Should a proposed housing development be built near Ottawa’s flight path?

A controversial housing development is one step closer to being built after the City of Ottawa’s Planning and Housing Committee approved the zoning amendment on Wednesday. It will now need to be passed by council for the final step of approval. 

The project, which would be located on Riverside Drive near Hunt Club Road, includes 660 units — ranging from single and semi-detached homes to four mid-high rise buildings between nine to 17 floors. 

City staff supported the development saying it aligns with applicable policies for the area. But the Airport Authority spoke against it saying it’s located too close to the flight path, and said future residents would be disturbed by the noise. 

“This site sits underneath the flight path of Runway 14 32 – YOW’s longest – and within the circuit loop for general aviation and flight training on Runway 04 22 – our shortest,” said Joel Tkach, vice‑president of business development & marketing at the Ottawa International Airport Authority. 

 “On average, eighty aircraft movements occur here daily, at altitudes between 50 to 150 metres,” he added. “Although the proposed residential development land lies just barely outside the Airport Operating Influence Zone, noise doesn’t respect lines on a map.”

Tkach said if approved, he feared noise complaints could lead to future restrictions. He cited Montreal and Toronto as examples which have “endured waves of complaints, political pressures and resulting curfews, and therefore lost air service.”. That could then lead to “fewer flights, reduced cargo capacity, diminished global connections and lost jobs.”

The Ottawa Airport Authority also said last year it received 140 noise complaints from 85 homes. It’s unclear where the grievances came from, but a few hundred homes sit in communities near the proposed development site on Riverside Drive. 

“A family moves into their new home. The windows are open for fresh air. The children are in bed. Then a jet roars overhead, then another, then another," said Tkach, who speculated what could happen if councillors approved the amendment. "The noise shakes walls, wakes babies, frays nerves. The next day, flight training resumes, aircraft circling overhead all day with no reprieve."  

The project's developer Taggart defended its future housing site, stating zoning changed in 2019 to permit housing and apartment complexes. The builder also said the threat of noise would clearly be stated to future buyers or renters through lease and contract agreements. 

“Part of the layout of the site from the beginning did consider the potential for impacts from both airport noise and traffic from Hunt Club and Riverside,” said Kyle Kazda, a development manager with Taggart. “This has informed the massing of the towers along those two major streets, which, at minimum, would shield — from a traffic noise perspective — the low-rise residential from that exposure.”

The city indicated that a noise feasibility assessment was done — both with roadway traffic and from the aircraft overhead. Its findings supported the project going through. Taggart says it plans to use certain materials in its wall components, roof sheathing and insulation to lessen the sounds. 

River Ward Coun. Riley Brockington — who represents the area of the proposed development — said anyone moving to the site should already be aware it’s close to the airport and therefore planes would be flying overhead. 

The Hunt Club Community Association also spoke favourably about the future development, saying it would bring much-needed housing to an area of the city which lacks it. 

“When new housing goes up, even when it's market rent, that helps alleviate the housing crisis and prices within the surrounding area," said Audrey Belanger, president of the Hunt Club Community Association. 

"As a community association, we get emails on the regular from families looking for housing in our area, so there's definitely a need, and nobody's asking us about the planes,” she added.

The Planning and Housing Committee approved the minor zoning amendment 8-3. Councillors Brockington, Laine Johnson, Tim Tierney, Catherine Kitts, Theresa Kavanagh, Clarke Kelly, Ariel Troster, and Jeff Leiper voted in favour. Laura Dudas, Cathy Curry and Wilson Lo were the three who voted against the changes. 

The report goes before council on June 25.