City of Ottawa's Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan for the former Domtar Properties

Windmill Developments, in partnership with the City of Ottawa and the City of Gatineau, will develop two separate but complementary sustainable neighbourhood action plans — one for each city, the application for the City of Gatineau is GMF 13062. The plans will guide the redevelopment of a former industrial site, addressing a range of environmental and socioeconomic goals for the National Capital Region. This application is for the plan focusing on the Ottawa area of the site. Windmill, Ottawa and Gatineau will collaborate to transform the site into a national model of a sustainable community. Known as the Domtar lands, this 37-acre site is located less than one kilometer from Parliament Hill, stretching across the Ottawa River and the Ontario–Quebec border. After 200 years of industrial activity, this area just steps from Ottawa’s and Gatineau’s downtowns sits contaminated and underused. The plan will explore options for significant new housing, restaurants, retail and office space, tourist and heritage sites, and recreational green space that would restore local biodiversity. Windmill will develop the plan based on the One Planet Living sustainability framework. The team will set triple-bottom-line development objectives around ten guiding principles: zero carbon, zero waste, sustainable transportation, water and materials, and others that integrate culture, heritage, land use and public health. To achieve these objectives, Windmill will identify specific targets with measurable indicators such as vehicle kilometre traveled, 90% walk home score (sustainable transport), and 12% open space identified. Windmill envisions two deliverables from this process: a sustainable neighbourhood action plan, consisting of a site master plan that describes land uses, densities, infrastructure and building size and locations; along with prioritized actions and strategies, and rezoning applications. In conjunction with Ottawa representatives and qualified consultants, Windmill will lead a broad consultation process to engage municipal, provincial, federal, First Nations, business and local stakeholders, and will create a Sustainability Steering Group to coordination stakeholder outreach. The City of Ottawa’s active involvement will ensure the plan aligns with municipal strategies, including the City of Ottawa’s Official Plan, its Downtown Ottawa Urban Design Strategy, Sustainability Plan, and "Framing Our Future: A Plan for Sustainability and Resilience in Canada's Capital Region" which is a joint City of Ottawa, City of Gatineau and National Capital Commission document. The National Capital Commission has also identified this area in its Vision for Core Area Projects. Windmill and Ottawa are approaching this redevelopment project as an opportunity to showcase the cultural and historical significance of the property along with its natural beauty in a community-friendly, mixed use and mixed income, integrated sustainable neighbourhood. This unique multi-jurisdictional initiative will produce valuable knowledge for future regional development in Canada. (Project description from original funding application)