{"id":64511,"date":"2017-01-25T01:45:20","date_gmt":"2017-01-25T01:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/downtown-towers-may-strain-sight-lines-to-parliament-hill.html"},"modified":"2017-01-25T01:45:20","modified_gmt":"2017-01-25T01:45:20","slug":"downtown-towers-may-strain-sight-lines-to-parliament-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/political\/downtown-towers-may-strain-sight-lines-to-parliament-hill.html","title":{"rendered":"Downtown towers may strain sight lines to Parliament Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When plans by Claridge\u00a0Homes to develop\u00a0the eastern portion of\u00a0LeBreton\u00a0Flats went to city&#8217;s urban design review panel earlier this month, the feedback was unanimous: the park system is a great idea, but the\u00a055-storey\u00a0condo tower is too tall.<\/p>\n<p>The planners and architects on the panel were concerned the building&#8217;s height wasn&#8217;t just out of scale with its surroundings, but would threaten\u00a0to distract from what should be the key view from the area\u00a0\u2014 Parliament Hill.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Urban design review panel balks at\u00a055-storey\u00a0condo proposed for\u00a0LeBreton<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote class=\"pullquote\"><p>\n <span class=\"pullquote-quotation\">&#8216;Why do we have these viewpoints? To recognize we have a very\u00a0special\u00a0place here.&#8217;<\/span><br \/>\n <cite class=\"pullquote-source\">&#8211; Robert\u00a0Allsopp<\/cite>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The\u00a0Claridge\u00a0proposal is only in its preliminary stages, but the mere prospect of such a tall structure at the Flats is leading some experts to call for a review of all the protected sight lines to\u00a0Parliament Hill\u00a0\u2014 policies that haven&#8217;t had a major overhaul since they were first established 20 years ago.<\/p>\n<h2>&#8216;The image that sells Ottawa&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p>Robert\u00a0Allsopp is a partner at the storied\u00a0design and architecture firm\u00a0DTAH. In the 1990s he\u00a0helped\u00a0the National Capital Commission establish\u00a021 viewpoints across the capital region from which the Parliament Hill must be seen.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/RSSPoster_PRO\/cache\/982e9_fedbudget-20150421.jpg\" alt=\"FedBudget 20150421\" width=\"100%\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"figure-caption\">Centre Block&#8217;s Peace Tower is shown through the gates of Parliament Hill. (Canadian Press\/Justin Tang)<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Why do we have these viewpoints? To recognize we have a very\u00a0special\u00a0place here,&#8221; he said in a recent interview.<\/p>\n<p>The sight of Centre Block, with the Canadian flag fluttering at the tip of the Peace Tower, is the iconic symbol of democracy in Canada.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That&#8217;s the image that sells Ottawa,&#8221; said Allsopp. &#8220;This is a national, iconic place. We have to be careful how we develop around it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>Protected views established in 1990s<\/h2>\n<p>The recognition that the view of Parliament Hill is special and needs protection\u00a0is not new. There were rules to limit the height of downtown Ottawa buildings to 10 storeys from\u00a0the early\u00a020th\u00a0century. This sort of blanket height restriction was in place in other capitals such as Washington, London and Paris.<\/p>\n<p>But in the late\u00a01960s, developer Robert\u00a0Campeau\u00a0fought those restrictions, ultimately taking his argument to the Ontario Municipal Panel, which allowed Place de Ville to be built. The downtown complex,\u00a0spanning two blocks and soaring at more than double\u00a0the existing height limits, was a massive development in Ottawa for its time.<\/p>\n<p>The approval to build it from\u00a0the OMB \u2014 a quasi-judicial board that is still allowed to overturn council decisions in city planning matters \u2014 set a precedent for taller buildings downtown. Over the subsequent years,\u00a0more development applications that exceeded the height limit were filed.<\/p>\n<p>But it wasn&#8217;t until the 1990s that officials got serious about doing something about it.<\/p>\n<p>The National Capital Commission\u00a0produced a video called &#8220;A Vanishing Symbol,&#8221; using relatively new computer-modelling technology to show how the growth in the city was crowding out view of Parliament Hill. The video helped to raise public awareness and support for a new way of\u00a0\u00a0restricting heights in the core.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/RSSPoster_PRO\/cache\/982e9_prince-of-wales-bridge-ottawa-river-abandoned-graffiti.jpg\" alt=\"prince of wales bridge ottawa river abandoned graffiti\" width=\"100%\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"figure-caption\">The abandoned Prince of Wales Bridge across the Ottawa River on June 7, 2016. (Trevor Pritchard\/CBC)<\/p>\n<p>Working with the city and consultants, the NCC identified 21 specific spots in the city from which you must be able to see a number of &#8220;national symbols&#8221;, although Centre Block is the key protected view in most cases.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>How specific? Very. Spots include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The half-way point of the Prince of Wales Bridge.<\/li>\n<li>Sussex Drive, 76.5 metres south of the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge.<\/li>\n<li>The corner of York Street and Sussex.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Because these views were included in the city&#8217;s official plan in the late 1990s, they are legally protected. In 2008, the city added two more protected views from\u00a0Beechwood\u00a0Cemetery: one at the Tommy Douglas memorial, and another at Poet&#8217;s Hill.<\/p>\n<h2>No major review for 2 decades<\/h2>\n<p>As taller and taller buildings go up around the city, some of those protected views are getting squeezed. Developers are careful not to impede the views\u00a0\u2014 and are required to provide pictures that show their buildings don&#8217;t block our vistas\u00a0\u2014 but some worry intensification is\u00a0crowding and cluttering those views.<\/p>\n<p>For example, when Domicile was planning a 10-storey\u00a0condo for Beechwood Avenue, some criticized the building for coming right to the edge of the protected view of the Hill from the cemetery. While in accordance with the rules, some felt the building didn&#8217;t follow the &#8220;spirit&#8221; of the policy.<\/p>\n<p>And now, tall towers are planned for the edges of downtown. Just west of Claridge&#8217;s\u00a0possible\u00a055-storey\u00a0building, Trinity Properties has applied for\u00a0three 50-storey-plus towers. \u00a0And then there are the intensification plans for\u00a0LeBreton west\u00a0of Booth, which the NCC is negotiating with the Senators-backed consortium, Rendez-Vous\u00a0LeBreton.<\/p>\n<p>No one disputes the need for more density in the core, especially near light-rail stations. But some experts believe that the new heights, which were not really contemplated when the protected-view policy was conceived in the late 1990s, call for a comprehensive second look.<\/p>\n<h2>Tall towers not foreseen<\/h2>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think anyone, historically, expected buildings of 55\u00a0storeys\u00a0here \u2014 that wasn&#8217;t really considered in terms of how people thought of\u00a0LeBreton,&#8221; said David Leinster, a Toronto-based planner who chairs Ottawa&#8217;s design review panel.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I do have concerns with the views that were shown,\u00a0that the height may compromise some of those views.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/RSSPoster_PRO\/cache\/982e9_claridge-condo.JPG\" alt=\"Claridge condo\" width=\"100%\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"figure-caption\">A rendering of the Claridge Homes proposal for the next phase of development on the eastern portion of LeBreton Flats, with the 55-storey condo tower at centre. (Urban Strategies)<\/p>\n<p>And, he added, no one envisioned development on the islands right in the centre of the Ottawa River. Indeed, the need to review the policy to protect views came up again during discussions over the Zibi\u00a0plans for Chaudi\u00e8re Island.<\/p>\n<p>In the case of the\u00a0Claridge\u00a0proposal, the panel\u00a0felt the size of the tower took away from the focus of nearby national sites, including the Canadian War Museum,\u00a0the Ottawa River and even Parliament Hill itself. And the panel\u00a0worries that future development, especially west of downtown, will also compromise views of all those national symbols.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We\u00a0have to rethink the\u00a0viewplanes,&#8221; argued Allsop. &#8220;I do think we need to be a bit more careful.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p \/>\n<p \/>\n<p>Article source: http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/ottawa\/national-capital-ottawa-protected-views-review-tall-towers-1.3939415?cmp=rss<\/a>\r\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When plans by Claridge\u00a0Homes to develop\u00a0the eastern portion of\u00a0LeBreton\u00a0Flats went to city&#8217;s urban design review panel earlier this month, the feedback was unanimous: the park system is a great idea, but the\u00a055-storey\u00a0condo tower is too tall. The planners and architects on the panel were concerned the building&#8217;s height wasn&#8217;t just out of scale with its [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64512,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[84],"class_list":["post-64511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political","tag-political"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}