The City’s Rural Affairs Office will help provide organizational support for a Councillor-led rural summit later this year – one of the initiatives outlined in the Rural Affairs Workplan that the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee received today. The City is committed to the success of the upcoming summit and to continue building on the strengths of Ottawa’s rural communities.
The 2024 work plan outlines other ongoing initiatives including support for the Wildlife Damage Compensation Program, the Rural Community Building Grant Program and efforts to deliver rural Ottawa broadband internet. Work will also focus on major policy initiatives related to the rural area, such as ongoing master plan reviews, the Rural Economic Development Strategy, the new Comprehensive Zoning By-law and an analysis of stormwater taxation.
The Committee approved an amendment to the Master Drainage Plan (MDP) for the Western Development Lands of the Village of Richmond. The MDP details a stormwater management facility, known as Pond 2, that needs to be built before significant development of the area can proceed. The owner of the lands where Pond 2 will be located is not yet prepared to build the infrastructure. That delay is preventing development on lands nearby from proceeding, and the owner of those lands is seeking to proceed with an interim stormwater management solution. The amendment would allow that development to proceed in a timely manner and would require the applicant to provide, at their expense, construction, monitoring and maintenance of any interim works.
The Committee approved a zoning amendment to facilitate development of a 21-unit, three-storey residential building on Manotick Main Street, north of Bridge Street. While most parking would be underground, the amendment would permit some surface parking at the front of the building, to help limit potential impacts on the UNESCO World Heritage designation of the Rideau River at the rear of the property. The amendment would also add low-rise apartment dwelling a permitted use on the property, consistent with the Manotick Secondary Plan.
If Council approves, the land-use permissions that the Committee recommended today will help put applicants in a position to build 21 new dwellings in Ottawa. To help address the housing challenge, Council committed to providing home builders enough opportunities to build 151,000 quality market homes by 2031. Visit ottawa.ca/residentialdwellings for a graphic showing quarterly progress towards Ottawa’s housing pledge targets.
Recommendations from today’s meeting will rise to Council on Wednesday, February 7.