The push for new infrastructure in City View

Good morning! 

When I was a kid, Nepean still had a community newspaper, which I remember picking up at the Emerald Plaza Library with my mom. There would be stories about local news and events which were happening in the neighbourhood. It brought a sense of belonging to a part of town that is rich with culture and stories. When you know the area you live, chances are you are going to get involved and meet your neighbours.

But sadly that newspaper is no more, which is also the case for most places in Ottawa. Only a handful of neighbourhoods still have them, and as someone who works in community news. I can tell you it is a lot of work to keep them going.

Nepean is full of stories which are not being told. That is why today we have articles on two big issues happening in City View: Work on restoring the aging ditch system to prevent flooding, and the need for more greenspace.

At the Lookout we are trying to do more stories like this, and we want to do it in every corner of Ottawa. But we can only do it with your help. If an issue is happening where you live, please email me and let me know.

Let’s get to it!

— Charlie Senack, Ottawa Lookout managing editor, [email protected] X: @Charlie_Senack

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WEATHER

Friday: 28 🌡️ 17 | 🌤️

Saturday: 32 🌡️ 21 | 🌤️

Sunday: 32 🌡️ 22 | 🌤️

Monday: 34 🌡️ 22 | 🌤️

GREENSPACE

A new park for City View comes with leasing challenges

There are many perks to living in an older community like City View. The side streets are quiet, the lot depths are larger, and the homes hold history and character from decades gone by. But one of the amenities the community is lacking is greenspace. 

Because the community is already built up, it's not like the city can find new land to put in a new park. So instead, the City View Community Association worked 27 years ago with the City of Nepean to lease a small patch of greenspace from Hydro Ottawa.

“We were given permission to put in pollinator gardens. It is 200 feet by 50 feet – 9,000 total square feet. We drew plans all down Bassano Street and it was going to be called Bassano Park,” said City View Community Association co-president Jill Prot.

But then, after amalgamation, someone at the city forgot to renew the lease. The community association was then given a cease and desist and told they had to remove everything from the property, including a small garden shed where they stored tools. 

College Ward Coun. Laine Johnson said the issue predates her and that she's been working with Hydro Ottawa since she was elected in 2022 to find a solution. There was also a previous commitment to use cash-in-lieu funds to put in a pathway and bench, but that work has also been stalled. 

“It has been challenging to work out the permissions under the hydro corridor to make those investments. But the City of Ottawa has worked very diligently to get those agreements in place and I do anticipate that we should be able to get those investments in for hopefully the end of this year,” Johnson told the Ottawa Lookout.

With a lease now signed, Prot is optimistic the parkland can soon be used again. But in the meantime, they need to notify Hydro Ottawa anytime they plan to step on the land, which has not always been easy. 

The City View Community Association has also received a grant to build a new butterfly garden on the site. 

The difficulty of finding new parkland in a developed community 

Work is underway on the Baseline-Merivale Secondary Plan, which will essentially draw a roadmap for what kinds of new development will be permitted in the aging suburb. But part of the exercise is also to identify new spots for greenspace when existing buildings are torn down for new ones. 

Completion of the plan is still a few years away, but Johnson is eager to find some space now. She has floated the idea of doing a de-paving project on a small patch of road between Starwood Road and St Claire Avenue, located behind the Bleeker Mall.

“I put out a survey last year because it is true we need more greenspace and it's not happening. I asked if they would rather us put more money into your existing parks with more recreational equipment, if they would rather take the time and do this sort of complicated, unknown de-paving,” said Johnson. “Residents overwhelmingly said do that, but we first need to do an environmental assessment of the ground and things like that.”

Johnson said one of the current frustrations she hears from residents is that they often need to cross busy, multilane roads to access parklands. On her side of Merivale, Ainsley Park is located on the other side of Baseline Road, or there is the Doug Frobel Park next to the Nepean Museum. 

Neighbouring Parkwood Hills has some bigger park amenities nearby including Gilby Park, General Burns Park, or Red Pine Park, but each would take 20-30 minutes to walk to. 

In other parts of Ottawa, some city councillors have used their wards’ cash in lieu of park funds from the city to purchase residential properties and tear them down to create new public greenspace. In 2023, Kitchissippi Coun. Jeff Leiper purchased 115 Spencer St., which is on a corner lot, and 22 Ladouceur, which was used to expand the existing Armstrong Park. 

The new “pocket park” on Spencer Street was highly welcomed by the community. 

“It will mean that residents no longer have to cross a busy, trafficked street to get to a park,” Wellington Village community association member Tara Ouchterlony, told the Kitchissippi Times. “Since the loss of the tiny park on Grange Street in the late 1990s, we’ve been entirely without green space in this area. I think it will be appreciated.” 

But the reason Kitchissippi Ward could do that was due to its surge in new development. When a developer builds a project that results in growth, the developer must allot a piece of land for public green space. When that’s impossible because there’s no space available, as is often the case in urban areas, the developer pays cash instead — around 10 per cent of the land’s worth. 

Johnson in College Ward said their pot of funds isn't as much. 

“They get cash more often than anything else just because the land is so limited in the downtown area. For us, we're still working to negotiate, so I am not in a place right now where I can do that. But it's another creative solution to what is a problem,” she said. 

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THE OTTAWA NUMBER

24,421

That’s the number of federal public service jobs that could be lost in the Ottawa-Gatineau region if the federal government moves forward with its efforts to find $25 billion in savings over the next three years, according to a new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Read more. [CTV]

THE AGENDA

🤦 The wife of former city councillor Rick Chiarelli says her husband - who was found in 2020 to have sexually harassed multiple members of his staff - was a ‘completely innocent’ victim of ‘cancel culture’ who ‘we all know did nothing wrong’. Speaking at a public hearing on Bill 9, Lida Chiarelli said the new provincial legislation, which is intended to increase accountability for municipalities, would make it easier for anonymous complainants to ‘politically assassinate’ elected officials. Read more. [CBC]

✈️ WestJet has announced it will cancel its Ottawa-Winnipeg route this winter. Read more. [CTV]

❌ The NCC has decided not to issue an event permit for a concert that was scheduled to take place this Saturday, featuring controversial MAGA musician Sean Feucht. Parks Canada and the municipalities of Charlottetown, Moncton and Quebec City have also cancelled permits for events scheduled as part of Feucht’s Canadian tour. Read more. [CBC]

🎒 Final exams are coming back for grade 9 and 10 students attending OCDSB schools, according to a letter sent to parents by supervisor Robert Plamondon. The letter also informed parents that no elementary students will be required to change schools for the upcoming school year. Read more. [CTV]

🚛 Sentencing for trucker convoy leaders Tamara Lich and Chris Barber is scheduled for October 7. The Crown is seeking seven years in prison for Lich and eight for Barber, along with the seizure of the truck he used as part of the protest. Read more. [Canadian Press]

🚧 There will be no ring road in Ottawa’s future, according to the new Transportation Master Plan that was approved by council on Wednesday. Coun. Laine Johnson introduced a motion to remove the ring road, and a friendly amendment by Coun. Tim Tierney to add it back in was not accepted. Read more. [CTV]

👮 Police are looking for witnesses to a collision involving an SUV and a dump truck on Wednesday in Osgoode that left two adults and three children seriously injured. Read more. [City News]

🌪️ Did you know that it rained a lot on Wednesday? Check out all the posts. [Reddit]

WEEKEND EVENT GUIDE

Chamberfest | Ottawa, ON | July 18 to July 27 | A vibrant celebration of chamber music from Canada and around the globe! | Learn more [Sponsored]

Parasol Festival | Casino du Lac-Leamy, 1 Casino Boulevard, Gatineau | Now until Jul. 26 | Summer festival with food, drinks, music | Free

Beaver Tales | Canadian Museum of History, 100 Laurier Street, Gatineau | Now until Jul. 31 | Interactive family exhibit on the beaver in Canada | Tickets various prices

Oniro | Parc Omega, 399 route 323 North, Montebello | Now until Jul. 28 | Nighttime forest walk with light and sound storytelling | Tickets various prices

Carp Farmers’ Market | Carp Agricultural Fairgrounds, 3790 Carp Road, Carp | Jul. 26, 8 am | 100+ vendors with produce and baked goods | Free

Vegans Who Snack Food and Art Festival | 366 Parkdale Ave | Jul. 25, 1 pm | Vegan food, art, music, 60+ small vendors | Free

Antique, Vintage & Thrift Market | 1088 Somerset St. W | Jul. 26, 2 pm | Vintage market with food, art & dry bar | Free

Ottawa Tamil Fest – Kondattam | Clarke Fields Park, 93 Houlihan Street | Jul. 26, 4 pm | Live music, dance, games, food and culture | Free

Swing on the Hill | Parliament Hill | Jul. 26, 7 pm | Outdoor swing dance with DJs and beginner lessons | Free

Queer Market at Next Door Ottawa | 955A Gladstone Ave | Jul. 26–27, 7 am | LGBTQIA+ artists, vendors, 2-day celebration | Free

Gloucester Market @ St. Gabriel's | 55 Appleford St | Jul. 26, 11 am | Family market with vendors, raffles, BBQ | Free

Antique, Vintage & Thrift Market | 1088 Somerset St. W | July 26, 2 pm | Retro shopping & vintage finds | Free

Queer Market at Next Door Ottawa | Next Door Market & Event Space, 955A Gladstone Ave | July 26–27, 11 am | LGBTQIA+ makers market, art & handmade goods | Free

Pride Pop-Up Market | Somerset Square Park, 2 Spadina Ave | July 27, 12 pm | Pride-themed art, food & entertainment | Free

Elgin Street Market | Boushey Square, 211-A Waverley Street | Jul. 27, 9 am | Artisanal goods and local produce every Sunday | Free

Les Grands Feux du Casino Lac-Leamy | Canadian Museum of History, 100 Laurier Street, Gatineau | Jul. 30 | Fireworks over the river with live entertainment | Free

Nostalgia Music Festival | LeBreton Flats, Ottawa | Aug. 20–24 | Tribute bands from the 70s–90s, food, bars | Tickets $63+

North American Festival of Wales | Sparks Street, Ottawa | Aug. 27–31 | Welshfest street party, concerts, hymn sings | Free

INFRASTRUCTURE

Stuck in the 60s: Why is City View digging ditches for drainage instead of sewers?

Ottawa is digging into a decades-old drainage problem in Nepean by launching a multi-year rehabilitation project to restore City View’s aging ditch system. But some residents are questioning why the city is investing in out-of-date infrastructure instead of building new pipes. 

The ditches were first dug in the 1960s when the then rural community near Merivale Road began sprouting up in what was once sprawling farm lands. When it rained, the water would either evaporate or flow through the open culverts to a pond.

But since then many of the ditches have been filled in – some legally, others not – which is causing basements to flood. 

GIVEAWAY

Win one of two $75 gift cards to your favourite Ottawa Italian restaurant

Growing our community is a challenge. Social media giants have blocked news in Canada, so it makes reaching new readers harder and harder.

So we need your help, and we’re throwing in a fun prize: until July 30, every person you refer to the Lookout newsletter enters you for a chance to win one of two $75 gift cards to your favourite Ottawa Italian restaurant.

Referring someone is easy. Just click this link and share that unique URL with your friends or family, or forward this email to a friend. Every person whom you refer increases your odds of winning.

ON THIS DAY

July 25, 1975: Linda Judy Hall, a 21-year-old woman from Alymer, was lucky to be alive after her car collided with a 95,000-pound gasoline tanker at the corner of Heron Road and Riverside Drive. Speaking to the Ottawa Journal after the crash Judy Hall said, “All I remember is being hit by the truck. I don’t recall anything else.” Police said the young woman was lucky to be alive as the truck could have exploded. The driver's seat was the only part of the car that remained intact. 

July 25, 1980: It was a grim and long nine minutes for two Alymer window washers as they dangled from a downtown apartment building by their safety belts — 19 storeys above their crumpled scaffold and certain death. 

Lieut. Robert Delmore and five other firemen leaned out of a 19th floor window and pulled the two window washers to safety. 

• Residents of City View in Nepean saw a faint glimmer of hope that they could soon get a new park with bike paths and tree-lined pedestrian parkways. It came as Nepean City Council was getting set to make a decision on the Merivale Road Secondary Plan. It was also decided Canter Boulevard would be closed in part or full to provide expansion room for a City View park.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• Beyond the Pale has setup shop in ByWard Market. And the results are top-notch.

• Have a fruit tree? Don’t let the harvest go to waste. Register it with Hidden Harvest and help us share the goodness with your community! [Sponsored]

• Ottawa tennis star Gabriela Dabrowski was given the Key to the City at a ceremony on Thursday night. [CityNews]

• Looking for some Middle Eastern food, especially vegetarian? This place Ralf just reviewed will fit that craving.

• Holly's Haven Wildlife Rescue is hoping the province will sign off on a permit allowing a blind baby moose in their care to be transferred to the Toronto Zoo. [CBC]

• Art by hospital patients is cheering up one hallway at Bruyère Health Saint-Vincent Hospital. [CBC]

OTTAWA WORDLE

Think you can guess today’s Ottawa Wordle? Play it here.