(The layout of the proposed development at 37 Wildpine Court that would connect Wildpine Court and Ravenscroft Court. Image: Fotenn Planning & Design)
The City of Ottawa received a Zoning By-law Amendment, Plan of Subdivision and Plan of Condominium applications from Fotenn Planning + Design, on behalf of Latitude Homes a division of Zayoun Group Inc./Wildpine Trails Inc., for the property at 37 Wildpine Court. The proposal is to build 27 two-storey townhouses in four blocks and one two-storey semi-detached dwelling. Wildpine Court and Ravenscroft Court would be connected with a new public street, and a new private road will be constructed. The primary reason for including a private road is to respect the environmental setbacks generated from the wetland and creek.
In a conversation with Councillor Gower with respect to the proposed development, he told Stittsville Central, “I have concerns with the configuration of the street, traffic and the number of homes being proposed. I want to measure the performance of the builder by implementing a Pilot Project on this site for a Construction Management Plan“. The Pilot would include the following:
- contractor parking
- hours of work
- cuts into the roadway/repaving
- all rules concerning the construction site would have to be followed – if not charges would be forthcoming
Gower said that there is no existing formal framework for new development sites in place and wants to see changes, so is hoping this Pilot can assist to get a framework in place. The City allows construction sites to perform work from 7:00am – 7:00pm, but during COVID, the province implemented new extended hours from 6:00am – 9:00pm which the Councillor says makes it difficult for residents to tolerate the constant traffic and noise coming from a site.
There is concern for the site from an environmental perspective. The Tree Conservation Report for this development indicates that, “The Site contains three Butternuts (two dead and one live), a federally and provincially significant tree species that is listed as Endangered under the ESA and SARA. The live Butternut was assessed as a Category 3 Butternut, meaning that it exhibited evidence that it may be resistant to or tolerant of infection by Butternut canker”. The one lone-standing live tree will be removed because of its probability of being infected by the Butternut canker.
Also, albeit not a provincially designated wetland, there is a wetland on the property. The site includes a portion of the Stittsville Wetland Complex. The total wetland area on the site is approximately 0.6 ha and consists of several types of wetland: meadow marsh, cattail marsh, deciduous thicket (tall shrub) swamp, mixed swamp, and deciduous swamp. The upland edge of the wetland on the site contains a considerable amount of fill that extends approximately 15 m out from the wetland. This upland edge of the wetland is degraded as indicated by the presence of rubble, trash, and non-native and/or invasive species. The southeastern corner of the site contains a small portion of the channel of Poole Creek and the eastern edge of the site contains floodplain associated with Poole Creek. Portions of the lands are designated as floodplain in the northeast of the property. Mitigation measures to prevent impacts to these surface water features are provided in the Environmental Impact Statement that was prepared for the project.
The management recommendation for the wetland on the site is conservation. Conserving the wetland includes
maintaining or enhancing the feature, restoring hydrological and riparian habitat functions, maintaining catchment
flows, minimizing stormwater impacts, and maintaining a development setback from the wetland to prevent impacts to
the feature. To read the full Tree Conservation Report visit this link.
A summary listed the species at risk that were assessed at having a moderate to high potential to interact with the proposed development:
- Barn Swallow a threatened species – moderately impacted;
- Eastern Wood-pewee a species of special concern – high impact;
- Rusty Blackbird a species of special concern – moderately impacted;
- Wood Thrush a species of special concern – moderately impacted;
- Blanding’s Turtle a threatened species – high impact;
- Milksnake a species of special concern – moderate impact;
- Snapping Turtle a species of special concern – moderate impact;
- Little Brown Myotis an endangered species – moderate impact;
- Monarch Butterfly a species of special concern – moderate impact; and
- Butternut Tree an endangered vascular plant – high impact.
The existing home and sheds will be demolished on the formerly owned Martin family land. Further information and the full set of documents related to this development application can be found at this link.
Comments on this development are due by November 10, 2021 and can be submitted to planner Kathy Rygus at kathy.rygus@ottawa.ca or by calling (613) 580-2424 ext. 28318. Councillor Gower can be cc’d on your email by send to him at glen.gower@ottawa.ca.
The City will be hosting a statutory public meeting for this proposal on Monday, December 6, 2021 at 6:30 pm, via Zoom. (Details are forthcoming.) Councillor Gower encourages residents to attend should you have comments or concerns regarding this application.