Menu Close

May 2015 Update

Dear Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour,

Great news!  Motion going to Council this Tuesday, May 19 to complete the K&P Trail to the downtown in time for Canada’s sesquicentennial celebration in 2017!  See below.
Thanks so much to  Councillors Stroud, Neill and McLaren for their leadership on this issue!

Also, THANKS SO MUCH to everyone who came out for the trail clean-up on May 9.  Great job! Special thanks to Kendra Noble and her crew and to Joe Quattrocchi for providing fruit for hungry workers.

Also THANKS SO MUCH to the newcomers who signed up at the Inner Harbour Jane’s Walk! Truly appreciate your support.
FYI:  Do visit our webpage www.friendsofinnerharbour.com

Exciting newsy event stuff is being collected for the June update.
In the meantime, four important May reminders.

1) Tues, May 19, 7:30 pm City Council meeting, Memorial Hall, City Hall.
Councillors Peter Stroud and Jim Neill have a motion to cost the various options for the K&P Trail – to have it completed to the downtown in time for Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017.
This will connect the Trans Canada Trail to Kingston’s downtown – through Doug Fluhrer Park. If you are free, do consider coming to Council to show your support for this great initiative.
For complete motion see the end of this message.

2) Wed, May 20, 2015, 7:00 p.m, St. Mark’s Church (263 Victoria Street at Earl)

Our Neighbourhood AGM.   Short presentation + Q&A by Rachel Quittkat, Manager for the City’s Official Plan Review Project. Our Neighbourhood has major concerns with “spot zoning”, the city practice of making exceptions to the Official Plan to accommodate developers at the expense of communities.  Come learn about their suggested improvements to the City’s planning process and the Official Plan.
All welcome!

3) Wed, May 20, 2015, 7:00 pm, La Salle High School (773 Hwy 15)

Working Waterfront Group, Public Meeting, Focus Area 6:
St. Lawrence River Waterfront:
La Salle Causeway to Treasure Island

Points of interest include Ravensview Park, Sibbit Park, Riverside Waterside Park, Milton Lookout Park, and Esplanade Park. At the meeting, participants will learn about existing conditions in these areas, view conceptual plans and will be asked to offer suggestions on features, improvements, and access improvements to the waterfront .”If you have ideas on the Waterfront Master Plan, we want to hear from you,” says Neal Unsworth, Manager, Parks Development.

FYI for future reference:  The draft consolidated Waterfront Master Plan for all six focus areas will be presented for review at a public open house on Saturday, June 20 in Memorial Hall, City Hall.

4) Thurs, May 28, 11:45 – 1:30, Residence Inn by Marriott, 7 Earl St. Kingston. 

Community Foundation Speaker’s Series: David McDonald
“All you ever wanted? Kingston’s Waterfront:
Opportunities for Tough Choices Ahead”

Tickets $50.  Charitable Receipts issued: cfka.org or 613-546-969.

David McDonald of Kingston’s Water Access Group has been instrumental in raising concerns about the good, the bad and the ugly in Kingston’s waterfront over the years and has organized a number of community events including last year’s Shoreline Shuffle to draw attention to the need for a walkable, swimmable, fishable, drinkable waterfront.  He is on the city’s Waterfront Working Group.

Stay tuned for  exciting summer events in the upcoming June update.
Happy long weekend.
Mary

K&P Trail motion for City Council meeting, May 19, 2015
Moved by Councillor Stroud, Seconded by Councillor Neill

Whereas the K&P Trail has been a very popular and successful project that has
seen wide support from both the City of Kingston and its neighbours; and
Whereas there now exists a nationwide effort to connect the entire TransCanada
Trail in time for our nation’s Sesquicentennial in 2017, and this national trail
network already incorporates the Cataraqui Trail, which now connects to the rural
section of the K&P Trail; and
Whereas the original K&P railroad connected with downtown Kingston and
consensus always has existed to do the same with the K&P Trail; and
Whereas staff has already begun work on the plan to finish the urban section of
the Trail with an unspecified timeline, as reported to EITP in February 2015; and
Whereas multi-use pathways allow for enjoyment by a number of different active
transportation modes and recreational uses, and are very cheap to build relative
to roads for heavy vehicle traffic; and
Whereas the Trail was identified in the 2007-2010 Strategic Priorities, and this
Council has stated recently in its own Strategic Priorities that it would like to
encourage both active transportation and an enhancement of our trail network,
including a specific priority to indeed finish the K&P Trail by 2017; and
Whereas there is a current work plan mentioned by the CAO which is intended to
address this Council’s Strategic Priorities for 2015-2018
Therefore be it resolved that staff prepare options for the creation of a detailed
work plan, including necessary time-sensitive steps, cost estimates and all
possible route segment options that would allow the work to be completed in time
for a Trail opening on July 1st, 2017, and report to EITP by end of Q3 2015