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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDowntown Advisory - 1999-05-13DAC\1999-05-13 KITCHENER DOWNTOWN ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES MAY 13, 1999 The Kitchener Downtown Advisory Committee met this date under the Chairmanship of Councillor Mark Yantzi with the following members present: Councillor Karen Taylor- Harrison, Howard Marr, Nancy Brawley, Anita Petsche Good, Peggy Walshe, Mary Drandzyk, David Gowland, Denise Shelbourne, Peter Walberg, Trudy Beaulne, Mike Peng, Howard Rotberg, and Arli Klassen. Others Present: Brock Stanley, Debbie Schlichter, Terry Boutilier, Jim Nelson and David Corks. Regrets: Mayor Carl Zehr, Councillor Berry Vrbanovic, Denise Strong, Tom Brennand, Mary Coleman, Ruth Tomlinson, Regis Coladipietro, Greg Kett, Neil Carver, Brian Scott, and Staff Sgt. Gary Askin. 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA- MAY 13, 1999 The Agenda for the May 13th meeting was approved with the following addition: BPS 99/72 Staff Report - Progress of the Downtown Furniture and Fixture Review Working Group, and recommendations for the acquisition of additional waste containers. Moved by: Mary Drandzyk Seconded by: Nancy Brawley 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES -APRIL 8, 1999 It was moved that the minutes of the April 8, 1999 meeting be approved. Moved by: Mary Drandzyk Seconded by: Nancy Brawley CARRIED CARRIED 3. OASIS UPDATE 44 Nothing further to report. It was felt that the two sub-committee meetings were very successful and informative. 4. DISTANCE SEPARATION FOR HOSTELS, GROUP HOMES, LODGING HOUSES, ETC IN THE DOWNTOWN Lodging houses are a permitted use in the downtown. In the R5 zone (Residential Zone) lodging houses are permitted but there is a 400 metre distancing separation. This distancing separation does not apply to the downtown. The committee would like to recommend that this distancing separation also apply to the downtown. They would also like to see some conditions put on the licensing of lodging houses to give the City more control. The following motion was put on the floor: That the Department of Business and Planning Services be requested to prepare a report to look at the planning, zoning and administrative issues and implications involved in implementing a distance separation for lodging houses presently permitted in the downtown and the opportunities and challenges that go along with it. Moved by: David Gowland Seconded by: Howard Marr CARRIED It was recommended that this be dealt with at the next Planning Committee on Tuesday, May 25, 1999. 5. BPS 99/72 STAFF REPORT Terry Boutilier attended the meeting to review the above report on the progress of the Downtown Furniture and Fixture Review Working Group. This review was generated from the 1995 Mayor's Task Force Report and the KDBA Retail Action Plan. A working group was established to look at all the different furniture and fixtures that contribute to the clutter downtown. The first thing they dealt with was garbage containers. There are 11 different styles of garbage containers being used at the present time. Terry provided display boards showing pictures of the different types and their placement on the street. There are advantages and disadvantages of the different containers. The working group has narrowed the containers down to 3 different types. 45 · The first is a light green waste container that will be used in Civic Square. They match existing outdoor furnishings already in place. They will also be used along Gaukel Street connecting City Hall with Victoria Park. · The second is to continue to use the black cast aluminum container along King Street. They are very durable and match tree guards, grates, bike racks, lamp posts, etc. · The third will be used throughout the balance of downtown. Terry had a sample of the container at the meeting. It is a new style made from recycled plastic, reasonably priced, durable, fire proof and is locally made. Trudy suggested that there is a need for some kind of recycling containers in the downtown. This has been tried in the past and it has been found that the recycling bins are used for garbage not just recycling. The committee felt there was a need for well defined recycling bins. Terry was asked to contact the manufacturer to see if they could supply a recycling container similar to the waste container, possibly a two-in-one unit. Terry asked the committee for their acceptance of the two recommendations stated in the report: 2.1 That BPS Report 99~72, outlining the progress of the Downtown Furniture and Fixture Review Working Group be received for information. 2.2 That Staff be directed to acquire, through the City Purchasing Division, 60 replacement waste containers for the Downtown at an upset limit of $15,000 to be financed from Account 715046. The committee was in favour of accepting the report with the understanding that Terry Boutilier will contact the manufacturer and discuss with them the possibility of developing a similar container for recycling purposes. Moved by: Karen Taylor-Harrison Seconded by: Howard Marr CARRIED David Gowland asked Terry if there were any plans to control postering downtown. They are becoming hard to remove as they are being applied with glue rather than with tape as in the past. David Corks informed the committee that there are new postering regulations. The posters are marked for removal. Public Works removes the posters at $60 per poster which is charged to the owner of the poster. Three buildings were mentioned that need to be addressed: Masters Furniture, Full Circle Foods, and the building beside Canada Trust. David Gowland also mentioned that the new "white" lighting on King Street is a great improvement. 6. APPROACH TO UNDERTAKING DEMOGRAPHIC STUDY OF WHO LIVES IN THE DOWNTOWN CORE Arli pointed out that The Strategic Action Plan, #5 - Conduct a detailed demographic and housing study in the Downtown core, mentions that the Social Planning Council is the lead player. This looks like a good idea, but how will the City help with it. Brock pointed out that this was one of the objectives they felt should be included when they developed the plan. We don't have a good handle on who actually lives downtown. We have incomplete census data for the downtown. We have good healthy statistics for the area surrounding the core, but we need stats for the immediate downtown core. The original study was going to be undertaken under Sybil's direction. Arli questioned, where do we go from here? Brock suggested that with the assistance of the Social Planning Council the City put together a group to undertake the study. The Social Planning Council does not have the resources, but they would like to assist the City. It was felt that the City and the Social Planning Council should partner together to conduct the study. Trudy mentioned that the Inter-Community Health Centre group would be another interested player. Howard Marr questioned what is the purpose of doing the study? What do we want to achieve? Another study could scare people away -"downtown is full of poor, needy people". There are fragile individuals all over the City not just downtown. We need to give some thought to what we want to do with the data. We need to do some brainstorming. This is not a "needy" study, but a study to see who is living here. Who is our market, how do we approach them? Our mandate is downtown not City wide. Debbie commented that we have assumptions about who lives downtown. We assume they are poor, needy, transient people. Is this true? They are not necessarily as transient as we assume. We should test our current assumptions against the current reality. This kind of study would give us a more accurate picture. Brock would like to check with Sybil to find out what the original objectives for the study were. 7. UPDATES David informed the committee that there has been a lot of interest in developing housing downtown. Most of the interest is coming from developers from out of town. We should see some major developments soon. The waiving of development charges downtown is a large saving for developing downtown rather than the suburbs. 4? Nancy reviewed some of the upcoming events happening downtown over the next few months. She informed the committee that a code of conduct has been prepared for bars/nightclubs downtown. The goal is to have these posted in every licensed establishment. Denise mentioned that she hasn't seen any signs in the Capital Theatre window indicating that they have applied for a liquor license. The sign is supposed to be displayed for one month. Nancy will let Lisa Pasternak know. (Nancy's written report is attached for further information). Brock informed the committee that #58 of the Strategic Action Plan regarding safety at the bus terminal has been addressed. Management Committee is preparing a report to Finance & Admin Committee to add additional security at the bus terminal. There will be 2 security officers at the terminal from 2:30-12:00 during the week; and two full time security officers on weekends. It was suggested that a grid of the Strategic Action Plan be developed to show what has taken place, what is happening and the progress. David Gowland saw an idea while in Toronto that he felt would go over quite well in Kitchener - concrete chess/backgammon tables. He thought this would be a good idea for outside City Hall or in Victoria Park. Mark mentioned that he has had several conversations with staff who are interested in the idea. The rest of the committee felt it was an excellent idea as well. It would be a good Y2K project. David Gowland is willing to pursue it further and find out more about it. The following recommendation was made: That David Corks contact Facilities Management to pursue the idea of chess tables in City Hall square. Recommended by: Howard Rotberg Seconded by: Nancy Brawley CARRIED Nancy received a copy of an unsigned letter addressed to the Mayor requesting that the City put a stop to the marches that are taking place downtown. She has already met with the group and they basically said that they will do what they want to do. Mark commented that there have been ongoing discussions and there is an agreement that when an event is taking place in Civic Square, they will move to another location. The committee was concerned that this was only a verbal agreement and that they might use the events as an opportunity to get their message out to more people. Trudy feels uncomfortable sending a request from the committee to stop the marches - it could be explosive. Mary asked if it was possible for the City to set some guidelines for the use of Civic Square? The protesters are marching to Speakers Corner because of the symbolic aspect. What is the purpose of Speakers Corner now that we have Civic Square? Do we need it? There has been some discussion on revamping the area. The hotel patrons are complaining about the noise from the protesters. Perhaps there could be a limitation on the amplification system used. Mark will convey the concerns of the committee to the Mayor. 8. NEIGHBOURHOOD UPDATES Peter Walberg has been working with the Central Frederick NA to establish a bulletin board between communities. The bulletin board would be for information exchange, newsletters, etc. It is a good way of getting discussions going. Parks & Rec is very interested. Any other NA interested in taking part in the pilot group, please speak to Peter. Arli mentioned that there is a group working on a Region wide bulletin board called "Capacitynet". David Gowland mentioned at the last meeting that the east end was having problems with prostitutes again now that the nicer weather is here. They contacted the police and the problem was eliminated in about 3 days. This was very encouraging. The police also provided them with a phone number for "Dial Up Drug Deals" that they can use when they see drug deals taking place. The Cedar Hill NA is having their annual Perennial Plant Exchange this Saturday, May 15th. Their annual Folk Festival is scheduled for July 10th (rain date of July 11th). They are looking for vendors. The Mount Hope-Breithaupt Park NA continues to have problems with access to available space. They are loosing their space at Sacred Heart School. They are costing out alternatives. They are continuing their discussions and process for the Safety Audit for the Louisa/Ahrens area. Their "Babysitters Club" is holding an open house to market themselves. The "Growing Up Downtown" group will be approaching the KDBA on how they can bring more families downtown to "Tooney Tuesdays". City Hall came out good in the child/family friendliness study, but there is still the need for change tables. The "Healthy Communities Forum" will be held on June 10th. Arli Klassen informed the committee that the Town Hall meeting originally scheduled for May 19th has been changed June 22nd. The meeting will be held at Zion United Church at 7:00 pm. The topic of the meeting is "Supporting Families with Children Ages 0-6". 9. BACKGROUND & FUTURE USE OF ORIGINAL ClT¥CONCEPT The Original City concept was developed as a marketing tool for the downtown. Banners will be installed downtown by the end of May using different colour combinations and different icons. Other promotional materials that are being looked at are balloons, key chains, earrings, umbrellas, mouse pads, and shopping bags. If the committee has any other ideas, please pass them on to Nancy. Downtown This Month has a feature article on the Original City. It explains what the graphics mean and why we chose it. Trudy asked who is able to use the graphics. Anything that is happening downtown, or any neighbourhood event that is taking place downtown can use the graphics. Nancy hopes to have the graphics available on the internet soon, but it is currently available on disc. The KDBA and DDT are still struggling with all the guidelines for its use. Peter suggested that the KDBA hold an open house explaining how the concept can be used and by whom. The meeting adjourned at 10:50 Carol Robinson, Committee Secretary LIST OF ATTACHMENTS 1. KDBA Report