After a very busy inaugural year, the Central Park Citizen's Group annual general meeting (AGM) is approaching rapidly. The meeting will be held at the Best Western Macies Hotel on Carling Avenue Nov. 25, from 7-10 p.m. All residents of Central Park are urged to attend.
The AGM will include updates from our regional and city representatives, executive reports, open forum discussion, motions from the floor and election of the 1999-2000 Central Park Citizens Group Board of Directors.
Any resident who is interested in standing for election, or would like to nominate a fellow resident, is encouraged to contact any member of the board of directors. Advance nominations are encouraged, although nominations can be made at the AGM to the nominating committee. Only Central Park residents over the age of 18 years may stand for office or be eligible to vote.
Commercial Development
Residents are still anxiously awaiting the opening of the Tim Horton's at the corner of Central Park North and Merivale Road. The official opening date is not known at this time.
A CPCG subcommittee has be formed to address concerns of residents along both Celebration Street and Festive Private, who are directly impacted by the commercial structures under construction fronting along Merivale Road and Central Park Drive (North). Some of the main concerns are potential noise from future air conditioning units and an open garbage dumpster next to several homes.
On the noise issue, according to Neil Dillon, chief, Building Inspections Branch, City of Ottawa, the developer will be allowed to proceed with the construction of the units as currently approved by the city. It is only when the structure is completed and the individual businesses are operating, will the CPCG be in a position to raise the issues that they have lobbied to be considered prior to this phase of the construction.
Dillon has also indicated that it is city policy to be pro-active in these matters. The city relies on the developer to adhere to regulations and guidelines, thereby policing themselves with respect to noise, pollution and environmental issues.
It should be noted that on two separate occasions the developer indicated to the city through the Municipal Environment Evaluation Process, that he did not consider that his undertakings would have any impact on surrounding residences and their occupants regarding noise, vibration and air pollution.
The Central Park
A survey of Central Park residents was recently undertaken to find out what facilities they wanted in their community. A total of 131 survey forms were returned (47%), and the basic responses were as follows: no sports facilities, green-space only (59); and, some sports facilities, mostly green-space (71).
The desired facilities, in order, were: tennis (56); soccer, full field (11) and casual (17); basketball (18); and baseball (11). Many respondents took advantage of the space provided in providing the CPCG with excellent feedback about what they thought they would see and what they want to see.
Overall, while some active facilities are obviously desired, the majority of respondents would like to see a balance in favour of passive green-space.
A park plan has been submitted by the developer to the city. The city has called a public meeting to discuss the park facility. This meeting will be held Thursday, Oct. 28 7:30 p.m, at the J. Alph Dulude Arena on Clyde Avenue. This is your chance to have your say and to make your wishes known in a public forum.
Transition of Road Infrastructure
Currently all roads in Central Park are still owned by Ashcroft Homes. Questions of liability in areas where there is no formal traffic control or signing, have arisen regarding blame, claims and settlements. CPCG would like to see the city assume responsibility for the roads.
This matter has been raised with the developer, the mayor and our city councillor, both of whom have said they will investigate the problem, which is a common one within new developments. Ashcroft Homes president David Choo stated that Ashcroft would have no objections if the city assumed responsibility before the subdivision was completed. But, as always, there are other complications to be addressed before this matter is resolved.
Update on third exit
As reported last month, a staff report was published Aug. 20 on the subdivision application for 1199 Clyde Avenue (a.k.a “Assaly Lands”). This report was withdrawn and re-issued on September 22 (but not made public until October 8) with many changes.
What was most disappointing is that in the interim between the two reports, regional staff concluded that a third access, if located at Clyde/Maitland, would not be viable. Accordingly, protection for a third access was removed from the second version of the report.
Of note in the report is the fact that OC Transpo has indicated that should a third access at Clyde/Maitland be constructed, then that access would be used to service the Central Park community (as through service), in addition to the planned Central Park loop.
The application was debated at the regional planning meeting on Oct. 12 which was attended by a delegation from the CPCG and the Carlington Community Association. After presentations were heard, some additional debate continued, focusing around the third access issue.
In the end, councillor Stewart tabled a motion that “staff be directed to examine in greater detail the advantages and disadvantages of requiring the construction of a 4-way intersection at Clyde/Maitland, as well as any other options (i.e. right-in, right-out) which are identified by staff and the community.”
This motion passed and was added to the staff report, which was passed by the committee and forwarded to regional council on Oct. 13 where it passed as amended. With the addition of this recommendation, some measure of protection for a third access (somewhere) has been restored. The whole matter will now go to the Ontario Municipal Board.
For more information about Central Park, visit the web site at http://www.central-park.ottawa.on.ca, or e-mail info@central-park.ottawa.on.ca.