Newsletters are being delivered right now! If you did not receive one, you can pick one up at our notice board in the Breithaupt Centre. Or come to our AGM, 11 AM Saturday morning at the Centre and pick one up as you meet your neighbours!
9/20/24
MHBPNA Annual General Meeting, 2018 (Oct 2018)
Announcing
MHBPNA 2018 — Annual General Meeting
Saturday, October 27, 2018 11:00 am Breithaupt Centre Room 207
Come out and meet your neighbours. Talk about issues in our area and ideas for building community. Have some free coffee and snacks. Elect our new executive. Plan for the future. Leave happy.Election 2018 and candidate questions (Sept 2018)
On October 22, 2018 we will be voting for Kitchener and Waterloo Region politicians. The city of Kitchener’s site is here.
Mt. Hope – Breithaupt Park is located in Ward 10 which has two candidates for Councillor: Sarah Marsh and Peter Meier.
Of course we also vote for Mayor and there are four candidates: Jiri Marek, Narine Dat Sookram, Myron Daniel Steinman and Berry Vrbanovic. All candidates (with their websites, if they have one) are listed on this page.
Waterloo Regional Council voting information is here. You can vote for four Councillors to represent Kitchener.
What would you like to ask the candidates for council and for mayor?
Please send your questions to mhbpna@gmail.com. We will compile them, send them to the candidates and then publish their answers to this Blog. This is your chance to get candidates “on the record” for issues specific to the Mt. Hope – Breithaupt Park neighbourhood.
In case you are interested in history, we did this eight years ago as well, and here is an example of the candidate’s answers.
Workshops on Wheels in Kitchener (Aug 2018)
The city of Kitchener says:
“Join us for a fun ride – or walk! Explore new routes. Share your ideas on how we can encourage more people to choose to walk or cycle as we create a new Cycling and Trails Master Plan for Kitchener. Each ride is co-hosted by city staff and a local resident. All skill levels are welcome to participate. Each ride is five to ten kilometres with lots of rest stops and fun conversation with your neighbours along the way.
No registration is required. Rain or shine. In extreme weather situations, please visit this webpage to see if the ride or walk is cancelled. Be sure to subscribe to Bike Kitchener email updates for cycling news and updates on the master plan.”
The ride for the Mt. Hope – Breithaupt Park neighbourhood is on Wednesday, Aug 22 at 6 pm at the Breithaupt Centre.
Check out all the facts and updates on this page.
See you there on Wednesday!
Neighbourhood update, August 2018
Here are a few things happening in and around our hood in the weeks and months ahead:
The City of Kitchener is having several “Workshops on Wheels” to discuss the Cycling and Trails Master Plan. The event for Mt. Hope – Breithaupt Park is scheduled for Wed, Aug 22, 2018 and starts at the Breithaupt Center. But anyone can participate in any of the rides. Just show up and talk with folks. Information is on the City’s website here.
The Guelph Street Community Garden hosts “potluck” dinners, every Wednesday Evening through July and August, 6 – 7:30 pm. For information on the garden click here.
There is a Sacred Heart School and Convent charrette proposed for this fall. This is after the model of the 152 Shanley Charrette. That one was very helpful and well organized. It remains to be seen if the city will be able to sell the Shanley property, but some good ideas were generated. We hope the charrette for the Sacred Heart property goes ahead and leads to something productive being done with those historic buildings.
Most of our ‘hood is within a 15-20 minute walk to the Kitchener Blues Festival which is taking place August 9 – 12th. That is very soon! Personally, I’m not even a huge fan of blues, but there is so much great music over the weekend that it is always an amazing event and it is wonderful to see downtown Kitchener transformed into a space alive with music, people, food and good times. My picks this year are Robert Gordon and Chris Spedding (Friday) and the Last Waltz tribute (Friday). I urge everyone to check out the schedule, search for YouTube videos of interesting artists and get some rest so you can rock out!
Do you know of more events relevant to MHBP? Please email us at mhbpna@gmail.com.
Ted P.
Duke Street West Music Fest — 2018 (July 2018)
For several years a few people on Duke St. West have been thinking about organizing a music event in our ‘hood. The Duke Street Playground seemed like a logical place because it has play equipment for kids and many green spaces for playing and several trees for shade. In fact, many people call it the “Duke Street Park” because it is so lush and green for most of the summer. There are several “Porch Parties” in Kitchener and Waterloo that show people love to play and share music. We decided the playground would have just one stage which made it easier to organize.
A small committee (Emily, Eli and Ted) was formed from the Mt. Hope – Breithaupt Park Neighbourhood Association to organize the event we would call the “Duke St. West Music Fest” (DSWMF). We decided on Saturday, June 23 as the date and started preparations a few months before by talking with the “Love my Hood” folks. We applied for a City of Kitchener grant to cover the Porta-potty rental, food and modest honorariums for the performers. Filling out this long form was the first test of our “team work” and after a few weeks we learned we had been approved!
We advertised on social media and our newsletter for musicians within our MHBPNA boundaries and received enough responses to fill the three hours! Our cool poster can be viewed here.
The day of the event we were threatened by rain and potential thunderstorms. We had to make a big decision about cancelling or continuing knowing that we might have to abandon the event if the thunderstorms materialized. Much time was spent on weather apps and websites!
We had several tents loaned to us by Extend-A-Family and neighbours. So we decided to go ahead, but then were informed by the city that we could not use power! This threw a wrench into things, but we agreed to go “acoustic” and moved the stage area to the front of the playground. The new location made it very inviting for people walking past to hear the music.
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Ultimately some rain did fall but very little affected the performances and we were very happy. At one point I counted about 60 people listening to the music, talking quietly in the background, playing on swings and other equipment and generally walking around and enjoying the atmosphere. If you include all the people who came through, staying for different lengths of time, and those close by listening on their porches, we estimate around 130 people attended! We ordered two deliveries from the good folks at Planet Pizza on Breithaupt Street and they were will received by everyone.
to try it again next year. As Eli said “next year we will have sun and sound!”
Ted Parkinson
Duke Street West Music Fest, June 23 (June 2018)
We have a great list of local neighbourhood musicians:
Buddy Choir
The Duke Street Alicorns
Bill & Allegra Bulmer
Jakki & Wayne
Rob Adlers
Ted Parkinson
Jesse Maranger
Edward John Barrington
The Duke Street Trio
Come by between 2pm to 5pm on Saturday, June 23 to enjoy the melodies and rhythms of the neighbourhood, some pizza and the wonderful Duke Street playground!
Breithaupt Block Phase 3 input (June 2018)
There is a good article in The Record about the modifications to the Breithaupt Block “phase 3”. Several residents attended the city’s open house on Tuesday evening (June 5, 2018). There were representatives from the city’s planning department and from Perimeter Development. Many expressed positive opinions about the developer’s changes which include lowering the building by two stories. The parking garage is unchanged and has less than a metre offset with the lane. The developer has stated it will be well designed but there are no renderings. A mural could help brighten it up and that might be planned.
There is a proposed new lane cutting through from Wellington to Breithaupt (visible on page 12 of these plans) and some felt a sidewalk should be included since it will certainly be used by pedestrians and it is a bit risky as currently designed.
The parkette on the corner of Moore and Wellington is now one of the entrances to the garages and a large portion of it will be raised as a “roof” to this entrance. I wonder if that could be seating for a small concert spot? Or for eating lunch?
One issue which is not specifically within Perimiter’s control is the overall traffic in the area. Each project completes its own traffic study which the city analyzes. However, in a very small area we will have BB3, the Transit Hub and the SIXO development. These will all be phased in over the next several years and we believe the city has no plan to address the conflation of traffic to all of these developments. In five to ten years time, the area could be choked with traffic. On the other hand, that offers more incentive for people to walk, cycle and take transit!
If you have comments on the modified plans please sent them soon to garett.stevenson@kitchener.ca
City council will consider this revised proposal on June 25.
The city’s page for development information is here and includes the links given above in this article. The open house contained “3D” renderings of the updated site and the city has promised to include them on their website as well.
June Updates in the ‘Hood (June 2018)
A June Newsletter is being produced. If you would like to help deliver it, please email us at mhbpna@gmail.com
There are now revised plans for Breithaupt Block Phase 3 and a public meeting to discuss them at city hall on June 5. For detailed information please read this Midtown Blog article.
On Thursday, June 15, MHBPNA will host a Public Art Forum at 5 pm at the Guelph St. Community Garden. We will post more about that closer to the date and it will be in the newsletter as well.
On Saturday, June 23, MHBPNA is organizing our first (annual?) Duke St. West Music Fest! This will be from 2-5 in the Duke St. Playground between Shanley and Bismark. More details to follow!
Photo Contest Winners 2018 (May 2018)
Winners were picked randomly and they are:
Kathy Mortimer $50 gift certificate from Cocoon Apothecary
Ingrid Bachmann $50 gift certificate from Cocoon Apothecary
Nathan Nederpelt $20 gift certificate to CE Bakery and Experience
Thanks to our sponsors for their support!
We will be using the photos on our website banner as yet another testimony to how cool our ‘hood is. Thanks for framing it!
We will post a few now on the “blog” part of our website and keep adding a few more each week so you can see the full size photos (we crop them to make them fit the website banner).
152 Shanley Design Charrette (April 2018)
The City of Kitchener is hosting a Design Charrette for 152 Shanley property in preparation for its upcoming second attempt to sell. If you wish to attend they would appreciate you registering. Below is the letter sent to residents who live close to this building.
For a history of this site please click on this link.
9/19/24
Breithaupt Block update, City Council April 16, 2018
On Monday, April 9th 2018, the Planning and Strategic Initiatives Committee narrowly voted for the Perimeter Group’s office project to go ahead. The Record wrote a good article about this vote here.
The Planning committee includes everyone on city council and is used to debate issues before they are approved by City Council proper. The final approval for the zoning variances will happen this Monday, April 16th. The council agenda is here and this issue is buried towards the bottom of the document in the Planning and Strategic Initiatives Committee’s report, item 3.
A full discussion of the meeting and links to several resources/opinions is presented on the Midtown KW blog here.
One of the issues that emerged was that the PARTS Central plan, which residents believed would protect our area from development, is not officially embedded in the city’s Official Plan. City staff led the developer through a process that they believed included the “spirit” of PARTS but residents disagreed.
FYI: the parking garage is expected to have 590 – 660 spots while the current parking lot has around 240.
Many residents are expected to turn out to the meeting on Monday, April 16. You can also express your opinion to the office of the Mayor and Council by clicking the link at the bottom of this page.
Breithaupt Block Development and Community (April 2018)
The Breithaupt Block Development, which includes the Google Building, has transformed our neighbourhood. Several industrial buildings which had sat vacant for many years have been renovated and are filled with workers paying taxes and living in our city. For a look at the past you can view this Blog article.
The combination of the Breithaupt Block and the ION has accelerated both residential and commercial development in our area. This development, and the increased number of people commuting to Toronto. has led to higher house prices as we all know. Increased development and housing are all part of the Province’s and Region’s Growth Plan. It is more efficient to increase density in the core rather than building more industrial parks and the ION has helped with this goal.
Perimeter Development is now planning 12 story office building and 5 story parking garage (with retail uses) on the land which is currently a parking lot. The scope of this project, and its impact on the residential neighbourhood it sits next to, has caused some controversy among neighbours and others around Kitchener/Waterloo who suspect their neighbourhood could be next.
The Record has done a good job reporting on this issue. Here is an article introducing the plans for the office building. Here is a more recent article about neighbourhood opposition. And here is The Record’s editorial on this complex issue.
On Monday, April 9th at 7 pm the Planning and Strategic Initiatives Committee meets to consider the developer’s application for an Official Plan Amendment and Zone Change. The meeting’s agenda is here and the staff report on this issue starts around page 10.
Several individuals are planning to present as Delegations at this meeting. MHBPNA urges everyone with an interest in this topic to either attend the meeting in council chambers or watch the live stream.
Ted Parkinson, Communications, MHBPNA
Regional Transit Hub, 2018 and forward (March 2018)
Over the past few years there has been a great deal of talk about the planned Regional Transit Hub (or King Victoria Transit Hub).
The Hub’s main page on the Region’s website is here and contains links to several reports with preliminary plans for how it might be organized.
The Record contains an article about the public/private partnership that might happen and it is here.
The overall time frame for the hub is described here.
In the past MHBPNA has had several conversations with Regional staff and politicians regarding some elements of the Hub and its design.
One issue is Waterloo St. (above) and some background on that is provided here. Staff were interested in hearing our viewpoint and our main issues were:
- The Region/ION has permanently closed Waterloo Street, which was a convenient access point to downtown (walking, via car, or cycling). How can they ensure the new Hub design will allow residents easy access? We discussed various designs and one problem is that existing infrastructure is in the way of a smooth bike or walking path from Breithaupt Street to Victoria/King. The grade between Breithaupt and Victoria is also an issue. So much of this discussion depends on future designs that have not yet been started. But residents must continue to push for easy pedestrian and bike access. The memory dims of what this access used to be like as time passes!
- Staff also stated they would properly landscape the street so that residents did not have to face the rather industrial side of the Traction Power Sub Station (TPSS). Again, we need to keep asking about those plans at every stage.
Another issue is a proposed multi-use trail which can be seen in the diagram below.
This would offer an excellent route across King and help join Mt. Hope / Midtown with King St., Victoria Park, Cherry Park etc. We would like this confirmed as a core part of any future plans.
A third issue is the idea of community space. The downtown / Midtown / Mt. Hope – Breithaupt Park area is seeing the development of thousands of additional condo units now and over the next few years. Our area is central in creating the higher density the Province demands as our population increases and we must build efficiently. However, despite the lovemyhood website and rhetoric, thus far Kitchener city council has not demonstrated interest in building more community space here in the centre of town. Of course the Transit Hub is a Regional development and this makes advocacy more complicated. But the Transit Hub will be a central location where, eventually, hundreds or thousands of people will arrive and depart each day on ION, VIA/GO trains and crosstown buses. There will be millions of public dollars invested in this, so should we not have some space set aside to have meetings? To run events? Meet our neighbours? ____________? (You are supposed to “fill in” this blank, and you can add more!)
We are sure residents have other ideas and insight they wish to share with planners and politicians. How can you do this?
The Midtown KW blog has an excellent article about a survey you can fill out and politicians you can contact.
Please fill out the survey and try and make it out to one of the Public Information meetings (e.g. Wed, April 4th, 3 -7 pm, 150 Frederick St.). This meeting is about transit in general, but you can certainly provide input on the Hub since it is, you know, a “hub” in the whole plan.
Everyone’s voice is important so tell politicians and planners what you want!
Ted Parkinson, Communications, MHBPNA
Musicians wanted for Duke Street West Music Fest! (March 2018)
The first ever Duke Street West Music Fest will take place on June 23 at the Duke St. Playground. The event will run from 2pm-5pm, and will feature an all Mount Hope-Breithaupt Park-based lineup.
We currently have several musicians lined up, and we want to hear more local talent! We are planning to host an open mic for those who want to play one or two songs, and also have 15-20 minute sets available. Amateur, semi-professional, or professional, this is your chance to play the most laid-back festival in Waterloo Region. Kids are welcome to play the open mic or sign up for a set. We can also offer accompaniment if you’d like to sing a song or two.
If you would like to play, email mhbpna@gmail.com. If you just want to play on the playground while others make music, we can’t wait to see you on June 23!
Public Forum: Approachable Density (March 2018)
On January 25, 2018 the Mt. Hope – Breithaupt Park Neighbourhood Association held our first public forum of 2018 called “Approachable Density”. This featured Robin Mazumder, a doctoral candidate in cognitive neuroscience at the University of Waterloo and Craig Beattie from Perimeter Development group.
MHBPNA Co-Chair Levi Oakey played a key role in organizing this and other forums because “we wanted to help bring neighbours together and challenge everyone to see their neighbourhood through a different lens. Our first forum was an attempt to see a more humane way of building a neighbourhood through good design that would bring people together rather than separate them.”
Approachable Density took place in Workplace One at the Breithaupt Block and demand exceeded our expectations! The room can seat 30 – 40 comfortably and the event “sold out” on Eventbrite a couple of weeks before it began. Many Neighbourhood Association events are held at the Breithaupt Centre and we wanted to try holding these forums in other places around the community, but it has been difficult to find public space.
Robin’s research is inspired by his passion for urbanism as well as his front line experience working as an occupational therapist (OT) in mental health. He graduated with his Master’s in Occupational Therapy from the University of Toronto in 2011. He worked with discharging patients and understood that city design impacted mental wellness. Robin saw how many people were lonely and when walking through their neighbourhoods with “cookie cutter houses” and poor transit, sociability was adversely impacted. Robin mentioned “Happy City” by Charles Montgomery as a book that influenced his thinking. Previously Mazumder has stated “People are becoming increasingly urbanized and moving to cities, and we have to start building cities and design them in ways that promote wellness and happiness”.
Craig Beattie originally came to Waterloo Region through his work with the Waterloo Town Square. In that development, Craig’s work at the square earned him an Urban Land Institute Award as one of the top projects in North America. Craig discussed “why design matters” and analyzed several buildings to discuss what worked and what did not. For example, Absolute Towers in Mississauga won many design awards and look great from a distance but up close the design falls apart. When Craig and Perimeter Development proposed removing the parking from in front of Waterloo Town Square and creating an urban space there was resistance from the merchants. But over the past few years the former parking lot has transformed into a space for events and is used every day.
Both speakers received many questions and the audience was engaged throughout the evening. We thank everyone who came out and apologize there was not more room. This event highlights the need for more community space in our neighbourhood.
MHBPNA has initiated a development committee to engage with the city and developers about planning within our neighbourhood. We also want to provide more information about engagement meetings, developments, government and citizen interactions and many other pieces of information that are often lost.
Public Forums Sell Out! (Jan 2018)
Just a Reminder, our forum on Thursday, Approachable Density, is Sold Out! We wish we could fit more people in the room, but space is limited. We will post a summary of some of the issues and comments on our website/blog in the next week or two.
The next one, Inclusive Neighbourhood, on Feb 15, is also sold out.
These are our first public forums we’ve sponsored and we’ve been very excited and surprised by their success. We are trying to experiment with holding them different places around our large neighbourhood, instead of all at the Breithaupt Centre. But there are not a lot of publicly available spaces and they are all limited in size.
We thank everyone for their interest.
Trudy Beaulne (Jan 2018)
MHBPNA is sad to learn of Trudy Beaulne’s passing. Trudy was a volunteer with our association for many years and served as President and Treasurer. She helped run a movie night at the Breithaupt Centre for several seasons and was always available at picnics and other events to sit at our NA table and discuss community ideas. Trudy also helped organize the Festival of Neighbourhoods, an annual event that brings together all the Kitchener neighbourhoods to celebrate our accomplishments and to award prizes that encourage community building.
During our many Neighbourhood Association meetings Trudy would always ensure we remembered the disadvantaged in our plans for events and in any political activism on which we embarked. She also had a happy and slightly mischievous laugh. We will miss her.
For more information about Trudy’s life, here is an article in The Record and funeral information is here.
Photo Contest! Win prizes! (Jan 2018)
We’re having a photo contest! You may have noticed our new website design, and we’d love to have a rotation of great photos in the banner to showcase the best of our neighbourhood.
To enter, submit a photo that you have taken in the Mount Hope-Breithaupt Park area to mhbpna@gmail.com. Include your name, the name of the street that you live on, and a blurb about the photo. You may use existing photos if they fit the qualifications.
Your photo must:
1) Be taken within the MHBPNA boundary.
2) Be good quality (good photos from a phone should be fine)
Photos that can be cropped to 1000px by 290px are preferable as they will fit the banner size on the website. You can use an existing photo from the summer, or venture out in the winter.
All suitable entries will be entered into a draw, and three winners will be selected for the following prizes:
2- $50 gift certificates to Cocoon Apothecary
1- $20 gift certificate to CE Bakery & Experience
All submitted photos will become the property of the MHBPNA and may be used for future articles, blogs or promotions. Artist attribution will be used whenever possible.
The deadline for submissions is March 31.
Update January 15, 2018: Multiple submissions are acceptable from residents of MHBP, and will result in multiple entries into the draw to a maximum of five entries.
Newsletter Forthcoming! (Dec 2017)
Happy New Year’s eve (and New Year) to everyone. As our lives get busier, and 2018 is hours away, many of us wonder “what happened to 2017?”
MHBPNA hopes everyone had a good 2017 and managed to relax with family and friends over the holidays.
We have been working on a physical newsletter to be delivered across our ‘hood. This should be ready in early January and will be delivered by volunteers. We could still use a few delivery volunteers in the Blucher, Ellis Ave, Ahrens area. If you would like to get some exercise and perhaps meet neighbours please contact us at mhbpna@gmail.com.
We are looking forward to more community engagement in 2018 and are sponsoring a number of public forums. There has been an extraordinary amount of development in our city over the past few years and there will be more in the next few years. MHBP is very close to the centre of it all. This is an important time to be involved as decisions made now will affect us all for years to come. Our executive meetings are open to the public and we encourage everyone to attend. Our next meeting is Thursday, January 18, 7 pm in room 104, Breithaupt Centre.
AGM CoChair “State of the Neighbourhood” Introduction (Oct 2017)
Thanks to everyone who came out to our 2017 AGM on October 21. It was great to see some new people and to chat with neighbours before and after the event. We had some great presentations about transit, city updates and an “insider” view of development. Over the next few weeks we will be sharing some of these presentations on this Blog.
Here is the opening address from our Co-Chair Levi Oakey. about the state of our neighbourhood and some of our hopes for the future.
2017: In Review
Ebbs and Flows
Introduction
I would like to start by acknowledging that we reside on the unceded territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples. I feel extremely privileged that I have been able to live on this land for the last 6 years.
Our neighbourhood has been a part of the history of Kitchener for many years. Louis Breithaupt first built his tannery in Kitchener at the corners of St.Leger and Louisa in 1857 and also built a large home, colloquially called Waldeck. Our hood comprises many sub-units as well, defined by their own unique histories. Midtown, Fairfield, Hillside, Lancaster, Mount Hope, Breithaupt Park and many others. MHBPNA was started in 1984 and over many years, like the river that meanders just beyond our borders, we have had many ebbs and flows. 2017 was a transitional year and I believe is an ebb before what I believe will be a transformational 2018.
Programs
At the beginning of 2017, we at the Mount Hope Breithaupt Park Neighbourhood Association were without a leadership team after many fruitful years under Lane Burman and Ted Parkinson’s fantastic tenure. I myself had first begun working with the neighbourhood association during that time. We made a decision to run the Neighbourhood Association by a committee of three, Shannon Sweeney, Carly Greco and myself. As a committee we set to work on some programs for the year.
Breithaupt Park Athletic Club
We once again ran the local neighbourhood soccer club that we call Breithaupt Park Athletic Club. We had close to 100 kids registered this year, expanding for the third year in a row. We also hosted a multi-neighbourhood event for Neighbours day at the Breithaupt Centre with participants from 6 other neighbourhood soccer programs.
Neighbourhood Garage Sale
2017 saw the relaunch of our successful neighbourhood garage sale. We created a digital map to point out the various houses with sales available. This was the same weekend as the Hohner Avenue Porch Party and turnout was very good. We’re excited to continue this tradition.
Our New Website
Throughout all of the events of the past year (and since 2008), Ted Parkinson has maintained the MHBPNA blog, a site that continues to see significant readers looking for information on what changes are occurring in our community. Nearing the end of this fiscal year, we began to transition the site to a WordPress blog hosted at www.mhbpna.org. This will help us to keep it more up-to-date and has combined the functions of mhbpna.org and the (original) Blogspot blog. We continue to work on the site and add new functionality and resources so please visit frequently.
Cooperative Programs
We have also been working with the Waterloo Region Songwriters group by providing free meeting space (if you would like information on this search for “Waterloo Regional Songwriters’ Group” on Facebook). Executive members have been also been meeting with the region and the City of Kitchener with other community organizations to discuss ongoing development issues around growth. We are hoping to create a “working group” on development in our neighbourhood and will advertise it on our website.
Challenges
We continue to meet significant challenges in our neighbourhood. Although our borders have always been defined by major arterial roads, the introduction of LRT and potential introduction of high speed rail will further segregate the community from the main hubs of Kitchener as well as, importantly, from the two main high schools that service our area in KCI and Bluevale. As well, with the widening of Weber street, we have a line that now severs our community down the middle. As our community has transitioned to a younger demographic, these changes are important. We need strong community voices at the table to encourage the city and region to think of pedestrian connections throughout our community. Increasingly our community is being defined by the asphalt that is used in its surface parking lots and roadways than by the people that reside in it. Attempts to de-pave, such as the painting of the Ahren’s street crossing, remain priorities. As well as the need to connect neighbours to each other through events that we hope will get neighbours talking and noticing what both connects us and the infrastructure that is holding us back from making those connections.
Another challenge is our neighbourhood’s lack of retail options that help define places and interests. Our retail centres sit at the periphery of the neighbourhood (Lancaster to the East or King Street to the West). Beyond those locations it is a significant walk to get any type of store-front retail service. We need to encourage alternative stores, Etsy shops, and pop-ups to afford the entrepreneurs in our community the opportunity to sell their goods and for neighbours to have the opportunity to meet.
Opportunities
Beyond all of these challenges are immense opportunities. We have great biking and walking trails through Breithaupt Park, several parks and playgrounds (some of which have been recently refurbished) and the Spurline which has “spurred” many great opportunities to connect through the neighbourhood.
We also have examples, throughout the neighbourhood, of neighbours working together. And we, as a neighbourhood association can expand on this! We will encourage more frequent contact with our neighbours and with the City as an affiliate organization to identify potential issues and to help with coming up with solutions.
For more events and contact to happen we need more community partners. Our board is readily accessible and all our meetings are public. We have kept compulsory meetings to a minimum and we are happy to video conference members in.
As a Neighbourhood Association we would love to be the hub of activity, a conduit by which neighbours can bring their own unique perspective, events, opportunities to the table. One example of this is the return of what is called the Preuter Pace. This is a cross country run that starts at Preuter Public School but weaves it’s way through the Breithaupt Park trails. As an NA we’re helping to sponsor the ribbons that will be handed out at the end of the race. What I love about this initiative is that it is active, it’s community run and targeted towards our youngest neighbours. The ones we most desire to feel a connection to our little slice of this city.
We’re excited for the many challenges that our neighbourhood faces, and we are can’t wait to see the many creative solutions we as a community can deliver.
Thank you.
Levi Oakey
AGM, October 21, 10 am – Noon, Solarium, Breithaupt Centre (Oct 2017)
Come out to our Annual General Meeting
—Learn about your neighbourhood. Eric Pisani from the Region of Waterloo will discuss changes to the bus routes and the overall transit strategy as it ties into the LRT. Councillor Sarah Marsh will give us an update from City Hall and talk about the changes in our area. We will also have a “guest” presentation on specific developments in our neighbourhood that are in the planning stages. There is lots to talk about so come and be engaged.
—Learn about the MHBPNA: Members of the executive will discuss events we sponsored and assisted with over the past year including soccer programs, Neighbours day, the Big Breithaupt Campout, Waterloo Region Songwriters, our Garage Sale, and City planning and development meetings where we have contributed our perspective. We will also have a Financial report.
—Election of the executive: we rely on the volunteers who sit on the executive to coordinate our events. We have many formal positions laid out in our constitution but we have tried to make it easy for anyone to participate. You can join the executive at the AGM (or afterwards) and decide in the future what position you would like. Or just be a “Member at Large” and help with whatever projects you find interesting.
—Meet your neighbours! Aside from the formal presentation and elections everyone benefits from the time to connect with neighbours and friends over a coffee. You can discuss street closures, events you are planning and what is going on in your lives. You will be surprised who you meet!
–We will have a (unsupervised) room full of Lego for the kids to play with. What’s more fun than a table full of Lego? Nothing!
—Refreshments! A meeting would not be complete without coffee and some other food to enjoy while listening to our featured speakers.
Where is the Solarium? If you enter the Breithaupt Center at the main entrance, turn right, walk past the reception area, and turn right again, and then left. We will be there!
Everyone is welcome. You do not have to live in our ‘hood to come out to the meeting.
If you have any questions, please email us at “mhbpna@gmail.com”
The 152 Shanley Saga (fall, 2017)
As most residents are aware, the city of Kitchener’s attempt in April of 2017 to sell 152 Shanley has failed. I wish this failure was a surprise but given the constraints placed on the sale by municipal and provincial regulations, and the city’s particular method of promoting the property, failure seemed inevitable.
As documented in The Record here the minimum bid for the property was just over one million dollars which is the total amount owning in back taxes and various By-Law infraction charges (for the past several years the city has been trimming the trees and bushes and generally maintaining the property because the owner refuses to perform those tasks).
As the Record article above states, tax sales are “very tightly regulated under the Municipal Act and a municipality isn’t able to accept any bids that don’t cover the costs of all taxes owed on the property, as well as the costs of running the tax sale.” The sale had only one bid for $200,000 which was rejected.
If the city were allowed to accept that bid, and the new owner cleaned up the land and build a condo unit that, eventually, generated taxes we would all be better off in the long run. But that is not the case and of course we do not know how feasible the lone bidder’s development plan was for the site.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Once the initial tax sale fails, the city has an option to hold a second sale where the property can be sold for less than the taxes and fees owning. But this process is not automatic and requires city staff to organize it. Our councillor, Sarah Marsh, has stated she is pushing this option at committee meetings but even if it does go ahead, it will take some time. For example, this article
https://www.therecord.com/news-story/6227791-kitchener-to-put-contaminated-factory-site-up-for-sale/
in January 2016 describes the “upcoming” tax sale that did not happen until over one year later (April 2017). And that is with everyone at the city on board!
MHBPNA contacted the city towards the end of 2016 and again in 2017 to get an explanation for the delay. The response was that interest had been shown in the property and the city wanted to give those potential bidders more time to develop their proposals.
The key to a second sale is to find a bidder with a solid plan and the finances to manage both the cleanup of the contamination and the site’s development which will take years. The environmental issues are regulated at the Provincial level (Ministry of the Environment) and the developer must first have a cleanup plan approved before any work can be done.
So if everything goes smoothly at city hall, it will probably be at least two years before we see another sale. And if that was successful, it would be another couple of years minimum before the cleanup and development plans were approved and the site remediation begun. We don’t know how long the cleanup would take, or how it would be integrated with the construction but I estimate at least a couple of years for that phase. So if everything snapped into place (which has not happened for the past 30+ years) an actual building might be erected by 2022 at the earliest!
Since Blog articles should be short I will end here. But I’m writing a second article that backgrounds several of the “issues” involved in selling the property. Stay tuned!
Ted Parkinson
City of Kitchener puts out tender for Art at Weber and Guelph! (June 2017)
The City of Kitchener sent us this information so we are posting it for everyone to read:
City of Kitchener Request for Proposal: Art in the Public Realm – Weber Street and Guelph Street (closes July 7, 2017)
The City of Kitchener invites professional design firms/artists to
submit a proposal for a two-stage competition to design and produce a
site-specific public art piece for installation near the corner of Weber
Street West and Guelph Street in Kitchener, Ontario. The successful
proponent will design and fabricate a piece that reflects the evolution
of Kitchener’s economy, including, but not limited to, Kitchener’s
industrial and manufacturing history and emerging technology and IT
sectors. Kitchener’s progression towards becoming a more sustainable and
environmentally conscious community should also be incorporated into
the design.
The Request for Proposal documents (bid number P17-037) can be found on the City of Kitchener website at: https://kitchener.
Anyone can view the documents for free, but please note that interested bidders will need to be registered on the City’s system, which includes a registration fee. Questions and clarification regarding this Request for Proposal will be accepted up until June 23, 2017 through the link above. The deadline for submissions is no later than 1:00 p.m. on Friday, July 7, 2017.
Neighbours Day, June 10, 2017, Breithaupt Centre (June 2017)
Here are some photos from June 10, 2017.
We’d like to thank all the volunteers who helped with our soccer event, the firemen, and everyone else who helped out and made it a great day!
Thanks to Sarah and Levi for these photos.
As always, click on the image for a larger picture:
Public Executive Meeting this Monday (June 16, 2017)
MHBPNA is having our Executive Meeting this Monday, June 19. It is open to the public so please drop by. We will be in room 104 at the Breithaupt Centre, 7 pm.
We will discuss ongoing projects, general information about our neighbourhood, future directions and anything else that is of interest.
Development Meeting for June 27 (June 2017)
Here is information about a public presentation regarding future development in what is currently the King’s Crossing plaza at Wellington and King. If you are interested, come out on June 27 at the Tannery. Yet more change to the Mt Hope side of MHBP!
click on image below for full size poster.
MHBPNA Garage Sale 2017 Update! (June 2017)
We
hope everyone had a great time at the Garage Sale last weekend. I talked
with a couple of people who said they made $200 and I spent over $50
which was way more than I thought I would. But the bargains kept on
coming!
MHBPNA occupies a large area
so not everyone received the volume of customers they may have expected
but I rode my bike around and met many bargain hunters with their
purchases.
For
the record, I’m not a “Garage sale kind of guy” because we already have
too much stuff in the house. However, I thought I’d share some of the
great deals we uncovered that were too good to walk away from.
The
wine glass was only 25 cents. There were two but I just bought one
because it is always nice to have a spare in case one breaks. My wife
loved it so much, we went back for its twin.
Here is a great plant stand. The person selling it asked the outrageous price of $5! But we talked him down to $2 (it was the end of the sale and he was packing up….this always helps)
These two awesome paintings were free because the people had put them out on the curb with the rest of their “unsold” bounty. They work really well in our newly renovated basement!
This artist’s model was only $5 and can placed in a variety of poses.
Finally, the most expensive item was this Casio keyboard for $20! It has drums, arpeggio accompaniment patterns and a variety of sounds. Tons of fun for the price.
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.
—
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.
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 20th. 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 ….
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
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