Monday, December 31, 2007

New notice re: Golden Ave.



A new sign has appeared at the corner of Golden and Byron.

It reads:

To consider an Application for Minor Variances to permit a driveway for access to the underground parking garage in a leisure zone, two reduced parking space lengths in the underground parking garage and an encroachment into the required sight triangle located at the southeast corner of Richmond Road and Golden Avenue.

Re: 401 Golden Ave & 416-426 Richmond Road will be heard on Wednesday, January 16 2008 starting at 1:00 p.m. Ben Franklin Place, The Chamber, 101 Centrepointe Drive, Ottawa

[end of text]

That's only two weeks away. Anyone who is interested in this issue should be at that meeting.

Monday, December 24, 2007

May the joy and happiness of the holiday season be with you always

See you in 2008!

Sincerely,

andrea tomkins,
on behalf of the Westboro Community Association

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Closing of Canadian Tire?

While many of us assumed that the Canadian Tire on Richmond Road would be closing with the opening of the supersized one* on Carling and Cole, many are also wondering if might happen sooner than later.

Surveyors have been seen working around the Richmond Road location. Rumour has it the store is closing January 9, 2008. No one seems to be sure if the two are related. Anyone out there able to verify? And what about the closing of the Canadian Tire. Will it affect you, or not?
* This project consists of a two storey retail complex which will include a 9,300 square meter elevated Canadian Tire store built on a suspended concrete slab. A 1,600 square metre undesignated CRU space (5 units, one in a separate building), all at grade as well as a 1,250 square metre designated CRU space - Mark's Work Warehouse at grade (base building only). 351 parking stalls will be added both under the building at grade and exterior to footprint with full development of a 6.0
acre site. (source)

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

No parking meters for Westboro

Westboro is going to be parking-meter free - at least for the time being - but anyone shopping a few blocks East in the West Wellington area will have to arm themselves with a roll of quarters.

Read the full story about the budget and the parking meter at the Ottawa Business Journal website.

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Important update re: proposed closure of Golden

It wouldn't be a proper discussion without a site plan, would it?

A detailed site plan has recently been obtained from the Planning Department.

Here it is in PDF format.

It is dated October 12.

This site plan was not available for view at the public consultation on December 5th. Note the site plan identifies an appropriation of city-owned land to the west of Golden.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Letter from the WCA to Councillor Christine Leadman re: Golden closure

Christine Leadman
Councillor, Kitchissipi Ward
City of Ottawa
111 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa ON K1P 1J1

By e-mail: Christine.Leadman@ottawa.ca

Re: Golden Avenue closure

Dear Ms Leadman:

Thank you for organizing the public information session on December 5, 2007 regarding the proposal to close a portion of Golden Avenue between Byron and Richmond Road. Several members of the Westboro Community Association Board of Directors were in attendance. Based on our observations, feedback we have been receiving directly from residents, and further discussion as a board, we wish to raise the following points:

1. The large turnout and number of speakers are a clear indication of the high degree of interest in and concern about this issue among residents of Westboro. Based on the opinions that were expressed as well as the show-of-hands exercise conducted towards the end of the meeting, it appears to us that a majority of those in attendance were opposed to the proposed closure based on the information that has been provided to date.

2. The Westboro Community Association (WCA) has a number of specific concerns regarding the proposal itself as well as the process employed to date, including:

a. the potential negative impact of diverted traffic onto adjacent residential streets and intersections (ex. Roosevelt, Broadview and their respective intersections at Byron);

b. disruption to Westboro’s existing traditional grid street pattern;

c. increased traffic volume and congestion on Richmond Road due to the relocation of the entrance to the Westboro Station development from Byron Avenue. This could also worsen existing problems at the Berkley/Richmond intersection that have already been raised by residents at the WCA community forum you attended a few weeks ago;

d. the preliminary findings of the Westboro/Highland Park/McKellar Park Traffic Management Plan do not support or recommend closure of Golden (or any other major traffic management measures) as volumes do not warrant it;

e. closure of Golden is not part of the Richmond Road Community Design Plan;

f. lack of detailed information: the two conceptual drawings presented at the meeting did not provide sufficient detail on the full scope of the proposal and city staff were not present to answer questions from residents.

3. We are concerned that this proposal appears to have been initiated by a relatively small number of residents of Golden Avenue and that the timeline for its consideration by the broader community is being driven primarily by the approaching start of construction on the Westboro Station development. It also concerns us that it is being treated in isolation rather than in conjunction with the broader traffic planning challenges that we are presently facing within Westboro. If this proposal is to be considered further, we request that it be examined within the context of the ongoing Traffic Management Plan process. That process already includes provisions for future public open houses to solicit community feedback.

Members of our Board are available to speak with you or representatives of the City about this matter further. We understand that you are planning another community meeting in the New Year regarding Golden Avenue. We look forward to hearing from you with respect to details of that session.

Sincerely,

Wallace Beaton, Chair, Westboro Community Association
Cherolyn Knapp, Vice-Chair, Westboro Community Association

cc. WCA Board Members
Nancy Schepers, Planning, Transit & Environment Department, City of Ottawa,
Douglas James, Planning Branch, City of Ottawa
Suzanne Woo, Traffic & Parking Operations Branch, City of Ottawa

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[end of letter]

As always, we at the WCA welcome your feedback. Please use the "comments" function (below) and share your thoughts, questions, and comments.

Were you at the December 5 meeting? What are your thoughts about the proposed street closure? What, if any, are your concerns?

Monday, December 10, 2007

Brief de-brief re: the November community forum

The Westboro Community Association's community forum on November 20 was well-attended. Thank you to all of you who came out that evening.

This was our first community event following our AGM in September and we were very pleased with the outcome. Our goal was to provide an opportunity for community members to give the Board of Directors guidance to help us prioritize our tasks for the coming year.

Kitchissippi Ward Councillor Christine Leadman was also in attendance.

Although there are many issues that affect Westboro today, the issue of traffic emerged as the top concern for Westboro residents. Smaller scale traffic-related issues which affect individual residents were all discussed, but it was made clear we need to look at the big picture as well. Business development, increased traffic volume, parking, public transit – these issues are all interrelated and affect each other.

Some of the issues raised included:

  • The Exchange: problems turning on to Richmond from Berkley
  • Westboro Station: impact on nearby residential streets, proposed closure of Golden.
  • Athlone at Scott: speeding and pedestrian safely
  • Eden at Richmond: lack of proper signage
  • Edison/Avondate: impact of residential intensification

The WCA has formed a transportation committee with a sub-committee to cover traffic issues. Our aim is to (a) educate ourselves on these issues to the best of our abilities and (b) best represent Westboro's interests to Councillor Leadman and to the City of Ottawa.

If you are interested in traffic/transportation issues and have some knowledge in this area, please consider a volunteer position with the WCA. We can be reached at: hellowestboro@yahoo.ca.


Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Committee of Adjustment decision re: 300 Richmond Road

Is now available in PDF format.

FYI, the application was denied.

Reminder re: public consultation concerning the closure of Golden Ave.

The consultation is tonight!

There's been a lot of buzz about this issue, so it should be an interesting evening. :)

Churchill Senior Centre (345 Richmond Road)
December 5, 2007
6:30 - 8:30 PM