(EDITOR’S NOTE: The City of Ottawa and Richcraft Homes held a public information meeting last week to give a preview of concept plans for the Kanata Highlands development adjacent to Terry Fox Drive in Kanata North. The following note, and the photo above, were originally published by the Friends of the Carp River on their web site.)
Richcraft Homes held a public information meeting on 12 December to share three preliminary concept plans for the envelope of land – about 27 hectares – available for development out of a total of 77 hectares on the south side of Terry Fox Drive. Information about this project, including past comments from the public, is available at the City of Ottawa’s Urban Expansion Study for the Kanata Highlands. The three concepts can be downloaded here.
There are two main issues with this development:
- management of flood and surface water, and
- addressing the species at risk on the site, especially the Blanding’s Turtle population.
The site borders the stretch of the Carp River between Richardson Side Road and the railroad crossing at Huntmar Road. Flood plain mapping was last done in 1983, but significant development has occurred upstream since that time. Blanding’s Turtles cross the site from the adjacent South March Highlands to reach the river. We sent our comments to the City and you can download them here.