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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDowntown Advisory 2008-01-10 DOWNTOWN ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES January 10, 2008 City of Kitchener The Kitchener Downtown Advisory Committee met this date, commencing at 4:10 p.m., Chaired by Glenn Scheels with the following members present: Denis Pellerin, Bernie Nimer, , Glen Woolner, Karen Taylor-Harrison, Chris Farley, Nadine Cybulski, Scott Hayter, Suzanne Ronald, Mark Garner, Thomas Seebohm City staff present include: Sandy Curzon, Silvia Wright, 1. Business Arising 1.1 Advisory Committee Review – Focus Group Session Ms. Shelley Adams, Director of Community and Corporate Planning held a focus group session with members of the Committee to discuss the advisory committee review that is currently taking place. Staff members of the Downtown Advisory Committee were not present at this meeting. Focus Group Session adjourned at 5:00 p.m., regular Downtown Advisory Committee meeting reconvened. 2. Minute Approval That the minutes of the December 13, 2007 meeting be approved with the following changes Moved by Scott Seconded by Thomas Advisory Committee Updates – Glen Scheels advised the Committee that this will be a new standing item on the agenda and the time will be taken to update on the other committees activities. EDAC – cluster strategies, corporate visitation program ACAC – memorial cup delegation and how to incorporate art into that, possible KAFKA partnership with projections on the ice, outside etc – they will be meeting with them to discuss further, also discussion to take place with the KDBA on having displays in the downtown on the storefronts. Purchase a piece from the artist in residence and a report on that is going to council Safe – no report at this time th Oktoberfest – Denis Pellerin advised that the festival is celebrating the 40 anniversary and the downtown will be a focus this year, there would be value to have the downtown business owners participate. 3. New Business 3.1 2008 Agenda Discussion – Calendar Overview Glen Scheels discussed the potential format change to the Agenda that will state the proposed discussion items by month. He also referred to the minutes of December and the discussion that took place regarding priority setting. ? Tourism store has relocated to the ground floor of City Hall – when is was across the street the visibility is low how are we hoping to change that now that they are in City Hall ? Tourism is now controlled by the Region they are having a public meeting next week and at that meeting they will be going over the plans. This will not change the tourism office here as it will be providing general information and support on a daily bases – it will be staffed. Action Items: May meeting have Tourism come and talk to us KDBA to provide an overview of the Summer in Kitchener. - Were is the artist in residence going to be housed? Does anyone know? This has caused delays in putting out the call for an artist in residence. No one at the meeting knows. 3.2Patio Encroachments – 2008 Season Silvia Wright advised that we are approaching the outdoor season and we are looking for some ideas from the Committee before the start of the season. How to encourage restaurants to have more of the café experience etc. Silvia Wright explained the process (fees, paper plates etc.) Keeping in mind that with the upcoming streetscape construction we will delay the starting of the patio season and the new design will change the current agreement - Incentives toward consistency (patio furniture) while keeping creativity open develop a standards manual for the patios – umbrella colour variations, railings the same, guidelines with photos of good and bad examples – height, division between spaces, planters, awnings, - Provide the means to get what you want but not the details - Consider safety issues – railing types material and height - Could provide examples of good and not so good - Need to review the current agreement - Less is more – make it more user friendly for the restaurant owners to go through the process - Size of the patio space has to make sense to ensure that there is enough room for everyone - How are decisions going to be made as to when the parking will be removed and what the allowable size of patios will be - Is there table service outside or do they pay for their food inside – this might need to be stated and have different outlines for each in the agreements therefore allowing for a different style patio - Mark advised that he will also need to work with the local businesses and the city to gain an understanding of what has occurred in the past so he can research it properly - Bring in incentives – subsidies from the KDBA for example - Engage the arts community to work with the restaurants etc., to incorporate the arts - Language barriers – make sure that the other restaurants can truly understand - Should the Alcohol Committee that was run once before be resurrected – might be a good idea to do it a couple of times a year - We do have a liquor licence review committee that involves the KDBA, the city and the AGCO recognizes that - Suggestions that we have a winter festival for restaurants to showcase their food for example a Winterlicous Staff to bring draft streetscape plan to the Committee when the complete. 4. Business Arising 4.1 Updates – Streetscape Council approved the 60% design and the budget on Monday January 7, 2008. We are working on final designs and tender preparation in hopes of beginning construction April 1, 2008. th Your Kitchener Market – Update – Feb. 11, report is going to Council – update will be provided at the February meeting It was agreed that the meeting in Feb would be moved to 3:00 The Committee raised concerns regarding a retailer in the downtown that could use a reminder on the state of their signage – Mark Garner / KDBA will follow-up. Sign by-law needs to show some consistency and enforcement is becoming an issue. Mark Garner provided an update on the KDBA Downtown Dollars program: Over 600 people engaged in the Kitchener Downtown Dollar program in 2007 and generated over $100K in revenue for local merchants. thth The program ran from December 11 to 24, to gather your receipts and turn them in at the KDBA to get your Downtown Dollars which are accepted at all the merchants in downtown Kitchener. Where did the shoppers come from? 65% from Kitchener ? 19% from Waterloo ? 8% from Guelph or Cambridge ? The real interest is 9% from other location outside our region ? Are they currently downtown shoppers? the interesting stat is 19% are first time Downtown Kitchener 72% Yes, 9% no and shoppers What are the top 3 ages demographic of those shoppers? 40 -49 years of age 28% 30-39 years of age 16% 60 and over 14% Interesting stat is the fact the 18-30 years of age combined is 14% On motion, the meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m.