This last week, a new VRTUCAR station was established at Carling & Merivale in the Macie’s Best-Western parking lot. The car is a 4-door Honda Fit hatchback.
You may recall that last February the CCA invited VRTUCAR to talk about car-sharing at our general meeting… We were told then that it might be possible – one day – to have a VRTUCAR station in Carlington. We are very excited to announce that the day has arrived!
Other stations near Carlington are located at 130 Central Park and several along Wellington, Richmond, and Parkdale. With the new station at Carling & Merivale, car-sharing is now much more accessible to many residents in Carlington.
Car-sharing allows VRTUCAR members to access any of 100 vehicles in Ottawa, Gatineau and Kingston (in addition to networks in Montreal, Toronto and elsewhere). Cars can be reserved 24/7 online or by phone for as little as 30 minutes to a few hours or a full day. Each member has a special key that allows them to access any car in the fleet and pays for car usage through a monthly invoice.
This service is especially useful for anyone who needs quick, easy access to a car, without the expense and effort of maintaining one full-time.
If you are curious to learn more, contact VRTUCAR at info@vrtucar.com or 613-798-1900.
You can also see our post from last February (and download VRTUCAR’s presentation) or write to Sarah (sarah.dalle@carlingtoncommunity.org) to find out more about being a VRTUCAR member.
If you bike or walk around Ottawa – the City of Ottawa’s latest online consultation may be of interest to you!
As part of the Building a Liveable Ottawa 2031 review of the Cycling and Pedestrian Master Plans, the City is asking Ottawa residents to provide their input on the future of walking and cycling using a unique online tool.
The tool is available at ottawa.ca/liveableottawa until June 7, 2013.
Through a series of maps and questions, you will be presented with proposed plans for:
- The City’s ultimate cycling network
- Neighbourhood cycling routes, and
- A winter cycling network
The tool allows you to provide feedback on these proposals and also to:
- Plot your preferred cycling routes.
- Identify physical barriers that impede cycling or walking route connectivity.
- Identify the need for a sidewalk or pathway to complete pedestrian connectivity.
- Provide feedback on how comfortable you are when crossing intersections and walking along roadways.
How will the City use this information?
The feedback collected through this tool will be used to, among other things:
- Refine the pedestrian and cycling networks and policies
- Inform cycling and walking safety programs.
- Assist in the prioritization of projects that will be tabled at Transportation Committee in July
Update May 18, 2013: Superior Construction has graciously released to us their concept drawing of the proposed development on 999 Merivale Road.
The Carlington Community Association’s Development Committee is co-hosting a preliminary public viewing of development plans for the lot at 999 Merivale Road. This project has yet to be formally submitted with the City of Ottawa Planning Department and the meeting is the result of an offer from the project applicant to share details of their initial proposal with the community.
If you are interested in knowing more about this proposed development, join us tomorrow (Wednesday May 8) at the Alexander Community Centre in the Little Rascals room at 7pm.
All members of the Carlington Community Association (CCA) and interested members of the wider Carlington community are invited to attend the CCA’s Annual General Meeting Tuesday May 14th, 2013 (time and location details below).
GET INVOLVED
Those interested in standing for election to the board or participating as voters must be members of the association at the time of election. There will be an opportunity for non-members to sign up at the AGM in order to participate. Annual CCA memberships are available on a pay-what-you-can basis with a suggested fee of $10 per individual or $20 per household. You can also sign up online here.
JOIN THE BOARD
The CCA board is made up of a President and a maximum of eight board members. CCA members directly elect a President and up to eight board members at the AGM. Executive positions (such as Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, etc.) are normally selected by the board in June. At this time the nomination committee is looking for community volunteers willing to stand for election as President and as board directors.
This is a great opportunity to get involved in making Carlington an even better place to live. Please contact Chelsea or Wendy (613.761.5631) if you:
- are interested in standing for election;
- wish to find out more about what is involved in being CCA President or a member of the board; and/or;
- want to know more about the nomination/election process;
DETAILS
Date: Tuesday May 14, 2013
Time: 7pm-9pm
Location: Alexander Community Centre, 960 Silver Street
We’re planning the Second Annual Carlington Family Fun Day and we need your help!
Carlington Family Fun Day is happening on Victoria Day Monday, May 20th from 11am to 3pm. Last year we had a great day hosting games and a free BBQ for 500 of our friends and neighbours and it’s guaranteed to be even better this year. It’s going to be a great day of games, food, and fun, but we need YOU to get involved to make it happen.
We need people who can help in all sorts of different ways the day of, including face painting, running children’s craft activities, serving food, set up and take down. If you’d like to help out, please contact Margaux Carson at margaux.carson@carlingtoncommunity.org.
Most of Ottawa’s roads were primarily built to accommodate motor vehicles. As Ottawa grows and develops, the City is ensuring our streets are designed to meet the needs of all people whether they choose to walk, bike, drive or take public transit.
Building a Liveable Ottawa 2031 is a city-wide review of land use, transportation and infrastructure policies that make up the Official Plan, Transportation Master Plan, Infrastructure Master Plan, Cycling Plan and the Pedestrian Plan, with an eye towards making Ottawa a more vibrant, healthy and sustainable city.
The focus of the review is to propose solutions to 12 current planning issues. The outcome of the review will be an updated Official Plan and supporting plans with policies and priorities that influence the future growth of the city for years to come. The last step is the review and approval of the Development Charges (DC) by-law before it expires in July, 2014. Development charges fund a portion of the growth-related costs associated with many services provided by the city.
Ecology Ottawa is a not-for-profit, grassroots, volunteer-driven organization working to make Ottawa the green capital of Canada. They currently have a petition urging Mayor Jim Watson and all Ottawa City Councillors to support the passage and implementation of a comprehensive Complete Streets policy into all planning documents under review. The policy should be applied to the entire urban boundary so that residents in urban Ottawa, as well as citizens living in the suburbs and villages, all benefit from Complete Streets.
Read more:
On Wednesday April 3 the CCA held a special general meeting to discuss the proposed rezoning at 1110 Fisher Avenue. The meeting provided an opportunity for members to weigh in on this issue directly. We heard terrific presentations from the CCA Development Committee as well as a number of individual community members from nearby Trent Street and representatives from Turnbull School who have all studied the proposal closely and who shared their concerns.
Through the course of the discussion a number of community members asked that the CCA make available a concise description of how individual residents wishing to share their concerns about the proposed rezoning could do so. Below you will find three ways to make your voice heard.
1. Submit comments to the planner assigned to review this application, copying Planning Committee members and Councillors. Deadline is Friday April 12. If you’re looking for a comments you can use, the CCA has prepared a draft letter you can copy/paste in the City’s online form. You can access the form by clicking on ‘Send comments to the file lead’ midway down on this page.
2. Lend your name to a Turnbull School petition opposing the proposed rezoning at 1110 Fisher Avenue. A copy of the petition will be posted at the Alexander Community Centre (960 Silver Street) for those wishing to lend their name but who do not have ready access to the Internet.
3. Contribute your input to the CCA’s planning submission regarding this application. Contact Phil Bartlett to review our draft or to submit your comments no later than Wednesday April 10.
