Fast forward to 2010 and a Committee of Adjustment hearing at City Hall where the lot's new owner/developer recently unveiled plans for a 6-storey condo and invited neighbourly comments.
By all reports an earful was heard from adjacent West Village Private residents (who even went so far as to retain the services of a professional planner), most unhappy at the idea of 6 storeys of condo dwellers peering into their backyards:
But such are the realities of urban intensification. The developer is actually abiding by guidelines set by City planners who hope to turn this part of Scott St into a "traditional mainstreet", an alternative to Wellington St West where we can sip our lattes and watch the strollers go by.In keeping with the theme, this condo calls for a commercial storefront on the first floor (hopefully not a Mac's Milk, say the neighbours) and will be built right up to the sidewalk.
Predictably, the end result was a common refrain here in Ottawa: City planners and current zoning by-laws are so much at odds that "clarification" is needed, and all plans have been put on hold. OMB anyone?
