Please find below a letter from the HCA to Councillor Leiper on the very import debate regarding expanding Ottawa’s urban boundary. The impact will be felt for decades.
April 27th, 2020
Dear Councillor Leiper,
I’m writing you today on behalf of the residents of Hintonburg Community Association to thank you for your hard work to keep Ottawa’s residents safe during the current COVID-19 pandemic and keep our city moving forward.
We know you care deeply, as we do, about the affordability, livability and sustainability of our community, today and tomorrow. We are pleased that you have spoken out against urban expansion and are writing to urge you to vote to maintain the current urban boundary in Ottawa’s new Official Plan. It’s a critical decision to help us build the communities we want for our families and our future neighbours.
We understand that saying no to urban boundary expansion means saying yes to more density in communities. It is very important that this densification be spread throughout the current Ottawa urban boundaries, not just in one area, as our community is already incredibly intensified with much more density already approved. Especially in a time of the proposed R4 zoning amendment, we emphasize the importance of densifiction spread through the urban boundary. We also understand that densification done right will allow us to invest in the type of housing, services and quality of life that every Ottawa resident deserves.
- The ability to walk or bike safely with our kids to our local school, park, library, grocery store or transit.
- A chance to spend less time commuting and have more time with our families.
- Access to more affordable housing options that allow us to downsize, or raise a growing family close to where we live.
- Green space and recreational facilities that we can walk to.
We know it can be achieved by low and medium-density development and high-quality urban design in our existing urban neighbourhoods and rural villages, while protecting and preserving our rural areas. There’s no other way to meet other critical city priorities: curbing greenhouse gas emissions from transport and housing, and delivering cost-effective, financially sustainable public services like transit, water, and wastewater that meet every neighbourhood’s needs.
Focusing the city’s future development within the existing urban footprint is the first step in building the future we want. Please vote to maintain the current urban boundary and spread density across the City, so we can keep working together to make Ottawa a just, healthy and sustainable city for all.
Sincerely,
Gillian Koh,
HCA Environment Chair on behalf of the Hintonburg Community Association
