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DOCUMENT 5 Rural Residential and Village Growth Strategy 1.0 the Rural Area About 90% of Ottawa's Land Mass Is in the Rural A

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DOCUMENT 5 Rural Residential and Village Growth Strategy 1.0 the Rural Area About 90% of Ottawa's Land Mass Is in the Rural A DOCUMENT 5 Rural Residential and Village Growth Strategy 1.0 The Rural Area About 90% of Ottawa’s land mass is in the rural area. It is an area rich in resources of all kinds: farmland; mineral deposits; and large wetlands, woodlands and other natural features. It is also a location for rural industries, recreation facilities and other activities that support the rural economy. There are also 26 villages of varying sizes, each with its own history, character and potential. Outside the villages, individual homes sit back on large country lots or line up along country roads or cluster around new cul-de-sacs. The rural area is part of Ottawa’s history and culture. Many Ottawa residents have deep roots here or choose to move here as newcomers to the rural lifestyle. The Official Plan sets no target for residential development in the rural area and does not limit residential development, although historically about 9% of Ottawa’s growth has occurred in rural villages and country lots. The City needs to balance interest in rural housing against other, competing uses for the land. These include: Ongoing agriculture operations Sustainable use of resources, such that deposits of aggregates are not sterilized by nearby development that limits or precludes extraction Rural businesses that require large sites and locations outside villages Conservation of natural areas As the city grows, it needs to consider how much growth it can support in low-density rural housing. Several villages have some level of municipal water or wastewater services and future growth likely depends on increasing these. However, the public cost of servicing the rural area as well as providing other municipal services such as solid waste collection and road maintenance needs to be considered in the context of the City’s overall budget and affordability guidelines. At a time when the City is promoting higher densities and increased use of transit in the urban area, to off-set some of the costs associated with population growth, rural residential development is low-density and relies on private automobiles. The Official Plan states new housing in the rural area is to be limited and not preclude other kinds of development on adjacent land. The Plan says that at least half of rural residential development is to be accommodated in villages, where community and commercial services can be provided efficiently and there is potential for a variety of housing. However, only about 40% of residential development between 1975 and 2010 has occurred in villages. A similar amount (31%) has occurred in subdivisions of country lots outside villages and the remaining lots have been created through individual severances, including farm-related severances. 1 1 City of Ottawa. Rural Residential Land Survey 2009-2010 Update. Rural Residential Land Survey | City of Ottawa. See Table A1, Appendix A Rural Lot Creation, 1975-2010. 1 Lot creation is the lever that controls future growth in the rural area. New lots can be created outside villages in country lot subdivisions or created through severance (dividing one lot into two or more lots). New lots are created by both methods inside villages. How the City manages lot creation in the rural area lies at the crux of the Rural Residential and Village Growth Strategy, and is the focus of this paper. Proposed Directions The new, proposed policies on rural growth continue to focus growth in villages. These policies are the final phase of the City’s Village Review that saw community visioning and updates to all the village plans in 2012. Revisions to the Zoning By-law early in 2013 made it easier to develop lots in villages and operate home-based businesses. Most growth is proposed for the three largest villages because they have the most potential for developing into complete communities. These villages potentially can accommodate more employment, community facilities, and a variety of housing types suitable for families, retirees and seniors. Policies will also be proposed to guide the amount of employment land needed in villages to support jobs and economic development. Growth in some of the mid- size villages will also be supported. The 14 smallest villages would continue to fill out their boundaries, but most residents would likely work, shop and access community services elsewhere. The rate of village development depends in part on availability of water and wastewater servicing. The Rural Servicing Study is reviewing the feasibility of extending municipal water and wastewater to different villages or providing these services through communal services operated by the City. The costs of different options for increasing rural servicing will also be estimated. The larger questions of affordability, risk to the municipality, and impacts on long-term sustainability and growth management will be addressed in policy proposals on rural servicing. Subdivisions of country lots compete with villages in the provision of large lots and single- detached homes, and reduce the City’s effectiveness at achieving its objective for villages. The proposal is to discontinue country lot subdivisions in order to focus growth in villages, as well as to preserve the rural area for agriculture, mineral resource development, and other rural economic activities that are not appropriate for village locations. This proposal also safeguards valuable natural environment areas from further fragmentation and other negative impacts. To complement these policies, the number of lots that can be created through severance is proposed to increase to two lots from the current one lot (in addition to the original or “retained” parcel). This proposal allows for a modest increase in the creation of country lots and ongoing opportunities for this rural lifestyle, but with fewer of the impacts associated with country lot subdivisions. Going forward, modest additions of severed lots plus the current large supply of vacant or pending lots in subdivisions will assist with a transition to the proposed rural residential policies. The proposed policies create a comprehensive 2 approach to managing lot creation in the rural area and should be considered as a whole. Any changes to individual proposals would need to be assessed for their effect on the larger strategy. Direction for a Strategy The Rural Residential and Village Growth Strategy responds to Council directions arising from the 2009 Official Plan Review. In 2007 the City began a consultation with rural communities on their major issues: village development, development outside villages, groundwater resources, and agricultural lands. At the end of this process in 2009, much of the strategy in the Official Plan for managing growth in rural Ottawa was retained. However, in 2009 Council requested a further review of country lot subdivisions and established a moratorium on subdivision approvals outside villages. The moratorium would run for up to five years, to 2014, when the review would be complete. During the moratorium, staff was to review a growth management approach that clustered rural subdivisions in specific areas Other questions arose: The Province asked the City to consider how much residential development should be permitted overall in the rural area, and the number of lots that should be allowed in country lot subdivisions if the City continued to permit them. The Provincial Policy Statement, which outlines the provincial policies that municipalities need to follow in Official Plans, states development in the rural area outside of villages should be “limited”. However, “limited” is not defined and Official Plans of other municipalities in the Province show a variety of approaches. Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee asked staff to consider a new approach to severances, one that would permit creation of up to three new lots by severance instead of the one new lot that is now permitted. Rural Councillors requested policies to support development in villages and asked when the City would be considering the need for more village land and the expansion of village boundaries. A review of village plans was completed in 2012, followed by updates to the village zoning in 2013. Development (building within the Opportunities for local business were increased existing village boundaries) and through the zoning changes and severances in Growth (expansion of village boundaries) represent both villages became more affordable. The review of challenges and opportunities for village boundaries is included in the current Villages. Official Plan review. The balance of this paper is presented in four sections: A framework for a growth strategy for the rural area, describing current policies, the pattern of rural residential development, and the lot potential of rural lands A proposed strategy for villages 3 Proposed policies for residential severances Approaches to managing country lot subdivisions 2.0 A Framework for a Growth Strategy for the Rural Area The policies proposed for the rural area are framed within the current Official Plan policies and the pattern of residential development that has evolved in the rural area and in Villages since 1975. The capacity of village and rural lands to accommodate additional lot creation also needs to be considered in developing new directions. 2.1. Current Official Plan Policy Village policies permit commercial and employment uses and various forms of housing, and support provision of the municipal services and facilities that help create complete communities. Only some villages have municipal water or wastewater services and, as a result, lot sizes and the intensity and diversity of land uses in many villages is limited to levels that can be supported by private wells and septic systems. The Official Plan allows for a 10-year supply of land in villages. The Official Plan treats all villages the same although they vary with respect to their size, community services and facilities, and development potential. The need to add new land to villages is determined through a review of land supplies in all villages collectively, as part of an Official Plan review or in response to a proposal to expand a village boundary.
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