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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDowntown Advisory - 1997-09-11 1 DAC\1997-09-11 KITCHENER DOWNTOWN ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES SEPTEMBER 11, 1997 The Kitchener Downtown Advisory Committee met this date under the Chairmanship of Councillor Mark Yantzi with the following members present: Councillor Karen Taylor-Harrison, Nancy Brawley, Deb Schlicter, Ms. Denise Strong, Lillian Kehl, Deborah Budd, Martin de Groot, Marianne Wasilka, Edee Schmitt and Neil Carver. Others Present: Brock Stanley, Sybil Frenette, Terry Boutilier, John McBride, Bob Arnot, Greg Newton, Sarah MacDonald, Blair Allen, Joe Mancini, Rob Davis, Don Snow and Avril Tanner (Minutes). Regrets: Mayor Richard Christy, Councillor Berry Vrbanovic, Robert Braun, Dave Mota, Marleen Guttensohn, Peggy Walshe, Michelle Morissetti, Rita Westbrook, Janice Williams, Regis Coladipietro, Myrta Sahas, Trudy Beaulne, Debbie King and Chris Winters. 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA- SEPTEMBER 11, 1997 It was moved that the Agenda for September 11, 1997 be approved. Moved by: Coun. Karen Taylor-Harrison Seconded by: Nancy Brawley CARRIED 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - MAY 26, 1997 It was moved that the Minutes of May 26th, 1997 be approved. Moved by: Coun. Karen Taylor-Harrison Seconded by: Nancy Brawley CARRIED 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - JULY 10, 1997 It was moved that the Minutes of July 10th, 1997 be approved. Moved by: Coun. Karen Taylor-Harrison Seconded by: Denise Strong CARRIED 4. RE-APPOINTMENT PROCESS Brock explained that the committees will be going through re-appointments. Marianne Wasilka inquired if we could add as a future Agenda Item to discuss asking Council to assign funds to enable this committee to deal with some issues that require money. 5. COMMUNITY GARDENS (Promotinq & Crime Prevention Issues) Mark introduced Rob Davis and indicated that he is a Police Officer with the Waterloo Police Force. Rob indicated that he worked in the Community Relations Branch and that he had just finished taking a course on this topic from Police School. It was mentioned that Waterloo Region is one of the large Urban Areas and is susceptible to crime. Some statistics were given to support this point and they are also available in the 1996 Annual Report. The garden area is surrounded by public housing and apartment buildings but has not been the only solution to lowered crime rates. Rob indicated that a lot of agencies have come together to make a change in the area. A Safer Community Group was started where agents would meet with residents to start a problem solving group. Through this process it was discovered that you need support from other agencies before getting the neighbourhood involved. The garden started with complaints from the community pertaining to overgrown grass and safety concerns. And out of these complaints came the suggestion that a garden be planted in the area. Pictures were shown of the area. The concept was to create a safer area by taking a safe concept and placing it in an unsafe area in order to reduce crime. The garden then started with a community clean-up. The following Crime statistics were given: Crime Statistics Police Calls for Service Area 1993 1994 1995 1996 80 Moorgate 187 139 97 38 66 Moorgate 92 111 32 55 50 Mooregate 57 30 43 31 When the Garden started the John Howard Society had a grant that lasted over 4 years to hire a co-ordinator and it is now being run by a volunteer. The people in the apartment building can have their own plots. The following steps were included in the process of starting a Garden: Selection of Target Areas Identification of the Target Area's Problems and Needs Locating the Natural Groups Utilizing Reference Groups Resource Identification (Internal & External) Identification of Leaders Conceptualizing the Issues Developing an Action Plan Monitoring and Evaluation The following points were made during a question and answer period: Who Owns the land? The private owner of the land was tracked down and agreed to the use of his lands for a Community Garden. There is now a threat that this land will be developed on, this year was of particular concern as there was talk about developing some townhouses on this land. Were there any water lines brought in? They were given a 500 gallon tank to store water in and that is what was used to water the garden. A suggestion was made that the site on King Street & Betzner may be a good place to start a Community Garden. Were there any tax problems associated with the lands? One of the problems with the land was the tax problems. This area was zoned agricultural. The owner purchased the land through a power of sale. Use of the land for a Community Garden did not meet the criteria for an Agricultural Use and accordingly the Province increased taxes to $5,200.00. It was stated that they needed to hire a farmer to qualify the problem was dealt with through the Region and was not solved until just recently. How can the Police Department and the City work together to help in starting a program like this? Rob mentioned that meetings like this help and we should also include other agencies as well. Councillor Mark Yantzi then introduced Greg Newton and Sarah MacDonald and indicated that he was from the Global Community Centre, Community Garden Network. Please see notes attached to the minutes from his presentation. The following points were made during the question and answer period: There is definitely a surge in building Community Gardens in cities. Do the gardeners have any problems with losing their vegetables? Vandalizim does happen - the only Vandalizim they have in Victoria Gardens is a ground hog that they feed to keep him there, but everyone does look out above the garden from the Apartment Building. The Food Bank Gardens are aimed at food bank recipients, they have a common tool shed, tools and water. Allow people to use plots to grow fruits & vegetables, some are groups of people who log their hours and get out of the garden according to the hours they put in. How have gardens dealt with liability issues where they are using some else's lands and if someone is hurt on the property? Some are under blanket insurance policies. Rob indicated that the owner could take out a rider on his policy. Other agencies could sponsor the insurance as well. It was also suggested that we look at pairing up people with other people who have land to share their land and start a garden. Is there any vacant land that the city is sitting on? Sybil indicated that there is a map that shows all the vacant lands in the city. (This shows all vacant land not just City owned vacant land). Marianne asked if we could get direction from this committee to support some pilot projects within the City. She also requested that we endorse allowing staff to help with the projects. After some discussion it was decided that a policy should be developed first. The starting point would be to identify the policy, then the site and then agencies to get involved. The main starting point would be to have staff look at different policies and bring them back to the committee for review. It was also indicated that we should look into roof top gardens as well. The Committee directed the appropriate City Staff to formulate a Community Garden Policy directed toward outlining the role that the City and its various Departments could play in the facilitation of the Community Gardens in the City. Mark thanked Greg, Sarah and Rob for their presentations. 6. UPDATE ON STRATEGIC PLAN Brock indicated that Terry Boutilier would be updating the committee on what he has heard back on from the priorities that were forwarded to the different City Departments and Committees. Terry referred to an Update on the Evaluation of Initiatives circulated with the Committee Agenda. During the review of those initiatives that were forwarded the following comments were made: Parkinq and Transportation Some discussion occurred concerning creating free parking in the downtown, for example, why would someone pay to shop in the downtown when they can park for free at Fairview Park Mall. Marianne indicated that some of the bus drivers have been very nice, however, we should look at the price structure, some single mothers have a hard time to paying to ride the bus. It was suggested that we have a different fee structure related to off peak transit usage. Blair Allen indicated that this is the traditional method for structure of fees and he has not seen this type of structure before. Why does the City not use mini-buses during off hours, or maybe we could sell a different colour of ticket during off hours and sell them at lower prices to increase ridership and allow those who don't have enough money to pay them. It was pointed out that cost factors to run small vehicles actually cost more than larger vehicles. Blair indicated that they are reviewing the idea of smaller vehicles. Maybe a smart card idea would help uncomplicate the fare issue. It was pointed out that once you receive a transfer ticket you have 60 minutes to use the ticket so you could technically do some shopping and use your transfer ticket to ride back home. Martin indicated that if you do not have exact change and you need to give an extra 25 cents it would be nice to know it was going to charity. The other issue is what if there is a single mother with 3 or 4 kids we should look at some discounts. There is now a family pass that you can purchase for $5.00 and the family can ride all day with this pass. 7. UPDATE ON DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT TEAM Sybil indicated that her report was attached to the Agenda and asked the committee members to review it at a later time. DOWNTOWN MARKETING IMAGE The Downtown Development Team has been working on the Marketing Image for the Downtown for about 4 months and would like to hear comments back on what they were developing. Dan Reid the President of the Reid Group has moved from Waterloo and are now in the Gallaria in Kitchener. Please find presentation notes attached. It was indicated that Residential Groups should also be included in bring groups together to advertise the downtown. Some concern was noted about promoting upscale bars & clubs in the downtown as it does not necessarily include everyone. Nancy mentioned that most of the concerns noted were to clean up some of the establishments. It was mentioned that we need to promote the downtown indicating that it is the place for everyone. Some concern was also noted about the balance of shopping and entertainment in the downtown. We need to create a balance. We need to focus on having more people living in the downtown. To get more shops in the downtown we need to show we have people living in the downtown. Concern was expressed about the suggested positioning statement "Destination Downtown". We also need to attract people to come downtown and stay for a while not just come for something specific and leave. Mark thanked Dan for his presentation. K.D.B.A. REPORT Nancy indicated that the group met on the panhandling, simplified it and we will review it at the next meeting. If anyone has any ideas on the Poseidon Project on the Epton site please forward them to her. Artworks is coming along. There is a Fashion Show this Friday at Just Between Us, proceeds will be going to Roof. Octoberfest is planning Family events. Cornstalks - anyone who wants to help put them on the starting day of Octoberfest Contact Nancy. The meeting adjourned at 11:15 am. Avril Tanner, Committee Secretary LIST OF ATTACHMENTS Community Gardening Summary. Forwarded Priorities. Marketing Presentation - Dan Reid. Octoberfest Flyer.