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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSafe City - 1997-04-01 1 -- SAFECITY\1997-04-01 SAFE CITY COMMITTEE MINUTES APRIL 1, 1997 The Safe City Committee held its meeting under the Chairmanship of Trudy Beaulne with the following members present:: Nancy Brawley, Philip Fernandez, Lirondel Hazlneh and Alan Richardson. Others Present:Brock Stanley, Julie Dean, Bob Arnot, John MacDonald, Phil Gabriel, Cathy Livingston, Brian Page and Avril Tanner (minutes). Absent:Councillor Mark Yantzi, Councillor Karen Redman, Rahim Atabakhsh, Bryan Stortz, Karen Taylor-Harrison and Rita Westbrook. ACTIVITY REPORT FOR FUTURE MEETINGS From: APRIL 1, 1997 NAMECOMPLETION DATETO BE DONE Julie DeanNext MeetingBring absent committee members up-to-date with the Lighting Pilot Project. Avril TannerAs soon as possible.Forward a copy of the Forward Urban Design ADMINISTRATIVE 1. APPROVAL OF APRIL 1, 1997 AGENDA. It was requested that we add the following two items as Future Agenda Items: 66 -- Crime Statistics Report. Youth Service Canada - Information Item. Moved By: Alan Richardson Seconded By: Philip Fernandez CARRIED. 2.APPROVAL OF MARCH 4, 1997 MINUTES It was recommended that on Page 56 under Community Safety and Crime Prevention we remove the 4th sentence in the first paragraph that reads as follows: “She pointed out that two Action Teams will be continuing for sure.” It was moved to approve the minutes with the above noted change. Moved By: Alan Richardson Seconded By: Lirondel Hazlneh CARRIED. OTHER BUSINESS 1.URBAN DESIGN GUIDELINE PRESENTATION Brock Stanley explained how the Urban Design Guidelines came about and that a final draft has now been released. Comments are being requested from all committee members and are due by April 30, 1997. He then introduced Cathy Livingston who then gave the presentation. Brian Page mentioned that there will be a question and answer period on April 15 in the Council Chambers and indicated that anyone is welcome at the meeting. Brock added that we would be discussing this item at the next meeting and would be forwarding any comments at that time. Brock also mentioned that the areas in the guidelines specific to the Committee would be Sections 6.0 (Safety) and 10.0 (Downtown). It was suggested that We circulate a copy of the guidelines to those members who were absent from today’s meeting. 67 -- 2.LIGHTING DESIGN STUDY Phil Gabriel and John MacDonald indicated they are currently working on the Lighting Design Study for the seven specified areas. It was pointed out that they had attended the Safe City Committee Meeting that was held on February 4, 1997 at which time they dealt with lighting issues in the Downtown. Today they will be discussing the investigation of the seven areas and their ideas for specific concepts. Twenty prototypical situations have been identified in the Downtown and have been mapped out. Phil will be talking about the current lighting situation and the concepts that they would like to propose to get some feed back from the Committee. A copy of the Table of Contents for the Downtown Lighting Design Study was circulated (see attached) and it was explained that these prototypical situations have been arranged in the following Four categories: Street Types, Adjacent Spaces, Entries and Thresholds and Display. All of these areas are lit at nightime and the Consultants have looked at how they relate to the regular street lighting. It was pointed out that how businesses light their properties will have also have to be dealt with. The Lighting Design Study comprises of portions of the following areas: King Street (What can we do to improve what is there) King Street East, Scott to Cedar (Construction) Cedar Street Queen Street Ontario Street Duke Street Halls Lane Phil reviewed the findings during the investigation and indicated their proposals for conceptual lighting approaches for the seven specific areas. Please find the above noted information as follows: CEDAR STREET TO KING: 68 -- Current Proposed ·.Highway Type Lights·.Improve Colour, change to metal halide ·.Glarey ·.If designated as a Neighbourhood Link along the opposite side of the street from the ·.Encourage private owners to leave lights KING STREET EAST: CurrentProposed 1.Highway Lighting3.Put in pedestrian style paired lighting 2.Glare 4.Closer spacing than presently on King KING STREET: CurrentProposed 5.Poles on the high end of pedestrian7.Retain existing staggered placement of scale pole height 6.Glare8.Improve colour by shifting to metal halide 9.Provide guidelines for the e to have store front lighting 10.Retention of the taller standard, spaced roposal for King East, is consistent with the more canyon like area of King compared to the KING & CEDAR STREETS: CurrentProposed 11.A lot of Traffic Signals13.Would like to gain more space at this 12.It is a Node or an entrance to the downtown.14.Whatever we do on King Street we need 15.Create a major emphasis with lighting. 16.Choose a more pedestrian oriented style 69 -- 17.Put more lights on the light poles at QUEEN STREET: CurrentProposed 18.There is a series of new lantern type21.Would like to keep the same fixture type fixtures paired. 19.Silvered reflector in light fixture.22.Improve colour of light - metal halide and 20.Some formal styles of lighting as the poles are in line with one another or23.Increase lighting of businesses in the paired. 24.Make a statement with more fixtures on a et ONTARIO STREET: CurrentProposed 25.A typical Commercial Street27.No tall Highway lights 26.Cobra-headed highway lighting28.Less formal than on civic streets i.e., 29.Use fixtures of the same type of scale gered or informal. HALLS LANE: CurrentProposed 30.Need for more light.32.What would make this area safe would 31.Safety in the laneway is presently not consistent with its current use and33.Install building mounted fixtures. physical layout.34.Need to address corners or alleyways by 35.Initially install more public lighting as es a corresponding reduction in public lighting 36.The challenge for this type of area is that ther similar areas. 37.Improve the colour and glare on wall 70 -- equired. 38.Treat the area in a staged manner so businesses using the laneway the lighting d usage. It was pointed out that we should do the best we can with what we have. It was stressed that this type of area would require a relationship to be built between the Owners and the City to encourage them to light the front as well the back of their buildings. It may be more advantageous to create incentive programs for the owners to properly light their properties as opposed to enforcing specific regulations. It was pointed out that we should look at improving the landscaping and colour of some of the buildings (for example painting a black wall white to increase the appearance of the light). A taller lantern type on King Street works well. There should be a Fixture Vocabulary: shorter version on commercial streets and we should consider a change in lighting on civic streets such as Queen and Gaukle. In general Phil mentioned we should avoid tall glaring lights, wall mounted lights and fixtures that are too tall and look out of place. It was suggested that more pedestrian oriented lighting be installed at intersections. We also need to gain the help of the community to make improvements of landscaping, colours of buildings and keeping their properties well lit. During discussions of creating Neighbourhood Links it was mentioned that pedestrian lighting would help create a sense of arriving in the downtown and provide an additional level of comfort for those who wish to walk in the downtown. It was suggested that the neighbourhoods may wish to meet to discuss which streets should be considered Neighbourhood Links. It was mentioned again the need to have property owners keeping their lights on. Another suggestion was made that we do demonstration blocks to show regular street lighting and lighting we would like to have on Neighbourhood Link streets to get a feel for the difference. Discussions occurred on gaining private help in increasing the lighting (i.e. porch lights on, landscaping changes and outside building improvements) and it was pointed out that community involvement would make the situation better. It was stressed that community involvement would be a key point in creating the feeling of a safer place for people. For each of the seven Study Areas there are many things that need to be improved, i.e. painting a black wall white, removing shrubbery that creates shadows etc. We need to develop a process to deal with these types of items. It was pointed out that we need to develop some formal conceptual recommendations before this item goes to Council. A discussion occurred concerning the colours of light and how they affect the safety levels. During a discussion concerning Neighbourhood Links the following suggestions were 71 -- made: 39.To arbitrarily pick one street could be too early as there may be other areas that need the same level of lighting. 40.In some cases it is obvious which are the regular pedestrian routes, in other cases it is not so clear. 41.Identifying a Neighbourhood Link includes getting a response from the neighbourhood to determine which of the streets are pedestrian oriented. 42.Some concern was noted that by doing this you are basically telling people you need to walk down this street as opposed to another street, however, it was also noted that we already do this by where we locate traffic signals. Moreover, it could be seen as provision of a street to be taken in the event one is uncomfortable with taking other streets. 43.It was suggested that we create a pilot project to see the difference of link streets and regular streets to compare the areas. 44.There are other ways to create link streets, for example better paved roads, landscaping etc. 45.The Neighbourhood Link is not always something that has to be built from scratch, the existing situation could be built upon. 46.We are now starting a Bikeway Study and this will indicate and reinforce some of the Neighbourhood Links. 47.We could create standards to be followed when deciding which street should be a Neighbourhood Link street. For example Does the Link street encompass enough use to deserve the lighting upgrade for a Neighbourhood Link street. 48.It was pointed out that there may be other groups that are looking to improve their own initiatives and we should be communicating with one another so we are not conflicting with one another. Phil mentioned that this decision does not halt the project at this time and that a decision concerning Neighbourhood Links could be made later. Some concern was noted that if we provide two options to Council, one including pedestrian links and one not including links, the less expensive option would be chosen, it was decided that it must be made clear to Council that one of the major initiatives was to create pedestrian links from the neighbourhoods to the downtown. In conclusion it was made very clear that we need to get contributions form the private sector as well as the public sector. For example recommendations were made to increase doorway lighting, painting of dark walls to light colours, landscaping and to encompass this with all the required changes to lighting to improve the feeling of safety in the downtown. John MacDonald pointed out that if anyone wished to receive a copy of the Downtown Lighting Design Study report as written to date they could contact him. Phil Gabriel and John MacDonald will be putting together a one page summary of the 72 -- Lighting concepts they would like to propose and Brock will take this to Planning Committee hopefully during the week of April 21st and would indicate that we were unable to make a quorum, however, indicate to Council that the majority of the Committee felt that these were good suggestions and endorsed the concepts. It was also suggested that Phil & John would make a short presentation of the concepts at this meeting. Brock indicated that the date will be made at the April 7th Planning Committee meeting and we will be able to make plans for the presentation at that time. Brock mentioned some concern that we have not yet received any input from the KDBA and the Neighbourhood Associations. Julie mentioned that we could pass on the information to the Neighbourhood Associations at the Cedar Hill Neighbourhood meeting that is being held on April 18th. Brock will talk with Nancy about the KDBA and would like to see the presentation of the lighting concepts at the next Kitchener Downtown Advisory Committee Meeting. It was decided that John & Phill will put together a 5-10 min presentation to give to these groups and will include specific recommendations in their presentation. Meeting adjourned: 6:10 pm A. Tanner LIST OF ATTACHMENTS 1.Table of Contents for Downtown Lighting Design Study Report. 2.Downtown Lighting Design Study Timeframe. 3.Justice Dinner Flyer. 4.Safety Audit Flyer. 5.Dealing with Violence Brochure. 6.1997 Community Conversations Brochure.