Dalhousie Community Association

Tonight, the Ottawa Carleton District School Board wil consider a motion tonight that effectively confirms 2008's Escarpment Area Plan. In that plan, the OCDSB would pass over the former playing fields to the city to create a new park and would be given permission to redevelop the rest of the site for mixed-use. The DCA supports this. Below is our letter to the OCDSB board to that effect. Ottawa Technical High School Park Space Plan

The condo boom in Little Italy continues! On Tuesday, Ottawa City Planning Committee will consider an application for a tall tower at the corner of Preston and Carling. Claridge's "Icon" would be, at least for a little while, the tallest building in the city. You can read the staff report recommending approving the development here.  As you can read below, the DCA has a number of concerns about the implementation of the building, how funds used to improve the community ("Section 37") are being apportioned, and the need for a more comprehensive strategy to improve the neighbourhoods public realm. DCA "Icon" (505 Preston St) Planning Committee Comments

No doubt you have seen the youtube clips of the guy running for office in the US of A whose tag line is "the rent's too damn high".  That is the way we feel about the proposed church worship hall aka gym aka community centre proposed for Bell Street. The Chinese Alliance Church has bought two narrow house lots running at right angles to their current Eccles & LeBreton Street property. They propose to demolish the houses and put in a honkin' big box building. They are asking, and no doubt the planning committee will give them, exemptions from all residential and commercial setbacks. In addition to being too damn big, it will have its handicapped entrance on Bell, which is little more than a lane, which means a single para transpo van making a winter pick up or delivery will block the entire street. I remain amazed that the fire marshall has signed off on this mega building, given its negligable side access. The community association previously asked the church to...

DALHOUSIE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION 755 Somerset Street West, Ottawa, Ontario, K1R 6R1 Eric Darwin VP & chair, transportation committee 5 Oct 2012 Robert Grimwood, P.Eng. City of Ottawa Cc: Diane Holmes, Katherine Hobbs Re: Hickory crossing Thank you for coming to our recent meeting to review the Hickory crossing. We think the right location has been chosen, and will lobby to have the bridge built in the next year. We do have a big problem with the proposed design. The proposed bridge width – same as a MUP plus 1’ additional – would be fine if it was simple structure along the length of a single pathway crossing a culvert or cut. But this is not the case here. The bridge is short, and is at right angles to the east side of the OTrain MUP now under construction. It is at right angles to the proposed path on the west side, due for construction within the next two years. It will also function as a straight-through east-west path connecting two neighborhoods. And i...

The DCA is fortunate in having good relations with the two Business Improvement Areas (BIA's) in our catchement area. Working with both, we partnered to improve the appearance of our mainstreets in 2013 by planting thousands of tulip bulbs on Somerset Street and Preston Street. The partnership consisted of the BIA's paying for the tulips, and community members planting them. It is not always easy to find suitable spots where large clumps of tulips can be planted, but we were successful this year in getting about 2000 bulbs placed. In the pic below are  some of the  bulbs (90 per bag) for Preston. To keep our good lines of communication open, and for future projects, here is the letter sent by the DCA to the Chinatown BIA. A similar letter went to Preston BIA. DALHOUSIE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION 755 Somerset Street West, Ottawa, Ontario, K1R 6R1 Eric Darwin, VP 5 Oct 2012 Grace Xuexin Chinatown / Somerset BIA Dear Grace On behalf of the Dalhousie Communit...

6 Sept 2012 Diane Holmes Councillor, Somerset Ward Re: Recycling the Bank Street Promenade Street Furniture We have noticed that the former furniture used on the Bank Street Promenade is now enjoying outdoor storage at the Bayview Yards (photo attached). This furniture has minor cosmetic wear and tear and appears to only need repainting in order to be reused. Given the significant cost of benches, we would like to suggest it be reused in our Ward. For example, Gladstone Avenue has no BIA but is an important residential and commercial “mainstreet” . We suggest that a number of places can be identified along the street where benches would be suitable, eg near bus stops, seniors’ residences, schools, and corner stores. Concerns were expressed before benches were installed along Preston and Somerset that these might attract undesirable activities and loitering. However, these fears proved unfounded, and the benches on these streets are always busy with people. Making the stre...