Pinecrest Queensview Secondary Plan

The draft recommendations of the Pinecrest and Queensview Stations Secondary Plan were last presented to the public at the third and final virtual open house presentation in December 2023. Since that time, City staff have continued to work with community associations, landowners, consultants, and staff in multiple City departments to make refinements to the draft recommendations. The descriptions below summarize these revisions to ensure transparency and make it easier for residents and stakeholders to catch up on the latest changes to the secondary plan.

The latest draft secondary plan and related materials can be accessed at Ottawa.ca/DevApps, by clicking on Overview, development application search, and in the search bar typing D01-01-24-0010. For the zoning details, search for D02-02-24-0053. Note that the 28 day public circulation begins on October 19, 2024 and comments are due to the planning file lead (peter.giles1@ottawa.ca) by November 16, 2024.

Changes to Schedules

There is a new Schedule A – Secondary Plan Area and Land Use Designations, along with the corresponding Land Use Designations policies in Section 2 of the draft Secondary Plan document. These designations build on those in the Official Plan by adding specific polices to the Hub, Corridor, Neighbourhood, Mixed Industrial and Greenspace designations that apply to the Plan Area.

Schedule B is now Secondary Plan Sectors (previously Schedule A) and Schedule C is now Maximum Building Heights, Connectivity and Parks (previously Schedule B). There is a new Schedule D – Properties Subject to Site-Specific Policies, which is intended to improve usability by making it easier to find properties that are subject to Site-Specific Policies in Sections 4-6 of the draft Secondary Plan document.

Since the last open house event, the following revisions have been made to Schedule C - Maximum Building Heights, Connectivity and Parks:

1. Removal of a north-south dashed teal line indicating an active transportation connection at the west end of Queensview Drive between Queensview Drive and Moncton Avenue. This policy remains in the Site-Specific Policies in Section 4 of the draft Secondary Plan document. However, the line was removed from the Schedule because it indicated a specific location, whereas the policy is intended to allow for flexibility in the location of the future active transportation connection to be secured through a future development application.
2. Revisions to maximum building heights:
   1. 2179 Elmira Drive (currently Extendicare West End Villa): Previously, the entire property had a maximum building height of nine storeys. Following more detailed planning and design concepts by the landowner and analysis by City staff, maximum building heights were reduced to four storeys at the front of the property along Elmira Drive and increased up to 18 storeys for the remainder of this deep property that extends to Highway 417.
   2. 1263-1291 McWatters Road: These five deep properties that back onto Pinecrest Public School were previously identified with a maximum building heights of six storeys. They have now been reduced to “as per Official Plan”, which is low-rise in the Neighbourhood designation, with precise maximum heights to be determined by the new Zoning By-law.
3. There have been changes to the maximum building height policies for the Corridor designations on Pinecrest Road and Iris Street to align with the Official Plan and the draft provisions in the new Zoning By-law. Most importantly, the maximum four storey heights are only applied to Corridor properties that are under 30.5 metres in depth. Generally, Corridor properties with depths between 30.5 and 35 metres now have a “Conditional Height – 4-6 storeys” maximum building height category, which provides as-of-right permissions for four storeys but provides opportunities for buildings up to six storeys if Corridor Designation policies in Section 2.2 of the draft Secondary Plan document can be met. For instance, these Corridor Designation policies include new requirements for any buildings above four storeys, such as a minimum lot width that would require lot assembly, and requirements for landscaping, setbacks and building stepbacks to ensure building height transitions.
4. The proposed right-of-way (ROW) protection for Pinecrest Road has been removed because it will be part of a more detailed transportation study looking at appropriate ROW widths on arterial roads throughout the City.

Draft zoning provisions for the Pinecrest-Queensview Hub

The Pinecrest and Queensview Stations Secondary Plan includes an accompanying City-initiated Zoning By-law Amendment to update the zoning for the Hub designation only. This follows a commitment the City made to rezone lands surrounding rapid transit stations in order to secure federal funding through the Housing Accelerator Fund. In some cases, the zoning provides more detailed maximum building heights than in the draft Secondary Plan schedules and policies, and includes additional requirements such as non-residential land uses at grade level and locations for active frontages.

The zoning will help to expedite planning applications in the Hub designation because applications that conform to both the Secondary Plan and zoning will only require a Site Plan Control application.

The final Open House took place at 6:30pm on December 7, 2023. Materials can be accessed below:

Schedule A: Secondary Plan Area and Sectors (link)

Schedule B: Draft Maximum Building Heights, Connectivity and Parks (link)

December 7, 2023 Virtual Open House PDF (link)

The virtual Open House on Thursday, December 7, 2023 is being held to present the public with information on the long range planning study around the future Pinecrest and Queensview O-Train Stations and the surrounding communities. This is the third and final open house meeting for this planning study and will include a presentation from City staff on the draft recommendations and allow opportunities to ask questions.

For more information you may also wish to consult the Website:

Ottawa.ca

The Open House will take place virtually over Zoom on December 7 at 6:30 p.m. Please register in order to get the meeting link. (note: link is external)

Residents were invited to attend the Pinecrest Queensview Secondary Plan Open House on June 21^st, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. This was an opportunity for the public to learn more about the preliminary draft recommendations and take part in a question-and-answer session.

The slide presentation that was presented at the Public Open House is now available here.

The map that summarizes the Preliminary Draft Recommendations is available here.

A Q&A document from the Public Open House can be found here.

The purpose of a secondary plan is to adapt land use planning policies provided by an Official Plan to address a local context. As a result, the new Official Plan(link is external) sets the stage for the Pinecrest and Queensview Stations Secondary Plan Study and any subsequent policy direction that may be required in order to achieve the study objectives.

The following provides a brief summary of new Official Plan policies that are most relevant to the Pinecrest and Queensview Stations study area. Stakeholders and study participants are encouraged to review the new Official Plan in detail in order to help identify any gaps and opportunities to improve outcomes in the study area.

Transect areas

The study area is predominantly located within the Inner Urban Transect Area, which can be found on Schedule B2. This area surrounds the downtown core and is characterized by its mix of urban and suburban built form. The Inner Urban area is intended to become more urbanized while prioritizing active transportation and public transit. Intensification provides important opportunities for creating 15-minute neighbourhoods and expanding housing choices.

A small portion of the study area, west of Greenbank Rd and south of Iris St, is in the Outer Urban Transect Area (see Schedule B3). This area will generally see a more gradual urbanization, with policies that recognize its dominant suburban pattern but adds flexibility in terms of dwelling types and support for active transportation and public transit.

Hubs

Hubs generally replace the former Mixed-Use Centre designations and tend to be located at important destinations on the rapid transit network. They are the focus for density and urban development, which may include major employment and high-rise residential, and are intended introduce land use flexibility in order to contribute to 15-mintue neighbourhoods.

In Hubs in the Inner Urban Transect Area, buildings within 400 metres walking distance of a rapid transit station shall have a minimum height of three storeys and a maximum height of forty storeys – unless otherwise specified in a secondary plan. In other words, the Hub policies establish baseline building heights around O-Train stations and this study will determine where and by how much those minimum and maximum heights should be adjusted.

The new Official Plan designates lands around Pinecrest and Queensview Stations as a Hub (see Schedule B2). This Hub replaces the urban employment area around Queensview Drive and extends west of Pinecrest Rd along Dumaurier Ave and south of Highway 417 to Iris St and Baxter Rd.

Protected Major Transit Station Area

Protected Major Transit Station Areas (PMTSAs) are a discretionary tool that municipalities may use in order to establish transit-supportive densities within a designated area that surrounds a rapid transit station area. The new Official Plan designates lands within the Hub surrounding Pinecrest and Queensview Stations as a PMTSA (see Schedule C1).

The new Offical Plan includes policies that require a minimum density target of 200 people/jobs per gross hectare in the Pinecrest-Queensview PMTSA, as well as inclusionary zoning policies that will require the provision of affordable housing as part of new developments.

Corridors

The new Official Plan includes designations for Mainstreet Corridors and Minor Corridors. Mainstreet Corridors include the former Traditional and Arterial Mainstreets, while Minor Corridors are new designations. Mainstreet Corridors are intended to allow for more intensive mixed-use development to support mainstreet environments, while Minor Corridors are generally intended to be low-rise and introduce flexibility in terms of land uses (such as small retail spaces) to support 15-minute neighbourhoods.

Greenbank Rd and Carling Ave are Mainstreet Corridors in the study areaand Minor Corridors are proposed for Pinecrest Rd, Queensview Dr, and parts of Dumaurier Ave and Iris St (see Schedule B2).

Neighbourhood overlays

The new Official Plan includes a built form Overlay which provides additional direction (over and above Transect policies) to guide the changing character of neighbourhoods.. Those designated as Evolving Neighbourhood are expected to see more rapid change in urbanization and may see subsequent zoning changes to allow a more urban built form.

Schedules B2 and B3 identify the Hub and built form Overlay in the study area. The vast majority of the study area is designated as an Evolving Neighbourhood.

Community input session - spring 2018

Dates & Time:

Thursday, June 14, 2018, 6:30 pm

Location:

All Saints Lutheran Church

1061 Pinecrest Road

Ottawa, ON

The City of Ottawa invited you to attend a community input session for the Pinecrest and Queensview Stations Area Planning Study. The purpose of this land use planning study is to develop policies that will guide the evolution of lands around the future Pinecrest and Queensview Light Rail Transit (LRT) stations.

As We Heard it Report: the purpose of this document is to report back to landowners, residents, businesses and community groups on the issues and ideas raised during and following the community input session. The comments received will inform subsequent directions for the Pinecrest-Queensview Stations Area Planning Study.