East end property gets preliminary OK for development

Ottawa's planning committee has approved a rezoning application that could see the development of a forested triangle of land in the city's east.

The owner of the property atNavanandPagroads,TaggartInvestments, wants to build a grocery store, retail shops anda restaurant, as well as a gas station andcar wash on the site,across Brian Coburn Boulevard from a future park-and-ride lot.

But Innes Coun. Laura Dudas saidthe project can't move ahead untilthe city determines the route ofa future Cumberland Transitway, as well asanextension ofBrian Coburn Boulevard, already becoming a major east-west artery.

Dudas saidthe future road and transit network has to meet the needs of the growing population in the city's east end.

"This one intersection, this one pieceis going to be a vital component of that. It would have been remiss for me to allow this to go ahead without a zoning provision," Dudas said Thursday.

Concerns over traffic, green space

A study of a proposedextension to BrianCoburnBoulevard and a future CumberlandTransitwaywill determine if the city might need to acquire landin that area.That environmental assessmentshould be finished this year.

More than 80residents weighed in on the Taggart proposal duringpublic consultations last summer. Many expressed concern over increasingtraffic and the potential loss of green space.

Dudasagreed the Taggart proposalneeds some tweaking, but noted her constituents also say they want amenities within walking distance of the their homes.