Ottawa city council voted down a proposal for a nine-storey student residence building in Sandy Hill March 26.
The proposal, put forth by private developer Viner Assets, would have allowed developers to go forth with constructing the building to house students at the University of Ottawa.
It was defeated by a 14-9 vote, with Mayor Jim Watson opposing it.
Currently, many students rent apartments in the Sandy Hill area.
The residence building would have replaced six of these apartment buildings.
Councillor Peter Clark, who voted against the project, said a big part of why so many councillors were against the proposal was because of the heritage value of the Sandy Hill neighbourhood and the aesthetic differences the building would have caused if it were built.
A student residence would simply have been “out of place,” Clark said.
He also said student housing would be better dealt with by the universities themselves, and not private developers.
“I think we need to get a dedicated student housing plan . . . by the people who are supposed to do it,” he said.
Councillor David Chernushenko, who also voted against the project, said councillors on his side of the vote were pleasantly surprised.
He said the proposal was voted down in large part because of the community’s reaction to the project.
Chernushenko said the rejection of the project is not meant to inconvenience students.
“It’s not about students. It’s about housing and location,” he said. “I’m not ideologically against it. They just happen to be apartment buildings that students happen to live in.”
Chernushenko said the buildings in the Sandy Hill area are “outstanding examples of a certain time in Ottawa’s history” and that the addition of a nine-storey building would not “transition” well into the neighbourhood.
He also said communities are generally against large numbers of students living in neighbourhoods due to assumptions that noise complaints and property management issues would arise.
But Chernushenko said he does not believe this to be the case, and that “a couple of badly behaved people” do not set the precedent for all students as viewed by the council.
Councillor Rick Chiarelli, who voted down the motion, said council was not voting against student housing in general, but that housing should be the responsibility of either the universities or the municipalities.
Kathryn Hendrick, a spokesperson for developer Viner Assets, declined to comment on council’s decision.
“We respect the political process,” she said.
