Tewin community has been mapped, and affected residents are skeptical

Rural residents who live smackin the middle of what's slated to become Ottawa's next suburb remain perplexed as to why their area was pegged for urban development, and don't see how thousands of new homes can be built on the soilaround them.

City staff have nowidentified the area that willform the suburb to be called Tewinafter they met monthly with the Algonquins of Ontarioa treaty-negotiating body that includes Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nationand their partner TaggartInvestments.

The map and new urban boundarywill form part of the new official plan, which is set to be approved by city council at the end of October.

After a pivotal council vote last winter, city staff were told to select the land for Tewin that measures about445 hectaresfrom a vast area in the rural southeast end.

Politicians decided to allocate the Algonquins of Ontarioabout a third of the overall1,281-hectare urbanexpansionso itcouldembark on a vision for a sustainable community, but Quebec-based Algonquin chiefs argued this decision could not be definedas reconciliation, as politicians had believed.City staff alsoscoredthe area poorly.

• Council greenlights Algonquins of Ontario land for future suburb
• ANALYSIS | Tewin has councillors making up planning policy on the fly

The area, which stretches betweenLeitrim and Thunder roads and hugs Anderson Road, was found to be most suitable, according to the city's director of long-term planning Don Herweyer.

He told CBC News the area has the fewest environmental constraints, it sitsnearHighway 417,and could be serviced.

Shifting foundations

Piperville Road crossesthe middle of Tewin's proposed arealike a belt, and those who live along the country road talk of little else but the plan for up to 45,000 new residents all around them.

Monica and John Brewer wereshocked by the "brash" and "sudden" decision to choose their area because they have to travel far for groceries,live amid natural wetlands and on soil that shifts, and just recently got their first bus route.

Monica's family has lived in the areasince the 1970sand built homes there, and she says theLeda clay underneath poses problems. Neighbours have spent tens of thousands to repair foundations.

There's going to be ongoing costs that are not going to be covered. ... We know these things are promised and then they're not delivered.- Monica Brewer, rural resident

"I'd like some pretty fancy engineers to tell me, and convince me ...[how] a five-storey walk-up condo[is] not going to shift?" John added, referring to denser buildings required in a more sustainablenew community.

Their neighbours, Kelly and Shannon McInnis, live in a newer home that had 2.4-metre-thick Styrofoampieces installedalongits foundation so the home would not shift.

Studies to come

The Algonquins of Ontario have said a team of experienced engineers confirmthe area can be developed despite concerns raised at last winter's council meeting, including questions about soil conditions andearthquake risk.

Finding answers to such big questions requires more than the seven months since February's meeting, Herweyer says,but staff havecome up with a long to-do list of detailedstudies for council to adopt, whichTewinland owners would pay for.

The cost of taking infrastructure so far out is another big concern.

Officials from Ontario's Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing have said Tewinappeared very far from light-rail transit stations, and recommended the city ensure urban expansion follows provincial planning policies that require infrastructure be cost-effective.

• Province questions including Tewin lands in Ottawa's growth plans

City staff have now drafted a deal to sign with Tewin land owners to ensure "Tewin pays for Tewin" andnew homes could cover costs through anextra development charge.

CBC News calculatedthe city has actually mapped about 800 hectares for Tewin, but Herweyer said that includes areas that aren'tdevelopable and only the 445 hectares approved by council will ultimately be built. The exact boundaries of Tewinalso still need to be "refined" even after the official plan is approved, Herweyer said.

He also noted city council will have four or five more "touch points" before the land is developed.

"This is establishing the baseline and the principles of Tewin," said Herweyer.

Doubts about future costs

Some PipervilleRoad residents say they'refrustrated neither the city nor their councillor, Catherine Kitts, has informed or consulted them about the big plans for their area.

Kitts, who voted in favour of Tewin,said residentfeedback has been mixed, but she was drawn bythe idea of building a transit-oriented, 15-minute community with none of the problems of past suburban design.

"We're going to have to make sure the proof is in the pudding, and ask these difficult questions," said Kitts, who wants staff to assure councillors Tewin isviable and taxpayers will be protected.

Some of her constituents don't thinkthe city will be insulated from financial risk.

"We're 60 years old. We're not children. We know these things are promised and then they're not delivered," said Monica Brewer.

"It's like when I get the phone callsaying I've won a cruise. I don't believe it,"Kelly McInnis agreed.

McInnis called last winter's city council meeting on Tewin a"political grandstand,"during whichpoliticians veered from the agreed process for choosing urban boundary parcels. He felt they should have listened to their own staff, who gave the Tewin lands a poor score.

"I have faith that potentially the provincial government, who has to green-lightit, will sort of see the forest for the trees," he said.