Huntington Properties have put forth a proposal, prepared by Fontenn Planning + Design, to the City of Ottawa to construct a new retail and apartment development on Stittsville Main at the corner of Orville Street. The proposal also includes seven townhouse units to be built at the back of the property in front of the existing condominiums.
The building will be four stories high. The ground floor will be used for retail space with the top three stories consisting of apartments. It is planned that 44 apartments will make up the top three stories.
Proposed is a private driveway, with the entry and exit off of Orville, to run between the building and the townhouses to be built. The townshouses will have laneways and garages. Parking for the residents of the building will be underground. Retail and visitor parking will be at the rear of the building, with more parking allotted on Main Street in front of the building. The OC Transpo bus stop would be relocated.
In the proposal, it was noted that: “in the City’s Official Plan, there are many ways to achieve design policies, objectives and principles in the Plan. The following provides a design analysis and narrative on how the proposed mid-rise infill building has been shaped in response to the local context and the existing site conditions”.
There has been no official public consultation opportunity put forth by the City; however, Councillor Glen Gower has indicated that he will be organizing a public meeting in early March. In the interim, to find out more about this proposed development, you can read the proposal documents at the following link: https://app01.ottawa.ca/postingplans/appDetails.jsf?lang=en&appId=__ACSSNZ.
For interest, you can read Stittsville’s most recent Main Street Community Design Plan here: https://documents.ottawa.ca/sites/default/files/documents/stittsville_main_cdp_en.pdf.
So demolishing Stittsville Glass Nd several older buildings! Are businesses going to relocate or disappear? Hoping that Orville intersection Is properly accommodated considering the increased traffic demands on Stittsville Main! Need to figure out how we can help South\North traffic flows.
Stittsville Glass & Signs is not one of the buildings included in the proposal. The location is at the Southeast corner of Main Street and Orville Street.
Biggest problem are all left turns,already terrible,only get worse,main street was not built for this…becoming barrhaven
Dave: It is only 44 units plus a few more townhouses. I don’t see that resulting in a huge increase in the traffic turning left.
As for becoming Barrhaven, that would be if we built another large sprawling mall with a big parking lot out front like we see at the other end of Main Street. As I said before, this design is more like the Glebe or Westboro.
I agree that it isn’t included, though as part of the revitalization of Main Street, I would love to see Stittsville Glass & Signs relocated. They are located on prime real estate, adjacent to Village Square Park and the Great (formerly Trans Canada) Trail. Having businesses that people would want to walk or bike to in that location would be much better.
I bet the owners of Stittsville Glass & Signs would disagree with your definition of “businesses that people would want to walk or bike to” as I’m sure they greatly enjoy the visibility of their business by passing bicyclists and pedestrians.
Hello Mr. Horner…I just noticed your comment and wanted to give some information you may not know. My husband and I have been a large part of this wonderful community for 19 years which is when we opened Stittsville Glass & Signs. We’ve made giving back to the community a huge part of our business. Our shop is used for many of the events that are put on like Art in the Park, Parade of lights, Movies in the Park, Music in the Park, etc. My husband Luke is also one of the directors on the Stittsville Village Association, and I’m the Vice President. We were also part of the Community Design Plan for Stittsville Main Street. We hope you’re right in regard to being located on prime real estate so we’re able to retire someday. You may be quite surprised at just how many people stop in here while walking or biking along the trail. We love our location, and how it allows us to help our community. We’re proud to be part of Stittsville, and feel blessed to serve the amazing people who call Stittsville home.
I say all commercial traffic should be re-routed to Shea Rd, There is no need for it always being on Main Street. If the store they are serving is on Main, then come in at the nearest side street and go back out by Shea.
Shea stops at Abbot, then traffic has to go through school zones in either direction, or up Granite Ridge which is residential and another school zone. Not suitable at all for commercial traffic.
A bold new development for Main St would be a Main St. that you can navigate on. Nearly impossible to turn left anywhere. Noway to get around buses a]when they drop people off at nearly every stop. It makes going down Westridge a viable bypass, seeing there is such reluctance to create a North/South bypass.
I really like this plan. I would love to see Stittsville Main become more like Richmond on Westboro, or Bank in the Glebe with pedestrian friendly streets and lots of shops for people hop between without having to get back in their car. This will be a step in that direction. It will also add density within easy walking distance of the shops and along a major bus route.
The ultra modern design is at complete odds with the historic style of the existing buildings and the rest of Main Street. Why not have a design that is more compatible!! Flat roofes, dull colours and too much glass seems very out of place!
That is where I disagree with you. If you look at the building Quitters is in a couple doors down, it also has a flat roof and similar design elements. The design also uses a lot of brick, which ties it in with the other buddings nearby. As for the “dull colours,” I think bright colours would look garish and would clash with the other buildings along the street.
I agree with mr.walt if only we could find a designer that knows what historic design means..you cannot include modern with historic it takes the value of small town comfort away…so therefore stittsville will disappear and big planners come in and take over..
Leslie
The issue is people like you and Mr Walt would not be able to afford to live in the area if such a developer came along.
Horrendous idea, in my opinion! Main St. Stittsville is a nightmare to navigate morning until night. And it’s suicidal to try and make left turns at busy times of the day onto it. More cars for a main street that was never designed for this. The streets running off of Orville will hopefully not have to accommodate more traffic as a result? Basswood is a nightmare now with so many cars zooming up and down coming and going to Fernbank and beyond! Speeders, volume, and noise. Stittsville is not what is used to be and that is sad. Too big now. This new building is not a welcome addition to our Stittsville, in my opinion. I do not even think that it fits the aesthetics of our buildings along Main St.
Great idea! Let’s build Main Street in a manner that revitalizes it, encouraging small shops, cafes, restaurants, and a theatre. Let’s build up Main Street as a focal point for “community building”. If you want big box there are so many other options in Ottawa (Barrhaven…). With a little vision (like this development) and investment we can start to build on what Quitters started and create a vibrant Main Street in the mold of Westboro and the Glebe (or like Perth, Merrickville, or the great little towns of New England).
This is a wonderful plan, continuing to bring our Main Street to life, making it a preferred destination to enjoy! The buildings include my father and grandfather’s location of their businesses dating from 1898 to the 1970s. (Switzer’s blacksmith shop, welding shop and hardware store.) Their old building has become an eyesore and my late father would so approve of moving on, upgrading and progressing with the times by rebuilding this site. This is an exciting addition to Main Street. Well done and best of luck!
I totally agree, but they seem to want to modernize any new builds. It will stand out “like a sore thumb” on the Main Street. I would love to see beautiful “old looking buildings with the beautiful gingerbread trim like the ones you see in Almonte. Whomever is the decision-maker in Almonte has it right. People come for miles and miles around to see Almonte with all the pretty shops and restaurants and tea rooms along the Main Street. My Daughters and I went to lunch there last week. Some people say it’s the water that draws people to Almonte, but I would beg to differ. It’s the quaint, beautiful shops, restaurants, ice cream stores and restaurants and THE ARCHITECTURE! SO beautiful! We visited Merrickville recently and found a quaint little olive oil and balsamic vinegar shop where you could taste before buying. The owner was there and she said they wanted to open another shop in a small town. I said “please come and look at Stittsville, so she came and looked and opened a shop in the Signature Centre in Kanata, I asked her why she chose Kanata and she said Stittsville was not inviting. I knew she was not talking about the people, but the surroundings. We have to change this somehow.