Report to/Rapport
au :
Planning
and Development Committee
Comité de l'urbanisme et de l'aménagement
and Council / et au Conseil
1 December 2003 / le 1 decembre
2003
Submitted by/Soumis par : Ned Lathrop, General
Manager/Directeur général,
Development Services/Services d'aménagement
Contact Person/Personne ressource : Richard
Kilstrom, Manager / Gestionnaire
Community
Design and Environment / Conception et milieu communautaire
(613)
580-2424 x22653, richard.kilstrom@ottawa.ca
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SUBJECT: |
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OBJET
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REPORT
RECOMMENDATION
That Planning and
Development Committee recommend Council approve the donation of environmental
lands from Urbandale Corporation to the City of Ottawa as compensation for the
April 2002 tree cutting incident in Kanata Lakes.
RECOMMENDATION DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité de
l'urbanisme et de l'aménagement recommande au Conseil municipal d'approuver la
donation de terrains écologiques par Urbandale Corporation à la Ville d'Ottawa
à titre de compensation pour l'incident de coupe d'arbres survenu en avril 2002
à Kanata Lakes.
BACKGROUND
In April of 2002, a
contractor, not authorized by Urbandale Corporation, trespassed on lands owned
by Urbandale and cut trees in the Kanata Lakes community. The tree cutting occurred within lands designated
in the Official Plan as both Natural Environment Area and General Urban
Area. Lands affected within the Natural
Environment Area (NEA) were originally intended to be conveyed to the City of
Ottawa by Urbandale through prior planning decisions. However, the exact boundary of the
environmental lands had not been established at the time of the tree-cutting
incident. The City promptly took action
on this matter and formally conveyed our requirements to the landowner,
Urbandale Corporation.
Both parties agreed to the
following key principles:
(a) The environmental lands originally intended to be conveyed to
the municipality will be dedicated to the City upon refinement of the natural
area boundary;
(b) As compensation for the lands damaged by the tree-cutting,
additional and comparable environmental
land will be identified and conveyed for an area equal in measure to that
environmentally sensitive land which was adversely affected by the tree
harvesting operation; in addition, appropriate rehabilitation of the affected
land will occur; and,
(c) That an Environmental Study will be conducted to determine
the natural environment area boundary, identify required restoration measures
and to provide a management plan for the area.
A technical advisory
committee including staff from Development Services was assembled. A public consultation program was also
implemented to provide the public with on-going updates and opportunities to
provide input. The landowner undertook
immediate actions, supervised by the City, to advance the key principles as
well as to allow for continued use of the area by the public in the short
term. These activities included:
Installation
of temporary fencing around the
impacted area;
Installation of
sediment and erosion control measures;
Reopening of
informal bike trails;
Inventory and
assessment of cut trees;
Survey of affected
area;
Clean-up of
impacted area; and,
Removal of cut
trees.
In addition, the landowner
also provided the City with a cheque for $10,000.00, the amount received from
the sale of the cut trees. This money
will go towards implementing the management plan recommended for the natural
environment areas (Kizell and Beaver Ponds).
Since the tree cutting
incident, development applications have been submitted for the remaining urban
lands within Kanata Lakes. While the
environmental study and delineation of the natural areas within Kanata Lakes
will be addressed as part of the development application review process, this
report deals only with the compensation land issue.
DISCUSSION
Tree Removal Impact
Assessment
A survey and assessment of
the extent of tree removal was undertaken in the spring of 2002. The tree cutting occurred west of Goulbourn
Forced Road within both General Urban and Natural Evironment Area (NEA)
designations. The total amount of area
within the NEA boundaries that was damaged by the tree removal is approximately
four hectares (10 acres). Within the
NEA boundary, extensive tree removal occurred in the cedar upland forest south
of Kizell Pond, immediately west of Goulbourn Forced Road, and within the ash
and maple swamp to the west of Kizell Pond, east of the First Line Road
allowance. Tree removal also occurred
at the edge of the wetland habitat west of Goulbourn Forced Road, on the south
side of the pond. The damaged area
extended to the north side of Kizell Pond on a portion of upland deciduous
forest contiguous with the impacted swamp area.
Extensive tree removal also
occurred outside of the NEA boundary in the upland deciduous forest north of
Kizell Pond, immediately west of the Goulbourn Forced Road. Additional trees were removed from the
upland deciduous forests on the south side of Kizell Pond, to the south of the
NEA boundary within the future urban area.
Although only mature trees were targeted for tree-cutting, much of the
immature vegetation was damaged by heavy machinery. There was no damage to the
deciduous forests on the north side of Beaver Pond, east of Goulbourn Forced
Road.
Compensation Land
Considerations
Urbandale Corporation agreed
to provide land of equal area and environmental value as compensation for the
area damaged within the NEA. City staff
presented the compensation principle to the public at a public meeting held in
the community on May 15th , 2002. Most
people in attendance agreed with this principle. Some argued that the compensation ratio should be higher. Most of the public felt that the
compensation lands should be in their community. As a result, a number of options associated with the compensation
lands were developed. These
compensation options were presented to the public at an open house held in
July, 2002. The public was asked to
comment on their two preferred options from the list below:
North of Beaver
Pond;
Linkage from
Beaver Pond to Trillium Woods;
North of Kizell
Pond;
Lands to the West
of Kizell Pond; and
Active Park Space.
A total of 28 comment sheets
were received from the public. The
breakdown by community is provided below:
Beaverbrook - 46% Rural March - 3%;
Kanata Lakes - 17% Outside Kanata - 3%;
Other Kanata Neighbourhoods
- 14% No Response - 17%.
Beaver Pond and linkages
from Beaver Pond to Trillium Woods were the highest ranking options with
53%. This is not surprising given the
dominant response rate from the Beaverbrook community. No one (0%) chose increasing the active park
space. Survey respondents ranked all other options equally (16%), including
consideration of lands to the west of Kizell Pond.
In addition to public input,
staff considered other factors in determining the most appropriate lands for
compensation. These factors included
environmental value, environmental connectivity, community connections, as well
as technical and economic considerations.
As a result of this analysis, the land directly west of Kizell Pond was
selected as the preferred option (refer to Figure 1). The compensation land is part of the South March Highlands, an
environmental area, that is both provincially and regionally significant. The South March Highlands is designated
Natural Environment Area (NEA) in the new Official Plan. We are therefore compensating NEA land with
NEA land.
It is important to note that
the compensation land does not represent the Natural Environment Area boundary
for the South March Highlands, but merely defines a vegetation unit for
dedication purposes within the larger area.
The NEA boundary for these lands as well as the larger South March
Highlands area will be addressed through the Special Study Area exercise
currently being undertaken by Development Services Department.
The compensation land is
directly connected to Kizell Pond and supports a mature deciduous swamp forest
and mature deciduous mixed upland forest dominated by sugar maple. Site disturbance is minimal and provides
high aesthetic qualities. The
vegetation unit contains a core protected forest area large enough for area
sensitive breeding birds. This vegetation
unit has also ranked as a high priority for protection through previous
environmental studies (South March Highlands Study Area Natural Environment
Assessment, Daniel Brunton, July 1992).
The compensation land is
approximately 13 hectares (32 acres) in size, effectively increasing the ratio
of compensation land versus environmental land lost from a 1:1 ratio, as
originally agreed upon, to a 3:1 ratio.
Dedication of this land to the City helps to protect the valued
ecological features and functions within the South March Highlands. In addition, it provides ecological connections
between the urban natural features (Kizell and Beaver Ponds) to the broader
ecological system (South March Highlands).
Overall, the compensation land achieves the following:
High environmental
value;
Increase in the
compensation ratio from 1:1 to 3:1;
An acquisition of
environmental features similar to those that were damaged by the tree cutting;
Direct connection
to the Kizell Pond and Beaver Pond natural areas; and
Close proximity to
the Kanata Lakes community.
The open space system,
including natural areas for the Kanata Lakes community, is now being refined
through the development application process.
The public's desire for linkages between Beaver Pond and Trillium Woods
has been included in the proposed open space system for the community.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
The acceptance of the
compensation land will assist the City to achieve its commitment to the
community in acquiring similar natural environment area lands in compensation
for those damaged during the tree cutting incident in 2002. Dedication of this land to the City helps to
protect the valued ecological features and functions within the South March
Highlands. In addition, it provides
ecological connections between the urban natural features (Kizell and Beaver
Ponds) to the broader ecological system (South March Highlands).
CONSULTATION
A public consultation program was implemented to address the
unauthorized tree cutting. This program
also provided public consultation opportunities for other planning studies
ongoing in the study area. Key
community representatives were identified and consulted throughout the
process. Document 2 summarizes the
public consultation events that occurred:
DateEventResultsEarly May 2002Advertise/Notify public of meeting to
discuss tree cutting incidentCity notifies those people who have expressed
concern and key community groups. Place
advertisement in the Kanata Courier.May 15th 2002Public Meeting held by the
CityPurpose of meeting to:
Update public on site clean-up activities
Compensation Principle
Provide overview of planning process
Provide overview of required studies
Actions to be taken City-wide
May 21st 2002Set up
Community Liaison Group
Send copy of public meeting presentationKey community members targeted:
Beaverbrook Community Association, City Environmental Advisory
Committee and City Forest Advisory Committee, Kanata Lakes Community
Association, Briarbrook & Morgan's Grant Community Association, Kanata
Environmental Network, Kanata Trails Advisory Group, Mountain Biking KanataJune
7th 2002Confirm July 10th Public
MeetingSend confirmation date and agenda to Community Liaison GroupJune 20th
2002Community Liaison Group Recreational MeetingCity staff, Urbandale,
Community Liaison Group meet to discuss recreational needs, issues, etc.June
27th -July 4th 2002Advertise/Notify
public of Open House City notifies those people who have expressed concern and
key community groups. Place
advertisement in the Kanata Courier.July 10th 2002Public Open HousePurpose of
open house:
Open Space Dedication
Environmental Findings
Compensation Options
Preliminary Recreation Concepts
Preliminary Land Use Concept PlanNovember 18th 2002Invite Community
members to meeting to discuss Concept Plan, tree cutting and Terry Fox
DriveRepresentatives from Beaverbrook., Kanata Lakes, March Rural and South
March Community Associations attended
Preferred compensation land area was presented to the community
representativesDecember 3rd 2002 Open HouseMeeting to present:
Concept Plan,
Preferred Compensation Land option
Environmental, Serviceability and Recreation Studies
Terry Fox Drive Environmental Assessment AddendumAugust 21st 2003City
initiated walking tour of the NEA lands within Kanata Lakes as well as
compensation areaCity staff, community association representatives, landowner
and surveyor walked flagged boundary of Kizell Pona and Beaver Pond. In addition, compensation land was
visited.September 18th 2003Public Open House in support of Development ApplicationsAnnouncement that
compensation land to the west was nearing resolution.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The lands are being
dedicated to the City at no cost.
However, there may be some cost in the future to address management
requirements in which case those costs would be the subject of a future report
to Committee and Council.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
Document 1 - Location
Plan
DISPOSITION
Real Property & Asset
Management Services of Corporate Services Department will oversee the
dedication of the compensation lands to the City.
LOCATION PLAN Document
1
