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Resident Working Group: Community Concerns (Updated)

March 5, 2026

Correction — assumed occupancy date: The TIA and this report both reference a 2028 occupancy date for the development. At the February 24 community information session, the developer stated that construction could not begin for another 3–5 years, followed by approximately 4 years of construction. This places actual occupancy closer to 2033–2035. This makes the absence of the new Ottawa Hospital from the traffic model more significant, not less — the hospital will have been open and generating traffic on Parkdale Avenue for several years before the first resident moves in.

Residents of 320 Parkdale Avenue and 45 Spencer Street — the buildings directly adjacent to the proposed development — have prepared a detailed formal submission authored by Suzanne McGlashan. The full document is available as a PDF download.

They support intensification on this site and recognize its suitability for high-rise development; however, the scale of that intensification must remain consistent with Official Plan policies requiring compatibility and gradual transition.

Factual correction in the record: The applicant’s proposal refers to 45 Spencer Street as an 8-storey building. This is incorrect. 45 Spencer Street (at Spencer and Hamilton) is a 4-storey building comprising 16 condo units and one commercial space. The 8-storey building at Parkdale and Spencer is 320 Parkdale Avenue (39 condo units and one commercial space).

Concern 1 — Density, Height, and Transition

1a. The proposed height exceeds what the planning framework supports

The Wellington Street West Secondary Plan and Community Design Plan set a maximum of 8 storeys for this block, to provide a transition between the taller built forms on Scott Street and the Mainstreet scale of Wellington Street West. While an OMB Tribunal subsequently modified the height limit for this specific site, the transition principle remains in force.

The site sits within an H2 Hub designation supporting intensification near Tunney’s Pasture station, but the Official Plan’s own framework (s. 6.1.1.3 and s. 5.2.3.1) directs the tallest buildings closest to the station core, with heights stepping down toward the outer edge. The Tunney’s Pasture federal campus — being planned for up to 9,000 units immediately beside the LRT station — is the logical location for 21–40 storey towers. The proposed development is located approximately 600 metres southeast of the station (the OMB’s own finding in 2014).

The position: The City should require specific justification for why 38 storeys is appropriate at this location, and should establish a maximum of 18 storeys — already permitted under existing zoning and previously approved by the OMB — as a proportionate response that achieves meaningful intensification while respecting neighbourhood scale and character.

1b. The proposal does not provide an adequate transition to the surrounding neighbourhood

Official Plan policies 5.2.1, 5.2.3, 4.6.6, and s. 6.5 collectively require that development within hubs respond to context and achieve a gradual transition in height and massing to adjacent low-rise and mid-rise areas.

The proposed tower sits in the northwest corner of the site directly across from 45 Spencer Street (4 storeys), set back only 5.23 metres from Spencer Street and 23.52 metres from the 45 Spencer Street building. The Planning Rationale states that a fixed angular plane is not required; however, the group argues a transparent, measurable transition analysis (angular plane or equivalent) should be provided.

The proposal combines a tower floor plate of 802 m² with 38 storeys. The Official Plan recommends floor plates limited to 750 m² for residential high-rise buildings to reduce perceived bulk and shadow width. The 6–8 storey podium on all four street faces (Spencer, Hamilton, Armstrong, and Parkdale) also raises concern about a street canyon effect on Spencer Street.

The ask: A measurable transition analysis showing how stepbacks, setbacks, and tower placement achieve compatibility — and podium stepbacks at floors 3, 5, 7, and 8 on Spencer Street and Parkdale Avenue to reduce the canyon effect and apparent podium height.

1c. The proposal more than doubles the height approved by the OMB

The Working Group has obtained the Ontario Municipal Board decision in cases PL110686 and PL130794, issued December 2, 2014, by Member R. G. M. Makuch following a full contested hearing held July 2, 2014.

That decision approved a maximum height of 18 storeys for the interior portion of the block (Area E of Schedule 333 to Zoning Bylaw 2008-250), with a carefully graduated profile:

The Board also embedded a density cap in the approved Official Plan Amendment, limiting development to a floor space index generally equivalent to an 8-storey building.

The Board’s own findings in 2014 are directly relevant to the current 38-storey proposal:

The contextual setting has not changed since 2014: Parkdale Park and Parkdale Market to the south; low-rise residential to the east; a low-rise heritage conservation site to the west; and low-to-mid-rise residential to the north.

The group also raises the question of whether the height and density are being driven by the cost of remediating on-site contamination — and asks whether the applicant will apply for the City’s Brownfields Redevelopment Community Improvement Program. A 38-storey building casts a shadow 2.1× longer than an 18-storey building.

Concern 2 — Traffic Impact

The group notes that their traffic concerns are independent of the height question — whether 18 or 38 storeys is ultimately approved, the following issues must be properly studied.

The TIA was prepared by Parsons (Project No. 479049-01000, January 9, 2026). The group describes it as professionally structured, but argues its deficiencies lie not in what it contains but in what it omits.

An additional concern: the proposal includes 322 parking spaces (parking ratio of 0.69/unit) in a transit-supportive development. This is higher than the typical 0.3–0.6/unit range near LRT stations in Ottawa. The group asks whether the Applicant has considered alternative uses for the underground levels — such as automated cycling storage, hydroponics, or storage units.

A. Outdated Traffic Counts

The TIA’s key intersection counts are 6–9 years old, including:

All pre-date the 2024 Scott Street reconfiguration (four lanes reduced to two, new cycle track), which displaced vehicles onto parallel routes including Spencer Street. There is no traffic count at all for the Parkdale/Spencer intersection, despite this being the primary access point for the proposed garage. Three existing developments north of Scott Street (The Dale, The Parkdale Collective, Richcraft — totalling 560 parking spaces) plus two proposed towers (450 spaces) add 1,010 vehicles to Parkdale Avenue not accounted for in the model. Increased OC Transpo bus traffic since the LRT opening is also unaccounted for.

The proposed closure of Armstrong Street to create additional public realm adjacent to the development is also absent from the analysis.

Request: Fresh counts at Spencer/Holland, Spencer/Hamilton, Spencer/Parkdale, Armstrong/Parkdale, Wellington/Parkdale, and Gladstone/Parkdale reflecting post-2024 conditions, before the application advances to Planning Committee.

B. New Ottawa Hospital Campus Absent from Background Traffic Model

The new Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus on Carling Avenue opens ~2028. The TIA assumes the same year for development occupancy, but the developer’s own statements at the February 24 session suggest actual occupancy is more likely 2033–2035 — meaning the hospital will be fully operational on Parkdale Avenue long before the first resident moves in. Parkdale Avenue is the primary north-south arterial connecting the Queensway to the hospital. The TIA’s background growth model does not include the hospital at all. Notably, Parsons — the firm that prepared this TIA — was identified at the February 24 community information session as also engaged on the traffic assessment for the new hospital campus.

Request: Written confirmation from City staff whether the hospital was considered; if not, a cumulative assessment before the application advances.

C. No Emergency Corridor Analysis

Despite Parkdale Avenue being a primary emergency vehicle route to the Civic Hospital, the TIA contains no emergency response analysis and no documented consultation with Ottawa Paramedic Service.

Request: Confirmation in writing whether such consultation took place; if not, an emergency corridor analysis before the application advances.

D. Mode Share Assumptions Not Stress-Tested

The TIA assumes only 7% of peak trips by private vehicle, based on TOD proximity to Tunney’s Pasture. Critically, Tunney’s Pasture is a terminal station — the LRT runs only eastward. Residents travelling west toward Kanata and Stittsville cannot use the LRT and must use buses or private vehicles. The TIA does not address the appropriateness of applying a full TOD mode share to a western terminus. The Confederation Line West extension to Moodie is expected in 2027 but may be delayed.

Request: A sensitivity analysis using the TRANS mode share before accepting the TIA’s intersection capacity conclusions.

E. Road Widening / Easement Not Addressed

A two-metre road limit easement is required. The TIA does not analyze how this affects road geometry, garage access, or sight lines. Parkdale Avenue is also designated a Transit Priority Corridor on Official Plan Schedule C2 — a designation not identified or analyzed in the TIA.

Concern 3 — Access onto Spencer Street from the Parking Garage

3a. Garage Access Creates a Safety and Congestion Risk

The 322-space underground garage exits onto Spencer Street — a narrow residential street that already has two garage access points (serving 320 Parkdale and 45 Spencer). Spencer Street is a local street, not designed to serve as primary access for a 322-space garage.

The TIA characterizes Spencer Street as “a wide low volume local street” and uses this to conclude the single ramp is operationally adequate. Three specific deficiencies:

  1. Winter conditions — On-street parking on both sides of Spencer Street, combined with snow accumulation, reduces it to a single effective lane. No analysis of garage operations under these conditions is provided.
  2. Cumulative queuing — The TIA does not model the interaction between all three garage access points (existing two plus proposed) operating simultaneously during peak periods. Queuing from the proposed garage extending into the unsignalized Spencer/Parkdale intersection is a credible risk that has not been assessed.
  3. Move-in operations and garbage — The TIA acknowledges that move-in operations and garbage pickup will occur on Spencer Street. Move-in for 465 units will span many months. Garbage containers for a 465-unit building placed on Spencer Street on collection days will obstruct a travel lane. No analysis of frequency, duration, or cumulative impact is provided.

The ask: A specific Spencer Street capacity analysis covering peak-period garage access, cumulative queuing, and winter single-lane conditions — and a review of whether garage access, waste disposal, and move-in operations should be relocated to Hamilton Avenue or Armstrong Street.

3b. Construction-Period Traffic Is Entirely Absent

Four-level underground excavation across a full city block will require years of heavy truck movements. The TIA contains no construction vehicle routing plan, no haul road designations, no vibration monitoring commitment for adjacent structures (320 Parkdale and 45 Spencer), and no temporary traffic control plan for Spencer Street.

The ask: A construction management plan specifically addressing Spencer Street — including vehicle routes, vibration monitoring protocols during excavation, and road restoration standards — before this application advances.

The group’s overall request: That City staff require Parsons to address all seven deficiencies in a supplemental report before this application advances to the Planning and Housing Committee.