PARTS public event, Thursday, 6:30 pm – 9 pm, Victoria Park Pavillion (May 2017)

 

PARTS (Planning Around Rapid Transit Stations): Midtown and Rockway

This is the 3rd and final Public Information Centre (PIC) to discuss planning around the Midtown and Rockway ION station areas.

Stakeholders and the public are invited to view the preferred land use options and supporting technical analysis including stormwater and sanitary sewer capacity modeling for the two station areas.

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With ION rapid transit coming to the region, the city’s planning division has under taken a project – Planning Around Rapid Transit Stations (PARTS) – to develop station area plans that will provide direction for future development and stability within station study areas. There are 12 light rail stops in Kitchener that have been grouped into six station areas. PARTS will also develop recommendations for capital projects to ensure that these areas are developed in a way that is transit supportive and adds value to our community.

For more information visit www.kitchener.ca/PARTS

MHBP Garage Sale 2017 (April 2017)

 

Back by popular demand, MHBPNA is sponsoring a Garage Sale this year on Saturday, May 27, 2017.

We had a great time in 2015 and plan to repeat it this year!

If you wish to participate please fill out our FORM which is HERE.

You can see the Garage Sale locations grow. The MAP is HERE.

Over the next month we will build a Google Map to display all the locations so everyone can plan their adventures in bargain hunting. Click on the link above to view the folks who have already signed up!

This is an excellent opportunity to exchange those golf clubs you never use and your Frank Sinatra records for some cash! Think of the possibilities.

And that is not all! May 27 is also the day of the Hohner Ave Porch Party and it is always a lot of fun. So you can have a great time at the Garage Sale (buying, selling or both) and then head over to the Central Frederick neighbourhood for some great entertainment.

Meeting on Vegetation Management = excitement! (April 2017)

 Vegetation Management along the Spur Line: A representative from the Region of Waterloo will be at the Breithaupt Centre on Wednesday (April 5th) at 6:30 pm to discuss “vegetation management” (including pesticides). This is an information session for those interested in understanding what they do and when (it is not an advocacy meeting). We will be in room 202 so please come out if you are interested.

RIENS, do you know what it means? (March 2017)

 

We are very pleased that one of our residents has followed the RIENS process and has written this articulate explanation. This planning process affects all of us so please read the article and follow the links.

 

The RIENS (Residential Intensification in Existing Neighbourhoods Study) has now been endorsed by the City at the Kitchener CIty Council meeting on Monday, March 20^th.  If you have not been following the progress of this initiative you should as it has a direct impact on our neighbourhoods. 

 

We are all aware that due to the Places to Grow legislation it is becoming more and more important that we intensify our inner cities rather than expanding into the countryside.   We also know that the LRT construction and the changes to areas surrounding LRT are making it more and more attractive to live in the core.  Our Mount Hope – Breithaupt Park neighbourhood is highly desirable on both fronts.   More and more people now want to live in our neighbourhood not only because of the wonderful look and feel of heritage houses but because we are now within walking distance of a newly evolving downtown with bars, restaurants, cultural events and employment opportunities.  In the coming years we can expect that single family dwellings will be torn down and replaced by multi-family homes, that newcomers to the neighbourhoods will buy properties and build additions and that developers will buy up vacant properties and build larger homes than currently exist in the neighbourhood.

 

The City of Kitchener has been extremely proactive in anticipating that this flight to the core may have an impact on existing neighbourhoods and decided to hire an outside consultant to work with City staff to ensure that the influx did not have an adverse impact on our neighbourhood (as well as the Vanier neighbourhood which is also adjacent to the LRT line).  And thus, the RIENS project was borne.  Although City Council has endorsed the RIENS recommendations and will implement these recommendations it will take up to 12 or 18 months to have the recommendations implemented by the Planning Department.

 

It should be noted that some members of Council felt that the initial recommendations of the project were too restrictive and there should be some leeway on the planning guidelines.  They were particularly concerned about the front yard setback (distance from the street in line with other houses on the street) and the height of new builds or additions (currently the height allowed is 10.5 m versus the recommended 8.5 m – this is essentially the difference of a 2 storey with a peak roof versus a 3 storey with a peaked roof).  The height restriction was one of the most debated points during the process (e.g. how does the new building or addition impact the adjacent neighbours?). Ultimately, Council approved the 8.5 metre restriction where there are bungalows on the adjacent two properties. Otherwise the 10.5 metre restriction applies — so if the two houses adjacent to the property are two storey homes, 10.5 metres would be the rule.

The other point of contention throughout the process was the look and feel of new development and does it fit into the character of the streetscape? is this a neighbourhood with front porches, is this a street with two story brick houses, is this a street with bungalows or 1 ½ story houses and should the new build or addition mimic the existing houses on the street?

 

As a residents in Mt. Hope/Breithaupt we need to monitor the Committee of Adjustment notices in the newspaper so that we can keep track of the development plans in our neighbourhoods. In future, it won’t be as important to subscribe to the paper to get this information as the City will require the developer to post a notice on the actual property.  If you feel proposed development does not meet the neighbourhood character you can raise your concerns with the developer (the proposed development does not fit into the look and feel of the neighbourhood) or appeal to the Committee of Adjustment as is the current procedure.

 

Here is the entire report to Council by the Planning Department which outlines all the recommendations ….

 

https://www.kitchener.ca/en/livinginkitchener/resources/planning/riens/riens-supplementary-report.pdf

152 Shanley Update, February 2017

In 2012 the City of Kitchener claimed it would put this property up for a tax sale. That did not happen.

Again in 2016 the City of Kitchener was on the record (and in The Record) claiming it would be up for sale. That did not happen either.

In late 2016 the city added an information page that discusses their intention to put it up for a tax sale in January. It is now February and there is no sale yet. 

We contacted the city about this issue and they replied that there has been interest and they are delaying the sale until some time in February in order to give the interested parties more time for “due diligence”. 

The city’s reply is that it has “been contacted by a few parties interested in the site and they have been doing their due diligence for which more time would be helpful. The formal advertisement is prescribed by legislation; it runs only 5 weeks and through that process the property is only advertised for sale for 4 of the weeks.  Once we commence the formal advertisement we can’t deviate from it as the process is legislated and we lose any flexibility with respect to time.  The formal advertisement will commence in the next two weeks and will run for 5 weeks.”

So we can expect to see the sale announced soon.

The city has done a good job with their information page and the Information Package that is available for everyone to view. However, the city lists all the problems and obligations of the site, including its heritage designation, without mentioning many of the positive details of this growing part of our Mt. Hope – Breithaupt Park neighbourhood. 

For example, the city’s web page states “The property may be eligible for brownfield financial incentive program” (sic). Why doesn’t it say: “here are some brownfield incentives that we will work with any partner to secure”? 

Why isn’t there a description of how the City will help any purchaser through the many steps required -after- the sale for the lengthy process of soil testing, remediation, permits required etc.? And this property also involves provincial standards so where is our provincial representative during this process?

The property has been essentially abandoned for for over 30 years and there is a short opportunity to sell it. It would be nice if the city showed a little more enthusiasm with this venture. We certainly wish everyone luck and hope the additional time for “due diligence” will result in an offer.

(for past information about this property on the Blog, search for “152 Shanley” at the top left of the Blog)

Ted Parkinson

 

2017 Big Campout Poster

Come on out and join the fun!

click the image for larger size....

Waterloo Regional Police Survey

The Waterloo Region Police are asking citizens to fill out a survey to help them develop their 2018 - 2020 business plan. They would like to set goals for the next three years and beyond. You can help them by filling out the survey here.

This is the full link in case the one above did not work (you can copy and paste):

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CommunitySurvey2020