AG report finds ‘gaps’ in process in connection to Barrhaven housing development

The City of Ottawa’s auditor general has found that municipal representatives mishandled the process as it relates to a major housing development in Barrhaven.

In her report that’s set to be presented to the City’s audit committee on Monday, Nov. 27, Nathalie Gougeon said there were “gaps in city processes that could have resulted in decisions that were not in the best interest of the city or its residents.”

Gougeon noted that her investigation began after a tip to the City’s Fraud and Waste Hotline.

The allegations relate to how approvals and reviews were handled by the City’s planning, real estate and economic development department handled handling of approvals for ‘The Conservancy’, a 140-acre residential development by Caivan in Barrhaven south of Strandherd Drive and north of the Jock River.

Ottawa City Council approved an official plan amendment (OPA) for the development in 2018 to designate the area as residential.

However, the development is planned on the Jock River floodplain and residential development is not permitted on floodplains for a number of environmental and safety reasons.

“As part of the OPA, it was indicated that the City and Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) would be undertaking a review of the Jock River floodplain mapping,” the auditor general’s report said, noting the last review took place in 2005. “That meant that should a floodplain mapping exercise result in the floodplain line moving, there could be the potential for development on this previously unavailable land.”

Gougeon’s investigation found that the review never happened because the City and the RVCA mutually decided that not much would be different from the 2005 review.

The report also states that City staff did not inform city councillors of significant changes to the initial plan that was proposed by Caivan after the developer filed a ‘cut and fill’ application with the RCVA by suggesting to fill a certain volume of land in the floodplain and then cutting that volume out elsewhere.

The plan involved taking away 116,000 cubic metres of soil elsewhere and adding 407,000 cubic metres of soil to the area.

The RCVA said Caivan’s cut-and-fill plan was the largest of its kind ever proposed in the Rideau River watershed. The RVCA approved the developer’s proposal to change the Jock’s floodplain, but the auditor general’s report stated that the RVCA was “inappropriately pressured” by City staff to approve the plan.

The agency requested a letter from the City supporting the application. The letter, written by the City’s director of planning services, Lee Ann Snedden, in November of 2019 confirmed the City supporting the cut and fill application.

Part of the letter said: “we want to reinforce the support council has expressed for this file.”

However, the auditor general’s report found that most councillors were not aware that a cut and fill application was being considered and thought that the review was being done.

“It is not the City’s role as part of the planning process to endorse, support or advocate for a developer’s application with another regulatory body, such as the RVCA,” said Gougeon in her report. “It was confirmed that the issuance of this letter was a violation of departmental processes as this external communication was not signed off on by the general manager.”

Gougeon made three recommendations in her report.

The first asks the general manager of the planning, real estate and economic development department ensure “that key decisions and/or results associated with directions from city council are communicated back to council in a timely manner.”

Management agreed with this assessment and will issue a communication to staff by the end of 2023.

The second recommendation said the general manager of the planning, real estate and economic development department “should establish a formal policy outlining that the City does not take an advocacy or endorsement position for any developer or development as input into a third-party’s decision making.”

Management agreed to have a police in place by the end of the year.

The final recommendation stated the general manager of the planning, real estate and economic development department “should establish a formal role for city of Ottawa subject matter experts in cases where a consultant is hired to conduct a peer review.”

Management said a police would be in place by the end of next June.