New Barrhaven downtown plans to be debated at city hall Thursday

Downtown Barrhaven plan long overdue Councillor promotes plan to upgrade infrastructure in the fast growing suburb, CTV's Megan Shaw reports.

Ottawa — A proposed plan for a new downtown in Barrhaven will be up for debate at city hall Thursday.

“I couldn’t be more pleased,” Coun. Jan Harder, chair of planning committee which will discuss the report, said earlier this week. “I am excited to kick start Barrhaven’s Downtown."

A sign posted near a large field on Longfields Drive alerts residents to the proposal for new activity on the Barrhaven Town Centre lands, which is bound by Standherd Drive to the north, Longfields Drive to the east, the Jock River to the south and the Kennedy-Burnett Stormwater Management facility to the west. That's 165 hectares of land.

With Barrhaven reaching 100,000 in population Harder says it is ready for “this next big step.”

The new plan references minimum density around rapid transit stations, while maximizing parkland opportunities to support a dense urban environment and a flexible range of uses fostering a mixed-use environment, according to the report to planning committee by Minto Communities and Richcraft Homes.

The report includes plans to turn Chapman Mills Drive into a mixed-use corridor on both sides that will feature “developments that activate the street and provide visual interest.”

Under the new plan, building heights would also be altered to a minimum of two storeys and a maximum of 30 storeys.

"Reducing the number of condos (currently approved is a 100 year supply), raising the height, enhancing the urban parks, creating cultural and celebration spaces, and defining the mix of urban lifestyle and shopping/working, Barrhaven’s downtown will be the place to be," Harder said in a follow-up email.

The report says the mixed-use development could create over 10,000 jobs.