1010 Somerset Community Hub Concept Plan
The project team would like to thank those who participated in this phase of public consultation for the 1010 Somerset community hub. Consultations for the concept plan phase is now complete.
For this phase of engagement, the project’s Engage Ottawa page received over 12,300 visits, 1260 survey responses, and hundreds of public comments and feedback.
A virtual meeting was conducted via Zoom on June 26, 2024 to allow members of the public to provide feedback.
The project team held direct meetings with key stakeholders to inform and allow the project team to receive direct feedback.
The project team also conducted drop-in sessions to receive feedback from users of the Plant recreation facility as a means of engaging with impacted residents who otherwise may not have provided feedback via Engage Ottawa, Zoom, or email.
The Staff report and final concept plan will be considered by committee and at City Council.
Future public engagement relating to the design, development of the City facilities will be conducted once Council has approved the development of a recreation project.
Please use the Stay Informed feature to receive updates regarding future phases of this project.
Thank you for your feedback.
Background
The Federal Government expressed the intention to dispose of the 1010 Somerset property in 2015.
City of Ottawa staff from Recreation, Cultural, and Facility Services (RCFS) and Corporate Real Estate Office (CREO), determined that the purchase of this property by the City of Ottawa would facilitate achieving clear, identifiable civic needs given:
- The strategic priorities of Council
- The Parks and Recreation Facilities Master Plan goals for parkland and recreation amenities
- The West Downtown Core Secondary Plan, Chapter 3, “Corso Italia Station District” policies
The negotiation process between City staff, Public Services Procurement Canada (PSPC) and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) resulted in purchase and sale agreements that require the development of:
- Affordable housing (150 units) and Market-rate housing (150 units)
- A Collaborative Benefits Agreement (CBA) with the Algonquins of Ontario (AOO)
- Elements to support sustainability and greening strategy targets.
City Council approved funding for the purchase of the 1010 Somerset property in March 2021, and directed staff to develop a Master Concept Plan for the creation of a community hub on the site as well as the existing Plouffe Park and Plant Recreation Centre.
Overview and Final Concept Plan
The project team has completed a thorough review of the 1010 Somerset site, in consideration of the feedback received during the first phase of the public engagement.
Residents overwhelmingly agreed that Plouffe park should remain, and that a school should be built to meet the needs of the community.
Various concept plans were developed and reviewed to determine any potential engineering, transportation and planning issues. Following the review of numerous iterations, the project team is pleased to share the Final Concept Plan (downloadable file).
This plan will maintain a concentration of the building elements in the north half of the site along Somerset street. The project team determined that the placement of the school in the south half of the site and establishing a lane from Somerset to Oak Street will resolve the transportation and site operational issues identified by staff.
This plan requires that the project team seek an Official Plan Amendment (OPA). The amendments will result in a plan that meets the following objectives:
- Plouffe Park is preserved with additional new park space allocated on the site.
- Active transportation is facilitated through the site and to the transitway.
- A recreation and cultural facility is built to answer the needs of the growing community and provide an opportunity for more cultural programming.
- A school is built on site with a drop-off area for parents that minimizes traffic impacts in the area.
- A child care facility is built on site.
Public Engagement
The 1010 Somerset project team analyzed all feedback received from the first phase of public engagement by the community. In total, the project team has received 1260 survey responses and more than 100 emails.
Most significantly, respondents agreed that the preservation of Plouffe park was a top priority. The project team also heard from the community that the presence of an elementary school was of high importance.
Additional feedback was received on the need for affordable housing, the planned recreation and cultural complex and other proposed amenities.
Evolution of the Concept Plan
Since the end of the first phase of public engagement, the project team has worked to develop various iterations of the concept plan to address the concerns received and meet requirements of the site.
Subject matter experts from transportation, planning and engineering services reviewed concept plan iterations against the technical requirements for the site. These technical requirements determine the operational feasibility of:
- Access and exits to the site, given the volume of uses
- Access for emergency vehicles
- Site servicing (examples: water, sewer, and solid waste)
Every attempted draft iteration caused insurmountable functional and operational issues with placing all buildings in the north half of the site to preserve the park corridor in the southern half.
The project team determined that placing the school in the southern half of the site and establishing a lane from Somerset street to Oak street could resolve the above issues.
Following this decision, the project team developed the Final Concept Plan (downloadable file). This concept plan ensures that:
- Plouffe park is preserved, and new park space is added.
- Active transportation is facilitated through the site and to the transitway.
- A recreation and cultural facility is built to answer the needs of the growing community and provide an opportunity for more cultural programming.
- An elementary school is built on site with an operationally feasible drop-off area for parents that minimizes traffic impacts in the area.
- A child care facility is built on site.
- The requirements per the purchase and sale agreements with the Federal Government are met.
Proposal – Official Plan Amendment (OPA)
The City will be seeking an Official Plan Amendment (OPA) to the Area-Specific Policy of the Corso Italia Station district in the West Downtown Core Secondary Plan.
Seeking an OPA will allow the following to be achieved at the 1010 Somerset site:
- The strategic goals of the West Downtown Secondary Plan.
- Meeting the requirements per the purchase and sale agreements with the Federal Government.
- Meeting the community needs in a densifying area.
- Maintaining its commitment to demonstrating all the proposed elements in the first concept plan.
- The needs identified by the community are balanced in the most optimal form.
The OPA will aim to meet the essence of the Secondary Plan, which states the need to:
- Expand the opportunities for active transportation.
- Improve the amount, types and quality of spaces available for the neighbourhood to balance the increased numbers of people living and visiting the district.
- Concentrate the most dense and tallest buildings along the O-Train corridor to support transit use for new residents.
- Re-establish vacant or underutilized lots, across the district, with a strong urban form and design to support and enhance a high-quality public realm.
- Nurture the arts community and other diverse, small-scale activity generators to support a resilient local culture and economy for all members of society.
- Target the achievement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in new development through the planning, design and development of alternative renewable energy solutions.
Next Steps and Resources
The release of the Final Concept Plan is now available here: link (downloadable file)
Like any property owner seeking an Official Plan Amendment (OPA), the 1010 Somerset project team will need to make the appropriate applications and follow the Council-approved processes.
We will continue to update the community through targeted communications and Engage Ottawa updates to ensure that residents are informed during each step of the process.
Please stay use the ‘Stay Informed’ feature on this Engage Ottawa page for information and updates. The project team is also available through the project email.
