HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAO-11-015 - Downtown Banner Policy - Modifications to CouncilStaff Report
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REPORT T0: Councillor Kelly Galloway
Community & Infrastructure Services Committee
DATE OF MEETING: June 20, 2011
SUBMITTED BY: Rod Regier, Executive Director Economic Development
PREPARED BY: Cory Bluhm, Manager of Downtown Community
Development
Jeff Young, Manager of Special Events
WARD(S) INVOLVED: 9 and 10
DATE OF REPORT: June 2, 2011
REPORT NO.: CAO-11-015
SUBJECT: Downtown Banner Policy
Modifications to Council Policy I-1185
RECOMMENDATION:
That the modifications to Council Policy I-1185 be approved in the form shown in the
appendix of the report, which generally include:
• Permitting the use of banners for City-related lifestyle marketing and brand
development;
• Permitting the placement of banners for specific events, lifestyle marketing and
brand development in excess of 3 weeks at a time;
• Establishing an application fee for new banner requests in the amount of $250; and,
• Establishing guidelines for the placement of new banner requests.
BACKGROUND:
The City of Kitchener hangs banners on streetlights throughout the Downtown, particularly along
King Street. The primary purpose is to promote major festivals while adding colour and interest
to the streetscape. As part of our support for major festivals, the City hangs banners for major
Downtown Events (ex: Tapestry, Cruising King Street, Kitchener Blues Festival, Kidspark, etc.).
Council Policy I-1185 recognizes events for this purpose.
Although rare, the City does receive requests from external festivals to place banners on our
street poles. These are only accommodated if the event is not-for-profit and of interest or
benefit to the Kitchener community. Event organizers are required to provide the banners and
pay for any installation and removal costs. The Council policy authorizes the Manager of
Special Events as the approval authority for these requests.
In addition, the City used to provide cross-street banners at 3 locations. Unfortunately, these
poles continually fell into disrepair (due to wind resistance) and became a potential safety
hazard. As the City did not have a budget item to continually repair and replace these poles,
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they have subsequently been removed. However, as part of the King Street streetscape
upgrade, the City acquired 4 digital kiosks which are slated for installation in 2011. These
kiosks will provide event organizers with acost-effective alternative to the cross-street banners.
REPORT:
Staff have reviewed the current banner policy, and suggest the following changes:
1) Expand the Scope of the Banner Program
The current policy only permits street banners which promote festivals and events. The revised
policy will allow for lifestyle and/or marketing based banners, but only if the banners are
associated with Downtown Kitchener, a City initiative or a City facility (such as the Market). This
would also accommodate lifestyle and/or marketing based banner request from the Downtown
Kitchener BIA.
2) Expand the duration a banner can be hung for specific events, lifestyle marketing and
marketing
The current policy limits the length of time a banner can be placed on a pole to 3 weeks. For
example, Oktoberfest banners would normally be displayed only in October. Staff, however,
believe there are cross-promotional benefits that can be gained by allowing banners to be
displayed throughout the summer. This would only pertain to the events recognized in the
policy. New banner requests would still be limited to 3 weeks. Likewise, to maximize the
effectiveness of marketing based banners, the duration a banner can be displayed should be
limited by the length of the initiative, and not limited to 3 weeks.
3) Establish an Application Fee for New Banner Requests
The current policy only requires organizations to pay for the costs associated with designing,
manufacturing, installing and removing the banners. However, the review and coordination
process requires staff time, estimated at $500 per request. As such, staff recommend a fee of
$250 per request to offset the additional staff resources required. City-associated departments
and facilities, such as Centre In The Square and the Kitchener Market, would be exempt from
paying the application fee. Staff will also establish a formal application form.
4) Establish Guidelines for the Placement of New Banner Requests
Presently, when a new event organization puts in a request to hang banners, there are no
guidelines on the appropriate location for these banners. To ensure an attractive streetscape,
staff recommend requiring organizations to provide banners for all poles within a given block.
To ensure equity and cross promotion for all events, staff also recommend limiting banners for
an event to a maximum of four blocks. For example, if the Cruising on King event organizers
wanted their banners on every pole, they would be limited to just four blocks. This would allow
the remaining 8 blocks to be used by other events.
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5) Removing References to Cross-Street Banners
As the City no longer operates cross-street banners, there is no longer a need to include
associated guidelines and specifications. As such, all references have been removed from the
policy.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
Organizations requesting the placement of banners will be required to cover all the costs
associated with installation and removal. In addition, staff recommend a new fee associated
with the review process for banner requests, in the amount of $250, which would be directed to
General Revenues. City-associated departments and facilities would be exempt from the fee.
Very few new banner requests are anticipated.
CONCLUSION:
The proposed modifications to the Council Policy provide staff with both greater direction on
handling new banner requests, while also providing greater flexibility in ensuring a high quality
banner program and overall visual appeal of the Downtown Streetscape.
ACKNOWLEDGED BY: Rod Regier, Executive Director Economic Development
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Appendix:
Recommended Changes to Council Policy I-1185: Banner Policy -Municipal
1. Under section 1. MUNICIPAL BANNER PROGRAM PURPOSE, add the following
objective:
(e) To provide opportunities for lifestyle marketing, brand development marketing and
event promotions specific only to Downtown Kitchener, City initiatives or City facilities
(such as the Kitchener Market, Centre In The Square, the KPL and the Aud).
2. Under section 2. DEFINITIONS, delete the definition for "Cross-Street Banner".
3. Delete section 3(d) in its entirety and replace with the following new section 3(d):
(d) Banner Specifications:
Streetlight banners shall comply with the following specifications:
(i) All banners in the Kitchener Municipal Banner Program shall be printed
on both sides of the banner fabric.
(ii) Street banners shall meet the requirements for size, materials and
mounting requirements as specified by staff.
(iii) The City reserves the right to regulate and/or limit the amount and size of
text, colour and images used on banners to ensure all banners are legible,
attractive and appropriate for community viewing.
4. Under section 3 (e), delete section (vii) and replace with the following new section
..
(Vll)
(Vll) Appllcatl0n fee.
5. Under section 3(e)(viii), replace the list of recognized events with the following:
(i) Oktoberfest,
(11) Kitchener Blues Festival,
(111) Kidspark,
(iv) Tapestry,
(v) Word on the Street,
(vi) Christkindl Market,
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(vii) Cruising on King, and
(Vlll) CAFKA/Impact.
6. Under section 3 (e)(viii), delete the sentence "There shall be no more than three special
event cross-street banners placed at any time".
7. Delete section 3(h) in its entirety and replace it with the following new section 3(h):
(h) Banner Placement:
The City of Kitchener shall be responsible for arranging for the placement and
retrieval of approved streetlight banners. The event organizer shall incur a charge
associated with the installation and removal of special event banners for each
event. This may include the charge to remove an existing banner and the charge
to reinstall the existing banner upon event completion. The charges shall be
consistent with the rates charged by the City's contracted installer. Installation
fees shall be submitted to the City before banner placement will be permitted.
In the Spring of each year, the City may place a limited number of banners
associated with those events listed in section 3(e)(viii) of this policy, at no cost to
the event.
For all other banner requests, the banners shall be hung on a block-by-block basis.
An event must hang banners on all banner poles on a given block, and may not
place banners sporadically or partially on a block. Each event may be limited to
placing banners on a maximum of 4 blocks. Blocks will be assigned on afirst-
come-first-serve basis, with priority given to those events identified in section
3 (e)(Vlll).
8 . Delete section 3 (i) in its entirety and replace it with the following new section 3 (i)
(i) Length of Exposure:
Those banners associated with section 1(d) and a limited number of banners
associated with those events listed in section 3(e)(viii) may be hung in perpetuity.
All other banners shall be hung for a period not to exceed three weeks.
Additional banners associated with those events listed in section 3 (e)(viii) may be
hung for a period not to exceed three weeks.
9. Delete section 3(1) in its entirety and replace with the following new section 3(1):
3 (1) Banner Production
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The sponsoring organization shall be responsible for manufacturing and
producing all banners associated with their request, and shall bear all costs
associate .
lo. Add the following new section 3(m):
3 (m) Exemption from Application Fee
All City-associated departments and facilities shall be exempt from paying the
application fee, including, but not limited to, Centre In The Square, the Kitchener
Market, the Aud and the Kitchener Public Library.
11. Delete section 4 in its entirety and replace with the following new section 4:
4. APPROVAL
(a) The City's Manager of Special Events shall grant approve all event related
banner requests, including graphic design and banner placement/locations, in
consultation with the City's Manager of Downtown Community Development
and the City's Manager of Strategic, Marketing and Creative Services.
(b) The City's Manager of Downtown Community Development shall approve all
lifestyle marketing or brand development marketing banner requests,
including graphic design and banner placement/locations, in consultation with
the City's Manager of Special Events and the City's Manager of Strategic,
Marketing and Creative Services.
(c) The City's Manager of Downtown Community Development shall coordinate
the installation and removal of all banners.
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