MARCH 12, 2021 VOL. 26 NO. 3 THE CENTRETOWN BUZZ From lumberyard to bus station to condos, 3 What’s on: New Anne Frank exhibit, 8 Is anybody home? Ottawa considers a vacant homes tax Victoria Welland meant to be punitive. It is ttawa City Council a tax that aims to increase has passed a mo- housing supply which we O tion to study the desperately need here in the feasibility of a vacant unit city.” tax, a move which could Cheryl Parrott, the trea- help address the city’s surer of the Hintonburg growing housing crisis. Community Association, has The goal of the tax would seen first-hand the problems be to reduce the number of vacant homes have caused homes which lie empty and for her community. Parrott neglected for extended pe- first noticed the issue nearly riods of time, according to a decade ago, when a num- Catherine McKenney, the city ber of residential properties councillor for Somerset Ward. in Hintonburg were bought McKenney, along with by a developer, the tenants Mayor Jim Watson, intro- evicted, and then left empty duced a resolution in De- or demolished. cember directing the city to “There are eight boarded study the viability of a va- buildings within one block Little Free Libraries are scattered across Centretown. One library provider would like you to cant homes tax and report its of the Tom Brown Arena re- findings by the end of June. spite centre [and] within two use them as a destination for neighbourhood walks, and has compiled a map of them. See The report will look at Ot- blocks of people sleeping our story on page 6. GAIL MCGUIRE/THE BUZZ tawa’s current tax legislation [in] homeless encampments. as well as similar taxes im- These are perfectly good plemented in Vancouver and buildings and these people A new diverse community Toronto, McKenney said. In were our neighbours that got December of 2020, Vancou- evicted.” ver raised their tax on empty Not only do these vacant takes shape in Dalhousie residences from 1.25 to 3.0 residential properties go Alayne McGregor munity Housing (OCH), lic school board will have two percent of the home’s value, unused while people sleep he pieces have come which had earlier bought the years to investigate a primary and Toronto recently passed a on the streets, but they also together this month southern 3.26 hectares for school in the development, re- resolution to implement a va- use up city resources, she T for Gladstone Vil- its 933 Gladstone mixed-use placing the school currently on cant homes tax by 2022. said. “In terms of all [the] lage, a massive public re- project. Beech Street. The revenue from the tax city services trying to keep development of the western The entire development Last summer, the Dal- would go towards funding them from being an eyesore end of Somerset Ward in will be centred around the housie Community Associa- for affordable housing initia- [and] from being a danger– lands formerly used for fed- planned new Corso Italia tion (DCA) submitted a list tives, they said, though this between bylaw police, fire–it eral government warehouses. LRT station on Gladstone of concerns with the second- is a secondary benefit. costs a lot of money.” A doubling of the size of Avenue. Its design will mini- ary plan, in particular about “This is not a tax that is cont in “Vacant unit tax” on p 4 Plouffe Park and 1160 new, mize car use and strongly insufficient affordable hous- mixed-income residences promote cycling, walking, ing and park space. No surrender: keeping pets are in the immediate plans. and transit. DCA President Michael An expansion of the Plant This month, the City of Powell said he felt these con- together with their owners Recreation Centre, a new Ottawa arranged to buy 1010 cerns had been responded to Nightingale, a freelance school, and even a grocery Somerset Street, the final in the current plan. “Broadly Jack Hanna editor and former editor of store could come later. outstanding piece of Glad- the CDP is in the right di- hat if you own The BUZZ, is launching a Councillor Catherine stone Village, from the feder- rection.” The acquisition of a pet and have volunteer service in Cen- McKenney said this new de- al government. And on Feb- 1010 Somerset was particu- W little money, and tretown to help. She believes velopment is planned to be ruary 25, the city Planning larly important: “This is a life throws you a curve ball? people sometimes can ben- the “most inclusive neigh- Committee approved the significant increase in park Maybe you are evicted efit from a little assistance bourhood we will have in Corso Italia Station District space, and compared to ear- and end up in a shelter, and getting past a momentary the city, an amazing mix of Secondary Plan, which pro- lier drafts of the plan, it’s your cat is not allowed. May- bump in the road, so that incomes, [with] a mix of vides a detailed framework contiguous park space.” be you twist your knee and they can keep a beloved pet. uses from housing to retail to for the entire area. The sec- The one-hectare park was cannot walk your dog. Her service is named institutional to an arts hub.” ondary plan covers a larger an essential part of the devel- For someone lacking ex- No Surrender, because the Having families with dif- area than Gladstone Village, opment, McKenney said, and tra money, even a small set- goal is to avoid the neces- ferent incomes living beside extending west to Breeze- they refused to support the back can mean losing a pet. sity of pet owners having each other, shopping in the hill and Loretta Streets, and secondary plan without it. The individual is forced to give up–formally termed same stores, and with their east to Preston and Booth McKenney said that, pre- to turn over their cat or dog “surrender”–a pet to an ani- children going to the same Streets. Both decisions were pandemic, the Plant Centre to an animal shelter or rescue mal shelter or rescue service. schools, builds “the kind of expected to be approved by was the #1 recreation centre service. That means parting That pets can suddenly equity that we need in our City Council on March 10. in Ottawa for memberships, with the pet permanently. become homeless and need city,” McKenney said. The 1010 Somerset purchase and it’s “just not big enough The Ottawa Humane Soci- help was driven home to Gladstone Village is a also needs federal Treasury to accommodate the people ety’s policy is that all animal Nightingale last Novem- large (8.52 hectares) and Board approval. in this neighbourhood. It’s surrenders are permanent. ber, following a tragedy in mostly vacant site stretching As part of that purchase, hard to get your kids into Marna Nightingale says Centretown. Cat-lover Jona- along the Trillium LRT Line the city will also develop a con- swim lessons at Plant. It can people whose lives are “pre- than Hammell was killed from Somerset to Gladstone. cept plan for a new community be overcrowded at times.” carious” often “are one bad after a fight. Abruptly there It will be jointly developed hub effectively expanding the In Gladstone Village, the day away from losing their was no one to look after the by the city and Ottawa Com- Plant Bath. The French pub- cont in “New homes” on p 5 pet.” cont in “Lending a hand” on p 5 2 AT THE HEART OF OTTAWA MARCH 12, 2021 The Lighter Side of the Pandemic, by Karen Munro-Caple March 12, 2021 — Vol. 26, No. 3 THE CENTRETOWN BUZZ AT THE HEART OF OTTAWA SINCE 1995. 101-210 Gloucester St. Ottawa, ON K2P 2K4 Phone: 613-565-6012 centretownbuzz.com twitter.com/centretownbuzz facebook.com/centretownbuzz BUZZ Staff Managing editor: Alayne McGregor [email protected] Associate editor: Eleanor Sawyer City Editor: Robert Smythe [email protected] Distribution manager: Archie Campbell The Good, the Bad, and the Bumpy: [email protected] Removing construction barriers ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Ryan Lythall have to. Accessibility is a right and not • More salt boxes on city streets ecently, I received my first a privilege. would be useful, as would more signage The Centretown BUZZ is created and distributed letter in response to my col- My other issue with sidewalk con- that the public can use. in Centretown, Ottawa, located on traditional and R umn in The BUZZ. I would struction is that there are no alternative • Owners of parking lots and build- unceded Algonquin land. like to share some of it with you. ramps to get back onto the sidewalk if a ings should be required to have salt The letter writer provided examples curb is being repaired. Frequently, I’ve boxes. of various barriers in Centretown and had to drive my chair onto the road just • There could be better snowplow- NEXT ISSUE how they had moved several of these because there was no way for me to get ing techniques. out of their way. The writer advised back onto the sidewalk. Depending on I encourage readers to reach out The next issue of The BUZZ will be published that some of them were due to various where you are and the time of day, this to me and tell about your experiences April 16. Deadline for ads and submissions: April 5. construction sites/projects from July to can be very scary. getting around Ottawa.