Changing the Rules
In June 2021, lawyers for land developer Noel Perera attempted to create a legal loophole in a decades-old agreement that is protecting the green spaces in and around the Cedarhill Golf & Country Club. The forests surrounding Cedarhill welcome residents and guests travelling south along Cedarview Road to Barrhaven. Perera is seeking an Ontario court to set aside specific conditions noted in his original purchase agreement that prohibit use of the golf course landa for anything other than a golf course, so that it may be sold to developers to build hundreds of new, high-intensity dwellings.
Failed First Attempt
The decision by Perera and his legal team to seek to alter the original purchase agreement followed Ottawa City Council's approval of its 10-Year Official Plan in January 2021. That Plan expanded the city's urban boundary for development by approximately 1,000 hectares (1), but deliberately protected all rural and agricultural lands from future development. Perera had anticipated the land on which the golf course operates would be included in the expanded urban boundary; however, the City's decision to protect its rural lands precluded the Cedarhill Golf Course from being added to the urban boundary because its lands and those of Cedarhill Estates and Lytle Avenue are rurally zoned.
Track Record for Failure puts Forests at Risk
This is not the first time Perera has sought to develop a stretch of Cedarview Road. In August 2013, Perera told the Ottawa Citizen (2) he planned to build the City of Ottawa's first gated community. To develop that "luxury housing enclave," Perera had "a woodsy 270-acre swath of land" cleared to build "Onassa Springs." As of April 2024, that planned community has only seen about 25 of the 145 planned homes completed. One hundred and twenty cleared lots remain empty.
What's at Stake?
If successful in his legal challenge, Perera's move to amend the original agreement under which he purchased the golf course from the City of Ottawa in 2001 (TBC) for well below market value will pave the way for him to clear cut even more of the important suburban forest thriving on the edge of Old Barrhaven and the City's greenbelt.
We're asking for your help to Keep Cedarhill Green.