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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDowntown Advisory - 2001-06-14DOWNTOWN ADVISORY COMMITTEE June 14, 2001 The Downtown Advisory Committee met on this date under the chairmanship of Councillor Christina Weylie, with the following members present: Karen Taylor- Harrison, Anita Petsche-Good, Tom Brennand, Staff Sgt. Barry Zehr, Denise Strong, Donna Kuehl, Mike Peng, Howard Rotberg, Staff: David Corks, George Borovilos, Brock Stanley, Aleem Kanji, Michele Hodgins 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA A quorum was not present but the Chair decided to go ahead with the meeting. However, all recommendations will be sent the Council with this advisory in place. A motion was madeto approve the agenda for the meeting of Thursday, June 14, 2001. Moved by:Donna Kuehl Seconded by:Tom Brennand CARRIED 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion was made to approve the minutes from the May 10, 2001 meeting. Moved by:Anita Petsche-Good Seconded by:Tom Brennand CARRIED 3. UP-DATE BY DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT TEAM (City and KDBA) · Opening of K-W film and TV office will be at Club Elements, 11:00 a.m. on th Monday June 18. The purpose is to show clips of what has been done in and around the city and introduce the procedures if filming comes to town. th · Looking for volunteers for cruise night on July 6, to staff booths, direct traffic, etc., always a fun night. Anyone interested, please contact the KDBA. We are also trying to encourage stores to stay open later for that night. · Kaufman up-date - offers to purchase are in, there are some environmental issues in regards to the parking lot. Want to put residential in this building, 1 UP-DATE BY DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT TEAM (City and KDBA) cont’d. and the city is encouraging that. There is an unknown cost regarding the environmental testing. · Stantec on Victoria St. are consolidating offices and moving to the basement at Market Square, in the fall. This is an engineering consultant with 300 employees. · New Farmer’s Market construction to start next spring. Report going to Council in the fall regarding public input on conceptual design. We also should find out about government funding at that time. A Market Advisory Group involving market vendors, KDBA, community volunteers and staff will work together to write the report and present to Council. University students will come up with some designs from the in-put of the public sessions. · Metropolis hearing was an all-day event. 5 objectors, opposing the patio, noise levels, etc. Crowd control was an issue as well with regards to fire hazards, etc. Quite a lengthy and involved process, with 30-60 days allowed for a decision by the Alcohol & Gaming Commission. · The Saloon – building a patio deck at the rear of their building with entrance off parking lot. Building permit was issued and a final inspection should be happening soon. They will not be expanding their capacity, their liquor license is for 126, but will be dividing their numbers from inside and outside, the police will be monitoring their numbers. The Saloon has posed a problem in the past with noise and the smoking ban. This will be discussed th on June 25 at 10:00 a.m. (see attached BPS report #01-082). Although there was not enough for a quorum, Howard Rotberg requested Council look into the appropriate steps to object to a license extension or amendment for The Saloon, located at 323 King St. E. in Kitchener, to build a patio adjacent to residential neighbourhoods which will harm the city’s goal of enhancing downtown residential neighbourhoods. Chair Christina Weylie would like a sub-committee, consisting of Howard Rotberg, Tom Brennand, Karen Taylor-Harrison, Anita Petsche-Good and a nd police representative, will meet in Christina’s office on Friday June 22 10:30 to discuss the conditions of license amendments for the Saloon. If the landowner is in breach of landscaping requirements as contained in previous site plan agreement, then we can request the city’s Legal Department to take action. We can also ask to impose time limits, e.g. 11:00 p.m. closing 4. NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSOCIATION UP-DATES Civic CentreDonna Kuehl advised that there would be a public th meeting on May 28 regarding the Artbar (at Centre in the Square) being too noisy. Also to be discussed 2 NEIGHBOURHOOD ASSOCIATION UP-DATES cont’d. are the buses on Queen St., issue of noise created by theatre companies coming in middle of night, parking in driveways, etc. The intersection at Margaret and Queen St. is a fire route, and is routinely blocked. Centre in Square are very open to discussing issues and working it out. Residents are asked to phone in all complaints. Flag raising ceremony went very well. Neighbourhood picnic coming up (see attached newsletter). AuditoriumTom Brennand reported that there have been several meetings regarding Auditorium expansion and problems arising from this have been held. The possibility of an exit off the highway coming into the Auditorium is what is worrying the neighbours. Mill-Courtland Karen Taylor-Harrison advised that there is a 3 on 3 basketball tournament coming up with 25-27 teams signed up. Cedar-Hill She also said there have been some property standard issues within the neighbourhood, and Neighbourhood Association representatives are trying to meet with landlords who are causing problems. Multi-cultural festival will be taking place in Victoria Park next week-end (June 23-24). 5. WOODSIDE DRIVE – GENERAL ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP INC. Aleem Kanji, Business & Planning Services, Economic Development Division, spoke of the proposed Certificate of Approval from the Ministry of the Environment for waste disposal at the old Canadian Blower and Forge sight at 90 Woodside Drive (see attached question and answer documents). Issues include trucking into the neighbourhood, a concerned neighbourhood group – CCFNP (Concerned Citizens for Neighbourhood Preservation) are looking for alternative routes. Approximately 10 -15 trucks on average per day will be coming into the site (see attached BPS report #01-080). 3 WOODSIDE DRIVE – GENERAL ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP INC. cont’d. There are two options – First, if a soil recycling facility is approved, General Environmental Group (GEG) proposes to convert the existing property to residential standards. The second option proposed by GEG is to clean up the site to industrial standards and the property will be suitable for an industrial client. The preferred option by GEG is the first one. There has been a public consultation process, with public meetings and a question and answer period with General Environmental Group, Staff, and the Ministry of Environment. Howard Rotberg asked about the enforceability of the plan, what can be enforced, and how do we know they will be around in 5 years. Aleem responded that the existing site is contaminated, there are guidelines by the Ministry of Environment to handle this. It was also asked how do we guarantee that we get residential redevelopment? Brock went on to say that the Official Plan states if it is rezoned from industrial to residential, they need to provide a record of site condition which verifies the contamination has been resolved for residential standards. We can request of Ministry that they only allow for 5 years to improve the site, and we will work with them to go through transitional policies in City’s Official Plan industrial zoning. This means that the lands can only be used for residential after the cleanup is complete. Howard Rotberg also questioned that at the end of the 5 year period, it being legal non-conforming for industrial, can they not lease it out to another industrial company? Brock replied that he believes that it would be more beneficial for them to go with residential rather than industrial, as it is a higher order land use. He added that residential developers are interested in this site once the contaminated soil is removed. George Borovilos reminded the Committee that the Certificate of Approval can include a condition that the recycling operation will exit the site after 5 years. Anita Petsche-Good asked how would they decontaminate the site, will chemicals being used? George responded that they would use live organisms in soil and it could take 2 weeks to 6 months to clean up. It was noted that a petition by CCFNP has been started with 6,000 signatures to request a full environmental assessment hearing. 4 WOODSIDE DRIVE – GENERAL ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP INC. cont’d. Howard Rotberg asked about the performance bond, how big will it be since there is so much unknown as to what is contaminating the soil? Phase 2 doesn’t really indicate what is in there. Brock indicated that the performance bond is required by the Ministry of Environment. George stated that we could put conditions in our Certificate of Approval comments. The City wants a certain level of confidence and assurance that they can clean up this site. 6. NEW BUSINESS · Howard Rotberg would like Larry Kotseff from the Region of Waterloo and Judy Greenwood-Speers to discuss the highspeed transit proposal. · Karen Taylor-Harrison would like the Youth Crime Act – Chris Cowie as an agenda item for the next meeting. · Anita Petsche-Good would like to discuss the All Ages Dances (possibly have Catherine Heal and the police speak on this topic). · Staff Sgt. Barry Zehr said he could discuss Media Communications with the police and the real stories that the public do not hear. · July/August meetings - do we still want to have them? It was decided we thth would change the July 12 meeting to July 26 and a 9:00 a.m. start time, th and cancel the August 9 meeting. Meeting adjourned. LIST OF ATTACHMENTS 1. BPS-01-082 report on liquor license application for The Saloon. 2. Civic Centre Neighbourhood Association newsletter 3. Question and answer document on Woodside Drive 4. BPS-01-080 report on General Environmental Group 5