Dear Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour,
1) ON THE WALL, 2017 – Coming up Aug 21-26!
2) Discussion: Waterfront Master Plan: Past, Present, Future – Aug 2.
3) Belle Park Survey – Deadline Aug 9.
4) Preserving our Night Skies
5) North King’s Town Secondary Plan Phase 2
6) Signage and worries about ATVs on the new K&P Trail
7) Wheelchair Rally July 18 on CKWS
8) Can’t stop talking about turtles
1) ON THE WALL, 2017 – Coming Aug 21-26
What: Kingston’s renowned street art and participatory arts festival.
Where: Douglas R. Fluhrer Park, 2 North St. Kingston, ON
When: Aug 21-26 daytime + participatory Celebration of the Arts Sat, Aug 26 11 am – 4 pm.
Totally delighted to be doing this yet again!
In 2014, it won the Kingstonist award for most exciting new arts event of the year in Kingston! Full steam ahead for another amazing event!
Permission has been granted from Council to waive the graffiti by-law once again to allow artists to paint on the retaining wall behind Rideaucrest for the week with no fear of being arrested or fined.
Twenty or so artists have registered including a number of group and participatory proposals and we have a grant from the Community Foundation for the Saturday Celebration of the Arts. Yey! Do set aside some time to come down to Doug Fluhrer Park during that week to have a look at street artists in action! And do come on the Saturday for the arts event like no other! All welcome!
Food trucks are lined up and group leaders are being contacted. If you would like to lead a small group to help them learn a bit about your art form. Or if you would like to put together a pop-up performance for the event, or set up an information table about your group, contact Mat, Mary or Susan at ONTHEWALLkingston@gmail.com.
2) Public Discussion:
Kingston’s Waterfront Master Plan: Past, Present, Future.
Where: Memorial Hall, Kingston City Hall, 216 Ontario Street
When: Wed, Aug 2, 7-9 pm
All welcome!
3) Belle Park Survey – Deadline Aug 9
The City of Kingston has collected ideas from residents on how Belle Park could be used and is now seeking input on these ideas through an online survey. Find the short survey at www.CityofKingston.ca/
4) Preserving our Night Skies
A global movement is afoot to preserve our night skies – http://darksky.org/
– the bench mark Utilities Kingston used when replacing all of the street lamps in Kingston a few years back.
Kingston citizen, Phillip Brown, is in discussion with the city to better understand the volume of light that is being planned for Breakwater Park. This is an issue that will have repercussions for all city parks including Doug Fluhrer Park and Belle Park in years to come.
According to Phillip, King Street is well lit. The dark beauty of Break Water Park has been enjoyed by people and critters alike for decades. There is nothing nicer than an evening stroll when humans, water and land life interact. Kingston’s waterfront is precious and environmentally sensitive. Too much light can easily disrupt that delicate balance.
By way of missed opportunity and lack of consistency one need only go to the Tett and Bader buildings at night. What Queen’s has done is great. What the city has done is not. Queen’s has used a lighting system that works extremely well, is safe, low profile, aesthetically pleasing and yet doesn’t impinge too badly on the night sky. It is the same system they use across the entire campus. On the other side of the Tett centre the City used much brighter, higher, industrial, LED lights that disrupt the night sky and biota of the area.
Anyone interested in further information should email Luke Follwell (lfollwell@cityofkingston.ca) and Laurie Paquin, LPAQUIN@
5) North King’s Town Secondary Plan Phase 2
On July 11 Council approved the terms of reference for the Request for Proposals (RFP) for Phase 2 of the NKT plan that will include technical studies re land use, transportation, cultural heritage etc. A consulting team will be hired to work with Planning and the existing North King’s Town Working Group on this project. For further information go to www.cityofkingston.ca and check out the “Latest Updates” page for the project at NKT latest updates
6) Signage and worries about ATVs on the new K&P Trail
Kingston citizen, Deborah O’Grady, wrote to Luke Follwell, Director of Recreation and Leisure, about her concerns with ATVs and cars using the new K& Trail. Here is the encouraging response she received back from Kris Hebert of the Parks department.
“Hello Deborah,
Luke Follwell has asked that I respond to your questions and concerns on the K & P Trail.
ATV use of the trail:
This activity is not permitted in any city park and the trail is considered a linear park. We will have signage installed noting this restriction. Our Bylaw staff can stop the ATV riders, take their license plate number, give them warning and if caught again can follow up with the police as a charge can be laid under the highway traffic act.
Off leash Activity:
The only permitted off leash parks in the City are the areas noted under section 4.20.1 of By-Law 2004-144 (By-Law to Regulate Animals)
While the overall trail signage shows the icon of a person walking a dog on a leash, we do not have explicate signage noting all dogs must be leashed. Despite this, it is an offence to have your dog off leash anywhere but private property and the off leash areas. No sign is required to lay charges on the trail but we can have Public Works add a sign near the entry points to the off road sections of the trail so that people are more aware of the regulation. We have been told that stepped-up bike patrols should occur on the trail.
Thanks for letting us know the issues and we hope that the trail use will continue to be a pleasant experience for the community.
Kris
7) Wheelchair Rally July 18 on CKWS
Have a look at this lovely CKWS feature on the event. Thanks so much Heather Senoran.
http://www.ckwstv.com/2017/07/
8) Can’t stop talking about turtles!
What a wonderful time we have had with the turtles this summer – despite the upheaval in the park due to trail construction. Have a look at our webpage for a couple of truly wonderful short videos by Dave McCallum celebrating our work on the Turtle Awareness Project and our GPS Mapping Project. www.
Hope you are getting out there and enjoying the trail, the water and the turtles.
Cheers,
Mary Farrar,
President,
Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour
www.friendsofinnerharbour.com