Bylaw Services removed 787 listings from Airbnb in the first year of Ottawa's short-term rental bylaw, which only allows property owners to rent out their primary homes.

A new report for the Emergency and Protective Services Committee says the city has issued just over 800 short-term permits for properties in Ottawa, while Airbnb registered at least 12 property management firms or individual managers.

The memo, written by Bylaw Services Director Roger Chapman, says the city refused permits to 46 applicants for various reasons during the first year, "most often because the property is not the applicant's primary residence or because it is not zoned accordingly."

...

The city implemented the Short-Term Rental Bylaw in June 2022, with staff saying the regulations would help manage community nuisance issues arising from short-term rental activity and "protect housing inventory for residential use." The bylaw requires property owners to obtain a permit, which costs $110 for two years, if they planned on renting out their principal residence or part of a residential unit for a period of less than 30 days.

"Although there are over 1,300 Airbnb listings, it is important to note that there is not a one-to-one relationship between hosts and listings," Chapman says.

"A rogue sign spotted on the fence of a Centretown park this week is the talk of social media, but no one seems to know what it means.

Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster posted a photo on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, saying , "A friend of mine spotted this sign in St. Luke's Park on Elgin Street and asked me what it is supposed to be preventing?"

The sign shows an individual in a squat position with their arms extended, and the prohibition sign over the image." ...

Shawn Menard sees parallels between Greenbelt land swap in GTA and a 2022 urban boundary expansion in Ottawa

"Barely a week after Ontario's housing minister resigned in the fallout of a report into the Greenbelt land swap in the GTA, a city councillor wants the province's auditor general to look into another controversial land decision the same minister made in Ottawa.

...

The auditor general's report found the land swaps benefited certain developers. Capital Ward Coun. Shawn Menard sees parallels with Clark's 2022 decision to expand Ottawa's urban boundary by 654 hectares, overriding a previous city decision and concerns development there would be costly for taxpayers."

What is wrong with people?

The cost to rent a one-bedroom apartment surpassed $2,000 a month in Ottawa in August, as the average asking rent reached a record high across Canada.

New statistics from Rentals.ca show the average rent new tenants were asked to pay for a one-bedroom apartment in Ottawa last month was $2,063 a month, up 11.5 per cent from one year ago. The average asking rent for a one-bedroom apartment increased from $1,979 in July and $1,925 in May.

The average cost to rent an apartment was $2,226 a month in Ottawa in August, up 11.9 per cent from August 2022.

"The proposed development committee voted to approve includes the restoration and stabilization of the building and the construction of a three-storey addition at the back, with 14 residential units. There are no parking spaces proposed for the site.

The plan is subject to several conditions, including the implementation of a conservation plan. It also requires that a construction schedule be submitted that outlines anticipated timing of key milestones for the project."

The city of Ottawa will not fulfill its pledge to issue 15,100 building permits a year unless there are "supportive economic conditions" and supports from other stakeholders, according to city staff.

Earlier this year, council endorsed a 'municipal housing pledge,' with strategies to encourage construction of 151,000 new homes across Ottawa by 2031. The Ontario government assigned Ottawa its target as part of a provincial plan to support construction of 1.5 million new homes.

A new report for the city of Ottawa says the city granted land use permissions and development applications for 16,237 new dwellings in the first six months of the year, and issued building permits for 4,514 net new dwellings.

Staff say while Ottawa is "fulfilling its role" to the annual 15,100 target by "providing ample opportunities to issue building permits" for new homes, the city was only 30 per cent to its target for issuing building permits through the January to June period.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/5073269

Non-Paywall Article

Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski became the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam women's doubles title Sunday when she and partner Erin Routliffe took the U.S. Open final in straight sets.

Dabrowski and Routliffe defeated Laura Siegemund of Germany and Vera Zvonareva of Russia 7-6 (9), 6-3 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Dabrowski, 31, became the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam since Bianca Andreescu was the U.S. Open women's singles champion in 2019.

Dabrowski had previously won mixed doubles crowns at the Australian Open in 2018 and the French Open in 2017. The 31-year-old added the U.S. Open in her Grand Slam collection.

Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski and her partner Erin Routliffe, who represents New Zealand but formerly represented Canada, beat Germany's Laura Siegemund and Russia's Vera Zvonareva 7-6(9), 6-3 to claim their first women's doubles Grand Slam title in only their fourth tournament together. Routliffe was born in New Zealand to Canadian parents, but grew up in Caledon, Ont., and now lives in Montreal. Routliffe previously competed for Canada as a junior.

...

The city of Ottawa has pulled jaywalking advertisements from its test ads for an upcoming road safety campaign this fall, after councillors and the public criticized the graphic nature of the ad and its messaging.

One of the ads featured an image of a bloodied pedestrian lying on the ground, with the caption, "You jaywalked to save time. But you lost it. Forever. Cross only where it is safe."

Several councillors called on the city of Ottawa to remove the ad immediately, with Coun. Sean Devine expressing concern with "the ad and the messaging it conveys."

Coun. Ariel Troster also asked staff to pull "this terrible ad" immediately.

"Road violence is caused by driver negligence or bad street design. Blaming pedestrians for crossing the street wrong is offensive," Troster said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter."

...

"We continually flame road violence as an outcome of personal choices yet we all know very well it's the result of our cities choices," Tom Flood said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

"This is an unacceptable ad; victim blaming road violence is not the city I believe in," architect Toon Dreessen said.

....

Statistics provided by Gonthier shows 25 per cent of all fatal and major injury collisions on Ottawa's roads involve pedestrians. The memo provided data on collisions between 2017 and 2021 on Ottawa roads:

• 29 per cent of fatal and major injury collisions involving a pedestrian occurred when a pedestrian was crossing a road midblock (away from an intersection)
• 23 per cent of fatal and major injury collisions involving a pedestrian occurred when a pedestrian with the right-of-way was struck at an intersection by a left turning driver
• 11 per cent of fatal and major injury collisions involving a pedestrian occurred when a pedestrian who did not have the right-of-way was struck by a vehicle travelling straight through an intersection

OC Transpo is increasing the number of trains running on the Confederation Line to respond to increased ridership following Labour Day, including operating some double-car trains during the day to boost capacity.

There has been an increase in ridership on the O-Train line due to back-to-school and work since the summer break, and some riders have complained about full trains and platforms this week.

Starting Monday, the number of single-car trains will increase from 13 to 17, with some of the trains operating in a two-car configuration throughout the day "to provide customers with frequent service," according to Transit Services general manager Renee Amilcar.

"OC Transpo anticipates that this service frequency will provide sufficient capacity for customers," Amilcar said in a memo to council. "The operations team will continue to closely monitor and adjust service as needed."

"Under this option, customers would purchase a discounted fare product valid for a certain number of trips over a certain number of days (for example, 12 trips over a span of 14 consecutive days)," the report says.

"Any travel credits purchased and not used would expire at the end of the period of validity."

Ottawa police are investigating a Saturday night shooting at a wedding reception that left two Toronto men dead and injured six others.

Ottawa police are investigating a Saturday night shooting at a wedding reception that left two Toronto men dead and injured six others.

Bit of a long shot, but are there any in person ASL (sign language) courses in #barrhaven or perhaps south west #ottawa?

"Meantime, the city of Ottawa is reporting a 758 per cent increase in the number of cyclists using Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill. Statistics show 849 cyclists on Wellington Street during a 12-hour period in July 2023, compared to 99 in 2018. The National Capital Commission's Ottawa River Pathway behind Parliament Hill is closed this summer due to construction, with cyclists being detoured from the pathway to Wellington Street."

How this isn't the #1 spot in the city to restrict cars and make it walkable is a real testament to this cities love of cars.

That's a pretty crazy amount of money to come into!

Original Six! Looking forward to supporting them.

I can't find it anywhere. Been to a million pharmacies and nobody has it in stock. Anyone have any idea why, or where I can find some? My allergies have been driving me nuts. Thanks!

The new plaza at Limebank and Earl Armstrong breaks ground Aug 21st. This is across from the new LRT station.

The article was clearly AI generated. Microsoft has killed the original article, giving a 404, pretending it never existed. But, you can see an archived image of it on Imgur.

Even ignoring the ridiculousness of including the Ottawa Food Bank as a destination. Even ignoring the callousness of the line "Consider going into it on an empty stomach", the article is just full of spicy autocomplete nonsense.

• "Participate in the Winterlude, the Capital's winter festival, skate on the world's largest skating rink, or play on North America's largest snow."
• "Go to an Ottawa Senators Game: Ottawa, as Canada's capital draws visitors from around the world who come to see its historic buildings and landmarks, experience its arts and culture and take in the sights and sounds. Denis Potvin are two NHL heroes from Ottawa..."
• "The World's Largest Naturallyfrozen Ice Rink"
• "Discover a Winter Wonderland at Omega Park" (along with a picture of the Canal)