This week’s City Council agenda was packed with items ranging from Governance to Housing.
Council approved its Mid-term Governance Review, making updates to committee structures, mandates, and memberships.
Key changes include:
- Dissolving the Light Rail Sub-Committee and renaming the Transit Commission as the Transit Committee.
- Renaming the Transportation Committee to the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee.
- Updating terms of reference for the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee and Finance and Corporate Services Committee.
- Reducing standing committee meetings to six per year, except for committees with statutory deadlines.
- Updating governance-related by-laws and policies.
- New appointments: Councillor David Brown (Chair, Agriculture and Rural Affairs), Councillor Alan Hubley (Vice-Chair, Audit), Councillor Steve Desroches (Vice-Chair, Transit).
Additionally, the Committee of Adjustment’s transition to SharePoint now enables better tracking of applications. With updates to the Routine Disclosure Policy, quarterly reports will now be published on Ottawa.ca for greater transparency.
Also at Council, the acquisition of a large rural property in Fitzroy Harbour (5689 Ferry Road) was deferred while staff explore partnership opportunities. I opposed deferral this acquisition. I believe this property is a unique conservation opportunity that the City should secure for protection and rehabilitation. Staff will report back no later than March 31st.
City-owned land for tree planting and wetland restoration is limited, making this site especially valuable. It qualifies for the Rural Environmental Land Acquisition Program as it:
- Lies within a key natural heritage linkage area
- Includes 807m of Ottawa River shoreline
- Contains wetlands and mature woodlands
- Supports reforestation and wetland restoration
The property also has historical significance, with structures dating back to 1845. Its undisturbed shoreline suggests potential archaeological significance, including Indigenous use.
If we want to rehabilitate and preserve this land, we need to purchase it. As I stated at Council, this property is a rare find, a unicorn of sorts, offering waterfront access, wetlands, and connectivity to already protected lands. Acquiring it makes sense, and I fully support staff’s recommendation.
Council also approved creating a Housing Taskforce to fast-track housing projects and streamline approvals, with findings to be presented later this year. The Housing Taskforce directly supports affordable housing by fast-tracking approvals for non-profit projects, pre-zoning City land for affordability, and exploring financial tools like lease-to-own models and vendor take-back mortgages. It also aims to accelerate the disposal of City-owned land for innovative housing and defer development charges to lower costs. By streamlining processes and reducing delays, the Taskforce helps ensure more affordable homes are built faster and more efficiently.
A new public dashboard will track:
- Approval times
- Approved applications
- Homes under construction
Staff will also review:
- Expanding Build Ottawa’s role
- Accelerating City land disposal and lease discounts
- Lease-to-own models and other financial tools
- Simplifying urban design and speeding approvals
- Using technology for faster Building Code reviews
- Fast-tracking affordable housing and pre-zoning City land
- Expediting federal surplus land development
- Deferring development charges
- Supporting Transit-Oriented Development
- Securing new growth revenue sources
I look forward to the results of this review as part of our ongoing efforts to consider innovative tools beyond traditional development approval processes. These tools have the potential to incentivize growth, particularly in the realm of affordable housing, to advance and accelerate housing development in Ottawa.
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