OTTAWA — A builder has pulled back on plans to construct an 18-storey condo building overlooking the O-Train tracks on the edge of Little Italy, though the nine-storey proposal that’s replaced it would still be a huge change for the neighbourhood.

Crucially, Tamarack Homes’ new plan for the west end of Norman Street fits with “strategic directions” city council has approved for south end Preston Street near Carling Avenue, part of a hasty effort to get control over a thicket of condo towers that developers rushed to build in the area starting about two years ago.

The streets that dead-end at the O-Train tracks are supposed to end up with buildings that max out at nine storeys, and that’s what Tamarack is proposing.

It’s not an end to debate over what should be allowed to be built there but it does signal that Tamarack, at least, doesn’t want to battle the city for a few extra floors.

As a nod to the existing neighbourhood, the Tamarack tower would sit atop a row of townhouse-like units with front doors on Norman. But even the lower, wider part of the building with the townhouses would be four storeys tall, a fair bit higher than the norm in the area.

As with the earlier version of the plan, the condo building would only cover half the block, so houses on the next street north would still have the tower just past their back yards.

Tamarack’s latest documents don’t include a controversial “mews” — either a little pedestrian-friendly laneway that could take a bit of car traffic or a euphemism for a full-blown road, depending how suspicious you are of the city’s planners — that the city has contemplated building alongside the tracks as a solution to the traffic problems expected from a bunch of nine-storey buildings tucked away at the ends of dead-end streets.

The 117-unit building, with no condos having more than two bedrooms, would be most appealing to young couples and singles, and they’ll be less wedded to their cars than traffic models based on U.S. suburban patterns suggest, according to Tamarack’s transportation consultants.

There’s no date yet for Tamarack’s particular project to be considered by city council’s planning committee, but on Feb. 25 there’s a community meeting about the larger plans for the area around Preston Street and Carling Avenue, on how the “strategic directions” are being turned into enforceable rules. It starts at 6 p.m. at St. Anthony’s Banquet Hall, 523 St. Anthony St.

dreevely@ottawacitizen.com

ottawacitizen.com/greaterottawa