Auditor general flags 'inappropriate' communications from city staff regarding Barrhaven development
CTV
The city of Ottawa's auditor general has found that city staff inappropriately endorsed a proposal for a development in Barrhaven and left city council out of the loop on key decisions.
The city of Ottawa's auditor general has found that city staff inappropriately endorsed a proposal for a development in Barrhaven and left city council out of the loop on key decisions.
The investigation began after a tip to the city's fraud and waste hotline, Auditor General Nathalie Gougeon said in a report prepared for Monday's audit committee meeting.
The development in question is called The Conservancy, described by the developer, Caivan, as a "master-planned community" set along the Jock River. According to images on the developer's website, the development is bordered by the Jock River to the south, Highway 416 to the west, Strandherd Drive to the north and Greenbank Road to the east. Homes for sale range in size from 2,154 sq. ft. to 4,396 sq. ft.
Council approved an official plan amendment for the development on April 25, 2018 to designate the area as residential.
The site, however, is on the Jock River floodplain. Typically, residential development is not permitted on floodplains for a variety of environmental and safety reasons. During the application process in 2018, it was determined that a review of the flood line would be undertaken, given that the last update was from 2005. Should the line move, development could proceed on land no longer considered part of the floodplain.
Gougeon's investigation found, however, that the floodplain review was never completed because the city and the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority (RVCA) agreed that the results would not be substantially different from what was determined in 2005 and the review would not be appropriate value for money.
Despite this determination, then-mayor Jim Watson and the city's general manager of planning, infrastructure and economic development at the time, Stephen Willis, wrote a letter to the RVCA on March 13, 2019 to "reemphasize the importance of completing the Barrhaven community" and to "reinforce the floodplain mapping update with priority."
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