The City of Ottawa is accepting public comments on a proposal for eight low-rise residential apartment buildings with 262 rental units on Cope Drive. That’s in Kanata South off Terry Fox Drive, across the street from the Walmart.
From the Site Plan Control application:
Cavanagh is proposing eight (8) low‐rise residential apartment buildings to front onto Cope Drive in the Trail West community of Kanata. Six (6) of the proposed low‐rise buildings will have shared access, drive aisles and amenity/servicing areas, while the remaining two (2) low‐rise buildings will stand‐alone and overlook the Monahan Drain. A mix of residential and visitor parking is proposed to be located both underground and above grade, totaling approximately 316 spaces. The low‐rise buildings are proposed to be located close to the street edge, thereby directly addressing Cope Drive and reinforcing the streetscape. In addition to direct pedestrian connections to ground‐oriented units facing the street, the proposal includes a generous amount of landscaping and substantial amenity areas to further compliment and animate Cope Drive.
The proposed development for Block 46 includes two (2) low‐rise buildings four storeys (14 metres) in height. Each building will contain a mix of one and two bedroom units totaling 48 units per building and 96 units overall. Access to the site will be provided by Northgraves Crescent via Cope Drive. A shared drive aisle will provide access to the underground parking structure. Each building will accommodate approximately 38 underground parking spaces and approximately 20 surface parking spaces for a total of 116 parking spaces. An accessory building is proposed along the east property line to contain refuse and bicycle storage. In addition to private amenity areas, the proposal includes two (2) sizable common amenity areas.
The proposed development for Block 1 includes two (2) low‐rise buildings four storeys (14 metres) in height. Each building will contain a mix of one and two bedroom units totalling 24 units per building and 48 units overall. Access to the site will be provided by Templeford Avenue via Cope Drive. A shared drive aisle will provide access to the underground parking structure. Each building will accommodate approximately 20 underground parking spaces and overall the site will include 20 surface parking spaces for a total of 60 parking spaces. An accessory building is proposed along the western property line to contain refuse and bicycle storage. In addition to private amenity areas, the proposal includes two (2) sizable common amenity areas.
You can read more and comment here…
I will be selling my home. I do not want to live next door to rental apt thank you. Some will be sold as investments, small units so they wont be attaching young families. No thanks. If I had known I would be living next door to rental units, I wouldn’t have bought. To me, this decreases the value of my house. This doesn’t add, but deters from the young family community. 262 units, another 300 to 600 ppl to that area is crazy! My concern now is, that I can sell my home after hearing this!
I am not happy with the idea of Rental units being build in our area where everybody ownes their home. If you have to build more homes at least if they were Condos, at least the residents being owners, will be more apt to take care of their properties then renters. This mass rental units proposal will decrease the value of our homes. When I purchased my home, I was told that buisnesses would be going up in those areas, not rental units. I worry that the traffic will be horendance on the corner of Cope and Templeford. Mass rental areas bring in more crime and distruction to areas that were very safe areas to live in. All in all, I think it will be a desaster.
I would like to have a chance at having a public meeting where we can all see exactly what the buildings will look like, exactly where you propose to build them and where the parking and the garbage areas will be placed, how you propose to manage the extra traffic so we can all see what the impact will mean to usbefore this proposal goes any further.
As for rentals bring in crimes depends what type of rentals if there low rent yes no questions but if there high end like Kanata Lakes then no they don’t bring in more crime.
Aline, if you want people to have pride in ownership, then they have to be able to afford to own.
The obsession with increasing property values can not be sustained in the long run. If you “win” by having increased property values, that means someone else is losing. The more property values go up, the more people have to rent, and when rent goes up, minimum wage will have to go up, or you will get more homeless.
We have to stop treating our homes as investments, and stop insisting that builders to keep building larger and larger homes, or it will just get worse.
My concern is that there is no single homes in the whole area. And now they are adding apartments to the mix.
This will be OK for the short term but in 15 – 20 years it is destined to be a low income area. Which is why new subdivisions are usually planned to be a mix – So that you don’t end up with a concentration of lower priced housing.
This is a bad idea the road and entry is way to busy as it is.. That land is better off with some stores with the entry on cope were there is a stop sign already and not having more vehicles turning on Northgraves Cres…. Having a small area with that much more traffic with cause a massive influx of traffic trying to leave Northgraves is impossible as it is because people don’t do full stops at added three way stop sign… This community does not need nor does a low rise apt suit this community… This should of been a over flow for parking so people don’t need to park on the road or park….to many people use cope as it is.. I hope this is not going thru
I am not a fan with having apartments on Cope! My understanding with the initial plan for the development, especially on Cope (north) between both Northgraves entrances was supposed to be small businesses on the main level and condo’s above it, which is very different from what is proposed. The “SOHO” idea is no longer being followed and this does not represent what was in the initial plans. Residents bought into this idea of community and now it’s being changed. I would be fine if they stuck to their initial plan and had shops and condos, nothing too tall, I find 4 stories is pushing it, as most houses are limited to two stories, 3 stories would make sense as you could have shops on the main floor and have 2 story condo’s above.
I don’t understand how a builder can think to put apartment buildings right in the middle of a residential area! I would understand if the apartment would face terry fox. Being a trailwest home owner the traffic on cope is already busy, adding 300+ cars daily on that road…
Why can’t they put terrace homes, 3 level condos or something that’s more attracting.
I can’t believe that single people or couples would want to live here… This area is very family oriented with young families with kids… I would never think to move in apartments here… Kanata centrum sure! Good transit via bus and all.
In sum, I think it’s a money grab to put as many people possible in one area.
Before proposing the builder should put surveys on what world be best for a community….
I agree that it will bring more traffic to an area that is already busy. Parking in the side streets is already an issue. What I do not agree with is the renters issue. I am a renter in the area and take a lot of pride in my home and take very good care of the house I live in. Renter doesn’t equal a bad, uncaring person who wants to live in a mess.
My other comment would be that the one spot on Cope turns in a lake in the spring. I would not live in that area at all. I know that they can fix issues like this but it sticks in my head how much water accumulates there each year.
This is not a good idea at all. The traffic over the last 5 years we have lived here is substantially worse, it is difficult to leave northgraves crescent and turn left during the high traffic times of the day. Kristina Kiss park, which is situated on cope between Akerson and northgraves, already has too much traffic for the likings of parents – we already think it is a unsafe on that busy road. Adding 300+ vehicles (assuming each unit has one vehicle…we know most have two) would be a nightmare and a disaster. Add to the fact that low rise appartments does not, in anyway, fit the style of this community – our homes are family homes. Those who rent appartments typically do not live the “family” lifestyle – shuffling kids about, early mornings, early nights (not that all families are like this or all who rent appartments are like this either but it is what is observed in this community at this time). I agree that this will devalue our homes as well.
The traffic is the biggest concern I have, and there will be nothing that can remedy this…this community did not build roads in and out of it to support 300+ more vehicles.
Just yesterday around 5:15pm I took a 60sec video of the “stoptional” sign at Cope and Templeford and in that time frame 28 vehicles has passed. That’s approximately 26 more a min than Mr Hubley wants us to believe. It has become a steady high volume traffic route.
We were told small office home offices would be occupying that area when we bought on Northgraves. The average cost for rent in the Kanata area ranges from $800-$1200 a month. We would of NEVER spent just under half a million dollars on a house if we had known apartment buildings would be going up in the area. Condo’s fine, that we could probably all live with but rental units absolutely not. I’m not saying all renters are bad but just like a bag of apples it only takes one to spoil the lot.
I oppose this project vehemently as that was not the promised landscape in the project when I purchased my home. It was proposed to be single story condos and that is completely okay with me. The current proposed plan will decrease the value of my property in addition to making the area look less prestigious. I will sell my home if this plan goes forward.
This is totally unacceptable!
I do not in any way support these plans! I, like many of the folks commenting here, bought my home because Trailwest is a young, vibrant family community! When I asked about these parcels of land, prior to purchasing, I was advised that they were to be businesses with condos above, which I felt would very likely add to our community culture. The new proposal would not only create significant congestion on Cope and the surrounding “access” streets, it would create an eyesore! Not to mention, adding all of these people (and vehicles) into the heart of our communty (Kristina Kiss Park) where the children play, skate etc. will add additional safety concerns for parents, when it comes to the kids! Finally, it will most definitely decrease the value of the homes in the area.
Had I known this would happen I would NEVER have moved into this area. If it goes forward, I will most definitely move out of Kanata. I don’t want to live somewhere that values money over community and safety, and whose local government will cater to the highest bidders rather than the people it is elected to serve!
Absolutely a bad idea. 262 rental apartments, a couple hundred more cars on Cope. Traffic nightmares to follow
Dear Cavanagh, you can do much better !
Lots of NIMBYism going on here! “No, not in my backyard!” Come on people, we need increased density in this city, or else we risk seeing more sprawl (like the Blackstone development across Terry Fox, which has paved over valuable farmland.)
I support this proposal 100%, and hope others will see the benefit as well.
I do share some people’s concerns about low-income rentals, but this can be alleviated by having a healthy mix of rental types: low-income rentals, mid-income and top-end rentals, all scattered throughout the 8 proposed buildings. A few businesses on the lower levels would only help make this a more complete development.
I’m so disheartened after finding this out right after purchasing my first home. I was not informed of any future apartment development in the backyard of the property when I purchased the house otherwise I wouldn’t have purchased it. I choose to purchase this house as it looked to be nice and quite neighborhood to raise my child. My first ever house and I’m taking the biggest blow with this news. I’ll definitely be selling it as soon as I find out the proposed plan gets approval even if I loose money.