Bay Ward Councillor Theresa Kavanaugh has asked community associations to share the following information from the Ottawa Public Health Agency and City of Ottawa:

On Wednesday, March 25th, the City of Ottawa declared a state of emergency in dealing with the global COVID-19 pandemic.

We are making efforts to flatten the curve and ensure that this virus is not able to spread by following strong health protocols. The global pandemic is creating havoc around the world and we in Canada are not safe. We need to remain vigilant in following strict health protocols of physical distancing and hygiene, particularly hand washing, as stated by Ottawa Public Health and Health Canada.  The City is taking strong measures to help prevent the spread of this virus.

It is important to recognize that the COVID-19 situation is evolving very quickly. Please refer to OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus to stay up-to-date on the latest information.

For information relevant to businesses and workplaces, please visit: https://www.ottawapublichealth.ca/workplacecovid19

Physical (Social) Distancing

Ottawa Public Health is urging everyone to practice physical (social) distancing. More information on physical (social) distancing for you and your family can be found on our website.

The province of Ontario is ordering non-essential workplaces to close-down as of Tuesday March 24, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. Further details can be found on the OPH website for workplaces.

Our efforts are needed as a community. The actions you take will affect not only you but your loved ones and our community’s most vulnerable residents. While we appreciate that people are thinking of their loved ones, now is not the time to visit them in person. Luckily, we have technology on our side, which enables us to communicate in other creative ways like video chats and group phone calls.

Physical (social) distancing by all is IMPERATIVE to limit transmission in the community, to protect older adults, vulnerable populations and outbreaks in institutions. We must “flatten the curve” so we don’t see spikes in cases. This means that we want to slow down transmission of the virus and reduce the number of cases in the community that happen at the same time, so that our health system continues to work properly. Here are some ways that you and your family can practise physical (social) distancing:

• Talk to your supervisor, manager, or employer about the possibility of working from home where possible.
• Avoid visiting elderly friends or relatives. Use the telephone, video chats or social media to stay connected unless the visit is absolutely essential.
• Avoid all non-essential trips outside your home.
• Keep the windows down if you have to go into the community for an essential trip via taxi or rideshare.
• Cancel group gatherings and limit your contact to those within your home.
• Hold virtual meetings or get-togethers.
• Spend time outside and in settings where people can maintain a two-metre (six feet) distance from each other.
• Take precautions to maintain distance in shared spaces in multi-unit dwellings;
  • Avoid crowded elevators (wait for an empty one if you can).
  • Avoid using the mail room or laundry room at the same time as other residents (keep to a small number at a time to maintain distance).

Physical (social) distancing does not mean emotional distancing. Check in with others by phone or other technology. Check in with yourself. It’s ok not to be ok. Please know that help is available, and we encourage you to reach out to Distress Centre of Ottawa to connect with someone at 613-238-3311 if needed.

 Self-Isolation

Many people are returning home from March Break or winter travel and will need groceries and essential items. It is imperative that all returning travellers self-isolate for 14 days, so groceries and essential items should be picked up by a family member or friend, or through on-line ordering options. Visit our website for further guidance on self-isolation. We have been working with the Ottawa International Airport to ensure this is being communicated clearly to returning travellers.

You also need to self-isolate if you live with, provided care for, or spent extensive time with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, OR is suspected to have COVID-19, OR who has respiratory symptoms (fever, cough, or shortness of breath) that started within 14 days of travel outside of Canada.

Human Needs Taskforce

 Our community partners are working together through the City’s Human Needs Task Force for those requiring assistance.  The task force is receiving, assessing and triaging all social and human needs inquiries, while mobilizing and supporting community organizations to address urgent community needs. The Human Needs Task Force aligns internal city resources, external partners, existing funding and new funding to community need.

 Outreach to Isolated Seniors

• The Good Companions’ Seniors Centre Without Walls has expanded its services with a focus on outreach to vulnerable and isolated seniors and other populations. Emotional and practical support is provided via telephone. In addition, they have trained 20 agencies (32 staff) to do similar outreach calls through various programs.
• Rural Ottawa Support Services is working with Good Companions to provide similar telephone outreach and practical supports to isolated seniors through their A Friendly Voice program, which does wellness calls connecting seniors to local services and programs.
• Ottawa Community Housing has facilitated wellness check phone calls to approximately 2,700 residents, focusing on people identified on the Fire Evacuation List.

Food Security

• Ottawa Food Bank is supporting the emergency food centres and are coordinating with other task force members to sort and deliver food where needed. Demand has increased by 30 per cent across community food banks. They are working with the Salvation Army to support distribution of food hampers offered by local restauranteurs. The City is providing facility space for safe storage of food hampers.
• Meals on Wheels has been increasing offers of frozen food for seniors in the Ottawa area and connecting with Ottawa Food Bank to provide hamper supplies and deliveries. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, they are delivering 100 fresh and 700 frozen meals daily. These services have ensured a supply of full dinners for those individuals in need.

Urgent Transportation

• Working with other non-profit organizations, the Good Companions and Champlain Community Support Network are coordinating urgent transportation to medical appointments, assessment centres, and food centres/grocery stores for those with financial constraints, transportation difficulties, and/or health and mobility issues.
• Services can be accessed by contacting Good Companions website or by telephone at 613-236-0428.

Volunteer Coordination

• The City and United Way of Eastern Ontario are developing a plan to support volunteer coordination during the COVID-19 pandemic. Volunteer Ottawa has established a pool of pre-screened volunteers and will continue to accept new applicants.

Stay Updated

Information is changing rapidly and Ottawa Public Health is working around the clock to provide information to the public as soon as possible.

Please share this information and receive the latest updates by:

• Visiting OttawaPublicHealth.ca/Coronavirus frequently
• Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/ottawahealth
• Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/ottawahealth

Reduce the spread of germs including the flu and COVID-19

• Wash your hands often with soap and water, or use hand sanitizer.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth unless you have just cleaned your hands.
• Cover your cough and sneeze with a tissue or into your arm, not your hand.
• Stay home if you are sick.

The City of Ottawa is reviewing the boundaries of its 23 wards for the first time since 2005. Ottawa has seen considerable population growth in the last 15 years, with some wards growing twice as fast as others. Periodic reviews aim to balance population numbers and achieve effective representation.

There are two rounds of public consultation during which residents and businesses will be able to share their thoughts:

Round 1 takes place from March 4 to April 3 and is focused on changes the public wants to see to current ward boundaries. For example, how issues with current ward boundaries might be rectified, how many wards Ottawa should have and how many people there should be in each ward.

In light of Ottawa Public Health’s social distancing recommendation, in-person meetings for this round have been cancelled. Residents and stakeholders are instead encouraged to complete the online survey, submit input through the guestbook, or provide written input to wardboundary@ottawa.ca. Presentation slides and a comprehensive background document are available on the project website.

Round 2, which begins June 12 and runs until September 20, will collect thoughts on some proposed options.

This meeting is cancelled due to Ottawa Public Health’s social distancing recommendation. Please contact the Committee Office at cofa@ottawa.ca with your comments.

*****

The GPCA received an email from the Committee of Adjustment for the City of Ottawa, notifying residents of public hearings taking place on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. These hearings include applications for properties in Glabar Park.

Please review the map and follow the links below for details of the applications to be heard by each of the Committee Panels. You can submit your comments to the Committee Office at cofa@ottawa.ca until March 11, 2020.

Panel 1

Panel 2

Panel 3

The application materials available online include the Public Notice and Circulation Map, as well as Surveys, Site Plans and Elevation Drawings, where applicable. To view the complete file, please visit the Committee office at the following address:

Committee of Adjustment

City of Ottawa

Ben Franklin Place

101 Centrepointe Drive, 4th Floor

(P) 613-580-2436

(F) 613-580-2425

If you have any questions or concerns with the applications, or if you any difficulty accessing the application materials online, please contact the Committee office.

Join us at Kingsmere Park on January 25^th from 12pm to 3pm for an afternoon of horse-drawn sleigh rides, skating and marshmallow toasting. Members of your community association will be serving up hot dogs (for purchase), hot chocolate (complementary) and coffee (courtesy of Bridgehead). We’ll also have arts and crafts in the fieldhouse. Weather reports are calling for a daytime temperature of 0^oC and 5 cm of snow, so it should be a beautiful day.

Neighbours of all ages welcome. Hope to see you there!

The GPCA received the following email from the City of Ottawa, regarding the Residential Fourth Density (R4) Zoning Review: 

The City of Ottawa has produced a Discussion Paper proposing changes to the R4 family of zones, in order to enable and encourage the development of small, affordable and context-sensitive infill apartment dwellings in and around downtown. The Discussion Paper and other materials can be found at Ottawa.ca/R4Zoning. 

***Please note that the deadline to comment on this Discussion Paper has been extended to February 21, 2020.*** 

Comments can be sent to Tim Moerman:
Email: tim.moerman@ottawa.ca or R4Zoning@ottawa.ca
Mail:    R4 Zoning Review
            c/o Tim J. Moerman
            Ottawa City Hall
            110 Laurier Avenue West
            Mail Code 01-14
            Ottawa, ON K1P 1J1
Fax:     (613) 580-2459 

R4 Phase 2 Zoning Review: Executive Summary

A liveable city needs affordable housing suited to a range of household types, tenures and incomes. The city’s R4 family of zones is intended to permit low-rise apartment buildings, which are an essential part of a healthy and diverse housing mix. 

However, the existing R4 rules were established decades ago, and are increasingly misaligned with today’s realities of lot fabric, land costs and changing demand. Instead of regulating low-rise apartment development, the current zoning typically prevents or discourages it. This has exacerbated an ongoing and increasingly dire shortage of rental apartments, rising rents and hardship for the one in three Ottawa households who rent their homes. 

The R4 Phase 2 Zoning Review will help to improve housing affordability and choice in neighbourhoods in and around downtown by enabling and encouraging the development of small, affordable and context-sensitive infill apartment dwellings within the current R4 zone. 

The proposed zoning changes will: 

• Revise the lot width and area standards to permit as-of-right low-rise apartment buildings to be developed without the need for lot consolidation or variances; 
• Enable buildings of eight to twelve units, within the currently permitted envelope and height limits, on R4 lots that otherwise would have been restricted to three or four units. These changes will tend to produce more affordable and adaptable two- and three-bedroom apartments, instead of the large but expensive units encouraged by the current zoning; 
• Introduce basic design standards to the zoning, including requirements for facade articulation and for doors, windows and balconies facing the street. This will help to ensure that new apartment buildings are not anonymous and faceless boxes, but instead integrate with and contribute to the public realm; 
• Modify current amenity area requirements to focus on intensive, quality greenspace and trees more appropriate to an urban site and context; and, 
• Ensure that surface parking is not permitted to replace, encroach upon or degrade the green spaces, trees, walkways and other functional areas needed to ensure a compatible infill apartment building. 
• The proposed zoning changes will apply only to lands currently zoned R4, and only within a defined part of the inner urban area (being generally Wards 12 through 17.) Within those lands, substantive changes will apply only to the Three-unit Dwelling, Low-rise Apartment Dwelling and Stacked Dwelling typologies as defined by the Zoning By-law. (Figure 1.) 

Figure 1: Map of the R4 Phase 2 Study Area 

 The City is seeking feedback on these proposals no later than February 21, 2020.