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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSafe City - 1997-05-06 1 -- SAFECITY\1997-05-06 SAFE CITY COMMITTEE MINUTES MAY 6, 1997 The Safe City Committee held its meeting under the Chairmanship of Councillor Karen Redman with the following members present:: Trudy Beaulne, Councillor Mark Yantzi, Nancy Brawley, Philip Fernandez, Alan Richardson, Bryan Stortz, Karen Taylor-Harrison, Rita Westbrook and Jackie Marsh. Others Present:Brock Stanley, Julie Dean, Bob Arnot and Avril Tanner (minutes). Absent:Lirondel Hazlneh. As this was a joint meeting of the Safe City Committee and the Kitchener Downtown Advisory Committee the following is a list of the representatives in attendance from the Kitchener Downtown Advisory Committee: Members Present:Councillor Mark Yantzi, Councillor Karen Redman, Dave Mota, Nancy Brawley, Karen Taylor-Harrison, Rita Westbrook, Martin de Groot, Marianne Wasilka, Regis Coladipietro, Edee Schmitt, and Trudy Beaulne. Others Present:Brock Stanley, Julie Dean, Terry Boutilier, Brian Page and Avril Tanner (minutes). Absent:Mayor Richard Christy, Councillor Berry Vrbanovic, Sybil Frenette, Robert Braun, Deb Schlicter, Marleen Guttensohn, Ms. Denise Strong, Peggy Walshe, Michelle Morissetti, Lillian Kehl, Deborah Budd, Janice Williams, Myrta Sahas, Chris Winters and Neil Carver. ACTIVITY REPORT FOR FUTURE MEETINGS From: MAY 6, 1997 NAMECOMPLETION DATETO BE DONE Julie DeanNext MeetingPut together a short explanation of the value of 2 -- crime statistics to our research and evaluation process. ADMINISTRATIVE Councillor Karen Redman welcomed an new member, Jackie Marsh, to the Safe City Committee and everyone introduced themselves and indicated which Committee they represented. For the benefit of the DAC members Brock mentioned that DAC endeavoured to set aside a meeting to deal with the priorities and we had to cancel the meeting scheduled for May 8th and in lieu of this decided to have an evening meeting on May 26th starting at 5:15 pm to deal with this issue. The meeting will end approximately 9:00 pm and supper will be provided around 6:15 pm. Brock indicated that evening meetings have been held in the past and they have proven to be very effective. 1. APPROVAL OF MAY 6, 1997 AGENDA. It was decided to approve the Agenda dated May 6, 1997. Moved By: Alan Richardson Seconded By: Trudy Beaulne CARRIED. 2.APPROVAL OF APRIL 1, 1997 MINUTES It was moved to approve the minutes of the April 1, 1997. Moved By: Trudy Beaulne Seconded By: Rita Westbrook CARRIED. 67 -- OTHER BUSINESS 1.DISCUSSION ON URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINES Terry Boutilier reminded everyone that there was a presentation made to both Committee’s concerning the Urban Design Guidelines and indicated that they would like to receive any concerns or comments concerning the guidelines and indicated that he and Brian Page were in attendance to answer any questions pertaining to these guidelines. The following comments were given pertaining to the Urban Design Guidelines: The document was good in terms of pulling all the ideas and concepts together to get a sense of why we are doing something a specific way. The document covers a lot of information and it was hoped that there was a certain element of flexibility to make sure that things were able to get done. Appendixes and Glossary of Terms were a good idea as they described specific terms. It was pointed out that there was a generic reference to “people” except in the barrier free section - would it be more appropriate to look at demographic features throughout. Stressed an importance of a healthy environment for developing children - is it possible to have principles that reflect specific demographic considerations. The importance of street parking conflicting with street cycling was stressed, is there a better way of integrating these without creating conflicts? A suggestion was made about implementing more environmental options to deal with storm water management and gravel for infiltration. It was indicated that planning for safe cities for children is an emerging field that is not given a great deal of comment (for example a preference for drop curbs and the concept of the “Family Washroom”, particularly in a public place). Could we include ideas of walkways over expressways where there is a high volume of traffic. Discussions occurred pertaining to the guidelines and how they could be enforced on private property. It was indicated that this would have to be a co-operative process between the City and the Private Property Owner. A suggestion was made that maybe 68 -- we could look at offering some sort of incentive for the Property Owner. It was suggested that Nodal Design be researched further. A comment was made that the Safe City portion was great, it was pointed out that this was written by Julie Dean. A comment was noted that maybe the City of Waterloo should look into doing this as well. It was inquired if the Lighting Design Standards that are developed through our Lighting Design Study would be included in the guidelines. The response was that this document is continually changing and it is hoped to be ongoing opportunities for change. Some concern was noted from a Safety Aspect pertaining to Section 6.2.1 and Standards 16.5 concerning landscape development. It was pointed out that if more than one of these items were combined, in some instances it could create a safety hazard in terms of blocked sightlines and entrapment areas. Concerns were noted about parking lot car thefts occurring in long term parking areas and it indicated that this should be monitored in a more effective manner than just design standards. It was suggested that we design a process to build these guidelines into an existing process to ensure that these guidelines are referred to when developing or redeveloping a property , for example advertise when the document is available. Have considerations been made to ensure that developers keep in mind safety aspects when redeveloping? This could come into the process before any permit or application is made, for example a list of issues that should be considered when developing or redeveloping a specific area (ie. a checklist of items to be considered). During a discussion on sidewalks in industrial areas, it was suggested that maybe we could come up with some reduced standards for sidewalks in those areas for eg. narrower, asphalt paths in hopes to gain support from owners for installing “walkways”. A motion was made that the Safe City Committee support the standards expressed for the Site Signage section with the understanding that the relevant sections from the Lighting Design Study are incorporated and are made compatible. Moved By: Bryan Stortz Seconded By: Councillor Mark Yantzi CARRIED. It was mentioned that if anyone wished to forward any further comments or concerns they could do so before the end of the month. These comments should be forwarded to either Brian Page or Terry Boutilier. Terry explained that after all the comments and concerns have been addressed the new revised version of the Guidelines and Standards will be taken to Council in September for their approval. 69 -- 2.REPORT ON STATUS OF CRIME STATISTICS Councillor Karen Redman indicated that as requested she had forwarded a letter to Brian requesting some Crime Statistics. She also mentioned that she had met with him and some concern was noted concerning why this Committee was requesting this information and the fact that this would be quite a labour intensive project to complete. Alan Richardson noted that the original intent was to enable us to measure any changes that were implemented in a specific area as well as to give us an indication of why specific areas are lower in crime (for example is it because the area has extra lighting, or because trees limbs are cut on a regular basis etc.). Karen indicated that Brian had mentioned that the following information can be given: Code Classification Zone and Sector Information Date and Time It was noted however, that specific addresses and sites could not be given (the address numbers would be given rounded up or down. It was also stressed that this information would be for the use of this committee only and that it could not be forwarded to the public. It was pointed out that in order to find out if there is a physical or safety related problem in an area with a high crime statistic, we would need to have a specific address. Then maybe the Committee would be able to deal with the specific problem by assigning the proper resource to this area. Julie Dean was asked to put together a short explanation outlining the original intent for requesting these statistics for the next meeting. 3.YOUTH SERVICE CANADA - UPDATE This item was requested to be place on the Agenda by Lirondel Hazlneh and as she was absent no update was given. WORKING GROUP REPORTS 1.PRIORITY WORKING GROUP REPORT Julie Dean noted that the priorities have been completed and the final Priority Charts will be 70 -- circulated at the next meeting. 2.SAFETY AUDIT WORKING GROUP REPORT It was pointed out that on May 20th at 7:00 pm at 50 Eby Street there would be a Cedar Hills Neighbourhood Association meeting where people have the opportunity to give feedback on the completed Cedar Hills Safety Audit Report and determine the next step. 3.LIGHTING WORKING GROUP REPORT Julie informed the committee that there has been another change to the work being completed by Public Works on King Street from Cedar to Madison. It was noted that this area will be completely reconstructed and that we could look at including this in our scope of work if the Committee wished to do so. Some discussion occurred concerning this being a Regional responsibility and it was noted that the Region has indicated that changing the lighting would not be included in their priorities for this specific area. It was suggested that Councillor Karen Redman and Councillor Mark Yantzi suggest at Regional Council that the Region with the costs of updating the lighting in this area. A motion was made to spend up to $8,000.00 to complete a lighting design study for the area of King Street between Cedar and Madison Streets. Moved By: Alan Richardson Seconded By: Trudy Beaulne CARRIED. 4.PROPOSAL WRITING WORKING GROUP REPORT There may be an opportunity to get someone to do some work for the Committee. Julie is filling out an application and will bring details to the next meeting. 5.RESEARCH & EDUCATION WORKING GROUP REPORT 71 -- No report was given. Meeting adjourned: 6:15 pm A. Tanner