Fisher Avenue residents fighting city’s proposed plan to make street a ‘minor corridor’

Driving through Fisher Avenue in the city’s west end just south of Carling Avenue, lawn signs line the street — signs that have a clear message to the city: to keep Fisher Avenue Green.

With signs almost every lawn, it’s clear residents are putting up a fight to stop the city’s new official plan, which predesignates the street as a “minor corridor.”

Fisher Avenue North — situated between Carling Avenue and Baseline Road — is a two-lane residential street and school area with zoning that mostly limits building heights to three storeys on its west side, the website details.

It’s also integrated to the Experimental Farm National Historic Site and lined by an urban forest area on its east side.

But now that area, the campaign says, is targeted for intensification through the new plan, which will replace the current zoning on the street’s west side of homes and allow for six storey buildings, street-front businesses and more.

“[Residents’] concern is the forest is vulnerable if development is encouraged along Fisher, and also traffic flows will also be greatly impeded,” Nelson Cole, development representative for the Carlington Community Association, told CityNews Ottawa. “Eventually we’re asking Coun. Riley Brockington and city council to exempt Fisher Avenue, north of Baseline, from the court order designation.”

For now, there are no plans to develop the east side, which is forest.

The campaign claims the “increased development will hamper the street’s ability to continue to be used as a north-south route.”

“We want to maintain the trees there and the greenery it provides,” Coyle explained. “There’s also water control and wind management for the open fields for farms in the area. It’s a beautiful area that people use for walking and recreation. It’s an old growth part of the city there where there’s a lot of mature trees.”

The website and campaign is an effort by neighbours from the Carlington community that started back in March 2020 after they learned about the draft official plan for the area.

At this stage, Coyle said, the city can’t widen Fisher Avenue, so putting more bigger buildings along the street is going to have a negative effect and jam up the street.

At this point, it’s tough to tell what kind of progress the group has made in their fight, Coyle said, as they haven’t heard the second drag of the plan, which is due out in the fall.

The group urges anyone interested in helping to provide feedback to the City of Ottawa and sign an online petition.

Other suggested methods include writing your city councillor (Riley Brockington is the councillor for the ward where Fisher North is located), as well as writing to Alain Miguelex, the manager of policy planning.