The City of Ottawa is updating a bylaw that will affect how you can grow food in your residential boulevard (the front of your front yard).
- Removing the existing prohibition on growing food in the residential boulevard
- Allowing moveable containers within the residential boulevard on a seasonal basis
- Requiring residents to sign an online letter of acknowledgement for growing food in the residential boulevard
What’s still missing from these updates:
- Allow residents to use soil retaining structures (i.e. raised beds, soil retaining walls)
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- All residential homes in Ottawa should be allowed to have non-removeable, low to the ground, permanent beds using long-lasting materials (i.e. wood, large stone, etc) to retain healthy soil to grow plants, including food
- There are thousands upon thousands of homes that already have raised beds (not just containers) and retaining walls in their front yards, including in the boulevard
- Snow plows are already managing to clear sidewalks and roads where these structures have already existed for many decades
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Additional recommendations:
- Allow residents to plant their own trees in the boulevard
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- Planting fruit/sap/nut trees in the boulevard at the residents’ expense, given the limited variety of trees from the Trees in Trust Program
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- Develop a clear outreach strategy for communications
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- A clear plan for communications that will include a letter when the bylaw is passed
- Ensure materials are available in multiple languages
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- Update height measurements for objects farther than 1m away from the road/curb
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- For yards that have larger residential boulevards, height restrictions should be increased for areas that are past 1m away from the curb/road/sidewalk, to allow greater flexibility in plant options and biodiversity while not impacting sight lines
To let the City know why you think this is important:
Click here to fill out this survey now!
Before Dec 31st, 2024
Background information:
Last year, Ottawa’s City Council passed amendments to the Use and Care of Roads By-law (By-law No. 2003-498) which allowed residents to plant gardens within the right-of-way, but did not allow for growing food. Through community efforts and advocacy, City Council directed staff to return with an updated plan to review allowing food to be grown in the right-of-way. For more information on this background, click here.
What is the Residential Boulevard?
The residential boulevard, also known as the right-of-way, is the City-owned parcel that is part of every property owner’s land, to allow for utilities, road/sidewalk maintenance, etc.
To view the right-of-way on your property, visit GeoOttawa here, enter your address, and click this icon in the top right corner.
