Official Plan reversal from province potentially holding up some Ottawa applications

A depiction of a proposed building at 725 Somerset St. W. in Ottawa. (Fotenn Planning and Design)

Provincial legislation that came about as a result of the Ontario Greenbelt scandal has led to at least two proposed developments in Ottawa potentially being stalled.

The City of Ottawa's Interim General Manager of Planning, Real Estate and Economic Development, Don Herweyer, said in a memo this week that the provincial government's Bill 150 ended up removing all of its changes to Ottawa's Official Plan, reverting it back to the version that was passed by the previous term of council, which kept a cap on how high buildings could be on certain streets.

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Council approved the Official Plan in 2021, expanding the city's urban boundary by 1,281 hectares. Last year, former Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Steve Clark used his power to add an additional 654 hectares to the boundary. Clark's changes also included 19 policy or text modifications, seven of which increased height permits from four to nine storeys.

Council had originally debated allowing greater heights on streets deemed 'minor corridors' but eventually passed the Official Plan with a limit of four storeys, which Clark overturned.

The changes brought about by Bill 150, however, eliminated Clark's changes to height restrictions on certain streets. Herweyer's memo said that, as a result, there are "multiple existing planning applications submitted to the City relying on the additional minor corridor heights that may be delayed until further legislative action is made to enact the heights on minor corridors."

Councillors voted in November to ask the new Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister, Paul Calandra, to reinstate the changes.

According to the City of Ottawa, two specific addresses are affected by the reversal of the height guidelines: 725 Somerset St. W. and 1495 Heron Rd. Each address is the subject of both a zoning bylaw amendment and a site plan control application.

The application on Somerset is for a nine-storey mixed-used building with 94 residential units and 250 square metres of commercial space on the ground floor. The application on Heron Road is for a proposed mixed-use community that includes low- to mid-rise buildings and open space. The 73,000 square metre lot was once used for the former Federal Study Centre.

The city said some minor variance applications might also be affected.

Herweyer said the province has received requests from city staff to retain the minor corridor height guidelines.

"The Province has made clear that submissions by municipalities made before Dec. 7, and submissions received through the Environmental Registry of Ontario with a deadline of Dec. 16, 2023, would be fully considered," Herweyer wrote. "Staff anticipate further Provincial announcements and actions to be forthcoming, including possible further legislative steps or use of other Provincial tools."

In a statement, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing said it is working with affected municipalities to address concerns.

"To ensure that the reset plans match our shared ambitions to build more homes, especially now that municipalities have made their housing pledges, we asked impacted municipalities to submit changes and updates to those official plans, including information on projects that are already underway, based on modifications that the province had previously made," the statement said.

"The Ministry is currently reviewing all municipal submissions received as part of the municipal outreach conducted for Bill 150, including the City of Ottawa's."

Bill 150 also reversed any provincial changes made to official plans and urban boundaries in Barrie, Belleville, Guelph, Hamilton, Peterborough, Wellington County, and the regional municipalities of Halton, Niagara, Peel, Waterloo and York.

The Greenbelt scandal erupted over the summer when two damning reports outlined a process that favoured certain developers. Ontario's auditor general found that 92 per cent of the 7,400 acres of land removed from the Greenbelt in southern Ontario (not the Ottawa Greenbelt) could be tied to three developers with direct access to the housing ministry. Clark resigned as minister in September and Premier Doug Ford vowed to reverse the changes. 

Bill 150 passed in the legislature Dec. 6 and has received Royal Assent.