Cleaning up the Capital - April 30th

Thanks to everyone who came out and helped clean up Reid, Fairmont and Ev Tremblay Parks. It was a beautiful day.

Highlights of CHNA Public Meeting on April 20th

Guest speakers

Councillor Katherine Hobbs led off the evening with a presentation on what is happening in Ottawa and the CHNA area. She said we have to balance how we maintain a community as things grow and swell around us.

“There’s a lot of development being planned for this corridor because it is close to transit and it is easier from the City’s perspective to cluster the density there, and have people use public transit rather than being in cars,” she told the meeting. When asked whether the city has a plan to minimize the impact of that development on the Civic Hospital Neighbourhood — especially the anticipated increase in traffic — she said no. “Until people decide to get out of their cars,” she said, we have to accept that traffic and parking will continue to be problems in our community.

Hobbs spoke to a variety of issues, including parking, development, the O-Train, the upcoming roadwork at Carling near Merivale and the Community Design Plan along the Light Rail Train corridor.

She also mentioned that she has been working with the non-profit group, the Civic Hospital Area Parks and Recreation Committee (CHAPaRC), on the possibility of restoring at least part of Reid Farm House at Reid Park and merging this project with the needs of the community.

Neill Ritchie of Ritchie Feed & Seed gave solid advice on what to do to rejuvenate a lawn in the spring and how to fight nasty pests such as Lily Beetles and Japanese Beetles.

Many thanks Neil and Councillor Hobbs.

Upcoming events

CHNA Treasurer Amanda. Farris reminded members about upcoming events:
- Cleaning the Capital – our Parks – Sat April 30th, 9-11AM
Rain Date Sun May 1st This includes Reid, Fairmont and Ev Tremblay Parks. Gloves, garbage bags, lawn & leaf bags etc will be provided as well as some light refreshments.
- Parks Information Meeting – Tue May 10th, 7-9PM
Join us at the Civic Hospital Amphitheatre (2nd floor) to discuss park improvements. Guest speaker is John Rapp, Executive Director of Dovercourt.
- Barrie Street Yard Sale and Street Party – Sat June 25th
- Parks BBQ at Reid Park – Sat June 25th, 5-7PM
Join us at Reid Park for a community BBQ. Bring your own food, beverages, something to share, plus your own chairs, small tables, picnic.

A big thank you to Realtor Susan Chell for supporting CHNA with the printing
and mailing of the CHNA newsletter. Her contribution has helped keep the
2000 CHNA households informed.

Planning and development committee report

CHNA Vice President Katherine Steinhoff said the association had issued a media release in January expressing concerns about the possibility of Mastercraft Starwood building a 35 storey building at 500 Preston near Carling. She also said that the CHNA is following the City’s consultation’s on infill development and has been posting information on the blog. She reported at length on the association’s work in connection with the 125 Hickory Street site plan approval process, noting that the City had secured cash contributions from the developer for $30,000 worth of traffic ameliorations. The City had informed the association that the money could be used to take a few, small immediate measures or put in a pot towards a larger traffic study of the area. A study normally costs about $100,000 to $150,000. The CHNA executive recommended that the money go towards a traffic study.

Members at the public meeting on April 20th agreed to approve the executive’s recommendation, but asked for an amendment that would allow the association to use the money on another measure in the next year or so, if another measure was deemed more worthwhile than a study. Members were concerned about the amount of time it would take to do a study. The CHNA was under the impression that it would take at least a couple of years to further fund and conduct a study. In March, Councillor Hobbs had informed us that “Given the pace of development in the area it is possible that this [the $100,000 to $150,000 needed for a study] could be secured in the near future.” But at our meeting on April 20th, Hobbs indicated it would take 10 years to fund and conduct a study.

CHNA Secretary Alayne McGregor gave a follow-up report. She said the CHNA has been attending the Public Advisory Committee (PAC) meetings which have been established to assist with the City’s Community Development Plan study for the area along the Light Rail Train (LRT) corridor from Carling Avenue to Bayview. The PAC is expected to start the Carling portion of the study in June.

Alayne also updated members on the OC Transpo cuts in the area.

Traffic committee report

Traffic Committee Chair Peter Eady told members that the committee is developing a strategic plan. He said the committee has been involved in the site plan approval process for 125 Hickory Street and made comments to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada as part of the consultation process for a proposed relocation of the Central Experimental Farm entrance on Carling Avenue at Maple Drive to Melrose Avenue. He also pointed out that Matthew Wells and Jean Marc Comeau have been attending consultation meetings in regard to the Western Light Rail Transit Corridor and reporting back to the executive.

CHAPaRC report

The Civic Hospital Area Parks and Recreation Committee (CHAPaRC) is better known as the Parks Committee and is a separate organization from CHNA although they work closely together on many related issues. CHAPaRC President Sara Nixon explained than group is not focused on traffic and development issues but rather on the ‘fun stuff’ like recreational opportunities for the 2000 households within the neighbourhood boundaries. She encouraged members to become involved in the park improvement process since the land is extremely valuable and if we don’t take ownership we risk losing these resources to other undesirable uses.

The need for improved park services and programs is evident and is fully supported by Councillor Hobbs. She reminded attendees to take the on-line Parks Survey so that residents can detail their park usage and what type of improvements they would make. The Parks Committee also has a planned Information Meeting on Tuesday May 10th from 7-9PM in the Civic Hospital Amphitheatre to discuss the future of our three neighbourhood parks, the survey results, and to hear guest speaker John Rapp of Dovercourt discuss the unique contribution a community center adds to a neighbourhood. The Parks Committee is also sponsoring a Reid Park BBQ on Sat June 25th 5-7PM to meet your neighbours and to discuss the vision for improved parks and services.

CHAPaRC is a non-profit volunteer organization with charitable status dedicated to revitalizing and preserving the parks within our neighbourhood . The CHNA has a CHAPaRC liason.

Survey on Parks in the Neighbourhood

Please consider taking the time to complete a survey on Reid, Fairmont and Ev Tremblay parks for the Civic Hospital Area Parks and Recreation Committee (CHAPaRC). Click on the following link:

Parks Survey

Your feedback will help target improvements to facilities and programs in our neighbourhood parks.

CHAPaRC is a non-profit volunteer organization with charitable status dedicated to revitalizing and preserving the parks within our neighbourhood boundaries, building community participation through recreational activities, and encouraging year round park usage with quality facilities and programs.

For more information about historic Reid Farm House and CHAPaRC , go to www.ReidFarm.com

Letter to Councillor Hobbs and Response on OC Transpo Cuts

Official response from the Civic Hospital Neighbourhood Association to the OC Transpo Network Optimization proposals

Dear Councillor Hobbs:

The Civic Hospital Neighhbourhood Association has reviewed the proposed reductions in OC Transpo service, and identified many ways in which they will hurt our residents and work against the goals of intensification and good planning in our neighbourhood.

We ask you to please work with the members of the Transit Commission to find a better way than these proposals.

We would appreciate hearing back from you on this.

Yours sincerely,
Alayne McGregor
for the CHNA

Note: This letter was sent with CHNA's feedback on the OC Transpo network optimization proposals. See posting below.

Response from Councillor Hobbs

Thanks Alayne, This is very helpful and comprehensive. I will forward it to Diane Deans, Chair of the Transit Commission and to Pat Scrimgeour who is the OC Transpo contact. Pat also lives in Kitchissippi which is helpful.

Thanks again to you and the CHNA for providing this great input.
Katherine

CHNA letter on OC Transpo cuts

Dear Sirs: Please ensure that this response is considered as part of the
feedback on the OC Transpo network optimization proposals.

Dear Sirs:

The Civic Hospital Neighhbourhood Association is deeply concerned about the proposed cuts to OC Transpo routes 3, 6, and 85. These cuts will hurt many residents who depend
on transit, and will increase the traffic on our already-overcrowded streets.

Furthermore, these changes completely ignore the huge amount of new development in our neighbourhood, particularly between Sherwood Drive and Preston Street. These
buildings have been zoned at a much higher density than normal -- because of the nearby, frequent transit access. With these changes, residents will have fewer choices and
less service, particularly to nearby neighbourhoods where they might want to shop, visit libraries and community centres, and attend church. This will work directly against
the goals of the Official Plan and of these zoning changes.

Route #85

In particular, the proposed rerouting of #85 would make it much harder to access the nearby churches, community centre, schools, and businesses in the Glebe (especially on
Sundays).

Currently, one can take the #85 to Bronson and Carling, then walk in only one to five blocks to get to a high school, a public school, three large churches, the
Glebe Community Centre, and all the businesses on Bank Street. Turning the #85 at Preston means adding eight blocks -- uphill -- to that walk, which makes it much less
practical, especially when one is carrying any shopping or schoolbooks. Routes #101/102 don't run on Sunday or later in the evenings, and will in any case be less frequent.

As well, route #85 currently crosses in the middle of Chinatown, providing easy access to all the restaurants and shops there. Moving it to Preston Street means a long walk
-- uphill again -- to get to the major restaurants and destinations in that area.

Route #6

Route #6 is an important link on weekdays from downtown to the Civic Campus of the Ottawa Hospital and to Tunney's Pasture. Reducing its hours to peak periods only will
make it almost useless for those people who use it for regular hospital and doctor appointments, particularly seniors, as well as those who take it to get to destinations
in the Glebe and Centretown.

Stopping route #6 at Carling Station (instead of continuing it to Tunney's Pasture) makes it essentially useless for all those residents who work at or near Tunney's, or who use
it as another option to get to the hospital.

Route #3

Route #3 currently is the only route which provides access to the Experimental Farm, which is an important recreational area in our very crowded neighbourhood -- and not just
in summer for tourists. This route also provides access to the shopping areas off Merivale Road, as well as businesses on Prince of Wales in the Farm, which will not have any
access at all under the proposed cuts. Removing the #3 would substantially reduce access for our residents.

We are seriously worried that this reduction in transit service will mean:
a) those who can afford cars will use them more and clog up our congested streets even further
b) those can't afford cars will have a much more difficult time doing their necessary trips to work, school, shopping, churches, and recreation.

We urge you to reconsider these changes.

Routes #101, #102

We note that the proposed changes to routes #101 and #102 should save at least four minutes per trip by avoiding the slow traffic signal at Powell and the detour through the
neighbourhood. We urge you, therefore, to allow these routes to stop at ALL stops along their route. Currently these routes ignore more than half of the stops in our
neighbourhood making these routes difficult and frustrating to use -- and meaning that the route 102 frequently has fewer than five passengers on it while travelling down Carling.

Yours sincerely,
Alayne McGregor
Secretary
for the Civic Hospital Neighbourhood Association

Vote on putting $30,000 towards a traffic study at membership meeting on April 20th

Representatives from the CHNA Planning and Development Committee and CHNA
Traffic Committee have been in discussions with the City's Planning
Department and Councillor Hobb's office in connection with the 125 Hickory
Street site plan approval process.

At a meeting on January 4, 2011, City staff said they had secured cash
contributions from the developer:
1. For a pedestrian bridge over the O-Train
2. And $30,000 for traffic ameliorations

Staff said CHNA could use the money to take a few, small immediate measures
or put it in a pot towards a larger traffic study of the area (a study
normally costs about $100,000 to $150,000). They also promised to send CHNA
a variety of options to consider. It took quite a bit of time and effort to
get this information. For the most part, the options that were provided did
not focus on CHNA concerns or suggestions (See CHNA blog postings dated
March 27th).

In the end, CHNA representatives recommended that the $30,000 go towards a
traffic study. The CHNA executive has accepted this recommendation. We
believe it is the best option of the bunch, albeit not a perfect option. It
will likely take a couple of years to further fund and conduct a study.

At the membership meeting on April 20th, CHNA members will be asked to vote
'yes' or 'no' in response to the following question:

Do you agree with the CHNA executive recommendation to put $30,000 for
traffic ameliorations towards a traffic study?

Please come out and vote.

Big truck problem persists

It looks like we've still got a big truck problem near Hickory and Breezehill. CHNA will contact Councillor Hobbs and city staff again. We will also contact Domicile, the developer who is responsible for the trucks. Hopefully, we will be able to solve this problem soon.

By the way, the truck in the second photo is backing down the one way street.