NEWS RELEASE:

On July 21, 2008, Guelph City Council will consider a report with a recommendation from the Chief Administrative Officer to defer the application by 6 & 7 Developments Limited until September 15 in order to allow time for staff to respond to concerns raised with respect to the proposed development.

A motion to approve the application was defeated at a July 7 meeting with a majority of members of Council voting contrary.  Due to the lateness of the meeting, and the fact that a second application with public delegations was still to be heard, further consideration by Council on the requests for deferral did not occur.  Since Monday night, the City has received considerable community feedback, that the defeat of the approval motion had not actually brought closure to the matter, and did not allow an opportunity for staff to work with the applicant and the community to see if the concerns raised at the meeting could be addressed.

”A deferral of the application would be a consistent approach used by the City in the past to work with the community and a developer to try to resolve issues relating to a complex development proposal, and would accomplish a number of things,”  said Mayor  Karen Farbridge.  “It would respond to numerous deferral requests from the public in order to allow them time to consider this large development proposal, time for City staff to review the concerns expressed by Council and the public, an opportunity for the applicant to respond to many of  these concerns and potentially avoid a long and costly OMB process for all involved.”

The proposed recommendation will call for a deferral over the summer, and a special public meeting to be held on September 15, at which time delegations can be heard by Council on how the numerous matters of concern can be addressed.

The application to expand the Woodlawn/Woolwich (6&7) commercial node failed last evening on a 9-4 vote.  The 6&7 application was a zoning by-law amendment to expand the uses and square footage of the site.  6&7 has proposed a 62,000 sqft expansion of the existing Wal-mart store, with 135,000 sqft of additional retail on the rest of the site.  Currently, most of the site is already zoned for retail (CC-18 zoning).

A number of unanswered questions arose during the presentations - which I think contributed to the outcome of the vote.  Issues included:

• do the proposed buildings have two “real” stories, or just false height?
• is the 25% energy reduction (over 2006 building standards) enough to support the Community Energy Plan?
• will there be a linkage between the Home Depot site?
• will there be any mixed use in the short-term?
• will there be an impact on the 5 other grocery stores within a 5 minute drive from the 6&7 corner?

Is there a better way to develop the site?  I believe there is.

The site plan proposed in this application has some merits - greenspace, pedestrian links between buildings, transit transfer area, etc.  But it has shortcomings too - stand-alone drive throughs, no link to Home Depot lands, no mixed use, etc.  So what do we do now?

I sincerely hope that the 6&7 developers come back with another proposal, taking to heart the concerns voiced by the community.   Southern Ontario has many excellent examples of good commercial development - take the best practices and apply them here.

We can avoid an OMB hearing if 6&7 is truly committed to providing Guelph with a model of excellence.

Due to a summer staff shortage at Rogers 20 Cable, there will be no on air broadcast of the July 7th Council Planning Meeting tonight.

Come on down in person - 59 Carden Street.  It’s a full agenda….

LP

The City of Guelph and the Guelph Chamber of Commerce invite you to attend a discussion on the capital development and financial planning process on Tuesday July 15, at the Italian Canadian Club from 10am to noon.

Guelph has major capital projects planned over the next few years to meet Ontario?s Places to Grow initiative. Along with the residential and business development plans is a financial plan that is in
process. Our City Economic Development department has an employment land strategy to support the growth plans. Representatives from Planning, Finance, and Economic Development will join with Mayor Karen Farbridge to give business an overview of the City plans.

We look forward to meeting with you on July 15th, and to give you the opportunity to discuss how the City of Guelph plans to Move Business Forward in the exciting times ahead.

To register for this event, please contact the Guelph Chamber of Commerce at (519) 822-8081 or email Irene@guelphchamber.com. There is no charge to participate in this event.

An 1870’s farmhouse at 132 Clair Road West burned to the ground in the early morning hours of Saturday, June 21. The house has been vacant since 2006, and yes, it had heritage value. The land was originally part of Puslinch Township and was annexed by the City of Guelph. The land was first settled in 1830 by Simon Eustace (b. 1892) and his wife Bridget (b. 1807), immigrants from Ireland. They likely first built a log cabin on the site, cleared the land, and the later house was built sometime prior to 1877. The farm was later bought by David Maltby, and then John Clair.

It’s such a shame that the south end of Guelph is losing, or has already lost, much of its historic past. The Tolton farm on Clair Road East burned down (mysteriously) in 2005. The Hanlon and Clair farms were demolished, and “replicas” (nothing original) were built in the Westminster Woods subdivision. Luckily, the Carter-Moffatt farmhouse (the beautiful stone house on Coopers Court in the Clairfields subdivision) was saved.

The fire is still under investigation.

This spring, University of Guelph Landscape Architecture students tackled a redesign of Hugh Guthrie Park (Edinburgh Rd. and Municipal St.) as part of their course work. Councillor Lise Burcher brought along their artwork to the Annual General Meeting of the neighbourhood association last evening.

To view the design concepts, visit

http://www.ward5.ca/hgpark.html

Join Councillor Lise Burcher and Leanne Piper on a tour of the historic Brookly and Old University Neighbourhood - one of many Jane’s Walk opportunities this weekend.

Date: Sunday, May 5

Start time: 10 am

Meet at the Boathouse on Gordon Street

For a complete schedule of Jane’s Walks throughout the City, go to:

http://www.janeswalk.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=195&Itemid=81

See you there

Council has approved a Pilot Project to allow on street overnight (2:00 am - 6:00 am). The pilot project will run from May 1 to November 1, when staff will report back on their findings (complaints, impediments, service issues, cost implications, etc.)

I believe Ward 5 will have some area-specific issues related to overnight parking issues. Namely, there are many lodging houses in the ward with inadequate parking for tenants.

Although I voted against the pilot project, I understand that the majority of Council are willing to give it a try. That’s democracy. We need public input to be able to assess (positively or negatively) the impact of the pilot project. If you have questions or concerns, please share your experience:

CITY STAFF:

Phone: 519-836-PARK

Email: operations@guelph.ca

WARD 5 COUNCILLOR:

Email: piper.leanne@guelph.ca

LP

Last night, Council voted to eliminate the cosmetic use of pesticides within the City of Guelph. There are exceptions (read the by-law), but for the most part, the days of indiscriminate spraying of pesticides on lawns in Guelph is over. Exceptions for insect infestation (grubs and chinch bugs) will end January 1, 2009.

The new pesticide-free Guelph will require a cultural and behavioural shift. I think this community is up for it - we’re a resourceful and responsible group!  So I will be joining the healthy lawn revolution too….

Although I would much rather tear up my lawn and create a lush Ontario native shade garden, the reality is that I still need a stretch of lawn. You see, I have three boys (and a daughter) and therefore, backyard soccer, badminton, volleyball and other lawn activities are still very much a part of our foreseeable future.

I’ve never sprayed pesticides on my lawn. But then again, I’ve never aspired to have the perfect lawn either. I’m okay with dandelions - they make great salad greens BTW - and the birds love the grubs.

This year, I have decided to try some of the techniques suggested by the City of Guelph “healthy lawn” education program to see if they make a difference. I completed the first step last week - dethatching and new “Eco-Lawn” seed with homemade compost. Thankfully, the rain soaked everything yesterday. So far so good….

LP