Comment on Proposed Rezoning of Carp Ridge Natural Environment Area ‘A’ in the South March Community

An application has been made to amend the City of Ottawa – Kanata & Regional Official Plans to re-zone a 7.5 ha parcel of forested land (hereinafter the Forest) from Natural Environment Area ‘A’ to General Urban Area and Residential Low Density.  The Forest is located to the southwest of the South March/Morgan’s Grant community in the north end of the former City of Kanata.  The Forest is bounded by the Trillium Woods Natural Environment Area to the south, the Ontario Hydro corridor to the east, the proposedTerry Fox Drive extension to the north, and the South March Highlands Natural Environment Area to the northwest.

If this request for re-zoning is granted, the effect will be to place all environmentally sensitive lands in the Ottawa area, and perhaps the province, in jeopardy.  Designated, environmentally protected lands within the City of Ottawa will be vulnerable to being purchased at a low price (based on their “no development” status), re-zoned and then re-sold at a much higher price.  The value of the land should be determined only on the uses permitted under its environmental designation.  To re-zone this Forest as residential land would set a precedent that would seriously jeopardize future environmental planning in the new City of Ottawa at a time when the pressures and values of Smart Growth, as they are elaborated in the development of Ottawa’s new Official Plan, make such planning ever more critical.  The Ottawa Forests Advisory Committee recommends that the current zoning of the Forest as Natural Environmental Area ‘A’ (NEAA) be retained.  

Specific and detailed reasons for recommending against the re-zoning are as follows:

1.    At a time when the City of Ottawa is seriously considering sustainable development options, with recognition of the important role that NEAAs play in the health of our community, it would be a very unfortunate precedent if this request for rezoning were granted.  Special environmental areas are designated only after thorough studies and completion of an arduous assessment process.  The small percentage of land that is designated NEAA is representative of many other natural areas that, over time, will not be preserved.  Therefore it is vital that the existing Natural Areas designations be respected, and their boundaries maintained. 

2.    The land is contiguous with, and forms a natural continuation of, the Trillium Woods Natural Environment Area, the most extensive area of mature hardwood forest on the Carp Ridge.[i]  The Trillium Woods is a municipally owned forested area that is highly valued by the local community for recreation and nature appreciation activities.  The development of the Forest would reduce the extent of the existing corridor trail systems and would cut off forest access from Trillium Woods to the South March Highlands Wetland Complex for both wildlife and people.  This would have the effect of creating an ecological island of the Trillium Woods Natural Environment Area.

3.    The Forest site is adjacent to the 120-meter wetland boundary of the South March Highlands Wetland Complex, located to the northwest of the site. [ii]  The Forest is also within the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources “South March Highlands Candidate Life Science Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI)”. [iii]  Thus, as an element of an important wildlife corridor and part of a candidate ANSI, the environmental significance of this area is recognized both municipally and provincially.

4.    With respect to the Forest itself, the site is predominantly composed of mature deciduous forests.  According to a recent study this site is a fine example of mature upland forest, which includes such species as Sugar Maple, Beech, White Pine and Red Oak. [iv]   The diversity and predominance of native species in the Forest is impressive and a rich resource for local wildlife.  This type of high quality forest is rare within the urban boundary of the City of Ottawa, and in the North Kanata area the only remnants of this type of forest are located on the Carp Ridge – mostly due to its unsuitability for farming in earlier times.  The Forest is also part of a complex that provides habitat for a number of designated, regionally rare plant species, and such forests will become increasingly important as habitat in the future when surrounding areas are developed.

5.    The current owner of the Forest purchased it after it had been given its designation as Natural Environment Area ‘A’.  The owner should have been well aware that such status precluded residential development.

The Ottawa Forests Advisory Committee recommends that the current zoning of the Forest as Natural Environmental Area ‘A’ (NEAA) be retained.