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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDowntown Advisory - 1996-02-08DAC\1996-02-08 KITCHENER DOWNTOWN ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES FEBRUARY 8, 1996 The Kitchener Downtown Action Committee met this date under the Chairmanship of Councillor Mark Yantzi with the following members present; Councillor Karen Redman, Councillor Chiqstina Weylie, Robert Braun, Nancy Brawley, Martin de Groot~ Karen Simonean, Brian Hunsberger, Deborah Budd, David Gowland, Karen Taylor-Harrison, Regis Coladipietro, Michelle MoHssetti, Lorna Van Mossel and l,illian KehL Others Present: T. Brock Stanley, Sybil lqYenette, Terry Boutiher, Grant NLxon, Graham Vincent and keanne Mose~ 1. OPENING REMARKS Councillor Mark Yantzi welcomed everyone and especially welcomed kV[~ Regis Coladipietro and kVh'. Martin de Groot new members of the KDAC. Councillor Yantzi asked the new members to introduce themselve~ kV[~ Regis Coladipietro is the Peer Resource Coordinator for the Independent laving Centre of Waterloo Regio~ kVh'. Martin de Groot is the Civic Centre Neighbourhood Representative. APPROVAL OF AGENDA - February 8, 1996 Moved by kVI~ Earen Taylor-Harrison Seconded by kVh'. David Gowland That the Agenda of February 8, 1995 be approveck Carried 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - January 11, 1996 kV[~ Karen Simoneau pointed out a typing error on Page 6, Section 3 - Architectural and Streetscape Analysis, the word "cluster" be changed to "clutter". Moved by kV[~ Deborah Budd Seconded by Councillor Karen Redman That the Minutes of the meeting of January 1L 1996 with the above-noted change be accepteck Carried - 90- * M~ Lorna Van Mossel entered the meeting. Councillor Mark Yantzi welcomed and introduced ~V[~ Van Mossel to the Committee. ~V[~ Van Mossel is the Kitchener Downtown Council of Churches Representative. Councillor Yantzi then advised that Agenda Items 4, 6 and 7 would be ad(h'essed fhst. ~V[~ l~'enette and ~V[~ Brawley have to leave for an all day Team Building Training Sessio~ 4. UPDATE DOWNTOWN ACTION TEAM Ms. Sybil l~'enette inlbrmed the Committee that discussion has started with the Design staff of the Department of Parks and Recreation re entrance signage to the Downtown with specific reference at this time to the King/Water Street intersectiom The Region of Waterloo k going through intersection improvements and it k therefore a good time for new signage. Concepts will be brought back to this Committee. They are looking for a change in signage for the City and are trying to set sign standards~ The cost of $5,000. to $10,000. will probably come out of the Downtown budget. ~V[~ l~'enette said they are looking at (h'afting a new sign bylaw for the Downtown, especially for overhanging signs and will be setting aesthetic guideline~ For guidance we can look at the signage of other cities such as the City of Stratford where they have excellent signage. The signage is also to be consistent with the three proposed clusters for the Downtow~ A meeting was held with Peter Benninger and senior staff of Coldwell Banker Peter Benninger Realty, an international Real Estate fh~n~ Work has been done in promoting residential housing, it is now necessary to establish good relations with the K-W Real Estate Board to promote the commercial and indust~qal market for the Downtow~ The Celebrating Successes Evening will be held on Tuesday, February 97, 1996 from 5:30 p.n~ to 8:00 p.n~ at the Walper Terrace Hotel This will be a night of celebrating the successes in the Downtown, various speakers will be attending such as Mayor Richard D. Christy and Nh'. Ian MacNaughton of MacNaughton, Hermsen, Britton, Clarkson Planning Ltd. The Retail Action Plan will be presented by Nh'. Richard Talbot of Thomas Consultant~ Refexqqng to the Forsyth PI'operty, ~V[~ l~'enette stated that ICI~I., artists and architects met with M~'. Harry Gowa~ They are prepared to look at a business plan with hveAvork space for artist~ lqYenette inquired if the KDAC k interested in seeing the (h'awings for the liveAvork space. They're looking at doing focus groups to try to get a handle on what kind of design is wanted and what they are willing to pay for rent. They are looking to accurately target the rent. kW[~ l~'enette advised that she will be attending a Housing Conference in Vancouver this May and will be attending an extensive session on liveAvork space. Refe~a4ug to the St Jerome's building on Duke Sta'eet~ kVl~ l~'enette advised that the Fathers have approached the City to see what could be done with the building on Duke St~'eet A demohtion per, nit may be apphed for by the Fathers~ There has been discussion of the bye/work space concept for this building. This space need not necessa~4ly be adch'essed to artist~ There could be 1 12 or ~ 12 bech'oom apartments and the 12 space could be used as an office space. This would be a cost advantage to the tenant because of the income tax break for the office space. Councillor Karen Redman commented that the marketing sta'ategy is sound but questioned if they are looking at teaming up with other real estate agent~ kW[~ l~'enette rephed that for larger fh~ns they will contact them one at a time but the K-W Real Estate Board will also be approacheck Nh'. David Gowland asked what kind of signage is being looking kW[~ lqYenette replied a welcoming sigm kwh'. Gowland inquired if there will be a sign for the east side of the Downtow~ kwh'. Terry Boutilier rephed that there may be an island opportunity at the corner of King and Cedar St~'eet~ kwh'. T. Brock Stanley added that the Urban Design Guidelines have identified locations for ent~'ance features for the Downtow~ Nh'. David Gowland wished to add an additional item to the Agenda being "Signs for the 401". Councillor Yantzi indicated that this item could be discussed now. kVh'. Gowland inlbrmed the Committee that he had seen a sign near the Schneider sign on Highway 401 advertising the Village of St Jacob'~ As one gets closer and into Kitchener smaller signs advertising the Village of St Jacob's were also seem kwh'. Gowland asked why we can't advocate Downtown Kitchener. Councillor Mark Yantzi rephed that the St Jacob's sign is a t~qak kwh'. Grant NLxon added that the City has an application with the kWLT. O. for ent~'ance sign~ kWLT. O. is reviewing their policy and there is consideration for signs on Highway 401. The - 99- Councillor Mark Yantzi suggested an update on this item at a future meeting. Deborah Budd inquired if the Feasibility Study re St. Jerome's includes hve~ork space. Mr. l~'enette rephed that the consultant is saying in the Report that the two buildings (on College and Duke Streets) need to be connected even if it's just an entrance. Nh'. Martin de Groot added that the Report is taking the direction of looking at both buildings and having Duke Street as the entrance. 5. KDBA REPORT M~ Nancy Brawley inlbrmed the Committee that M~ Vanessa Jacobs will be leaving the KDBA at the end of February to teach Enghsh as a second language in South Korea They are very sorry to see Vanessa leave and wish her all the best. A Downtown Events Coordinated, Jennifer Lynn of Lynn Communications Inc., has been hired by the city. IV[~ Brawley advised that she spoke to the Chamber of Commerce at a breald'ast meeting and had a very positive response. There is a change in mood and approach and there were good post question~ Four people volunteered to help. The KDBA is launching their new logo at the Celebrating Successes Night on February 27, 1996. There will be a display and package available. There will be two Downtown sidewalk sales this year. It's countdown to Canada Day and they are looking for suggestions and volunteers~ Three styles of street guides have been developed: 1) for businesses; for hotel rooms- conventions; and student~ A welcoming envelope is being developed which can be used for special events, conventions, Octoberfest~ etc. A Parking Report has been put together. This Report outlines what the KDBA is doing. A letter has been ch'afted to Downtown business owners requesting that they educate their employee~ A flyer to put on the windshields of cars has been developed. The KDBA is working with the City of Kitchener to develop a st~'ategy for parking Downtow~ A meeting was held with Employment Canada re the Youth Services PI'ogra~ This program is based on community need and how the community can best be serve& The program runs 6 to 9 months with 10 to 20 youths and 70% of the financing goes to the youtl~ This program is geared to youth who are out of school or work and is not geared to student summer employment, ]Vis Brawley handed out the KDBA's newsletter "Blocktalk". 1Vh'. David Gowland stated that he met with Benninger Realty and asked if the Spx4ug PI'omotion of Downtown properties will still be offered this May or June. If so, he would like any pertinent intbrmation so that it can be passed on at his next meeting with the K-W Real Estate Board on February 26, 1996. M~ Nancy Brawley rephed that the Business Development Committee is working together with the K- W Real Estate Board to advertise Downtown propertie~ IV[~ Karen Simoneau inquired ff anything is being looked at re parking on the weekends to support Downtown businesse~ Good businesses are leaving Market Square. Perhaps by offex4ug free parking we can bx4ug people Downtow~ Councillor Mark Yantzi added that in balance the Record ran an article stating that several businesses are leaving Fairview Park Mall This can occur when leases expire. IVh'. Robert Braun felt st~'ongly that free parking is an issue for the Downtow~ It costs businesses a lot not to have free parking. 1Vh'. Braun made the point that ultimately the cost of parking will cost the taxpayer in lost assessment revenue. People living Downtown will walk to the retailers but people hying outside the immediate Downtown core need their cars to get Downtow~ Parking has been an ongoing issue for the last 10 years~ Councillor Mark Yantzi asked the Committee if this issue should be discussed now or at a later date. Councillor Karen Redman advised that duxqng the budget process it was agreed that parking is being looked at as a service. Can we make this a future agenda item? Nh'. David Gowland advised that he wrote a letter to the editor of the Record but it was not pxqnteck Nh'. Gowland called the Record and asked if they would be interested in supporting the Downtow~ The Record expressed interest in attending a future lO)AC meeting to discuss this issue. Nh'. Gowland suggested that perhaps a small group could go and visit the editorial staff at the Record in the next mont]~ At a previous lO)AC meeting members felt that they did not wish the Record to attend a lO)AC meeting. IV[~ Brawley agreed that it was a good idea to meet with a small group instead of with the full KDAC. However, IV[~ Brawley felt that they should meet with the Record here instead of at their office. Brawley also requested that the group should not be predominately from the KDBA~ kV[r. Gowland volunteered to make the arrangements for this meeting. Councillor Mark Yantzi asked ff it was agreed to take action on this The Committee agreed and 1Vis Sybil lqYenette offered to look after the arrangements at the City. Councillor Mark Yantzi, Councillor Karen Redman, kVIs l~illian Kehl and kVIs Deborah Budd offered theh' interest. Ms Nancy Brawley continued with the KDBA Report and stated that the Retail Action Han will be presented on February ~7, 1996 at Celebrating Successes Night. There will be overheads and a slide show. The w~qtten report will be in hand by the end of this week The Development Team have met to di~uss the implementation of the Retail Action Plato Meetings will be set up in Toronto, etc. to go out to sell Downtown Kitchener. They will market specific properties and go after businesses to locate in the Downtow~ 1Vis Sybil l~'enette added that there are 14 broad recommendations cove~qng such areas as parking, data system, the Kitchener Farme~' Market~ etc. To implement changes it will be necessary to flush out individual recommendations Full discussions will be needed. A process is needed to present items to Council, the KDBA or other relevant Committees For example refe~qqng to the recommendation re the Kitchener Farme~' Market it will be necessary to prepare a report and present this report to Council and then a decision needs to be made. When conside~qng the cluste~qng recommendation one needs to look at the rezoning and urban design issues The recommendations need to be converting to something that's doable. 1Vis Nancy Brawley added that the Retail Action Plan is a working document; it will be reviewed and changes can be made. Councillor Mark Yantzi stated that the decline of the Downtown happened over the last decade. Rebuilding needs to be done in a methodical, step-by-step method. Councillor Karen Redman commented that the Retail Action Plan is a good Report because it is being acted om So many times reports sit on the shell' and aren't acted om Nancy Brawley left the meeting. 1Vt'. Terry Boutilier asked for a small break so that the maps for the Downtown Kitchener Transportation Study could be posted. o REPORT ON THE PUBLIC MEETING FOR THE DOWNTOWN KITCHENER TRANSPORTATION STUDY Mr. Terry Boutilier reported that the Pubhc Open House, held in the Kitchener City HaH Rotunda regarding the Downtown Kitchener Transportation Study on Wednesday, January 17, 1996, was well attende& The Study is being conducted by IMC Consulting Group of Cambridge. A munber of issues emerged. 5/ir. Boutilier dist~qbuted a handout hsting the comments received and the issues arising at the Open House of January 17, 1996 (attached). The Study is being conducted under the direction of a Steexqng Committee consisting of; Mayor Chtqsty, Councillor Karen Redman and Councillor Mark Yantzi, the Kitchener Downtown Business Association, Kitchener/Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, Kitchener Planning, Transit and Engineexqng staff and Region of Waterloo Planning and Engineexqng staff. There will be a meeting of this Steexqng Committee next Tuesday morning, February 13, 1996. A Public Meeting k set for March 6, 1996 at 7:00 p.n~ in the Regional Council Chambers~ Nh'. T. Boutilier int~'oduced Nh'. Graham Vincent of the Regional Municipahty of Waterloo, Traffic and Transportation Divisiom 5/h'. Graham Vincent referred to the posted maps and outlined to the Committee a number of options being looked at; turning Duke and Charles St~'eet from one-way into two-way st~'eets Queen St~'eet and Benton St~'eet diversion (felt other alternatives need to be looked at) reconstruct King/l~'anck St~'eet intersection reconst~qct Ced'&r/Stfl'ling intersection island removal at lqYancis, Duke and Stifling challenge of how to deal with the Market Square Parking Garage King Value Cent~'e garage is challenge due to t~qcks coming into loading area proposing bicycle lane along Duke St~'eet improving the radius on Cedar and Duke St~'eets upgrading t~'affic signals M~ Regis Coladipiet~'o inquired if t~'affic signals had been considered at the Market Square Parking garage instead of building a new road. Nh'. David Gowland inquired if t~'affic from the garage could exit onto Scott St~'eet and then turn left or right~ Nh'. Graham Vincent rephed that various alternatives are being looked at, renovations would be fairly costly. IV[~ Sybil Frenette asked if there will be any ext~'a on-st~'eet parking. ~V[r. Vincent replied that some parking spaces will be added and some will be remove& 5/[~ Deborah Budd refe~qqng to the Market Square Parking Garage asked if there were any concerns about the disrepair of this garage. ~V[r. Terry Boutilier replied that they are trying to come up with a system that costs the least amount of money. 5/[~ R. Coladipietro asked what the vacancy rate is for the Market Square Parking Garage. 5/ir. T. Boutilier replied that it is a well used garage. Councillor Karen Redman added that Council is looking at upgrading the Garage so it will be usable. 5/ir. Robert Braun asked if there was a net gain of on street parking. 5/ir. Graham Vincent replied that there was a net gai~ ~V[r. David Gowland asked if there would be a ~qng road for cyclist~ ~V[r. G. Vincent replied that the intent is to have a cycle-path on both sides of Duke Street~ 5/ir. Brian Hunsberger asked for the timetable for these improvement~ ~V[r. G. Vincent rephed that completion would be in 1998 if approve& There has not been Regional Council approval Councillor Mark Yantzi, refe~qqng to the conversion of one-way streets to two-way streets, asked how the pubhc will be inlbrmed of the phasing out of one-way street~ 5/ir. Vincent stated that public education and lots of signs will be needed. ~V[r. Brock Stanley asked what process will be put in place to look at the Queen/Benton corridor. ~V[r. Vincent noted that one approach would be to consider the Queen/Benton Corridor as part of the two year Regional Transportation Study. 5/ir. Terry Boutilier emphasized the positive aspect of Charles Street as a two-way street. This will substantially improve access to Downtown especially from the sout]~ 5/[~ Sybil lqYenette inquired what the input was from the Open House and what money is available in the Regional Budget to do this roadworl~ Nh'. Vincent rephed that there was good input at the Open House approximately 100 people ch'opped i~ Letters have also been received. Greyhound sent a letter re congestiom The amount of $L500,000. is a very approximate cost estimate. Of this amount approximately $500,000. is for traffic signal worlc The traffic signals are very old and were scheduled for renovatiom Money slated for other improvements, such as the Duke St~'eet extension ($9,000,000.) and work for Queen/Benton, could also be apphed towards the suggested improvements Adch'essing the question of congestion, there will be congestion but it will be within reasonable limits~ At future Public Meetings computer simulation will show how the two-way st~'eets will work in terms of congestio~ The issues of parking and relocation of the Kitchener Farmem' Market also came up at the Open House. However these are separate items from this Report. IV[r. Graham Vincent pointed out that a Pubhc Meeting will be held on March 6, 1996 at 7:00 p.n~ at Regional Council Chambers, 9nd Floor, 150 Frederick St~'eet~ Kitchener, Ontario. 1Vt'. Martin de Groot asked if angle parking had been suggested, for example on Charles St~'eet. Perhaps some of the sidewalk could be sacx4ficed. Nh'. Vincent stated that this could be looked at but could be a safety concer~ It was also noted that concern has been expressed by Transit that st~'eets are ah'eady at their lower limit in terms of widtl~ 1Vt'. Frenette inquired if the bus turning movements had been looked at. If there a chance that the buses could not use Gaukel St~'eet. Nh'. G. Vincent rephed that the way the Transit Terminal is set up the buses need to use Gaukel St~'eet. IVls~ MicheHe Morissetti asked ff there is a probability that this Study will pass~ Nh'. Terry Boutilier rephed that Nh'. Vincent has shown that there is financing but the question is where is the priority. Councillor Mark Yantzi added that this is a Regional Council decision not a City of Kitchener Council decisio~ Councillor Karen Redman wanted to comment that Duke between Pandora and Cedar St~'eets will remain one way. Nh'. Graham Vincent added that they have met with the Pohce and Fire Departments~ Nh'. B. Stanley asked if there will be any consideration of change in jurisdiction once they go back to - 98- two-way st~'eets Nh'. Graham Vincent replied that they would like to keep one st~'eet as a Regional Road for ex~ Charles St~'eet~ There will be further discussion in this regar& ~VIs Karen Taylor-Harrison added that the problem in Cedar Hill is the amount and speed of t~'affic. The two-way road system would help to reduce this problen~ * ~VIs Sybil lqYenette left the meeting. 7. PATIO AESTHETICS Nh'. Brock Stanley referred to the previous KDAC meetings where this Committee expressed interest in having standards set for sidewalk patios These standards will be ad(h'essed in the next two weeks at a meeting of the PI'oject Review Committee. Discussions with the City of Windsor have taken place. They found that as you upgrade patio aesthetics costs increase. Therefore the cost that the vendor will incur will have to be looked aL St~'onger fences will be needed and in the City of Windsor it was found that these st~'onger fences are aesthetically pleasing in the summer months, but in the winter the fences are dismantled and often left on the sidewall~ This is not aesthetically pleasing in the winter months In March, this item will be brought back to the KDAC. Nh'. Stanley stated that Urban Planning School students are doing some patio designs for us ~Vls Regis Coladipiet~'o inquired il' there will be enough room for people with scooters to move. Councillor Mark Yantzi rephed that this is being looked aL 8. NEW BUSINESS Nh'. David Gowland inlbrmed the Committee that at his meeting with the K-W Real Estate Board on January 19, 1996 it was suggested communications should be started with the Police. The Board has been loosing sales because of the negative intbrmation given prospective purchasers by the Police. Peter Benninger Realty is very interested in continuing tall~ They are using the Kitchener He~qtage Neighbourhoods Brochure and will be asking for more of these brochures They are very enthusiastic about the proposed Sp~qng Real Estate Bonanza for Downtow~ ~Vls lC Taylor-Harrison expressed her support to David for talks with the Police. The Police are more sensitive now than in the past but more work needs to be done. Ms l,illian Kehl asked if it was possible to get university students to fLx-up an older house and have before and after shots of this project and then sell tickets to raffle off the house. This is somewhat the same idea as the Rotary Club's Dream Home. Councillor Karen Redman added that in Calgary high school students bought a house for $1.00 and renovated it. A real estate agent sold this house for them at no commissiom IV[~ Taylor-Harrison mentioned that she was looking at a map of Kitchener which showed where crimes were occunqng. It was gla~qngly apparent that the area with the least number of crimes was the Downtown area~ Nh'. Gowland asked ff )/[s~ Taylor-Harrison could provide him with a letter outlining that crime is not a big issue in the Downtow~ He would like to have this with him to present to the K-W Real Estate Board at theh' next meeting. M~ Taylor-Harrison will provide this to Nh'. Gowland. Nh'. Brian Hunsberger advised that the House of l~%ndship is having a potato ch4ve, a free potato lunch will take place on l~4day, March L 1996 at St. Anch'ews l:q'esbyterian Church from IQ noon to 1:30 p.m~ Nh'. Hunsberger invited everyone to attend this lunc]~ Ms. Deborah Budd invited everyone on behalf of the Waterloo Regional Arts Council to attend the Eighth Annual K-W At'ts Awards Celebration this Sunday, February 11, 1996 at Victoria Park Pavilion starting at 7:30 p.m~ Ms. Budd asked when the next meeting of this Committee will be held noting March break falls the second week of Marcl~ Councillor Mark Yantzi advised that the next meeting will be held March 7, 1996 the fhst Thursday in Marcl~ 9. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 10:30 a~m~ Sonja S. Tobin Committee Secretary - 30-