Menu Close

Mid-October 2017 Newsletter

1) OFF THE WALL! Sat Oct 14
2) Concerns from members about the proposed Rideau Marina – Public Meeting Thurs Oct 19
3) Opening of The Spire – Sydenham St. United Church “reinspired” – Sat Oct 21
4) Community Benefit Program Fund Public Meeting – Mon Oct 23 and Thurs Nov 2
5)  City Waterfront Initiatives – Oct 24
6) Seventh Generation Coalition Belle Island Clean-up – Sat Nov 4
1) OFF THE WALL – All day Sat, Oct 14.  Free hot-dogs etc.
Happily inspired by our ON THE WALL street art festival city, local west-enders, Brian Melady and Vicki Powers, have created an offshoot event appropriately called “Off the Wall”  They have put up 6 four-by-four sheets of plywood on their back fence and invited artists to work there.  Awesome!
Here is their request for participating artists! Spread the word!
 
“Thank you to those of you who have expressed interest in painting one of our 6 canvasses currently hanging on our fence facing Dunham Park in Kingston’s West End.  Above is a picture of Off The Wall and needless to say, we’ve had a lot of people already stopping asking about the proposed project! …  
Final Details of the Event:
When: Saturday, October 14th  Artists are free to begin on Friday evening and/or finish on Sunday as well however, we’d like everyone to paint on Saturday for a bit if possible.
Where:  Our fence at 898 Plainview Place, Kingston, faces Dunham Park in the Westend.  The walkway right by the fence leads to both Lancaster Elementary Schools.

Theme:  Based on the feedback of several confirmed artists…  Aboriginal or Indigenous Theme. 
What:  We will be advertising that free hot-dogs, popcorn and juice will be served throughout the day to encourage the public to come and see the artists at work.  The Whig and other local media will be invited to help provide coverage and promote the local artists as well.
 
As we live on the property, we will be there to support the artists with whatever they need such as water, bathrooms, food and witty conversation.  Out of respect for all of the artists time and materials, we are offering a $100 honorarium per canvass… 
Thanks for your interest and please feel free to contact us should you have any questions or ideas.
Cheers!”
Brian J. Melady and Vicki Powers
M-Powers Life
Box 567, Seaforth, ON,  N0K 1W0,
Brian: 519-525-7133    Vicki: 519-949-2517
 
2) Concerns from members about proposed Rideau Marina – Meeting Thurs Oct 19
 
FYI: This from Nicky Richardson:               
“The Rideau Marina Waterfront Site is at Risk of being redeveloped into a 7-storey apartment building! A second Public Meeting is being held at City Hall Thursday, October 19th at 6:30 pm.
 
Homestead is REAPPLYING for numerous amendments to our By Laws and the City of Kingston Official Plan again, in order to build on too small a lot and on the water. And they are appealing to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) because City Council did not make a decision last time.
Now, the City Planning Office wants to see if citizens are STILL opposed to Homestead redeveloping the Rideau Marina into a high rise and scarring the views from the Great Cataraqui River and UNESCO World Heritage Site (Rideau Canal). We need to attend this 2nd Public Meeting in the RECORD numbers we did at the 1st Public Meeting 4 years ago. And top the 159 e-mails we sent to the Planning Office (Lindsay Lambert, Senior Planner, llambert@cityofkingston.ca).”
 
3) Opening of the Spire – Sydenham St. United Church “re-inspired” Sat Oct 21
For those of you interested in proposed downtown developments, waterfront and neighbourhood issues, the key-note speaker, Ken Greenberg, is a noted urban designer. 
The afternoon will also include music, displays, a film + a tour of the newly renovated accessible space.
What: A Beacon Reimagined- Celebration of The Spire
When: Sat, Oct. 21,  Noon to 5:30 pm
12:00 pm:  Open house & displays
1:15 pm:  Ribbon Cutting ceremony
2:00 pmKeynote Speaker event:  Urban Designer Ken Greenberg,
Cantabile Choirs and Kingston Choral Society
4:00 pm: movie: “LIVE in Kingston ”  Trailer at: https://vimeo.com/18954246 2
Where:  82 Sydenham St. Kingston
 More info?  
https://www.thespirekin gston.org/news-and-events/ 
https://www.facebook.com/ events/824723531040376/
http://greenbergconsul tants.com/index.php
 
4) Community Benefit Program Fund Public Meeting – Mon Oct 23 
Offer your input on how to allocate the Community Benefit Program Fund:
• Come to the Rural Advisory Committee meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 23 at the Joyceville Fire Hall, 1648 Joyceville Rd.
• Go to the Community Benefit Fund page on the city’s webpage (www.cityofkingston.ca) to offer your ideas and commentsAnd this recently from the city:
“This email is offered to as a courtesy notice of an upcoming non-statutory public meeting that may be of interest to you or your association. You are encouraged to share this information with your members/colleagues and others you feel may be interested in the subject of “Community Benefits” (i.e., Height and Density Bonusing | Section 37 Agreements under the Planning Act).
 
As you may be aware, the City conducted a public open house and several workshops in July and August to gain feedback on a draft set of “Community Benefit Guidelines” which are intended to guide future processes for securing community benefits in a fair, clear, transparent and predictable manner. Community benefits are applied to large, supportable planning applications that seek an increase to height and/or density beyond what is currently permitted in the zoning bylaw. The draft set of Community Benefit Guidelines are available on the City’s website as well as summaries of the “What We’ve Heard” at https://www.cityofkingston.ca/business/planning-and-development/community-benefits.
 
Under Section 37 of the Planning Act, the City may allow increased height and/or density on a site in exchange for facilities, services or matters that will benefit the community. To take advantage of Section 37 of the Act, municipalities must have enabling policies in their Official Plan. The City’s Official Plan contains these policies in Section 9 Administration & Implementation (see sections 9.5.25 to 9.5.30).
 
At this time, planning staff are advancing an information report highlighting the key factors to be considered in the negotiation of community benefits. These factors will ultimately be framed within the Community Benefit Guidelines. Staff are presenting this information report to Planning Committee during the non-statutory public meeting to be held on Thursday, November 2, 2017 at 6:30pm.  Please note this meeting will be held at Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, 53 Yonge Street
 
If you would like to provide written comments on either of the documents, please emailcommunitybenefitguidelines@cityofkingston.ca. Following this meeting, staff will modify the draft Community Benefit Guidelines with the goal of receiving Council’s endorsement of the Guidelines. This will then be followed by an Official Plan amendment(s) which will recognize the guidelines and key components associated with the City of Kingston’s approach to community benefit negotiations. 
 
Comments are welcome and will help to inform changes to the documents and the final recommendation of staff, which will be presented to Planning Committee in 2018.”
Contact: Greg Newman – gnewman@cityofkingston.ca

5) City Waterfront Initiatives
Improvements to Richardson Beach and a Way-finding, Celebration and Promotion Strategy
Offer input on two Kingston waterfront projects:

“KINGSTON, ONT./Oct. 10, 2017 – The City of Kingston is seeking input on two Kingston waterfront projects at an upcoming introductory open house.  On Tuesday, Oct. 24 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, 53 Yonge St., you can offer your input on:

-Improvements to Richardson Beach
– A waterfront way-finding, celebration and promotion strategy

The City has hired Thinc design to undertake detailed design improvements to Richardson Beach and to guide the City through a creative way-finding, celebration and promotion strategy for Kingston’s waterfront.  A presentation of the projects, their objectives, precedent images and timelines begins at 7 p.m. followed by a feedback forum.

RICHARDSON BEACH IMPROVEMENTS
Making improvements to Richardson Beach was rated by a number one community priority in the Waterfront Master Plan (WFMP), which contains a high-level concept for the shoreline area between Emily Street and Newlands Pavilion. This draft concept was based on resident feedback received over the two years it took to develop the WFMP, which won the CSLA 2017 National Award of Excellence.

As a next step in the project process, the consultant team will use the concept, along with input from the community and technical agencies, to develop a detailed construction-ready design.

“This is the first priority project of the Waterfront Master Plan. We want to create better access to this historic waterfront for all park users , so we’d really like for them to give us some feedback,” says Neal Unsworth, the City of Kingston’s manager, parks development.
See the Richardson Beach draft concept in section 4.12 (p. 378) of the WFMP: <http://www.CityofKingston.ca/Waterfront>.

KINGSTON’S WATERFRONT: CREATIVE WAY-FINDING STRATEGY
The City also wants resident ideas and feedback to help develop a creative way finding strategy that creatively directs, frames and guides the community and visitors to and along the waterfront.
Both projects will be available for online comment from Oct. 25 to Nov. 24 at <http://www.CityofKingston.ca/GetInvolvedKingston>.

6) Seventh Generation Coalition Clean up of Belle Island Nov 4 from noon – 5 pm
Take note of the date.  More info in the November update.

As always, thank you all so much for your continued interest. 

So very much appreciated.
Cheers,
Mary Farrar,
President, Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour