Thread by @adamadonaldson

This month's planning meeting of #Guelph #CityCouncil begins shortly. Here's what's coming up: guelphpolitico.ca/2021/04/02/cit…

Mayor Guthrie calls the meeting to order. There was no closed session prior to the open meeting.

No Disclosure of Pecuniary Interest and General Nature Thereof.

First item is Municipal Property and Building Commemorative Naming Report, and there is one delegate on this item.

Antonio Leo thanks council for accepting his submission to name the new Oliver Street park for San Giorgio Morgeto, a region of Italy where many residents in Guelph’s “Little Italy” neighbourhood immigrated from post-World War Two.

Other names in the report:

Poppy Drive Park = Courtney, Goines and Mallott Park after three Black men from Guelph who had to fight racism and discrimination in order to serve in the army during World War I.

Dallan subdivision. trail = the No. 2 Construction Battalion.

The Skinner Drive park, meanwhile, will be named for Eileen Hammill, who was the president of the Guelph Historical Society in the 1960s.

Cllr Caron asks about the possibilities of recognising more of the Ward's Italian heritage from other areas of Italy. Leo says there's lot of culture to go around, and people are just generally excited to see it. No North Vs South beef.

Caron thanks the naming committee, who waded through 107 submissions, which shows how passionate the city is about recognising its heritage. She has some proposed amendments on process and clarity.

Caron and Gibson move the original motion. These are Caron's amendments, and she got clearance from Guelph Black Heritage and the Guelph Historical Society.

Allt says he's good with the amendment, and it provides the City an opportunity to honour Courtney, Goines and Mallott in their own individual capacities as street names like other veterans.

Cllr O'Rourke asks if Caron spoke to the people that made the nomination. Caron says it's unknown who nominated what. Hammill family were the only one public about nomination.

Rory Templeton says this nomination came from a Guelph resident, and they don't generally make a nomination known for privacy reasons.

O'Rourke says that she's concerned about changing something at council when the nominator might have had a specific intent with the name. Templeton says he thinks the naming committee would support the amendment about the sign to recognise Courtney, Goines and Mallott.

Cllr Gibson agrees with O'Rourke about intent, wonders if Caron would be okay to send this back to the naming committee to get them to sign off first. Caron says that might be okay if it get consensus, but nominators have no way to add names to street name list. That wasn't open.

DCAO O'Brien says that there seems to be agreement in staff that this would Caron's amendment would be supported, but staff don't have an issue with doing the extra work from a referral.

Guthrie says he understands the gist from O'Rourke and Gibson, but staff has offered assurances twice. He feels comfortable that there's been discussion about this direction.

Gibson says he heard differently, that staff assumes there won't be any problem, but he would like real confirmation. He moves referral of #2. MacKinnon seconds.

Templeton says this should be worked out in the next couple of days with a virtual meeting of the naming committee. Guthrie asks if this can be done for regular council meeting? Templeton says it can.

Cllr MacKinnon asks if council should refer #3 and #4 since they follow up on an action in #2. Guthrie says that would make sense, and asks Gibson if he will remove his referral and substitute with a referral for 2-4.

Gibson moves the new referral with McKinnon seconding. Passes unanimously.

Amendment #1 passes unanimously.
The complete motion as amended passes unanimously.

Next: Decision Report 166-178 College Avenue West Proposed Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments File: 0ZS19-10, Ward 5. Staff recommends approval of 6-storey, 110-unit building with seniors' centre on main floor.

Hugh Handy, GSP Group, on behalf of the applicant is the first of two delegates. Thanks members of staff for working on the refinement of the project. Pinemount, the owner, is ready to proceed with next steps.

O'Rourke asks if all the units will be accessible. Handy says that it's not being marketed for seniors, but a portion of the units will be accessible, and that will be refined through site plan.

Cllr Goller asks why City waste collection couldn't be built in right off the bat. Handy says they're examining all options through site plan.

Caron says the community energy commitment in the plan is pretty standard, but concerned about lack of net zero. Handy says his client is aware, but it has to be balanced with economics of the project. It's been referred to site plan.

Joshua Redwood is other delegate on this matter. He's concerned that the seniors at College Place haven't been adequately consulted. At the Nov 2019 meeting on this file, it was said that the residents were going to be moved to other facilities.

Goller asks if Redwood is a volunteer at College Place. Redwood says he lives in the neighbourhood and has spoken to many residents over the years.

Gibson/Goller move the recommendation.

Downer asks about the planning justification, why is this medium density now, and why is staff ok increasing it to high? Lindsay Sulatycki says staff reviewed it for criteria in the Official Plan, it's on an arterial, close to amenities, and high density nearby.

Sulatycki says the plan could have combined the smaller units to create bigger ones to reduce density, but they wanted to address needs of a number of renters. Note: one bedroom and bachelor units are the most scarce in Guelph's housing supply.

Goller asks about if there are caveats about making during residents of College Place are accommodated. Sulatycki notes that Precision Health, the owners of College Place, loses the lease in Oct, and they have been working to relocate people for the last few years.

Goller says he's concerned, as the delegate said, about people being put out on the street. Guthrie notes that this is about the zoning, and not about end use. O'Rourke notes there's a paragraph in the report about moving the residents.

O'Rourke asks about installing a bus bay in front of this building. College is one lane both ways, and a seniors centre and daycare there will need to be service. Sulatycki says that wasn't a consideration in the review, could look at it in site plan.

Allt says he's also concerned about net zero, but council presently has no recourse to vote against a plan on that basis. Walkey says staff will be looking for more conformity at the site plan stage, but Allt is correct.

Vote on recommendations pass unanimously.

Third and final item: Decision Report 721 Woolwich Street Proposed Zoning By-law Amendment File: OZS20-015 Ward 2, aka: the Grace Gardens, aka: the Parkview supportive housing project.

There are nine delegates on this item, and Guthrie reminds everyone that we're here to talk about zoning, and not about the people that might be moving in, or any discriminating talk.

Delegate #1: Andrea Sinclair, MHBC Planning, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture. She's working for the Drop In Centre, confirms supportive housing is a residential use, plus the OP recommends that affordable housing be spread out, not concentrated.

Allt asks if this could be considered an enhancement of the current zoning. Sinclair says "absolutely." This has been used as an overflow shelter managed by the motel staff, who have no training on the issues being faced. This is improvement on a number of issues.

Cllr Billings asks about having a central entrance as a security feature. Sinclair says they don't want to fence it off, and make sure it looks like part of the community. The front section of the motel is where there'll be most improvements.

Billings asks if the site will continue to be used as an emergency shelter if the zoning is not approved. Sinclair confirms it will.

Next is Patricia Tersigni, who lives in the area. She lends her "wholehearted" and "enthusiastic" support for the project.

Suzanne Swanton, Tim Welch Consulting Inc, is the next delegate. She's the consultant on Grace Gardens, but has no formal presentation. She's here to answer questions.

Allt asks about what types of services will be available on site. Swanton says two staff members minimum on site at all times, there will housing stability workers, plus health and social service providers visiting.

People with training in mental health, addiction management, and primary care are examples of the services that will be made available.

Cllr Gordon asks about funding. Sinclair says there are a number of pieces ongoing, Drop In was not successful for first round of rapid housing, but will still be eligible for second round. CMHC is also a possible course.

Guthrie reminds that these are supposed to be questions about *zoning* and *planning*. Would ask the owner of a subdivision about how to fund it.

Goller asks about consultation going forward. Sinclair says that the Drop In Centre is hoping to be a good neighbour, and looks forward to working with area residents.

Next delegate is Bob Davis, who voices his support "as a neighbour" and thinks this is a great opportunity to improve the use of this site.

Halfway through the list now, we're joined by Judith Carson. She lives in the neighbourhood and says this is a needed a project, and its going to look a lot better than the motel.

Carson is also a past-present of the Guelph Wellington Seniors Association, and she also had a letter in the package. pub-guelph.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ash…

There seems to be a technical issue getting Jeanette Browne on the line. Sister Christine Leyser, the originator of the Drop In Centre is next up.

Sister Christine says she loves Guelph and the people of Guelph, and she's so pleased to see the Drop In Centre move forward with this project. She hopes the people that go their will be able go there and say, "I'm home."

Guthrie thanks Sister Christine for her past service and wishes her well.

We've got Jeanette Browne on the line! She's a neighbour and a senior to the proposed Grace Garden, and says approving this zoning is "fundamentally the right thing to do."

Adrienne Crowder of the Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy is the penultimate delegate. She says this is not a small undertaking, and there's been a lot of work to get this far. WGDS supports the application.

Final delegate is Dominica McPherson of the Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination. She thanks everyone that played a role in getting the project this far. All her other points were taken.

Now back to council for any questions/comments.
Gordon/Salisbury move the recommendation.

Goller asks about the crime reduction though enviro design, does staff have that expertise. Chris DeVriendt says they do, and that will be looked at through site plan.

Goller asks about the "no comment" from Guelph Police in consultations, what does that mean? DeVriendt says they looked at the app, and they had no formal comments to add. Staff did meet with GPS.

Goller: Drop In closed on the motel last week, does that have an effect on process?
DeVriendt: Ownership has no effect on process.

Goller asks about the compatibility with this and the new CMHA building going up the street. DeVriendt notes again that this is a residential use plan in a mixed use corridor. It's an appropriate location, and a designation that supports a full range of housing.

Goller says this has been an interesting application, heard from many people before or against, but hopes this will be a positive development for the community. Wants people to know their concerns were heard, and they were taken seriously.

Cllr Hofland says she support the recommendation, and there's no question this project will answer a desperate need. Hopes the rest of council will agree.

Allt says he thought the process was rocky, but points out that he would not have supported this if an MZO had come down. He's satisfied this fits the definition for supportive housing, but cities do not zone people.

Caron says ditto, felt it was really important that residents were heard and believes council has heard the concerns and that staff has addressed them. Ward 5 has 4 supportive housing properties, and you wouldn't know it.

Gibson says it's been a great community conversation, but he keeps coming back to his initial reaction, which is that this would be an enhancement, to an existing property, it achieves a community goal, and it address homelessness.

Gordon seconds what Goller said about the challenges, and thanks everyone that participated in the discussion even though the pandemic has made it harder to have that discussion.

Gordon adds that he and Goller will be watching the situation closely if this passes, and wants to make sure that everything goes well for old residents and new residents. He's choosing optimism.

O'Rourke thanks staff for clear planning justifications. Thinks that this will be more stable, and more compassionate. She also thanks everyone that came forwarded to delegate.

Cllr Bell thanks Gordon and Goller for managing the conflicts, which at times were "quite high" on this proposal.

Cllr Salisbury also thanks delegates, they made him feel better because he can't remember a proposal that came with the same degree of nastiness, the kind that made him sad. Notes that these are tough times, and future residents of Grace Gardens are people.

Guthrie wraps things up by saying "Ditto." His council colleagues said everything, and repeats Bell's compliments to the Ward 2 councillors.

Application approved unanimously. Grace Gardens is one step closer to fruition.

Bylaws of the week pass unanimously.

Announcement from Cllr Downer: They will be having a virtual town hall on April 29 at 7 pm. Gene Matthews from the City will be a special guest to talk about Parks master plan and trees. Details coming soon.

Guthrie adds that everyone at the City appreciates how people are coming together. It's concerning out there right now, and wants everyone to come together the best they can, and follow health guidance.

Guthrie reminds that @WDGPublicHealth is now pre-registering everyone 16+ for a vaccine shot. He did it today, and it took two minutes (approximately).

This meeting is concluded.