Ontario Construction News staff writer
Ottawa council is expected to approve a secondary plan next week that will help guide future development near Corso Italia Station, which is scheduled to open along O-Train Line 2 at Gladstone Avenue in 2022.
The plan was recommended by the city’s planning committee.
Much of the nearby land is vacant or underused, and according to the planning committee report, the opening of a new station will offer significant opportunities for new transit-oriented development in a core area. Such development would also support the City’s intensification goals.
Considerable consultation and study have led to a 25-year vision for the surrounding district, and the policies in the secondary plan aim to realize that vision. It encourages development that reduces dependence on cars, concentrates density along the O-Train line, introduces appropriate transitions to existing low-rise areas, builds on the area’s heritage and character, and enhances the public realm, especially where vacant or underused lots exist.
The committee approved a zoning amendment to permit a youth services facility in the Heatherington community.
The neighbourhood revitalization strategy that council approved for the area in 2018, through the Building Better Revitalized Neighbourhoods initiative, called for a greater focus on programs for youth. The Boys and Girls Club would lease a portion of the site to offer youth programming in a new facility.
Planning committee members also extended permits for parking lot east of The Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus. Work is now complete, but the hospital still needs the spaces because a temporary-care facility for COVID-19 patients now occupies 100 spaces in the parking lot on the hospital campus. The amendment would extend the permit for another three years.
Recommendations from today’s Planning Committee meeting will rise to Council on Wednesday, March 10.