3. APPLICATION TO DEMOLISH 340 MCLEOD STREET, A PROPERTY LOCATED IN THE CENTRETOWN HERITAGE CONSERVATION DISTRICT

demande en vue de détruire le 340, rue mcleod, propriété située dans le District de conservation du patrimoine du Centre-ville

Committee recommendationS

That Council:

1. Approve the application to demolish 340 McLeod Street, a property located in the Centretown Heritage Conservation District and designated under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act, in accordance with the application submitted by Natalie Hughes, FoTenn Consultants Inc. received on December 6, 2010.

2. Issue the Heritage Permit with a two-year expiry date from the date of issuance.

(Note: The statutory 90-day timeline for consideration of this application under the Ontario Heritage Act will expire on March 9, 2011)

(Note: Approval to Alter this property under the Ontario Heritage Act must not be construed to meet the requirements for the issuance of a building permit.)

Recommandations du comité

Que le Conseil :

1. approuve le demande de démolition du 340, rue McLeod, propriété située dans le District de conservation du patrimoine du Centre-ville et désignée aux termes de la partie V de la Loi sur le patrimoine de l'Ontario, conformément à la demande soumise par Natalie Hughes, de la firme FoTenn Consultants Inc., et reçue le 6 décembre 2010;

2. délivre le permis en matière de patrimoine qui expirera deux ans après la date de délivrance.

(Nota : Le délai réglementaire de 90 jours d’examen de cette demande, exigé en vertu de la Loi sur le patrimoine de l’Ontario, prendra fin le 9 mars 2011.)

(Nota : L’approbation de la demande de modification aux termes de la Loi sur le patrimoine de l’Ontario ne signifie pas pour autant qu’elle satisfait aux conditions de délivrance d’un permis de construire.)

Documentation

1. Deputy City Manager's report, Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability dated 5 January 2011 (ACS2011-ICS-PGM-0032).

2. Extract of draft minutes, Ottawa Built Heritage Advisory Committee meeting of 20 January 2011.

Report to/Rapport au :

Ottawa Built Heritage Advisory Committee

Comité consultatif sur le patrimoine bâti d’Ottawa

and / et

Planning Committee

Comité de l'urbanisme

and Council / et au Conseil

05 January 2011 / le 05 janvier 2011

Submitted by/Soumis par : Nancy Schepers, Deputy City Manager, Directrice municipale adjointe, Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability, Services d’infrastructure et Viabilité des collectivités

Contact Person/Personne-ressource : Richard Kilstrom, Acting Manager/Gestionnaire intérimaire, Development Review-Urban Services/Examen des projets d'aménagement-Services urbains, Planning and Growth Management/Urbanisme et Gestion de la croissance

(613) 580-2424, 22379 Richard.Kilstrom@ottawa.ca

Somerset (14)

Ref N°: ACS2011-ICS-PGM-0032

SUBJECT:	APPLICATION TO DEMOLISH 340 MCLEOD STREET, A PROPERTY LOCATED IN THE CENTRETOWN HERITAGE CONSERVATION DISTRICT

OBJET :	demande en vue de détruire le 340, rue mcleod, propriété située dans le District de conservation du patrimoine du Centre-ville

REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

That the Ottawa Built Heritage Advisory Committee recommend that Planning Committee recommend that Council:

2. Issue the Heritage Permit with a two-year expiry date from the date of issuance.

(Note: The statutory 90-day timeline for consideration of this application under the Ontario Heritage Act will expire on March 9, 2011)

(Note: Approval to Alter this property under the Ontario Heritage Act must not be construed to meet the requirements for the issuance of a building permit.)

RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT

Que le Comité consultatif sur le patrimoine bâti d’Ottawa recommande au Comité de l’urbanisme de recommander à son tour au Conseil :

1. d’approuver le demande de démolition du 340, rue McLeod, propriété située dans le District de conservation du patrimoine du Centre-ville et désignée aux termes de la partie V de la Loi sur le patrimoine de l'Ontario, conformément à la demande soumise par Natalie Hughes, de la firme FoTenn Consultants Inc., et reçue le 6 décembre 2010;

2. de délivrer le permis en matière de patrimoine qui expirera deux ans après la date de délivrance.

(Nota : Le délai réglementaire de 90 jours d’examen de cette demande, exigé en vertu de la Loi sur le patrimoine de l’Ontario, prendra fin le 9 mars 2011.)

BACKGROUND

This report has been prepared because the Ontario Heritage Act requires that City Council approve demolitions in a heritage conservation district. An application has been received to demolish 340 McLeod Street, an office building constructed in the 1960s and rated as a Category 4 building, the category in which buildings are described as having “limited or no heritage value.” The subject property is located in the Centretown Heritage Conservation District, created in 1997 (see Location Map, Document 1, Street View, Document 2 and Aerial View, Document 3).

The Centretown HCD was designated in 1997 for its cultural heritage value as an “early residential suburb and as the temporary and permanent home of many of those who have governed and shaped the nation.” The Statement of Heritage Character (Document 4) notes that Centretown is a primarily residential area that has experienced periods of redevelopment throughout its history particularly with the introduction of low-rise apartment buildings immediately prior to the First World War, and the development of numerous large high-rise buildings in the more recent past.

DISCUSSION

The owner of 340 McLeod Street is in the process of developing the former Metropolitan Bible Church (Central 1) site across the road from the subject property and the vacant land between the building at 340 McLeod Street and Bank Street (Central 2). Applications under the Ontario Heritage Act for phases 1 and 2 have both been approved by City Council. The applicant intends to undertake Central 3 in the near future on this site and a separate application for new construction in a heritage district will be processed for that project. In the meantime, the applicant has applied to demolish the building on the site to create a staging area during the construction of Central 2.

The Centretown Heritage Conservation District did not individually evaluate later buildings; rather, it automatically placed buildings constructed in the post-Second World War era Category 4, the lowest category. Section VII.5.3 of the Study addresses the issue of recent construction:

More recent mid and high rise developments are for the most part out of character with their neighbours and unsympathetic to the heritage qualities of the area. They do not contribute in any significant way to the heritage character of the district.

As a more recent building with little character, 340 McLeod Street is one of the buildings referred to above that does not contribute to the character of the heritage conservation district.

Staff has no objection to the demolition of 340 McLeod Street as it is a building of no heritage value that does not contribute to the streetscape or the overall character of the heritage conservation district. The site will be part of a construction site for a short period of time and then will be re-developed with a condominium apartment building subject to further approval of the design under the Ontario Heritage Act.

RURAL IMPLICATIONS

N/A

CONSULTATION

Adjacent property owners were notified of this project by letter of the date of the Ottawa Built Heritage Advisory Committee (OBHAC) and Planning Committee meetings and were provided with comment sheets to be returned to OBHAC.

Heritage Ottawa is aware of this application.

The Centretown Citizens Community Association is aware of this application.

COMMENTS BY THE WARD COUNCILLOR

The Ward Councillor has no objection to the demolition.

LEGAL/RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS:

There are no legal/risk management implications associated with this report

CITY STRATEGIC PLAN

Objective F 2: Respect the existing urban fabric, neighbourhood form and the limits of existing hard services, so that new growth is integrated seamlessly with established communities.

The City wants to protect the qualities and characteristics that define communities while accommodating new growth.

Review applications as part of the development and infrastructure approval process for neighbourhood compatibility and the preservation of unique identities of our communities and villages

TECHNICAL IMPLICATIONS

N/A

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

There are no direct financial implications associated with this report.

APPLICATION PROCESS TIMELINE STATUS

This application was completed within the 90-day time period prescribed by the Ontario Heritage Act.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

Document 1 Location Map

Document 2 Streetview

Document 3 Aerial View

Document 4 Heritage Character Statement

DISPOSITION

City Clerk and Solicitor Department, Legislative Services to notify the applicant, the property owner and the Ontario Heritage Trust (10 Adelaide Street East, 3^rd Floor, Toronto, Ontario, M5C 1J3) of Council’s decision.

LOCATION MAP DOCUMENT 1

STREETVIEW, 340 MCLEOD DOCUMENT 2

BIRD'S EYE VIEW DOCUMENT 3

STATEMENT OF HERITAGE CHARACTER DOCUMENT 4

Centretown Heritage Conservation District Study

Centretown has always been a predominantly residential area, functionally linked to Parliament Hill and the structures of government. Over the past century, it has housed many individuals important to Canada’s development as a nation.

The built fabric of this area is overwhelmingly residential. It is dominated by dwellings from the 1890-1914 period, built to accommodate an expanding civil service within walking distance of Parliament Hill and government offices. There is a wide variety of housing types from this period, mixed in scale and level of sophistication. It had an early suburban quality, laid out and built up by speculative developers with repetitive groupings.

There is a sprinkling of pre-1890 buildings on the north and south perimeters, which predate any major development. There are also apartment buildings constructed and redeveloped during the 1914-1918 period in response to the need to house additional parliamentary, military, civil service and support personnel. In the recent 1960-1990 period, the predominantly low-scale environment has been punctuated by high-rise residential development.

Over the past century, this area has functioned as soft support for the administrative and commercial activity linked to Parliament Hill. In addition to residences, it has accommodated club facilities, organizational headquarters, institutions, professional offices and transportation services, all associated with Ottawa’s role as national capital. Conversely, many of the facilities that complement Centretown’s existence as a residential community have traditionally been situated in the blocks between Laurier and Wellington, closer to Parliament Hill.

Centretown has one major commercial artery, Bank Street. This street predates the community of Centretown both as a commercial route and as the major transportation corridor between Parliament Hill and outlying areas to the south. Bank Street has always serviced the entire area, with secondary commercial corridors along Elgin, Somerset and Gladstone in select locations and time periods. The Bank Street commercial corridor broadens onto associated side streets in periods of intense pressure, then narrows back to the street itself with commercial activity is in decline.

Centretown itself has always been an access route to Parliament Hill. There is a long-standing pattern of north/south movement through the area by outsiders. Over the years, this pattern has been supported by livery locations, streetcar routes and automobile traffic corridors. Long distance travellers have traditionally arrived on the transportation corridor that marks the south boundary of the area- originally the Canadian Atlantic Railway and later its replacement, the Queensway. Travel within Centretown occurs east/west radiating from Bank Street.

As the federal government’s residential quarter, planning initiatives in Centretown have been influenced by both federal and municipal authorities. Federal intervention in this area has established some of its unusual qualities such as the formal emphasis on the Metcalfe Street axis, early enhancement of its residential quality, and a number of its parks and services. The streetscapes have traditionally been enhanced by extensive public tree planting and other hard and soft landscape features, many of which have been in decline since the period of extensive tree removal in the 1930s and 40s. However, the scale and texture of the heritage streetscape are still discernable.

This area is unique both as an early residential suburb and as the temporary and permanent home of many of those who have governed and shaped the nation.