NCC appeals city council vote against embassy row
Appeal filed with the Ontario Land Tribunal on Friday regarding plan in Mechanicsville
The National Capital Commission says it has appealed Ottawa city council's decision to reject rezoning land in the Mechanicsville neighbourhood for a new diplomatic precinct west of downtown.
Spokesperson Valérie Dufour said the NCC filed the documents with the Ontario Land Tribunal Friday morning, arguing city council didn't follow provincial planning rules when it decided not to allow five embassy lots on the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway.
On Feb. 9, four city councillors from the east end were among 22 members of city council who voted down the NCC's zoning. Tim Tierney, Laura Dudas and Catherine Kitts even reversed their earlier votes from a September meeting of the planning committee, which had approved the application.
They spoke of having to "send a clear message" to the NCC that it needed to work with the city to allow a transportation corridor to Orléans — the NCC's refusal to allow that Transitway and road through its Greenbelt land became the subject of a big debate in early March.
- City pursues east-end Transitway through the Greenbelt, despite NCC refusal
- City council handed Orléans road proposal for vote despite NCC impasse
The official reasons for why council rejected the embassy zoning, however, stated the NCC had not provided the appropriate amount of green space for a rapidly developing area, and it had not established the proper connections between the proposed diplomatic precinct and the neighbourhood.
NCC says it followed process for years
The NCC had made public as early as 2015 that it planned to use land for a new diplomatic precinct west of the downtown, said Dufour, and did two years of public consultation on its park plan for the south shore of the Ottawa River, which included that land.
"We have worked in collaboration with the city from the get-go on this file," said Dufour.
Even though the plan met opposition from community groups and the local councillor, who wanted to keep the land as green space, city staff recommended it go ahead and planning committee agreed — until city council made the rare decision to go against those two earlier shows of support.
"The reasons they invoked for refusing application are not justified by the Ontario Planning Act and the provincial policy statement," Dufour said.
As a capital city of a G7 country, Ottawa's zoning should allow for embassies to welcome foreign nations, she added.
- Mechanicsville fights 'distasteful' plan to rezone green space for embassies
- NCC plan for embassy lots in Mechanicsville approved at committee
For Kitchissippi ward Coun. Jeff Leiper, the issue with the embassy proposal has always been residents' concerns over losing green space in an area that is intensifying quickly.
"I'm disappointed that they have chosen to spend taxpayer money on an appeal of something that is, to my mind, clearly counter to the official plan of Ottawa," said Leiper.
"I think they have a much easier path accepting council's decision. They have a much easier path responding positively to residents' opposition and finding some other use for this site."