This coming week will be a busy one for Councillor Gower with events taking place and the first ‘after-election’ meeting of full City of Ottawa Council this Wednesday. City Council will also receive an update on the city’s legal position with regard to Stage 1 of the LRT at a special meeting on Monday. If you missed the webinar on Bill 23 – More Homes Built Faster Act, 2022 – you can view it at the link indicated below. You will also find updates from Ottawa Public Health, the Urban Design Review Panel recommendations for 6310 Hazeldean Road and information on the Vacant Unit Tax. Excitement is growing for Stittsville’s Parade of Lights on December 3rd and there still is time to enter a float or to volunteer – one can never have enough floats or volunteers in a parade! Returning again this year is the OC Transpo/Loblaw’s ‘Fill the Bus’ food drive on December 3rd in support of the Stittsville Food Bank.
Parade of Lights this Saturday
The annual Parade of Lights takes place on Saturday, December 3 at 6:00pm. Organized by the Stittsville Village Association, the parade draws thousands of spectators along Stittsville Main Street. It starts in front of Brown’s Independent and heads south to Carleton Cathcart Street. For more information, including how you can volunteer to help make this event a success, please contact stittsvillevillage@gmail.com.
OC Transpo/Loblaw Annual Food Drive
Also this Saturday, OC Transpo is holding its annual Food Drive at participating grocery stores, from 10:00am-5:00pm. Drop-off locations include Brown’s Your Independent Grocer (Stittsville Main Street) and Brandon and Megan’s No Frills (Iber Road) in support of the Stittsville Food Bank.
Light Rail Updates
City Council is holding a special meeting on Monday to receive an update on the City’s legal position with respect to Stage 1 of LRT. And on Wednesday, the Ottawa Light Rail Transit Public Inquiry will release its final report at ottawalrtpublicinquiry.ca. I’m eager to read it and I’ll share my comments on my web site and in next week’s update.
City Council is meeting Wednesday morning at 10:00am for our first regular council meeting of the term. Each councillor will have five minutes to share opening remarks at the start of the term, and we’ll also table the governance report. It will set out committee structures and other rules that will guide procedure during this term. We’ll also meet on December 7 and December 14.
Bill 23
Changes to development charges in the Provincial government’s new Bill 23 will mean a loss of tens of millions of dollars of revenue for the City of Ottawa in the coming years. That’s the conclusion of the City’s Chief Financial Officer and Head Planner, who’ve summarized the details in a memo. It’s worse than we originally thought. Read more…
A big thank you to everyone who attended our Q&A webinar on Bill 23 last Thursday night. I’ve posted a video from the webinar here…
Updates from Ottawa Public Health
COVID-19, influenza and other respiratory viruses continue to circulate in the community. Wastewater virus detection levels of flu are very high and wastewater virus detection levels of RSV are moderate. CHEO continues to face unprecedented volumes of infants & children coming to the hospital with respiratory symptoms from various viruses.
We can wear a well-fitting mask when in indoor public settings and crowded outdoor spaces and stay home when feeling sick to help us reduce the burden that these viruses are making in our community. Staying up to date on our COVID-19 and flu immunizations also helps increase our protection.
There are many places in our community offering these vaccines, even drop-ins and family-oriented clinics. Check out OttawaPublicHealth.ca for a location closest to you.
6310 Hazeldean Road: UDRP panel recommendations
On October 6, 2022, representatives from Fotenn Planning + Design presented their plans for 6310 Hazeldean Road to the City’s Urban Design Review Panel. Their feedback is non-binding but is used by City staff to help evaluate applications. The panel was clearly not happy with the design as presented. Their recommendations echo many of the concerns that residents have raised with the design of the proposed development. Read more…
Vacant Unit Tax notice to residential property owners
An important Vacant Unit Tax (VUT) notice is being delivered to homeowners’ mailboxes or inboxes for each property they own. It provides information such as the roll number and access code and identifies the next steps in the process to file the required occupancy status declaration for the 2022 calendar year.
Vacant Unit Tax revenues will help fund affordable housing initiatives, in accordance with the City’s Ten-Year Affordable Housing and Homeless Plan, which commits capital funding for the construction of up to 500 new affordable units annually. Visit ottawa.ca/vut for more information.
Get in touch!
My team and I are working every day to answer your questions and connect residents with the resources they need. If we can help in any way, please email me at glen.gower@ottawa.ca or leave a voicemail at 613-580-2476. You can also message us on WhatsApp at 613-277-0193. – Councillor Glen Gower