January, 1980 Vol. 8 No. 1 Bank Street Slated for Spruce-Up By Inez Berg B.I.A. on the go, said explain the B.I.A. al events such as win- or they just didn't Bank Street business- Alderman McKinnon. Mr. Business representa- ter street carnivals want to have any more men will soon have the McKeen thanked Howard tive Doug McKeen and were undertaken we city hall involvement opportunity to support Smith, GCA Pres. and Community animator found that the same few or politics than they or reject the designa- the GCA for their sup- Eric McSweeney canvas- people were putting in have to." tioh of the commercial port. sed all businesses with the effort and eventu- Approximately 150 area between Isabella The next step will notices. On Dec. 4,1979 ally they got disil- businesses are in the end the Rideau Canal on be official notifica- a meeting with 20 busi- lusioned." proposed C-1 A area. Bank Street as a Busi- tion by the city to all nesses represented, McKeen and other mer- "If enough merchants ness Improvement Area. merchants in the pro- passed a motion sup- chants feel that Bank respond favourably and Approval in princi- posed Business Improve- porting the B.I.A. A Street business and the the B.I.A. goes through ple was granted at .1-nt Area. second motion created Glebe could benefit if I'm hoping to meet with Planning Board's Jan. 9 On Oct. 15, 1979, the Glebe Merchant's merchants organize as a them all to appoint meeting.Two businesses 14 Glebe merchants ap- Association and ap- B.I.A. block representatives outside the ai-ea, Jet plied to Ottawa Plan- pointed Doug McKeen "Only a couple of own-and get a working Auto Wash, 117 Glebe, ning Board for B.I.A. as Chairman. ers on the street and at organization going as and Plastics of Ottawa designation. Planning 'In the past few the meeting objected to soon as possible." were included also in Board deferred appro- years Glebe business- the B.I.A." said McKeen, Business improvement the B.I.A. val until all affected men haven't maintained "Either they felt they area legislation is 'I would like to businessmen could be an active organizationV wouldn't benefit from dealt with under Section publicly commend Doug notified of the Plan says Doug McKeen. the promotion involved 361 under the Municipal McKeen for getting the and a meeting held to 'Though some promotion- Act. Map P. 6 Tenants Organize By Laird Greenshields Membership in the Glebe Tenants' Association totals 77to date, the efforts of a recent can- vass 'hold in the area. The figures represent only 6) per cent of the Glebe area polled and the association expects more once all lists have been compiled. According to steering committee member Dave Hagerman the object of the canvass was to advise Glebe residents of the association's existence. A brochure was distributed encour- aging membership and informing residents of upcoming meetings which are open to the public. A steering committee meeting held on Jan. 10 with 18 members' in attendance dealt with poli- cies and future plans of the association. With the federal election campaign in full swing now, it was suggested an Ottawa-Centre candidate's meeting be organized dealing specifically with housing issues. The Glebe Tenant's Association says at the present time it does not have the resources required to organize a candidate's debate on housing.issue-s. The association plans instead to formulate questions dealing with tenants on the federal level to direct at Ottawa-Centre candidates at other campaign meetings. Steering committee member Sandy Howell says, "At this point of our development we don't have the base to deal with the issue." Most areas of concern to Glebe tenants are the jurisdiction of municipal or provincial authorities. The association plans a general meeting In December 78 GLEBE REPORT deliverers enjoyed a McDonald's sometime in February open to the public dealing tour and refreshments. L. to R. Barbara Jaimet, Sarah Hicks with property standards. and Keith Tanner watch Dan Pillainen sauce a Bi 2 Mac. The property standards committee of Ottawa is responsible for accepting complaints from tenants, assessing the situation before making a final ruling. Future Meetings Inside The Glebe Tenants' Association encourages The Glebe Tenants' Association will sponsor residents to obtain a free brochure outlining a panel discussion on Monday, March 3, at Fifth Avenue Court the responsibilities of landlords, available 7:30 p.m., at a place still to be determined. Roundup p.2,3 from the Ottawa property standards committee at The panel will be comprised of representa- City Hall. tives from the property standards committee, Winterlude ..... ...p. 7 The association is presently working on a health and fire departments and a tenant advo- leaflet outlining tenants' rights to be distri- cate thoroughly versed in the bylaws. Glebe Renaissance.p. 17 buted throughout the Glebe in the near future. The steering committee emphasizes the impor- The information sheet will detail bylaws tance of establishing aims of the group. pertaining to tenants as well as point out van- A meeting will be held at the Glebe Communi- Home Renovations.p. 9 ous loopholes utilized by landlords. ty Centre, at 7:30 p.m. on jan. 24, to discuss Plans also call for a study into the number policies of the association. "Doc" 11 of complaints received by the property stand- The meeting is open to all members of the ards committee as opposed to those acted on and Glebe Tenants' Association and anyone else those resolved. interested in joining. GLEBE REPORT January pape 2 men, Mr. Reid voted for the enclosure. Con- Ave. Court troller Law voted likewise. The GCA and Fifth Both Michêle MacKinnon and Chris Chilton December 21, 1979 proved to be a good day neither for community spoke strongly against both the method used participation nor for City Hall credibility. At a special emergency by the developer and against the need for the Planning Board meeting held that day to discuss the work stoppage at enclosure. Both voted against the enclosure. the Fifth Avenue Court site, the City reversed its month-old decision The following four concessions were proposed: and decided to permit the developer to go ahead with his roof-enclosure no commercial use be made of the courtyard plans after all. area Briefly, the history of the events leading up to this confrontation 1.) open access to the courtyard are as follows: In December, 1978 the developer presented to the com- .) the city maintain the same control over the munity a proposed design for a million-dollar shopping mall at Fifth ceurtyard space as if it were landscaped open Avenue and Bank St. There was then and still remains considerable op- sr,ace position to this development from the surrounding neighbours. d) the exploration of the feasibility of in- The architects stated that in late May they changed the design to in- ..reased light into the courtyard - though clude a roof over the courtyard. No application to City Hall was made the architect stated this was impossible. for this radical change at that time, but in August the developer made These minor concessions apparently allowed application to City.Hall. This application was not considered by the Alderman Cotterall to support the enclosure and City until November when the application was denied, pass the motion. There were two missing Plan- At the Planning Board meeting Dec: 21 the neighbouring residents pre- ning Board members, Dewar and Hasenack, both of sented a letter opposing the construction of this enclosure (roof).These whom have stated they were against this enclosure. residents are very concerned that this shopping centre becomes a mini- The GCA wonders if the lesson to be learned Billings Bridge Plaza which will cause increased traffic congestion and here is for an individual to ignore city hall's eventually erode the residential nature of the surrounding area. regulations and residents concerns and just do The GCA though still in favour of the original plan is strongly op- what one wishes. Then, after the fact, go to posed to the enclosure of the court yard and feels that City Hall must city hall to obtain approval from the toothless .stand by their original decision and building application. city hall bureaucrat and elected representa - The Board asked the developer's architect why such a major change as tives who will only moan and groan and then this enclosure was undertaken without city hall approval. The architect perform their ritual of the rubber stamp. stated "I never dreamed that we couldn't". The board asked the young developer why he changed the plan and the developer stated that "all the Bob Monaghan, Chairman tenants asked for an enclosure and that this change would cause a 25 Neighbourhood Planning, G.C.A. percent increase in sales". The developer's lawyer stated that if the roof wasn't approved his ,client would go bankrupt. The Fifth Avenue Court merchants claimed that their businesses have been adversely affected because their shops have inadequate heat due to Phil Waserman by Inez I the construction stoppage. The financially desperate merchants 'criti- In person, Phil Waserman does not appear the cized the position of the community and the city and supported the de- of local villain. The GLEBE REPORT veloper. A representative for Paddlin Maddlin stated that the city was st2reotype interviewed him Jan. 10, 1980. The boyish-look- to blame and that the city "has wasted time on going to the community" ing 37-year-old is the owner of the Fifth Ave.