Pellerin: So much jargon plagues impenetrable City zoning bylaw amendment

On Monday, we got our first gander at a document that will profoundly change the look and feel of Ottawa. The 96-page beast, entitled ACS2024-PRE-PS-0064 (EN), is a feat of impenetrability I didn’t know was possible. Can we please get pictures?

I’m no stupider than the average bear, I care about this topic a lot and on top of that I’m getting paid to read this kind of stuff. But holy struggle, Batman. So. Much. Grey. Gird your loins, gentle reader, I’m about to give you an example plucked from page 21.

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“The new Zoning By-law is identified in the Municipal Housing Pledge as the primary instrument to improve housing options and housing supply. The Pledge specifically identifies actions to pre-zone strategic growth locations such as around major transit stations, so development of these lands is not delayed by the need for a zoning by-law amendment.”

We’re expected to give feedback on that. Good luck to us, eh?

River Ward Coun. Riley Brockington told the Citizen’s Blair Crawford he worries most Ottawans aren’t familiar with the incoming changes. “How are we going to make the public aware, in very clear language, the depth and scope of what we’re wrestling with and how the city is going to continue to evolve into a city that we won’t recognize?”

[Raises hand.]

Pictures. Drawings. Illustrations. You know, visuals. What would a neighbourhood around major transit look like with quadriplexes and no parking minimum? Make it something the average person, who doesn’t speak like a real-estate lawyer most of the time, thank goodness, can easily understand and ask reasonably informed questions about.

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As a professional enthusiast, I have some idea what “pro-zoning strategic growth locations” means but I can’t ask everyone to be as profoundly weird as I am.

There is a lovely new development by Creative Dev Ventures currently in design phase in the Laurentian Valley near Pembroke that is using the right method to generate interest, public support and, oh yeah, attract homebuyers.

The Urban Edge development’s website includes gorgeous images showing not just plots and plans but homes, trails, coffee shops and — most importantly — the atmosphere of peace and affordability that awaits future residents.

Blueprints and other technical documents are necessary but extremely boring. Carina Guzmán, the CEO of Creative Dev Ventures, knows a thing or two about selling, which is why she’s not leading with technical documents. You sell stuff by making people want it.

The City isn’t trying to make money with its zoning bylaw, but it needs our support to move forward with the kinds of urban and housing policies that will ensure Ottawa grows in a way that promotes community, affordability, practicality and, if we’re lucky, beauty too. It very much is a sales pitch.

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From a marketing perspective, the 96-page document that landed on Monday is covered in loser dust. It is a necessary document that must be publicly available. Easy to find, even. But why does anyone think it’s what they should lead with in trying to get support from residents of Ottawa?

I forget who it was who said, apropos intelligent marketing: You’re not selling a mattress, you’re selling a good night’s sleep. Don’t talk to us about “building heights and densities proposed in mixed-used zones for Hubs and Corridors in transit-oriented areas” (page 23). Make us want to live in precisely that kind of neighbourhood. Show us the dream we want.

There are plenty of talented professionals who can do that. There is also an incredibly cool tool being developed called GATS for “geospatial analytics, technology and solutions,” commonly called Ottawa’s Digital Twin (see pages 26 and 27) and I should totally get a raise for teaching you this much stuff.

Among other features, GATS will allow us to see, in colourful interactive 3D, what proposed developments will look like in their actual location and I can’t say “Yes, please,” loud enough.

I know ACS2024-PRE-PS-0064 (EN) is a first draft but I implore you: Show us images, too.

Brigitte Pellerin (they/them) is an Ottawa writer.

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