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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT & TREE CONSERVATION REPORT LOTS 18 & 19, CONCESSION I FORMER CITY of KANATA, CITY of OTTA

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ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT & TREE CONSERVATION REPORT LOTS 18 & 19, CONCESSION I FORMER CITY of KANATA, CITY of OTTA ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT & TREE CONSERVATION REPORT LOTS 18 & 19, CONCESSION I FORMER CITY of KANATA, CITY of OTTAWA A report prepared for: 1384341 Ontario Ltd. by MUNCASTER ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING INC. Revised March, 2013 MUNCASTER ENVIRONMETAL PLANNING INC. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................1 1.1 Scoping the Environmental Impact Statement .........................................................3 2.0 METHODOLOGY ...............................................................................................................3 3.0 EXISTING CONDITIONS ..................................................................................................4 3.1 Geologic and Hydrologic Conditions.......................................................................4 3.2 Terrestrial Features ..................................................................................................6 3.3 Significant Features................................................................................................11 4.0 DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL ........................................................................................ 14 4.1 Proposed Land Use ................................................................................................14 4.2 Stormwater Management .......................................................................................16 5.0 POTENTIAL IMPACTS and MITIGATION MEASURES ..............................................16 5.1 Terrestrial Habitat ..................................................................................................16 5.2 Aquatic Habitat ......................................................................................................19 5.3 Stormwater Mitigation ...........................................................................................21 5.4 Erosion and Sediment Controls .............................................................................22 6.0 CUMULATIVE EFFECTS and SUMMARY ...................................................................23 7.0 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................24 FIGURE Map 1: Current Vegetation ...............................................................................................................2 Map 2: Proposed Retained Vegetation ...........................................................................................15 06/03/13 EIS/TREE CONSERVATION REPORT– CONCESSION I, LOTS 18 & 19 (KANATA) Page i MUNCASTER ENVIRONMETAL PLANNING INC. 1.0 INTRODUCTION The 60 hectare site is within the north portion of Lot 18 and the south portion of Lot 19, Concession I, in the former City of Kanata, now in the City of Ottawa (Map 1). The site is located approximately 1.5 kilometres north of March Road, with Marchurst Road along the east boundary. The municipal address is 1913 Marchurst Road. The concept plan developed for the site is shown on Map 2. The proposal is for 53 rural residential lots with a minimum lot size of 0.8 hectares, up to 1.8 hectares. All but seven of the proposed lots are between 0.8 and 0.95 hectares. The site will be serviced with individual wells and septic systems, with stormwater management described in the Preliminary Stormwater Management Report by Stantec (2012). The study area is currently mostly agricultural fields, with deciduous forests in the northwest and southwest parcels of the property. The surrounding land use includes agriculture to the north and east, recent rural residential to the south and the 4,752 hectare Carp Hills Natural Area to the west. The forest in the northwest corner of the site is included in the Carp Hills Natural Area, which was considered to have a high overall significance in the evaluation summary performed as part of the Natural Environment System Strategy by the former Region of Ottawa-Carleton (Brunton, 1997). More information on the Natural Area is provided in Section 3.3. The closest portion of the Provincially significant Carp Hills Wetland Complex is approximately 250 metres to the west of the west site boundary. As the surface flow on the site is to the east, away from the significant wetland habitat, and the distance between the site and the closest wetland parcel is considerable, it is not anticipated that the significant wetland habitat will be directly or indirectly impacted by the proposed development. The south boundary of the Carp Hills regionally-significant candidate Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI), as depicted in Brunton (1995) and Robinson (2004) is located to the west of the site, within Lot 19 of Concession I of the former Township of West Carleton (Huntley Geographic Township). The Provincially-significant Carp Barrens ANSI is located further to the north, approximately 900 metres from the northwest corner of the site, within the larger Carp Hills ANSI boundary. The designation for the site is General Rural Area in the City of Ottawa’s 2003 Official Plan (City of Ottawa, 2003). The site and lands to the south are zoned Rural Residential (RR3), with lands to the north and east zoned General Rural and lands to the west zoned Environmental Protection, and along an unopened road allowance immediately to the west of the site, Parks and Open Space. No constraints are shown in the vicinity of the site on Schedule K of the Official Plan. The on-site and adjacent forests to the west are shown as Significant Woodlands on Annex 14: Natural Heritage Systems of Official Plan Amendment 76. 06/03/13 EIS/TREE CONSERVATION REPORT– CONCESSION I, LOTS 18 & 19 (KANATA) Page 1 MUNCASTER ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING INC. As land to the west of the site is designated Natural Environment Area in the 2003 Official Plan and Significant Woodlands are identified, Section 4.7.8 of the Official Plan requires an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as part of the development application. 1.1 Scoping the Environmental Impact Statement This EIS was prepared in accordance with Section 4.7.8 of the City of Ottawa Official Plan (2003) following the EIS Guidelines and the Guidelines for City of Ottawa Tree Conservation Report, found at http://ottawa.ca/en/city_hall/planningprojectsreports/planning/dev_review_process/guide/environ mental_impact/ and http://ottawa.ca/en/env_water/tlg/trees/preservation/guidelines/index.html,with guidance from the Natural Heritage Reference Manual (OMNR, 2010). Note that the current version of the EIS Guidelines, 2nd Edition April 2012, was utilized for this report with the City web link soon to be updated with this new version. This report includes the components of an Environmental Impact Statement as identified in Section 4.7.8.2 a) through h) of the City of Ottawa Official Plan (City of Ottawa, 2003). The Natural Heritage Reference Manual (OMNR, 2010) was reviewed to identify potential items that the EIS should address. The following items were identified for particular attention, recognizing that many of these issues are interrelated: what are the anticipated direct and indirect potential impacts on the features and functions of the natural area that are anticipated from a change in land use on the site? how are the features and functions of the natural area influenced or supported by the site, including linkages and unique habitats?; will increases in impermeable surfaces and operation of residential units result in impacts on infiltration and groundwater?; what are the potential impacts associated with the construction and operation of stormwater management?; what are the on-site natural environment features and functions?; and, can a concept plan incorporate retention of the more important natural features and functions of the site? 2.0 METHODOLOGY Environmental information was collected and summarized through: information on the Carp Hills Natural Area from the Natural Environment System Strategy files at the City of Ottawa; information on the regionally-significant candidate Area of Natural and Scientific Interest from Ministry of Natural Resources files in the Kemptville District office; 06/03/13 EIS/TREE CONSERVATION REPORT– CONCESSION I, LOTS 18 & 19 (KANATA) Page 3 MUNCASTER ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING INC. a review of the Ministry of Natural Resources, City of Ottawa, Natural Heritage Information Centre and Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas databases to identify potential species of interest in the vicinity of the site; field surveys of the site and adjacent lands completed on November 18, 2004, July 18th, 2005 and September 9th, 2011. Observations were made on vegetation communities and associated wildlife habitat within and adjacent to the site; and, a review of the other studies associated with the application such as the stormwater servicing brief. Colour aerial photography (2002 - 2012) was used to assess the natural environment features in the general vicinity of the site. Ecological units were defined based on species present, the wetness index of the species, dominant species, locations of standing water and other drainage observations, health, age, topography and soil conditions. As part of the surveys, the potential wildlife habitat attributes of the site were examined. Other aspects of the surveys included photographs of site representative features and observations on the level of disturbance from human activities and non-native flora and fauna. The field survey and this report were completed by Bernie Muncaster, who has
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