The Planning and Housing Committee in the city of Ottawa has approved a plan to build two high towers on Baseline Road, directly across the street from the Central Experimental Farm, despite federal government concerns about the shadow impact the towers would have on research.

A proposed project at 780 Baseline Road by Theberge Homes includes three towers at the Lonestar Plaza site. While the first 24-story tower was previously approved, staff were directed last November to conduct further analysis for the second and third towers, which will be 24 and 32 stories respectively.

Despite concerns about shadows raised by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the committee approved the proposed project, with opposition from Councillor Riley Brockington.

An amendment was made to allow for a higher podium on the buildings facing Baseline Road, which may mean shorter towers, effectively reducing the amount of shadow on the farm. City planning staff were also directed to work with the developer and Agri-Food Canada on building designs that would further reduce shadowing concerns before submitting an official site plan application.

City staff recommended approval of the project.

Staff said in a report prepared for the committee, "The property is located close to the Central Experimental Farm (CEF), a National Historic Site, which was considered as part of staff's review and recommendations. Comments were received from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) highlighting significant concerns regarding the shadow effects of the proposed development on the Central Experimental Farm as a result of the proposed development." "Despite these comments, the owner provided an updated heritage impact assessment to demonstrate that the proposed development respects the overall cultural heritage value of the Central Experimental Farm as identified in its Statement of Heritage Integrity. Staff met several times with senior staff from Agriculture and AgriFood Canada between November 2023 and the writing of this report to find ways to mitigate impacts and address their concerns."

According to city staff, a report by Miller Engineering concluded that shadows from the proposed development, once fully completed, would not affect the heritage features of the Central Experimental Farm.

The committee report explained: "The updated heritage impact assessment includes an analysis of various clustering options and design measures considered as part of the tower design, partly to mitigate shadow impacts on adjacent properties." "Impacts on heritage resources cannot always be fully avoided, and as such, the city follows a working approach to try to mitigate impacts. In this case, the design and orientation of the proposed towers have already been reviewed throughout the design process partly to mitigate the impact on adjacent properties."

City staff confirmed that the developer is encouraged to consider various design options that could help further mitigate shadow concerns.

AAFC criticizes the report justifying the towers

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada strongly criticized the report which stated the shadow effects would be minimal.

The committee report includes many comments from AAFC opposing the findings, citing errors in Miller Engineering's report which AAFC says is unsupported by evidence.

It explained, "The scientific literature review cited by Miller Engineering led AAFC to question its applicability in this case when considering that most studies refer to plant cultivation in pots/greenhouses rather than fields, and in tropical/Mediterranean climates which are not comparable to Canada. This distorts the credibility of the science conducted in our fields (AAFC outdoor laboratories) which AAFC carries out to produce climate-resilient food crops."

The federal department says shadows cast by the towers will render the land "unusable for research" due to shadow variability.

Sunlight will vary meter by meter; this means test plots that are adjacent or across a path from each other will receive different amounts of sunlight during the growing season. When AAFC selects future varieties for farmers’ fields based on productivity tests conducted in research fields, variable shading makes definitive selection impossible."

According to research by AAFC, shadows cast by the proposed towers will remove a significant amount of daily solar radiation from active plant growth.

AAFC says, "The additional proposed towers will have harmful and irreversible effects on research lands located on the north side of Baseline Road."

Nexdale-Merivale Ward. Sean Devine appears to agree, stating in his comments included in the report that he has concerns about how staff interpret the conclusions of Miller Engineering's report.

He said, "The report appears to conclude that increased shading will not negatively impact the ability to grow crops on site. This would be an acceptable conclusion if the farm was simply a farm, but CEF is a laboratory and any change in conditions has the potential to affect data comparability in long-term studies." "Simply saying some crops can grow there misses the mark significantly."

The municipal government is under increasing pressure from the provincial government to meet aggressive housing targets. Premier Doug Ford has set a goal to build 1.5 million new homes in Ontario by 2031, recently stating that funding allocated to Ontario municipalities that fail to meet their housing targets will be reinvested in other cities.

Ottawa’s official plan calls for most housing growth over the next two decades to be achieved through intensification — that is, developing land more densely than it currently is, and typically taller.

The proposed project will build 1,089 apartments and about 2,850 square meters of commercial space.

The proposal will be brought to the full city council for consideration on February 7.