Article content

LeBreton Flats needs to be a showpiece neighbourhood once it’s rebuilt, the city says, as long as it costs the city government as little as possible.

It wants nothing to do with cleaning up contaminated ground in the former industrial neighbourhood, for instance. It wants users of a new hockey arena there to pay for extra transit service for games and concerts. It doesn’t want new parks and civic spaces there to be too fancy to maintain.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or City doesn't want to cover LeBreton Flats cleanup costs, report reveals Back to video

This is all laid out in the bargaining positions Mayor Jim Watson should take into talks with the National Capital Commission and the consortium led by the Ottawa Senators that’s planning the massive redevelopment, according to the city’s planning department. The department released the recommendations Friday afternoon, ahead of a vote by city council’s powerful finance committee on Nov. 7.

The city isn’t exactly a partner in the plans. The National Capital Commission owns LeBreton Flats and will sell much of it to the RendezVous LeBreton Group with the Senators at the head, if the two reach a final agreement on how the redevelopment should go. But the project will need city roads, city water and sewer pipes, and city bus and train service, and will be governed by city plans and zoning rules. So the city will be at the table with the NCC and the Sens group to hammer out agreements over several months.