City proposes 50 percent increase in height along OOE’s major streets

From the June 2025 Issue

JOHN DANCE

The City of Ottawa proposes to increase allowable building heights on Main Street, and Hawthorne and Lees avenues by 50 percent by amending Old Ottawa East’s secondary plan.

The proposed changes would increase heights on Main Street north of Clegg Street and on Hawthorne Avenue between Main and Echo Drive from six to nine storeys. On Main Street south of Clegg and on Lees Avenue heights would increase from four to six storeys.

If approved, this change to the Old Ottawa East (OOE) Secondary Plan could alter the balance of intensification and compatibility with OOE neighbourhoods, a balance that the community, the City and private landowners sought through the creation of the OOE community design plan and the ensuing secondary plan approved in 2011. However, the change could also allow construction of many more residential units.

Secondary plans build on the City’s Official Plan but are intended to establish more detailed policies to guide the growth and change in specific communities. Specifically, OOE’s secondary plan (OOESP) was intended “to manage the redevelopment of some large properties fronting Main Street, to preserve and enhance the liveability of the Old Ottawa East neighbourhood.”

The City argues that the change is required so that secondary plans comply with the Ontario government’s revised “provincial planning statement (PPS),” approved last October. The increased intensification resulting from the height changes would be in addition to major increases the City is seeking through the massive revamp of the zoning bylaw. A number of other secondary plans in other communities are also recommended for comparable increases.

Local reaction to the proposal is mixed. The Old Ottawa East Community Association “strongly objects to the decimation of the OOESP,” a letter to City staff noted. “In no conceivable way are the City Staff’s proposed PPS 2024 changes to the OOESP responsive to the vision, objectives and planning strategy of the OOE community as a whole,” the letter noted.

City staff have deemed the Main-Hawthorne-Lees corridors as “strategic growth areas (SGAs)” which is where the PPS says municipalities should prioritize growth and development. SGAs include urban growth centres, major transit station areas, and other major opportunities for infill, redevelopment, and brownfield development. The OOECA says it is invalid for City staff to interpret SGAs to encompass virtually all of the intensification and redevelopment areas of OOE and/or the City.

In a number of Grapevine Facebook posts, some local residents strongly supported the proposed height increases, with Mike Samborski noting, “Because of the extreme housing shortage crisis facing many Ottawa residents, it’s critical that we allow more homes to be built, and increasing allowed density in OOE is a financially, environmentally and socially sustainable way to do it.”

Samborski grew up in a dense neighbourhood and says, “The high density meant that all my friends lived nearby. Schools and playgrounds were just a short and safe walk away for everyone, eliminating the need for school buses or parental drives. All essential amenities were within close reach, and despite being in a poor communist country, the density allowed for frequent, reliable, and affordable public transit. Given this experience, I find the concerns over adding a few more storeys to one or two streets quite unfounded.”

Former Mainstreeter editor Joe Paraskevas noted, “The spirit and soul of OOE will continue even through the proposed changes… if our engaged and active people remain as open to change as they have always been.” On the other hand, Gerard Dempsey commented, “Those new heights will destroy the neighbourhood and intensify traffic on Main Street which is already congested. [The] area will completely lose its neighbourhood feel. Parking will become a nightmare!”

Glenora Street resident Martin Lalonde wrote to City staff, “The lots on the west side of Main Street are not deep enough to support a six-storey height, let alone a nine-storey height. The current zoning by-law requires the minimum rear yard setback to be 7.5m and the front yard setback is required to be 2 m. I expect these requirements to be kept in place.”

The proposal is expected to go to the City’s planning and housing committee on June 18th. Ottawa’s Federation of Citizens’ Associations has requested that there be additional consultation before PPS-driven changes to secondary plans are considered. Any resident may speak for five minutes at the committee to express their opinions but one must register to speak at least one day before the meeting.

Editor’s note: John Dance is acting chair of the planning committee of the OOECA.