Share this Story: Rubin: NCC's new plan for LeBreton Flats is both piecemeal and uninspiring
Rubin: NCC's new plan for LeBreton Flats is both piecemeal and uninspiring
Ken Rubin
Mar 12, 2019 • March 12, 2019 • 3 minute read
Pimisi LRT Station on the edge of LeBreton Flats. Photo by Jean Levac /Postmedia News
The just-announced new NCC plan for LeBreton Flats sounds stale, mundane and familiar: LeBreton anchored by an events centre of some sort, and the rest of the 21-hectare site broken up ­– whenever -­ for flexible developer bids. How very exciting!
Not only is there no inspiring public vision for LeBreton, but some worrisome issues arise from this hasty relaunch.
Rubin: NCC's new plan for LeBreton Flats is both piecemeal and uninspiring Back to video
First, it looks like City of Ottawa taxpayers are being dragged in for more costs to get the zoning, secondary plans and infrastructure requirements in place. Then there's the "Library District" –­ a proposed private development sell-off zone next to the tax-funded LRT station. The new central library would still be separate, off to the side and not tied directly to the Pimisi LRT station. The Library District, like the rest of LeBreton, will be chopped up, rezoned and sold off to a host of competing private developers under NCC plans. What you'll get is a hodge-podge of disparate, divergent private plans ­– leading to the opposite of a classy destination and a livable place to go in Ottawa.
On the other hand, maybe developers and investors are plain tired about their LeBreton prospects and will not jump in; Claridge in 2004 had to be begged to stay as the only bidder for the eastern part of LeBreton.
And let's look at some of the developers. Senators' owner Eugene Melnyk and Trinity Development Group's John Ruddy, who busted up the last four-and-a-half-year attempt to develop the Flats, are still eligible to waltz back in with a bid. On the sidelines, Claridge can continue its uninspiring development of the already-sold-off eastern part of LeBreton. And the nearby planned 900 Albert St. towers, which contributed to the explosion of the Melnyk-Ruddy proposal, will, sadly, fit right in to the expected patchy high-rise condo development now being enabled by the NCC at the Flats.
So far, funding needs are not broken out, and reliance and risk management seem to be dependent on developers' shaky financing and economic conditions. The NCC model is private-sector driven, meaning Ottawa's last prime downtown site will become a marketplace to make profits and private decisions.
NCC map shows LeBreton Flats divided into different chunks for development. OTTwp
And there are more costs. Contaminated soils will keep getting hauled away, costing more millions on top of the multi-millions already spent on LeBreton's cleanup. Millions have also been spent by the NCC "administering" LeBreton and more will be. The NCC potentially gets any revenue it can negotiate out of any private development sales and leases it helps approve.
Overlooked so far in these sketchy plans are possible climate change impacts, specifically flooding that could mean part of the site, especially near Nepean Inlet, is in jeopardy. And Indigenous land title claims could throw a wrench into the whole giveaway plan for these unceded lands, with Indigenous Peoples wanting more than token "accommodations" in private sector developments at LeBreton.
The public itself gets a little input during this 2019 election year, but then there will be more secretive "Requests for Proposals" from developers and behind-closed-doors haggling while hidden costs soar.
And finally, a new government could just shut down the whole LeBreton planning exercise or hand it to Canada Lands Development Corporation or someone else ­– or keep the area vacant.
Maybe all that happens at LeBreton is that an isolated library gets built, even if the NCC wants the area to become a place full of runaway boutique developments. We just saw how stage 2 LRT's future was decided. Now stage-two NCC efforts are thrust upon us at LeBreton. We've been around this block of land a long time, and still no visionary leadership or publicly driven development is in sight.
Ken Rubin, an access-to-information specialist, comments on local plans and is reachable at kenrubin.ca
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