Lebreton Flats plan slowly inches forward Appeal creates barrier to mixed-use development by Natasha Altorio Ottawa Business Journal

Although it s still a long way from seeing cranes and bulldozers, plans for a massive mixed-used development at Lebreton Flats are inching forward. While it appears that blueprints for Lebreton Flats are finally reaching the last stages of approval, several pressing issues are blocking the project from advancing any further. This week, a single resident will go to the Ontario Municipal Board to appeal the Flats zoning amendment, which was approved by the region several years ago. The complainant feels her sight path of the region s national symbols will be obstructed by the height of the site s proposed 12-storey apartments. Lebreton Flats regional project manager Lori Thornton said, although the National Capital Commission and the region are willing to modify their official plans by lowering the height allowance of the buildings, she believes the woman s demands are unfair. Her view is quite large and would really affect the development of the site if she won, Thornton said. Her demands are significantly greater than the plans can really handle. When the NCC bought the 66-hectare vacant lot (near Parliament Hill, the National Library and the Supreme Court) in 1997, Thornton told the Ottawa Business Journal it would be a matter of months before the official plan amendment was eyed by the regional planning and environment committee. At the time, an environmental assessment of the site was conducted along with NCC s government-approved blueprints for future development. While 26 hectares were reserved in 1991 for public park space, the NCC planned to allot space for: n 2,400 housing units (ranging from stacked town houses to apartments); n 100,000 square meters of commercial developments; n 11,000 square meters of retail space; n 75,000 square meters for cultural and institutional buildings, such as museums, art galleries or concert halls. Thornton said the plan, which landed a final approval by the region last year, will have to go through the approval process again this year because of the OMB appeal. Those are the targets that were expressed as demonstrated by the official plan, she said. Those numbers might not be attainable by the end (of the appeal hearing) and will need to be formally approved ... It s possible that the numbers may be a bit lower. The second snag Lebreton Flats faces is a more problematic one. There s a big issue about when the transitway is built ... That s absolutely critical, but it hasn t even been put on the table, said Thornton. According to Thornton, the transitway, which would be moved from its current home on Booth Street, is the key development and must be completed before any other major construction is done. This is going to be a big question, she said. A limited amount of construction can be done without its presence on the site ... The bus transitway is the cornerstone of the plan and it s a very large project. However, Thornton said provincial funding for projects such as Lebreton Flats has disappeared and a re-emergence of provincial funding will determine whether construction will go ahead as early as five to 10 years or be delayed for 20 years. Money will really affect the timing of this project. Somebody has to give RMOC a bag of money. The region needs funding for this to go ahead. But the real issue is whether or not council supports downtown or the extension of its service in the suburbs. It s the good old city versus the suburbs issue. What they don t understand is that the outlying areas are more costly, said Thornton.