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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDowntown Adv - 2009-11-12 DOWNTOWN ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES November 12, 2009 City of Kitchener The Downtown Advisory Committee met this date, chaired by Glenn Scheels; with the following members in attendance: Denis Pellerin, Bernie Nimer, Mark Garner, Peter Hammond, Councillor John Smola, Jamie Yantzi, Tamara Minns, Don Zehr, Alan Anderson. Regrets: Lesley Cooper, Lisa Polonski Staff in attendance: Rod Regier, Silvia Didonato, Cory Bluhm, Kim Feere, Sandy Curzon, Shayne Turner. Discussion Items Minutes & Agenda Approval of Minutes On motion by Bernie Nimer, seconded by Jamie Yantzi The minutes of the October 8, 2009 be approved. Advisory Committee Updates EDAC – Bernie Nimer provided an update on the Economic Development Advisory Committee meeting. The committee received a presentation from Colin Goodeve regarding conflict of interest, as well as a presentation on the Parking Strategy which included all recommendations put forth to council. Additionally, the committee briefly touched on the Terms of Reference update, other project updates and the regularly scheduled Economic Reality Check. S&HAC – Denis Pellerin advised the Safe and Healthy Advisory Committee did not meet this month due to a number of member illnesses. New Business Terms of Reference This will be place on the next agenda when Tracey and Lisa are present. Downtown Strategic Plan 5 year update Earlier in the day, Silvia provided the group with the final draft of the Downtown Strategic Plan 5 Year Update report via e-mail for final review. Thanking all who participated in the workshop recently, she asked the group for their feedback, to be incorporated into the final version before the report is forwarded to the Office of the City Clerk. Glenn reviewed the 4 themes outlined in the report including More Residents, More Retail, More Vitality, and More infrastructure for those not able to attend the workshop. The committee discussed the report in detail, providing suggestions on additional items, language changes, and other alterations to Silvia, including the following comments/questions: ? Are areas listed in order of priority? Staff clarified no. ? Are there new incentives? Staff indicated yes, under the first theme – More Residents. Further, the committee suggested these could focus more on non residential, or be more specific to commercial? Perhaps included under the second theme – More Retail? ? What correlation is there between more residential and more business? Conventionally, office personnel are not a reliable source of customers for retail, although the Downtown Card has assisted with this. ? Would be beneficial to work with Neighbourhood Associations to learn about what it is in the core and surrounding areas that draws people to visit or stay in the area longer. More detailed research will assist with this. ? Parking limitations could also be a factor; unfortunately building more parking structures is not necessarily the answer. Customers have indicated they do not want to pay for parking when they are only coming for one store. Two hour free parking is only allowed on the street, not in any lots. There used to be free parking after 6:00pm, however this has been changed and visitors are now required to pay up until midnight. Additional short term parking could be added to the second theme – More Retail. Perhaps the committee could further discuss short term parking at a future meeting. ? Include laneways and back streets in the piece on continued support for downtown beautification. ? Important to highlight communications and education – this will have great impact on impressions of the downtown ? Digital Branding should also be included Staff also provided the following information: ? The city will have another plan come to term over the next year. This will open up options for a new full Strategic Plan. ? Although parking is an issue, it is part of a larger package. The Transportation Demand Strategy and Accessibility to the downtown core is important and should be considered together with parking and other pieces. This could be identified in the Long Term Planning Area under Create a Comprehensive Plan. The final report will go to committee on Monday, November 16th then to Council Monday, November 23rd. Property Standards: Inspection options Silvia introduced Shayne Turner, Director of Enforcement who was invited to answer some questions committee had regarding property standards. Shayne met with the building owners sub-group, and plans for representatives from the property standards division to complete a walk about with this group to identify potential Property Standards issues. Once complete, the building owners group, as peers, could make suggestions to other owners for improvement. As a last resort, this may be followed by a return visit by a Property Standards Officer to issue paperwork where necessary. Unfortunately, this last resort can cause concerns as businesses with this on their record will not qualify for grant opportunities. Asked if Kitchener could use a similar process used in Waterloo, Shayne clarified, many times each situation needs to be handled in a different way, we cannot expect someone to fix concrete in 30 days in the middle of winter. It is important to let the owner know you are there and aware of the issue(s). Sometimes dealing with smaller things can make a big difference, a suggestion was made that perhaps these smaller things could be dealt with through a letter. Civic District Presentation Cory Bluhm provided committee with a presentation on the Civic District. A group of partners in the Civic District including Waterloo Regional Police Services, the Kitchener Public Library, Centre in the Square and the Kitchener Waterloo Art Gallery are working towards a long term vision. Cory reviewed plans for the expansion on the library and provided illustrations of the new look for the KPL and surrounding area. The group is currently working to decide what to do with the parking lot behind the regional building. They would like it to be an urban square with goals to: 1. Create a people magnet 2. Accommodate large community events/festivals, 3. Accommodate daily activity (eating, reading, sitting) 4. Celebrate the importance of arts in Waterloo Region 5. Offer a high quality setting. Three options on how this space might be developed were provided. Reviewing illustrations in the presentation, Cory explained Concept 1 titled An Eye for Art has much hard surface which lends to larger events; Concept 2 titled Creative Culture Gardens, rather then one large area, separates the space into 3 smaller areas; and Concept 3 titled Flow of Creativity is essentially wide open green space with some hard surface and resembles an abstract form of the Grand River. Cory welcomed feedback from the group today and in the future. The concepts are not yet online, but will be shortly. Cory will forward the link to the committee when available. The final concept will not be decided until early in the New Year. The committee had some questions regarding the space. Cory clarified this space will be located on top of the new parking facility with approximately 5 feet of soil in between. Expansion in the library will be mainly focused on the addition of arts, and perhaps some restaurants. A water feature will be included if possible. Temporary rinks, permanent rinks, and other options for rinks were discussed, however this will be considered as budget allows. Members indicated the concepts would benefit by showing more surroundings to the design, such as including the firefighter’s memorial, or other spaces. Cory indicated this will likely happen when the final concept is selected. Civic District Concepts to be an agenda item at the next meeting to discuss further. Information Items/Unfinished Business Go Transit Update Rod indicated that bus service in the downtown has started, with a goal to increase ridership for when rail becomes available. Monthly Fast Facts on Downtown st The report previously discussed by Silvia includes highlights up until the 31 for members to review. Kitchener Market Diane Garrington has agreed to provide an update at the December meeting on the Market. Four new vendors have been added to the upper level space. City Centre (formerly Centre Block) Update Rod indicated he has met with Andrin, they will begin surveying the Heritage buildings in the next month or so. Downtown Real Estate Update The old Eatons store space is looking quite ruff. Discussions are in the works and will take place with property standards and the owner towards a potential solution. Safety watch is no longer necessary at the Kaufman lofts, many of the issues have been dealt with, however the parking garage still is off access. Much work is taking place in regards to this and it is near completion. Project Updates Information was circulated with agenda. Members have likely heard about the big Digital Media announced in the past few days. This will likely be located at the Tannery, although it is yet to be confirmed. A public art feature is currently under way at Speakers Corner, the unveiling ceremony will be held in December and the committee is invited. One member inquired about adjusting paving stones in the new streetscape. Rod indicated they will be left over the winter to settle then reviewed in the spring by the cities Operations division. On motion the meeting adjourned 5:52 p.m.