East end property gets preliminary OK for development
Transitway, road extension must be fleshed out first, councillor says
Ottawa's planning committee has approved a rezoning application that could see the development of a forested triangle of land in the city's east.
The owner of the property at Navan and Pagé roads, Taggart Investments, wants to build a grocery store, retail shops and a restaurant, as well as a gas station and car wash on the site, across Brian Coburn Boulevard from a future park-and-ride lot.
But Innes Coun. Laura Dudas said the project can't move ahead until the city determines the route of a future Cumberland Transitway, as well as an extension of Brian Coburn Boulevard, already becoming a major east-west artery.
Dudas said the future road and transit network has to meet the needs of the growing population in the city's east end.
"This one intersection, this one piece is going to be a vital component of that. It would have been remiss for me to allow this to go ahead without a zoning provision," Dudas said Thursday.
Concerns over traffic, green space
A study of a proposed extension to Brian Coburn Boulevard and a future Cumberland Transitway will determine if the city might need to acquire land in that area. That environmental assessment should be finished this year.
More than 80 residents weighed in on the Taggart proposal during public consultations last summer. Many expressed concern over increasing traffic and the potential loss of green space.
Dudas agreed the Taggart proposal needs some tweaking, but noted her constituents also say they want amenities within walking distance of the their homes.