give Randy Hillier ammunition?

[Proof Sheet]

Originally Posted by Dado

It's not hard to see why rural people get annoyed at the City at times with nonsense like this.

"The farmers and homeowners say they never asked the city to fix the Dowdall Drain, but the city contends that a picnic-table meeting between locals and city staff in 2005, about the regular flooding of a roadway in Heron Lake Estates, constituted an official petition. Residents say they were told nothing about expensive studies that were conducted over the last four years until they each received their shares of the bill last month."

Since when in the bureaucratic City of Ottawa does a picnic-table meeting constitute a petition, much less a rationale to actually do something? And what of the City's painful consultation process that it usually carries out before doing anything? Aaaah... I see the difference: the City does that when it might spend 'its' (i.e. taxpayers') money, but when it's going to spend your (i.e. residents') money, well, then it naturally doesn't need to consult anyone. Makes perfect sense, really.


What does the City want to do? Give Randy Hillier ammunition?

I'd love to see the meeting minutes of a 'picnic table' meeting

This will give ammunition to the Carleton Landowners Association etc to defuse themselves from the rest of the City of Ottawa

[waterloowarrior]

Vid in the story

Condo apartments spread into small town Ontario
New condos spring up in Carleton Place, Smiths Falls, Almonte, Kemptville
CBC News Posted: Sep 15, 2013 9:52 AM ET Last Updated: Sep 15, 2013 10:48 AM ET
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa...855071?cmp=rss


Some retirees in small towns in eastern Ontario are making the move to apartment living, but a growth in rural condominiums is giving those that can afford it the option of downsizing and staying in their communities.

Park View Homes held its opening on Saturday for Cinnamon Suites in Carleton Place, Ont., a collection of apartments with prices ranging from $222,900 — for a 700-square-foot one-bedroom unit — to $334,900 for an 1,110-square-foot three-bedroom unit.

Retired nurse Mimi Davis used to live in a house just outside Carleton Place and she was one of the first to move in Saturday.

"There's the benefits of the country, in terms of it's near the river and there's trees, and then there's the benefits of the city with lots of stores," said Davis.

It's also a more appealing option for people who don't want to, or can no longer take care of their house.

"I'm very, very happy," said Davis. "Having been in the country, I was starting to feel more and more isolated. And now it's fun having people walk by and smile at me."

Apartments allow people to move but keep families close

Real-estate agent Brenda MacDonald-Rowe said low-rise condominium apartment buildings are sweeping into many small towns and they are an appealing option for people eager to downsize from a bigger home but not willing to move to the big city.

"They want to have their friends here, they want to go to their dart club or their bridge game and keep their friends or their families. Most of them have families close by," said MacDonald-Rowe.

Park View Homes is also selling condo units in Kemptville, Ont., where prices are comparable to the Carleton Place condominiums, and also in Smiths Falls, Ont., where the prices are somewhat lower.

In Almonte, Ont, new condos are also being sold at 7 Mill St. with prices starting at $219,900. Realtor Jennifer Kelly said bringing condo living to the country gives people a chance at lower prices while still offering the same services of a downtown condominium.

The average selling price for a condominium in Ottawa in August was $257,494, according to the latest Ottawa Real Estate Board's MLS Statistics.

[waterloowarrior]

here's a few developments in the rural east. You can see why downsizers like the prices -$200 a square foot compared to looking for a tiny condo downtown.
http://oligogroup.com/en/project_place_quesnel.php
http://oligogroup.com/en/project_loux_landing.php

[eternallyme]

Not sure if those will succeed...who wants to move to a distant town just to buy a condo? Especially in Smiths Falls - too far really to commute to Ottawa, and the local economy there is in poor shape.

[waterloowarrior]

^I think they will appeal to those already in places like Russell and Kemptville. Many may have thought of moving downtown to retire, but they are getting more options in their own community that are much more affordable.

[Uhuniau]

Originally Posted by eternallyme

Not sure if those will succeed...who wants to move to a distant town just to buy a condo? Especially in Smiths Falls - too far really to commute to Ottawa, and the local economy there is in poor shape.

A retiree, once set up for retirement, doesn't especially care about the local economy any more. In fact, a depressed economy would help keep the cost of living down. Try retiring to Fort Mac.

[1overcosc]

Loux Landing in Russell, the one waterloowarrior posted above, is the second such project in that community--another one completed two years ago. It sold very quickly. A similar project next door in Embrun also sold fast.

There's a substantial market of empty-nester baby-boomers in these towns with big houses that they're increasingly unable to maintain as they age. These people want the chance to downsize while remaining in their communities that many have spent their whole lives in. Condo developments like these are therefore in demand.

For many people who lived their whole lives in the city, this strong attachment to your community may seem odd. I grew up in the country so I understand it perfectly. There are many people in Kemptville, Russell, Arnprior, etc. who would rather starve than leave their precious hometowns.

[J.OT13]

That first example of the bridge that farmers can't use, that's a major mistake from the City of Ottawa. Consultations need to happen with the people who live and use the infrastructure in the areas in question.

De-amalgamation needs to happen. We can't have rural Councillors making decisions for Downtown or Downtown Councillors making decisions for the rural areas. Another complete mess left by Mike Harris.

At the very least, we should separate the decision making between inside Greenbelt, outside Greenbelt suburban and rural and only have everyone in the room when it comes to decisions that affect the entire City, like taxes, garbage, transit (though some of that should be decided on the micro local level).

It's important to note that George Darouze did nothing to improve the situation since he was elected 10 years ago. We needed fresh blood to come up with something we had over 15 years ago.

City to hold first 'rural summit' since 2008

Some rural Ottawa residents feel like they're on the outside looking in at decisions made at city hall.

Author of the article:Blair Crawford
Published Jan 04, 2024 • 5 minute read

When the City of Ottawa rehabilitated the aging Anderson Bridge on John Shaw Road near Kinburn in 2016, the needs of farmers weren’t top of mind.

The new single-lane bridge, with its steel girder rails, is too narrow to accommodate a combine harvester. For farmers south of the bridge, that means a 10-kilometre detour to reach their crops growing just a stone’s throw away.

It’s blunders like this that make some rural Ottawa residents feel like they’re on the outside looking in at decisions made at city hall — and it’s one of the reasons Ottawa is holding a rural summit in 2024, the first of its kind in 16 years.

The motion for a rural summit came from Coun. Clarke Kelly, whose sprawling West Carleton-March Ward is the city’s largest. Mayor Mark Sutcliffe has touted the summit as one of council’s showpiece goals for the new year.

“When we as a city set policies that affect that whole area, without really looking at the effect those policies have on rural areas, I think that’s been noticed by people over the last couple of decades,” said Kelly, a first-term councillor and vice-chair of the city’s agricultural and rural affairs committee (ARAC).

“It’s a chance to have a conversation about the important role that the rural wards play in our city, what the unique challenges are in providing services across such a vast area, with fewer people in it. I think’s it’s long overdue that we have more conversations.”

Ottawa is one of Canada’s largest municipalities by area, and 80 per cent of it is made up of the swath of farmland, forests and villages beyond the suburbs. Kelly’s ward alone sprawls across more than 760 square kilometres. About 175,000 of Ottawa’s million residents live in the five rural wards, scattered in farmsteads or concentrated in villages such as Navan, Greely, Richmond and Carp.

While urban wards deal with intractable societal issues such as the opioid crisis, homelessness, urban crime and transit, rural residents want their fair share of city services: reasonable ambulance response times, police speeding enforcement and city offices that are open more than one day per week.

“Service delivery across such a vast area must be difficult. I understand that,” Kelly says.

“Just for inspiration sometimes, I look at the directory — I have a very old directory — that gives a rundown of the services and the people who worked out of the West Carleton Community Complex after amalgamation,” he said. “We had planning staff there. We had bylaw. We had police. We had building code people. And now it’s only open one day a week. That means you have to drive all the way into the city to get things done.

“Over time, the money and services get concentrated in areas that serve the greatest number of people. We understand that, but we want to make sure that a certain level is maintained in the rural wards.”

Call for an ambulance in West Carleton and it’s more likely to come from Renfrew or Lanark counties than it is from the City of Ottawa, he said. Speeding enforcement? That’s handled by officers based in Leitrim, nearly an hour’s drive from the far reaches of West Carleton.

But, beyond the desire for simple services, rural councillors see a fundamental misunderstanding by the city of how rural residents view the land. In November, city staff brought forward proposed changes to Ottawa’s site alteration bylaw requiring landowners to notify the city if they intended to make major alterations to any property within a two-kilometre band around the urban boundary. The move was meant to prevent another situation like what occurred last winter, when thousands of trees were cleared without approval from property near the Tewin development in southeast Ottawa.

The city issued a stop work order, and, though the landowner was later found to have done nothing wrong, there were protests and outrage about the brazen land clearing.

But councillors on the agricultural and rural affairs committee balked at that proposal. Their committee voted to reduce the protective buffer to just one kilometre and to eliminate the need for landowners to notify the city about changes made “incidental to normal farming practices.”

When the committee’s recommendation came to full city council, rural councillors bristled when Capital Ward Coun. Shawn Menard proposed over-riding ARAC’s decision and adopting the original staff recommendations.

“I’m very concerned that an urban colleague is saying to a colleague on this council’s (ARAC) committee that we don’t know what we’re doing,” chided Rideau-Jock Ward Coun. David Brown, a dairy farmer who does farm chores each morning before his council duties.

“I try to keep quiet when policy matters come up around this table that don’t impact rural Ottawa,” Brown said. “But this impacts us.”

Menard later withdrew his motion.

Too often, policies are set by council committees that have an adverse affect on rural residents, said ARAC chair and Osgoode Ward Coun. George Darouze.

“I’m going to be frank with you … I don’t take it lightly when people bypass the ARAC for policy and it goes to either planning or environment committee. I have a problem with that,” Darouze said.

The site alteration bylaw, as originally written, would have been too onerous for farmers and that’s something staff might not have realized when setting the policy, he said.

“They don’t know if we don’t tell them. They think the farmer can just give the city a call. They can’t. A farmer has to worry about equipment, they have to worry about Mother Nature, they have to worry about tile drains and scheduling. They don’t want to worry about whether they have to call the city before they cut a tree.

“Those are the sort of issues the rural summit will be looking at,” Darouze said.

“We want to restore that strong voice that we always had. We want to make sure the rural voice is being heard. The rural residents, they don’t complain — I call them the silent majority. But we know their issues and they elected us to represent them.”

Green energy and wind farms, and the push for bike lanes on rural roads are other issues where urban sensibilities collide with rural realities, he said.

Each rural councillor can nominate two constituents to take part in the summit. Planning will begin early in the new year.

“This is a councillor-driven initiative, not the staff,” Darouze said. “That’s very important for the public to know. We’re not going to allow the staff to take over. They’re there to do the schedule and get us the information we need, but the whole project is driven by council.”

Kelly hopes the rural summit will help his urban colleagues on council better understand the needs of rural residents.

“We feel we as rural councillors get exposed to the life and challenges of other wards, but it’s not always reciprocal,” he said.

“Just to be able explain the challenges to our colleagues and showcase what life in the rural wards is all about will be good for our city.”

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...mit-since-2008