Time for action on OPA 48?

Photo by D. Sills

Here is a second letter from Hugh Whiteley (abridged) regarding the newly formed Living Rivers and Greenways Action Group:

"The May 24 Tribune on page 6 has a guest editorial by Janet Bain of the Two Rivers Festival Steering Committee extolling the Speed and Eramosa as the "defining natural features of Guelph" that should be admired, celebrated and enhanced. The content, language and emphasis of the editorial mirrors what is in the existing Guelph Official Plan.

"On page 12 is the City of Guelph notice of the decision meeting of City Council with staff calling for the approval of a new Official Plan OPA 48. This new version of the Official Plan removes any mention of the Speed and Eramosa Rivers being the defining natural features of Guelph. The new version also eliminates the Linked Open Space Concept that was the central  provision of Guelph's Official Plan since 1995 and was the basis for the many provisions of the Official Plan that implemented the protection and enhancement of  accessible connected and naturalized river corridors.

"The Living Rivers group has called for a delay in the approval process for OPA 48 to allow public scrutiny of the proposed downgrading and/or elimination of attention paid to river corridor in the new Official Plan.

"At the River System Advisory Committee Meeting yesterday a motion was passed asking three things: (1) A delay in the approval process for OPA 48 to allow for further consultation, (2) a presentation by planning staff to RSAC outlining the changes in the Official Plan that relate to implementation of the River Systems Management Plan, including policies related to the Linked Open Space Concept, and (3) time for RSAC to develop and submit comments of OPA 48 after the presentation. It is astonishing that OPA 48 has not been brought to RSAC!!"

Dr. Whiteley is calling for letters to the editor of the Tribune and the signing up of delegations for the June 5th Council meeting on OPA 48. Note that you can vote on what the central element of OPA 48 should be at the top right of the GCL blog. Watch for more information on this issue from GCL in the coming days.

New 'Living Rivers And Greenways Action Group' formed

Here is an abridged letter from Hugh Whiteley regarding the formation of a new action group (the text of the mentioned documents is included below the letter):

"As a result of the Citizens Workshop of Guelph's Rivers held on April 18 a Coordinating Committee was formed to consider how to organize in support of the inclusion of greenways and river corridors as the first priority environmental core in Guelph's New Official Plan.

Photo by D. Sills

"The Coordinating Committee has decided that some formal organizing would be helpful to effective advocacy. The attached document describes the Living Rivers And Greenways Action Group  (LRAG^2) that is being formed. Also attached is a memo the Coordinating Committee sent to City of Guelph planning staff outlining concerns about the omission of river corridors and a linked greenway system in the new draft of the Official Plan.

"At the end of last week planning staff announced that Official Plan Amendment 48 (with the linked open space system and emphasis on river corridors gone from the plan) would be brought to City Council for approval on June 5th. Making such a dramatic change to our Official Plan without any meaningful public consultation is a big mistake and approval of OPA48 would be an enormous setback for Guelph as an Environment First city.

"If the request to reopen OPA 48 for public comment is rejected and the June 5th date for final approval is kept there will need to be a big public outcry to stop this rush to ratify a defective document. You can expect further emails requesting specific lobbying efforts if there is a negative response from planning staff."

New Civic Museum making the grade

There was years of controversy over the decision to convert the Loretto Convent to the new Guelph Civic Museum at taxpayer expense, but time is showing that the decision was a sound one. Visitor numbers are up, and the future looks good for the new museum. Read a Mercury article on the topic here.

Agendas for upcoming Council meetings

Council Agenda – May 28, 2012:

http://guelph.ca/uploads/Council_and_Committees/Council/council_agenda_052812.pdf

Items of interest on the agenda:

- Council approval of $1.5M in tax incentives for the Market Commons development downtown (GCL supports this development and has submitted a letter of support on this issue - see comments)

- Council approval needed to proceed with improvements to Silvercreek Parkway South, allowing access to commercial development in the Lafarge lands area

- Council votes on receiving the first report of the new Integrity Commissioner, and possibly asking him to complete a full investigation

- Council approval needed for alcohol sales at baseball games at Hastings stadium

Council Closed Agenda – May 28, 2012:

http://guelph.ca/uploads/Council_and_Committees/Council/council_closed%20agenda_052812.pdf

Council as Shareholder for Guelph Junction Railway Closed Agenda – May 28, 2012:

http://guelph.ca/uploads/Council_and_Committees/Council/council_closed%20agenda%20Shareholder%20GJR_052812.pdf

Council as Shareholder of Guelph Municipal Holdings Inc. Closed Agenda – May 28, 2012:

http://guelph.ca/uploads/Council_and_Committees/Council/council_closed%20agenda%20Shareholder%20GMHI_052812.pdf

Planning Application Reports – June 5, 2012:

http://guelph.ca/uploads/Council_and_Committees/Council/council_agenda_060512.pdf

Items of interest on the agenda:
-  Council decides on whether to adopt the 'Envision Guelph' Official Plan Amendment 48 (GCL has serious concerns with OPA 48 - more on this in a later blog post)

 

The new Integrity Commissioner reports

Guelph's new Integrity Commissioner has issued his first report following the dust up between certain councillors and staff regarding the availability of a report on the organic facility. It wasn't a full report, but he effectively finds blame on both sides. But he also says that if the issue was sent by councillors to a full investigation, some councillors will likely to be found in violation of the Council Code of Conduct. Rather than going to a full investigation, he suggests some team building needs to be undertaken. This is good advice since going to a full investigation would likely not be money well spent - his services don't come cheap. However, the original decision to send this issue to the Integrity Commissioner in the first place is questionable.

The report can be found here.

See more details in a Mercury article on the issue here.

Get mapped - with the cultural mapping project

The City of Guelph, Guelph Arts Council and the Chamber of Commerce have launched a cultural mapping project. You can register as an individual artist or cultural organization, space, event, or collection. The Tribune has an article with more details here. To get yourself mapped, head over to the City's website for cultural mapping here.

Items of interest in the news...

Here are links to several news items of interest:

18-storey condo developer and district energy plans - Tribune article here

New bus terminal opens despite shelter problems - Tribune article here 

Terra View Homes trying a different approach to land development - Mercury article here 

Guelph's waste cart roll-out - Mercury article here. You can also find an online map here showing when households will receive carts.

'Open Data' Baby Steps

A number of cities in Canada provide 'open data' to residents. This is data in a more or less raw form that can be used by residents in whatever way they like. It has often led to some quite innovative information dissemination approaches, including smart phones apps.

The City of Guelph has made 'baby steps' in this direction - offering some open data on their web site 'for testing purposes only'. You can find their open data page here. Data formats for the computer geeks out there are XML, RSS, CSV and KML (allows plotting on Google Earth). So far, all that is offered is data related to City parks, arenas, leash free areas, pools, and strangely enough City Councillors.

One resident has already developed a Windows Phone app using the City's open data! Check out a Trib article on the app here. Hopefully, this 'testing' leads to even more open data, and more innovative apps, in the future.

Committee Meeting Agendas for May 22

May 22^nd Planning, Building, Engineering and Environment Committee Agenda - includes "Rental Housing Licensing Work Plan" presentation and report:

http://guelph.ca/uploads/Council_and_Committees/PEES/pbee_agenda_052212.pdf

May 22^nd Governance Committee Agenda - including a new corporate strategic plan (it's actually slightly more interesting than it sounds!):

http://guelph.ca/uploads/Council_and_Committees/Governance/governance_agenda_052212.pdf

May 22^nd Operations, Transit & Emergency Services Committee Agenda:

http://guelph.ca/uploads/Council_and_Committees/OT/OT_agenda_052212.pdf

Test of New Integrity Commissioner

The newly minted Integrity Commissioner for City Hall has his first test case to work on, and will be meeting this week with city staff and the Mayor regarding a recent incident where staff withheld a draft report from Councillors related to the organics plant. For more details, read the Mercury article here.

Committee Agendas for Monday

CAFE – Corporate Administration, Finance and Enterprise – May 14^th Meeting

An item of interest on this agenda is that up to $1.5 million in tax incentives is being sought by the developer of the proposed Market Commons condos at 3-7 Gordon Street. This appears to be a development much better suited to Downtown than the recently approved 18-storey condo tower at Macdonell and Woolwich. A short presentation is included in the agenda starting on page 11. Also, a Mercury article can be found here.

http://guelph.ca/uploads/Council_and_Committees/CAFES/cafe_agenda_051412.pdf

AUDIT – Audit Committee – May 14^th meeting

http://guelph.ca/uploads/Council_and_Committees/Audit/audit_agenda_051412.pdf 

Article on Jane's Walks in Guelph

The Mercury ran an article on the Jane's Walks in Guelph that was quite interesting. It highlights the 'intentional community' developing on Meadowview Avenue in Guelph's west end.

City Considers Outsourcing Greenhouse Operations

The City of Guelph currently grows its own plants for use around town, including such icons as the floral clock at Riverside Park and the Blossom Express at Edinburgh and Paisley. A staff report going to the Community and Social Services committee examines the impact of outsourcing this work, as discussed in this Mercury article. One such impact is the loss of these two icons.

The agenda for the committee meeting, which goes today at 5 pm, can be found here. An interesting tidbit from the staff report is that Guelph spends about $180K per year to run its own greenhouse. Some $40K of that is cost recovered. In comparison, Brantford spends about $350K per year and Wellington County spends about $850K per year. It seems we're already getting a bargain in Guelph!

18-Storey Condo Tower Approved

The Official Plan and zoning amendments required for Tricar to move forward with their 18-storey condo tower project at the corner of Macdonell and Woolwich were approved by Council Monday evening in a 10-3 vote. Voting against were Bob Bell, Leanne Piper, and Andy Van Hellemond.

Delegations speaking to the issue were neatly divided into two camps. The first four speakers are strongly supported the project: Tom Lammer, owner of the Old Quebec Street Mall; Barbara Turley-McIntyre of the Cooperators; Lloyd Longfield of the Chamber of Commerce; and Marty Williams of the Downtown Business Association.

Up next were five speakers strongly against the plan: William Sleeth, Aidan Ware, Tony Darmon, Stan Kozak, and Dave Sills of the GCL. There were nine others that provided written comments, mostly against the proposal.

One valuable amendment to the motion put forward by Coun. Bob Bell and passed was that there be a condition that no communications antennae be allowed on the top of this building. The developer was amenable to this condition. The GCL had put this forward as a concern, since the top of Downtown's current tallest tower, the Park Mall, has a growing antenna farm on its roof.

GCL Delegation Notes For This Evening's Council Meeting

Madam Mayor and Councillors,

I am here this evening to speak to the issue of the planned 18-storey condo tower at 148 Macdonell, on behalf of the Guelph Civic League.

Since the day it became public knowledge that an 18-storey tower was planned for the Downtown, there has been both support and opposition. Those who own or represent businesses Downtown have understandably been supportive of the plan to rapidly increase density. But many citizens living and working in the Downtown area and beyond have genuine concerns that such a development is not appropriate for the Downtown and will have lasting negative impacts.

There have been numerous letters to the editors of local newspapers, letters to councillors, input at city forums, and delegations at Council meetings, as we see here again tonight. Citizens have been trying their best to make their voices heard.

Why Wait for Council?

In a previous blog post on the 18-storey tower planned for the corner of Woolwich and Macdonell, we predicted that construction would begin very soon after Council approved the application this coming Monday night. We were wrong. The developer is so eager to build, and so sure that Council will pass the application, that construction has already begun! Have a look via the Guelph Mercury article here.

GCL will appear as a delegation at Monday's Council meeting and rest assured the issue of putting the cart before the horse will come up.

Jane's Walks (21!) This Weekend

The forecast for this weekend is sunny and mild, perfect walking weather. So get out and enjoy one of 21 organized Jane's Walks in Guelph this weekend! Walks range from an Arboretum Spring Woods Walk to a Park Avenue Porch Prowl to a Children's Parade. See the list of all 21 Guelph Jane's Walks here.

Results of April GCL Poll

Here are the results of the GCL poll for the month of April. The question was:

"What should the City's new urban tree canopy target be?"

Here is how you voted:

Stick with 40% by 2020	25 (67%)
30% by 2020	5 (13%)
25% by 2020	1 (2%)
Just focus on keeping our current 20%	6 (16%)

So, 2/3 of the 37 people that voted believe that the City should stick with its aggressive 40% by 2020 target.

Watch for the new poll for the month of May!

EXTREME MAKEOVER - DOWNTOWN GUELPH EDITION

Click to enlarge

Last night, Council approved the Downtown Secondary Plan, an amendment to Guelph's Official Plan that aims to radically change the Downtown, mainly south of the tracks, by 2031. Despite failed attempts at amendments by several councillors, the plan passed as city staff recommended.

The biggest changes are set for the Wellington / Woolwich area between Gordon and Macdonell, and the old Woods site east of the Speed River. Four residential towers up to 18 storeys in height have been approved. And the current strip mall south of Wellington is set to be removed after 2022 to make way for parkland to run the entire length of the Speed River.

GCL lobbied for the 18-storey towers to be scaled back to 10-12 storeys (see previous blog post), but in the end there was not a single councillor willing to advocate on behalf of the many people who thought 18-storeys was just too tall in the Downtown area. This will be the current council's most visible legacy, to be seen for miles around. Time will tell if the character of our historic downtown will be compromised by these highrises.

The application for the first 18-storey condo tower, on Macdonell, goes to Council next Monday. If that passes, and judging by last evenings proceedings it appears it certainly will, look for construction to begin very soon after.

Scott Tracey also has a Mercury article with more details on the Council meeting here.

GCL Comments on Downtown Secondary Plan

Here are the GCL comments on the Downtown Secondary Plan, sent to Council and to be delivered in person at the meeting this evening.

=====

Madam Mayor and Councillors,

The GCL strongly agrees with the goal of increasing intensity in downtown Guelph, both to meet Places to Grow targets and to ensure the health of the city core by getting more people living downtown. The GCL also strongly agrees with the concept of mixed-use development, particularly with street-level commercial frontage.

However, the GCL believes that parts of the proposed Downtown Secondary Plan employ planning principles that are not appropriate for the area and will diminish the unique character of Guelph's downtown.

Specifically, the proposal to allow up to 18-storey towers in four locations, and up to 15-storey towers in several other locations, needs to be reconsidered.