Infill Housing # 17

# 65 Kenora is history. It was demolished on September 23rd.

Although I notified the city forestry department of this impending demolition, months in advance, the two city trees in front of it were also destroyed. I understand that it would have been difficult to construct the doubles with both trees remaining, but I had hoped that maybe the tree which was on the front corner of the property, might have been spared.

However, upon reading the forestry departments' explanation for this decision, I understand that perhaps these particular trees were not the best ones for this location.

According to the city forestry department:

"All trees are greatly impacted by even a little site disturbance. In this case, the site will be massively altered. The amount of root loss is too significant for the overall retention. Trees will foliate for a few seasons but inevitably slowly die back, leaving the Forestry dept to remove the tree and stump, then replant, all at  our expense.

-Large site alterations and root loss would create a structural stability concern with this Norway Maple, thus leaving the tree to be compromised and a safety concern.

-The Crimson King “Norway” Maple is not suitable to have been planted under the Hydro Utility lines and should have most definitely never have been planted in that location. Both trees were planted under the lines and very much too close to one another to actually thrive for any length of time.

-This species of tree is considered invasive in our region due to numerous ailments and site conditions.

-As the building permits were granted, receiving monetary compensation for the inevitable death of these trees was a best case scenario. We now have more funds to plant within the community, Forestry will require the developer to plant the “Right tree in the right place”  considering the overhead hydro lines. Additionally, building code services collected the $700.00 tree planting deposit per address, to ensure planting takes place. If the developer opts out of the planting, Forestry will also retain these funds and plant through our program." 

However, that first paragraph, about site disturbance causing too much root damage, does not bode well for the decision about the tree I desperately want to keep, at #77.  In fact, it seems to sound the death knell for all trees, who are guilty of the venial sin of living in the path of developers' plans for massive houses.

With the house and trees out of the way at #65, we now have the resulting construction madness of a blocked street, truck traffic and constant noise.

Last Sunday, the excavator worked all day long, until darkness fell. In my last post, when listing the characteristics of living in a construction zone, I neglected to mention the shaking of our house. Some mornings I wake up, thinking that we may be experiencing an earthquake. Then I realize that it's 7 am and work has resumed at this latest work site. I'm no structural engineer,  but I'm guessing that this shaking is not beneficial for neighbouring houses. In recent conversations in the neighbourhood,  I was reminded of perhaps the most serious  problem with infill construction - the very real damage which sometimes occurs to neighbouring properties, resulting in long and acrimonious dealings.

So here's my revised list, of the problems associated with living in the middle of a construction zone:

1. The hassle of having large vehicles all over the street, often blocking driveways

2. The dust and dirt that blows everywhere

3. The workers who sometimes leave garbage around

4. The debris, including the cement that was allowed to flow down our street

5. The constant, ever-changing  NOISE!

6. The shaking of neighbouring houses

7. You can never sleep in.

8. The loss of trees, shrubs, gardens and lawns.

9, The damage sometimes inflicted on neighbouring properties and the resulting stress

Infill Housing #16

Our summer of construction was actually a little quieter than expected. That's because the planned renovation at Elmdale School has not started yet. For families affected by the relocation to a distant school, this delay is a major disappointment. Although I'm very weary of the construction in our area, it seems a shame that project has missed out on Ottawa's best months for working outside.

However,  here on Kenora Street it was business as usual. Most days there were maybe ten or twelve trucks and pieces of construction equipment parked up and down the street.

A typical summer day. On the right is the landscaping job at #73. The street is blocked off because of the work at #79.

This view of the commotion at #79 shows the tree at #77. That's the tree that we'd love to save, but we'll probably be told it is too damaged to keep. It looks pretty healthy to us and hides a multitude of sins.

Many days we felt trapped in our own home. It would have been pleasant to sit or perhaps even nap on the verandah, on those perfect summer days. However, we often stayed inside, with the windows closed, become of the ongoing construction chaos. It's not that they tore down the next two houses, slated for demolition this summer. No, instead we endured the exceedingly slow progress of the two projects at #79 and #73.

It's hard to say which aspect of living in a construction zone that I mind the most:

1. the hassle of having large vehicles all over the street, often blocking driveways,
2. the dust and dirt that blows everywhere
3. the workers who sometimes leave garbage around
4. the cement that was allowed to flow down our street
5. the NOISE !

I'd have to say it's the noise. That's the worst. There are different noises every day. As I write this, someone is loading heavy metal objects into a truck, resulting in loud, jarring, clanging  smashes.
Believe me, if there is a noisy way to do something, these guys will do it. Remember the old days when you would shovel dirt into a wheelbarrow? Gone. Now you have to listen to a mini excavator that beeps constantly, as it scrapes across the pavement to load the wheelbarrow, one painstaking load at a time.

The absolute worst day of the summer was the day we endured this particular procedure. Workers parked their vehicle on the lawn of the lovely house (#77) awaiting demolition and ran a hose out to the backyard. When asked, they told me they were removing fill from the back yard at 79. This was accomplished, not with your old fashioned digging but by sucking the dirt out with this truck/hose contraption. The noise was horrific, absolutely horrific. Inside our house, with all the windows closed, you could not hear yourself think. It went on all day long.

The house across from us (#73) has been under construction since May of 2018. It is their landscaping that dragged on so long. It wasn't the owners' fault. There were problems with the wrong materials being ordered, a change in design for the back yard etc. For most of the summer we looked at this.

The landscaping was finally finished sometime in September. Last week there was a cement truck and other equipment there, to repair the sidewalk in front of the house. They have replaced a couple of sections of sidewalk but there are more damaged sections to be replaced. Apparently developers have to pay for the sidewalk sections that they damage.  The city will be back to replace the other sections at a later date.

With the landscaping finally complete at # 73, we can be thankful that project is finished. However the doubles at #79 are nowhere near the finish line. There are always trucks there, with workers coming and going.

Here's the worst thought of all. There is no end in sight. Even when they finally finish # 79, we have two other properties on our block to go through the same horrible process.