Marianne Wilkinson Councillor, Kanata North Ward Picnic

Mark July 30th on your calendar for the first annual Kanata North Picnic. This event will include children's activities, a free barbeque, a chance to meet your Councillor and your neighbours, information and more. Watch this column for details.

Highway 417 Widening

I participated in the official start of the widening of Highway 417 on June 27th. The present contract will see four lanes in each direction from Highway 416 to the March/Campeau interchanges. This is one additional lane to the present highway with the addition being the high occupancy (OH) lane which is exclusively for vehicles with at least two people in them. Two lanes will be for other traffic and one for the bus lane. Access from 416 to Moodie Drive will no longer be permitted. Future stages will be an new interchange at March/Eagleson, continuing the 8 lanes to Scotiabank Place and then 6 lanes to Highway 7. Public meetings on the design of the interchange will be held by early 2008.

New Commercial Development - March Road and Town Centre

Two applications to amend the official plan and zoning bylaw for two areas in Kanata North are on the Planning Committee agenda for July 10th. The first is for the lands immediately to the south of the Canadian Tire Store with access from Didsbury Road. The change is from a low density employment area to same category with certain exceptions which permits some retail development. The applicant proposes to build in two phases. The first consists of two buildings -a six storey self-storage facility with an indoor drive-in vehicle loading area, retail store, offices and board room with a second one-storey optical store building. The second stage consists of a larger retail facility. The plan also includes a 25 metre wide corridor for the extension of the transitway to Scotiabank Place and beyond. The second application is to permit a shopping centre on the east side of March Road across from Morgan's Grant and south of Maxwell Bridge road. The change is from Enterprise area to General Urban in the official plan and to special general commercial and open space (along Shirley's Brook) in the zoning bylaw. The bylaw would also permit housing above the stores. This is a beautiful site that is well suited to such housing and there is a great need for smaller, low cost rental accommodation for employees of the Kanata North Business Park. You can view the staff report on each of these applications by going to the City website at ottawa.ca and clicking first on Council agendas on the right side and

then on the Planning Committee agenda for July 10th. Scroll down the agenda to the item and click on the blue number at the agenda item to bring up the report. If you have questions or suggestions on these applications please contact me in advance of the meeting. You can also contact the committee secretary to appear in front of the committee and voice your views. Each presenter has 5 minutes for their presentation. The meeting is held at City Hall starting at 9:30 am.

Strategic Directions Public Hearings

A reminder that Council will hear from members of the public on the Strategic Directions report on July 9th starting at 9:30 am. You can book a time for a 5 minute presentation by email at specialmeeting@ottawa.ca or by phone to 613580-2424 extension 28136. Council will consider the report on July 11th. Over the summer I will be participating on the Committee costing the objectives. You'll have an opportunity to comment on that report and then on the work plan (called a Corporate Plan) to be developed by late September.

Thank You's
Thank you to all who participated in the first city-wide Give-Away Day. Many people benefited from your free gifts and we were able to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills. I would appreciate receiving your comments, pro or con, about this event as we'll be having a wrap-up meeting in a few weeks. Thanks to the organizers of Canada Day in Kanata. This huge event is entirely organized by volunteers and once again they put on a splendid show. I know they can always use more help so feel free to step in and participate in continuing this event next year. I'm happy to put you in touch with the organizers. Thank you for the flowers, cards and well wishes during my recent bout with Breast Cancer. I'm happy to report that because I have had regular mammograms the tumour was very small, the cancer had not spread and I've recovered quickly. I'm fully back in operation and expect no setbacks when I undergo preventative radiation treatments later this summer.

Coming Events
July 30 - 1st Annual Kanata North Picnic

Serving the residents and businesses in Kanata North

To receive the Kanata North Newsletter, to deal with a concern or make a suggestion contact me at City Hall at 613-580-2474 or by email Marianne.Wilkinson@ottawa.ca or through www.mariannewilkinson.com