Jan 24, 2025
Statement from Councillor Kelly on the acquisition of Ferry Road Property:
The January 23, 2025 meeting of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee was a marathon and Ward 5 was mentioned many times over during the proceedings. We discussed the acquisition of the property at 5689 Ferry Road, and I directed the city to provide a report that will identify lands that would most benefit from the sort of acquisition and protection that is being offered to the Ferry Rd. property.
While I have made it clear that I do not believe the Ferry Rd. property requires these additional protections at a cost of $2 million, I would like to be informed about any other properties that would meet similar requirements but may currently have less protection than that offered by the zoning and location of the Ferry Rd. property, a zoning and location that prohibits many forms of development and protects the natural area.
In an effort to make better use of this acquisition program to protect properties that are at more risk than the one at Ferry Rd. I am hoping that this report by staff will guide Council on where these protections are most needed and where they do not currently exist. I still believe there was much more that could be accomplished with the $2 million set aside for this, but I am hopeful that, moving forward, we will have a better idea of the comparative benefits of protecting one property over another.
We also received a report about the future of siting of battery energy storage systems in our city. While this report did not specifically mention any current project, the report did make recommendations about how to properly site these projects moving forward. The city is recommending more stringent rules about the need for Council approval with the need for a zoning bylaw amendment and official plan amendment for principal use BESS systems. There have been additional accessory uses of BESS suggested and the Committee passed a motion that would limit the size of these “accessory” BESS projects to 20% of the total lot area or one hectare.
This report creates a framework for how these approvals will look moving forward and ARAC was satisfied that the framework is both permissive enough, while also ensuring that the companies proposing such projects are limited in how large and intrusive their systems can be.
Many residents of Ward 5 are aware that Evolugen has chosen a different location for their Fitzroy BESS project and are currently in the process of engaging that community about their potential new site. Evolugen has not been approved by the City of Ottawa yet and this announcement was simply to clarify that they had decided on a new location, not that the system had been approved and would be in place shortly.
Here's what Councillor Kelly had to say about the issue yesterday (January 23, 2025) at the first ARAC meeting of 2025:
Questions? Here's how to contact our office and stay up to date with Ward 5 issues:
Email: Clarke.Kelly@Ottawa.ca
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