By Chris Holski, CFRA News, December 12, 2013
The Ottawa Community Housing Corporation board has voted unanimously to ban smoking in all new leases.
It will be voluntary starting January 1st and become mandatory May 31st.
Walk-ons stir debate and lead to early construction at Bayshore Mall
Ottawa & Region
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Ottawa Sun
By Susan Sherring, Ottawa Sun, December 11, 2013
Construction work on the Bayshore Shopping Centre will be able to rev up at 5 a.m. in the new year, a decision made Wednesday by council but without notice to the surrounding neighbours that it was being considered.
The motion to allow the noise bylaw exemption was what\'s called a walk-on, meaning the public isn\'t given any notification of the motion, and therefore, the public can\'t speak to it publicly.
Hobbs blames election challenger for keeping community’s voice out of Scott Street bus detour debate
By David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen, December 12, 2013
OTTAWA — Residents along Scott Street may have been betrayed by their community association as the city decided to turn a stretch of the artery into a substitute Transitway while it builds the new light-rail system, Kitchissippi Coun. Katherine Hobbs suggested Thursday, blaming a neighbourhood activist who wants to unseat her.
Hobbs, a first-term councillor facing a challenge from Hintonburg Community Association board member (and, till recently, president) Jeff Leiper in the election next fall, cast blame on the association, alleging it kept residents in the dark about what was being planned.
Ottawa business owners urge Wynne to block hydro rate hikes
By Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen, December 11, 2013
OTTAWA — The city’s business community wants Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne to impose a moratorium on steep hydro rate increases it says are wreaking havoc on small business.
The Ottawa Council of Business Improvement Areas (OCOBIA), which represents 18 BIAs across the city, delivered a strongly worded letter on Wednesday to the Carling Avenue office of Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli.
Torn-up trees first sign of Barrhaven pipe project residents didn’t see coming
By David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen, December 11, 2013
OTTAWA — Residents of tiny Nicolls Island, in the Rideau River north of Manotick, got home earlier this week to heavy equipment tearing trees out of the ground in a city park on the mainland, just metres from their houses, for a drainage project nobody even told them about, let alone asked.
“Nobody on the island knew they were going to do this, or had heard anything of this, and it was disturbing,” said Steve Mousaw, who lives close enough to the park on the other side of the river channel to hit it with a fishing lure. “They didn’t tell anybody. They didn’t tell us, and it’s basically a done deal.”
CFRA - Planning Committee green-lights plan for nine-storey building in Westboro - News Talk Radio
By Stephanie Kinsella, CFRA News, December 10, 2013
The corner of Tweedsmuir Avenue and Richmond Road is one vote away from a major makeover.
The City\'s Planning Committee is approving a plan to construct a nine-storey building at the site of a former gas station and used car lot close to an LCBO and grocery store in Westboro.
CFRA - Planning committee approves development strategy for land near LRT stations - News Talk Radio
By Stephanie Kinsella, CFRA News, December 10, 2013
Planning committee approves development strategy for land near LRT stations
The city wants 80,000 people to live and work around the Lees, Hurdman and Blair LRT stations, and will use a number-crunching approach to define just where six, 20, 30 and even 45 storey structures can be located.
The taller the building, the more residential units and jobs it must offer.
CFRA - Ottawa businesses speaking out against Hydro rate hikes - News Talk Radio
By Mai Habib, CFRA News, December 11, 2013
With a community protest over the weekend in Ottawa, now, even the business community is crying out against hydro rate increases in Ontario.
The Ottawa Council of Business Improvement Areas is asking Premier Wynne to “reconsider, re-evaluate, recognize and retract” the consequences of the 42 per cent increase in hydro prices over the next five years.
Frostbite advisory issued for city of Ottawa - Ottawa - CBC News
By CBC News Ottawa, December 11, 2013
Public health officials have issued a frostbite advisory in Ottawa as the windchill is expected to make the temperature feel like -30 C at times.
Public health officials are advising parents to ensure children are dressed with warm layers and their skin is covered.
Chaudière Island developer holds open house - Ottawa - CBC News
By CBC News Ottawa, December 11, 2013
Zoning for tallest building in Ottawa approved for Lees transit station
By David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen, December 11, 2013
OTTAWA — Massive long-term plans to promote new developments around the Lees, Hurdman and Blair transit stations got approval from city council’s planning committee Tuesday.
They’re aimed at more than tripling the number of residents and jobs around those stations once they’ve been converted from bus Transitway stations to light-rail stations, so there will be plenty of people within close walking and biking distance of the trains. The plans include to-do lists totalling $72 million for new sidewalks, hydro and sewer services and bike routes, along with rezonings for buildings as tall as 45 storeys, taller than anything in Ottawa today.
Council approves $4.6M increase for Airport Parkway bridge
By David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen, December 11, 2013
OTTAWA — The city will spend $4.65 million to finish the cursed Airport Parkway footbridge after its second catastrophic problem halted construction again.
The bridge, which was supposed to be done in November 2011, had to be torn down and started again when the concrete in its signature tower turned out to be faulty, and is now being redesigned after an unorthodox design for the long “stays” that descend from the tower and hold the span in place alarmed the contractor.
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