September 17, 2019

Secretary-Treasurer
Committee of Adjustment
101 Centrepointe Drive
Ottawa, ON K2G 5K7

Dear Sirs

In my personal view and as an Ottawa taxpayer and Canadian citizen and one who has
studied architecture and has visited major capital cities in in Europe and the USA, the
proposed addition to the Chateau Laurier is in no sense whatever a “Minor Variance”
that can possibly justify lifting of the Heritage Overlay.

The proposed addition:

• Is aesthetically repulsive so-called “modern architecture” more evocative of the
Trump Wall and not of Canada’s National Capital Precinct;
• Appears to be driven by cost saving and return on investment rather than any
aesthetic or heritage considerations;
• Will destroy treasured views from every vantage point north, east and west of
the locks and the Chateau Laurier itself;
• Ignores a very harmonious and compatible proposal developed by the former
Fairmont owners in 2002;
• Fails by any measure to come even close to the nature and quality in terms of
being harmonious and compatible of the renovations and additions to the old
railway station across the street or the Lord Elgin Hotel a few blocks away;
• Will be an embarrassment and desecration of a UNESCO Heritage Site; and,
• Will be an embarrassment to Canada internationally in terms of the treatment of
heritage sites and capital precincts.

I strongly urge you to reject this application for a so-called Minor Variance

Yours truly,

Howard P. Knopf, M.S., LL.M.

715-11 Holland Ave. | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1Y 4S1

Office Phone: 613-238-8173

Direct Line: 613-563-6514
Fax: 613-235-2508
Cell: 613-286-3279
E-mail: howard.knopf@macerajarzyna.com