On September 20th, the City of Ottawa’s Planning and Housing Committee voted nine to three to approve high-rise towers of 16 and 27 storeys at 1081 Carling Avenue. The vote came after a presentation by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) which highlighted the significant, costly and permanent impacts of shadows on the research done at the Farm.
Councillor Riley Brockington, River Ward, introduced a motion to lower the tower heights to fourteen floors to reduce the impact to the farm (a height proposed by AAFC during the meeting). This was defeated in a vote of four to eight. Councillors supporting the motion were Theresa Kavanaugh, Arial Troster, Clarke Kelly and Riley Brockington. Kitchissippi Councillor Leiper voted against the motion and instead, voted to approve Taggart Realty Management's unamended application.
If you didn't get a chance to see the meeting, it is available on Youtube.
The issue is receiving broad media coverage:
- https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/plan-for-residential-towers-across-from-central-experimental-farm-approved-by-citys-planning-committee-a-second-time
- https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/carling-high-rise-proposal-passes-planning-committee-despite-federal-concerns-1.6568785
https://obj.ca/federal-officials-legal-action-development-carling-approved/ - https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/carling-towers-planning-committee-1.6973132
- https://www.ledroit.com/actualites/actualites-locales/ottawa/2023/09/20/ferme-experimentale-un-projet-de-tours-accepte-a-nouveau-K4JCK53B2FEN7APDZBMUKDYOPE/
- https://kitchissippi.com/2023/09/22/controversial-carling-development-gets-green-light-from-ottawas-planning-committee-for-second-time/
- https://glebereport.ca/articles/carling-high-rise-proposal-a-shady-deal-for-experimental-farm/#:~:text=Reduced%20sunlight%20can%20reduce%20yield,would%20get%2010%2C000%20fewer%20minutes.
- https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/shade-from-a-planned-high-rise-is-a-threat-to-this-farms-research-director-says/video/efca1ca6b528ed917be8d5bbaa497dc0
Next steps
Full city council vote will take place on Sept. 27. CHNA will ask the Council to reject the decision and to engage in fulsome discussions with AAFC to find appropriate mitigations to their concerns.
What Can You Do?
- Continue to share this petition and spread the word
- Reach out directly to Kitchissippi Ward Councillor, Jeff Leiper (jeff.leiper@ottawa.ca) as well as Mayor Mark Sutcliffe (mark.sutcliffe@ottawa.ca).