Accessibility Advisory Committee

0:03So question if we don't get quorum, what do we do?

1:18We don't get for him. We will need to cancel and reschedule.

1:23Well, we can cancel and reschedule. I would assume that we would want to reschedule.

1:29They are coming.

1:40It would be really unfortunate if our first meeting as the official council, we don't be quorum on one level funny on the other hand.

1:58Oh, emails.

2:17What one is one of the members of the stuff outside.

3:26They would then I saw someone might be having trouble connecting.

3:36As I was connecting to the meeting, I accidentally emailed Sarah a transcription of me, they be talking to my rats.

3:53That's why I was apologizing when I first joined.

3:55Oh, can we please have that shared?

3:57It was something along the lines of okay little buddies, I'll fix it in a second.

4:01Mommy has to send an email like it was and it was like half of a sentence. It didn't make any sense.

4:07But it was.

4:10Yes, so that's why when I joined I said, you can disregard my email.

4:15Assistive tech sometimes doesn't.

4:20You can never second guess the background to a story, right?

4:25I'm sure Sarah was confused.

4:28Getting an email that was like little buddies one second mommy.

4:33A couple of weeks ago, I was doing some emails for the podcast that I do and I cover a lot of entertainment stories.

4:43And I accidentally sent a story from TMZ to Daniel Beamsmore at City Hall, and it was about Tim Allen and Pamela Anderson.

4:53So I had to very quickly email Daniel like, can you please disregard that for the love of everything that is holy?

4:59I'm not this weird.

5:00I promise.

5:02And then I called him and he's like, yeah, that was a pretty funny read, but like, don't worry about it.

5:07So, yep, it's happened to me too. Let's see if we can have that happen again to one of us because guaranteed it will.

5:15Was it somebody trying to log in?

5:19Yes, it's just a committee member who lost the link.

5:23No, I'm fine.

5:28Didn't have anyone else join.

5:39We thought.

8:23There we go.

8:41I think Brian.

8:45Perfect. Okay.

8:47So then welcome everyone to the February 21st, 2023 meeting of the Accessibility Advisory Committee.

8:55Just a reminder that this meeting is being recorded today and we'll hear a little more about that in a minute.

9:02But first, we'll start with a land acknowledgement.

9:06As we gather, we're reminded that Guelph is situated on treaty land that is steeped in rich indigenous history and home to many First Nations, Inuit and Métis people today.

9:16As a city, we have a responsibility for the stewardship of the land on which we live and work.

9:21Today, we acknowledge the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation of the Anishinaabe peoples on whose traditional territory we're meeting.

9:31Before we get started, would anyone like to disclose a conflict of interest for the meeting today?

9:36I see in here none.

9:41So we can move along.

9:45So we need the approval of the agenda. So we need to move to approve the agenda.

9:50Would anyone like to move to approve the agenda?

9:55I'll move it.

9:57Perfect. Mike, I can't see everyone's little squares on my screen.

10:05So people could use the hand raise function.

10:07I'll be able to see.

10:09Okay, we've got Mike and Andrew, seconding, I think.

10:15And then, perfect.

10:18So now we need to approve the minutes.

10:20And we have quite a few minutes to approve.

10:22And it's a little tricky because in order to approve minutes, you have to have been at the meeting that you are approving the minutes for.

10:29And in October, we didn't have quite as many, like a few of the members have left and we have a lot of new members.

10:36And I can't move because I'm the chair. So would anyone who was at the October 18th meeting like to move to approve those minutes?

10:45As amended.

10:50I see Deborah, I guess of the mover.

10:53And then Brian has a seconder.

10:57Perfect. Okay, awesome.

11:00And then the next minute, sorry, it's hopping back and forth with my screen reader.

11:08Then we need a mover and a seconder for December 20th minutes.

11:12Deborah and Sue.

11:19Perfect. And then January 17th, the one we just had.

11:22Andrew and Sue.

11:29Thank you so much. Well, let's jump right into the meeting then Dylan, are you there?

11:34We have Dylan here from the clerk's office to talk about the minute taking standards.

11:40Thank you, chair root and good afternoon to the rest of the committee. I know we're a few minutes behind. So I'll keep my comments.

11:47Fairly brief and high level, but I'm happy to answer questions. So as the committee knows, the clerk's office has been providing a little bit more support for AC than we have in the past, which is a really good thing.

11:59But there are a few things that are likely to change because of that. And this is one of them. So at a high level, the municipal act requires that municipal minutes or local board minutes and the AC is a local board that those minutes be taken without note or comment.

12:14And the interpretation of that in municipalities across the province and in a few different court cases is that it effectively means that minutes should really only include decisions of the committee.

12:24So movers, seconders, decisions, vote results, absolutely.

12:30But what is not included or what is considered a note or comment would be specific comments from certain members of the committee, specific questions, specific answers provided by staff or any summaries of those discussions.

12:42So with the clerk's office taking minutes, the AC minutes will now look very much like the city council minutes.

12:49I think I also provided a link in this memo to a set of heritage golf minutes, which is taken to the same standard.

12:54I understand that that does reduce in some ways the amount of content or the record that is included in the minutes.

13:02So to try and maintain the same level of transparency, as was just talked about a minute ago, we are recording all AC meetings now.

13:10So recordings will be posted online and using eScri, which is our electronic agenda management tool.

13:16We can also bookmark the videos to the agenda. So if a member of staff or the community or a committee member wanted after this meeting to say, you know what, I want to watch the portion of the AC meeting just dealing with Dylan's presentation about the minutes, click on my item on the agenda.

13:31It'll take you right to that section of the video, which is a significant amount of transparency and it's the same standard if people are interested in checking out what that looks like the same standard and the same tool that we use at City Council.

13:43The other thing to remember is that because clerk's office staff are now supporting the meetings, it means folks like Sarah and Leanne as well are able to take their own notes without having to worry about minutes and that kind of thing, which means it's not that we're not capturing everything that the advisory committee members as individuals say at meetings.

14:03We absolutely are. You still got staff like Sarah and Leanne taking notes. You still have departmental staff who are attending meetings and presenting taking notes. So we're recording all of that.

14:13It's just not going to be included in the minutes anymore to make sure that we meet the municipal act standard of taking minutes without note or comment. So that's it at a high level and I'm happy to answer any questions.

14:27Thanks Dylan. Because that's a municipal legislation thing, we actually didn't slot any time for discussion around it, but if anyone has any questions, it's a for information item. But if anyone has any questions, if you connect with Leanne or Sarah, they can connect you with Dylan with that work Dylan.

14:46Absolutely. Yep, that's that's perfect.

14:48Thank you so much.

14:50Thank you.

14:51Alright, and the next item that we have is a staff presentation about Margaret Green Park. We have Christina Vanelli here, a park planner from the parks department to do a 10 minute presentation and then the AC is going to have 20 minutes to discuss.

15:14Good afternoon everyone. Thanks for having me.

15:17For this discussion that is first background information.

15:22The scope is the splash pad accessibility criteria and second accessibility related feedback about splash pad equipment selection site seating and shade and I'm looking forward to your questions and comments at the end of the presentation.

15:37Currently in Margaret Green Park, there is a washroom building with one accessible washroom, a water bottle filling station, a parking lot with accessible parking spaces.

15:52To note, it should be corrected to four actually and accessible seating. There's benches, soccer fields and accessible playground, tennis courts including accessible design and accessible walkways.

16:07If you're familiar with the park, there's an existing playground and washroom building located off of Westwood Road and a splash pad will be cited in between the two.

16:17So for our scope today, we're here to engage the AC early in the design process for the splash pad.

16:30And your input will be considered in the request for proposals for the splash pad equipment vendor and for splash pad equipment selection in concept design development and in addition to feedback received through community engagement.

16:46So in addition to AODA and FADM requirements, some design guidelines will be following are splash pad fixtures at a variety of heights and variety of spray features and locations, play components grouped together by age and skill level,

17:10facing in between fixtures to be FADM compliant, FADM space for circulation around the splash pad, provide accessible route from the parking to splash pad, which meets FADM requirements.

17:24Color contrast will comply with the FADM and there will be accessible seating options.

17:30Splash pads seating slide one of two. So seating and shade structure layout.

17:42So to note cluster seating picnic tables benches, shade structure, all options here.

17:51Similar products will be specified during the detailed design of the splash pad and the amount of shade provided will be relative to the splash pad size itself.

18:01Associated with this slide is a description and aerial plan view of the concept for each view splash pad and different aspects of the plan, including shade structure, planting areas and splash pad were shown here.

18:17Slide two of two. The background for your feedback and variety of seating options will be explored benches will be bariatric seating to complete with two arm rests and there'll be a shade structure with filtered shade similar to Eastview and handloan creek splash pads.

18:44Associated with this image or associated with this slide is an example of handloan creek splash pad and Guelph that has bench walkways, splash pad spray features and a trellis.

18:59So questions for you. The AC. What are your accessibility related feedback on splash pad equipment, low and ground water features as well as vertical and tall water features and then also site seating and shade.

19:14So cluster seating, tables and benches as examples.

19:19And the next, we'll go to the next slide and then maybe go back.

19:28So the next steps so you're aware after this meeting.

19:32Community engagement is to begin at the end of March, March 28th.

19:37There'll be an opportunity for the AC to engage during community engagement.

19:42Staff will then finalize the design with a consultant and internal review will occur and staff will return to the AC to show how the recommendations were implemented in the final design and this will be for information.

19:55And finally, construction construction start we're estimating for October this year.

20:02So we can go back a slide Sarah. So we have those questions for feedback.

20:13Right. So yeah, if anyone has questions raise your hand with the react and I will keep track of who's.

20:20Okay, we've got Mike. Go ahead, Mike.

20:23Just looking at this I've that bench that's the green thing where is is that going to be situated in relation to the splash pad itself.

20:36And you're referring to an image that was the one on the screen. Yeah.

20:42So that's an example image of a layout option.

20:46More so that images to indicate the type of shade structures we might be like.

20:52To show a filtered shade off an option much like leaves on a tree and you would sit under it and have shade or crisscross branches to provide like a filtered shade throughout the day.

21:05Okay. The only because the reason I thought it was a bench and I thought this was actually brilliant.

21:11So maybe something to kind of consider just for myself so I sit in a power wheelchair, for example, in me using a splash pad means well my equipment is going to short out.

21:23But if you had a bench that was like that a wheelchair user could transfer on to that and they could actually enjoy the splash pad.

21:32Like having a bench that's like that this way that like the water could go over and through them because it's it's I don't know that maybe that's something for the community engagement kind of later when you guys start doing design things.

21:45I just think it would be cool if you had an accessible bench near some of the splash pads so someone in a chair if they wanted to transfer out of their chair so their chair doesn't get soaked.

21:56They could really have a chance to enjoy that because I know I myself would enjoy that immensely.

22:02That's a great comment. Thank you for that.

22:10Hi, Debra. Oh, sorry, Jack was next and then Deborah.

22:15Sorry, I can't hear what was said in the room there. What was that?

22:23I think that the discussions open for AC members and I'm not sure that that Jack, at least by that name is an AC member.

22:33Yeah, I wasn't sure because there are so many new members. I didn't know if I'd forgotten someone's name.

22:38Yeah, maybe we can direct to Clarkson exactly how to go through that type of process, but I don't believe they're able to.

22:44No, they would have to be a delegate. We don't have delegates registered for this meeting other than staff.

22:52Okay, perfect. So Deborah, go ahead.

22:55Hi, thanks. And thank you, folks, in parks for listening.

23:01We've had multiple discussions with you and we really appreciate.

23:06I appreciate seeing that you've taken our feedback into account from previous times into this one.

23:14So one little piece of question is the bench that was a steel bench with slots in it.

23:24I wondered, is that going to be in the shade or is that in the sun?

23:28Because if it's in the sun, I think it will be a heat sink and will be really problematic for anybody whose flesh gets in touch with that.

23:39And I'm not sure how you imagined that particular bench.

23:45That's a great comment. What will keep in mind for sure through design is to incorporate the correct finishes on some of these benches,

23:54powder coat finishes that can deflect heat and make sure that we're aware of that. Thank you.

24:06All right, Ryan, go ahead.

24:11Thank you. Hi, everyone.

24:15Just to echo what Deborah just mentioned, I do have a concern as well over,

24:21there seems to be a big push for metal infrastructure everywhere.

24:27We see a lot of benches and bins that are metal and I do have concern over microquipment as well.

24:37But I was just curious more about the picnic tables and access to the picnic tables and potential style of picnic table.

24:51And if you have any comments for that?

24:55What we've heard in the past and from my understanding is that square picnic tables are preferred.

25:03If I'm incorrect, are there some further suggestions I'd like to hear them?

25:10Will they have extensions for wheelchair access? Is that correct?

25:15Correct.

25:17All right, thank you.

25:30There we go. Sorry, I was having trouble with my microphone. I don't see any other questions. So I'll, oh, sorry, Donna, go ahead, Donna.

25:37And I have a question as well. Sorry, it may have been missed with the raised hand.

25:42Thank you. So I can go after Donna though.

25:46Okay, I was just, I'm just wondering what the edges look like about getting on how the grading is.

25:53So thank you for your question. We're at the beginning stages of design. So grading will all be FADM compliant to ensure that the splash pad is accessible.

26:10So that's something that will work through the design process.

26:15Okay, thank you.

26:17Laura, is it okay?

26:23Yeah, who's speaking?

26:25It's Jen Pocky. I do have my hand raised.

26:28Yes, so earlier when I called for Jack, you're signed in as Jack Bergen just so you know.

26:33Oh, that's my son. Okay, for some reason it's signed.

26:37Okay.

26:38So you have my hand raised with Jack.

26:40No, I was wondering why it was showing up as JB. That's my son. Okay. Anyway, he's not here. It's just me.

26:47So I've got two identities.

26:52So thanks for that.

26:56I was thinking about the picnic tables. It's great to hear that they'd be wheelchair accessible.

27:05I separate from the material of the benches, great call outs on those.

27:12I would just say I do like the fact that they have backs on them and that there are a number of arm rests for people to be able to push up or sit down comfortably.

27:22I didn't see it was on here, but I was curious, is there, has there already been conversation around the change rooms for this or is that already been taken care of in a previous meeting?

27:37Great question. That's currently not part of the scope of this project.

27:43Okay. And I'm guessing that will come up though at some point.

27:48That's something that I think we'll have to discuss internally.

27:53Okay.

27:57The reason I ask is we usually think of splash pads and kids, but making sure that it is accessible to for people who aren't kids who may want to enjoy the splash pad to just see if the the washrooms that are available to people are also accessible.

28:14There's enough space or a parent who uses a wheelchair can help their child get changed and those types of things.

28:21So it's just thinking about that and where the buttons would be for some of the sprayers.

28:27If it's low enough, like we see some great automated doors where it's almost more like a long bar that you press, you don't have to be of a certain height to hit.

28:36You can almost hit it with your foot.

28:38So those were just some of the things coming to mind with this.

28:43I appreciate your feedbacks and Q.

28:46Thanks, Jenna. Sorry for the confusion there. I'm glad to know.

28:53No, it's on me. I don't know how to change it.

28:56So, yeah, I'll remember.

28:58Sorry.

29:00All right. Now I don't think we have any more questions. So I will quickly give a couple of recommendations before we move on.

29:08We there's some talk about seating and shade, but I wanted to point out that it'd be great if there could be some seating and some shade that are in the water so that people who need to sit and take a rest or need to get out of the sun don't have to stop their play or

29:22they're interacting with kids playing or their time at the splash pad in order to take a seat and don't have to feel like they're segregated.

29:31Sometimes when I have to take a rest, I feel like I have to get separated from my group that I'm with.

29:36So some seating and shade in the play areas like in the water so people can still enjoy them.

29:44And then the other thing that Jenna just kind of touched on is I'd love to see some adult sized play equipment.

29:54So if there's anything to be sat on or ridden or swings or things of that nature, they tend to be sized for children, but there are definitely adults who would come to a splash pad.

30:05Maybe with a caregiver or a group who might like to enjoy the swings and things like that as well.

30:12And we don't have a lot of adult play structures in Guelph.

30:16So making sure that things are adaptable for adults and even plus size adults, not just children.

30:24Great.

30:25Thanks for those comments.

30:29All right. I don't see any more questions.

30:35So does that bring us to the end of your presentation?

30:39That's all I had.

30:43All right. Thank you so much. We're actually ahead of schedule.

30:47Thanks for coming. We appreciate you engaging with us so early on this. That's really appreciated.

30:53Great. Thank you.

30:55So next we have Jamie Zettel here with the downtown parking master plan.

31:03Early engagement, 10 minutes staff presentation and then 20 minutes for us to discuss.

31:08You're being introduced Jamie.

31:10Oh, yeah.

31:13Hi, Jamie. How are you?

31:15I'm well. I've arrived at the time.

31:18Oh, perfect. Yeah, we are just ready for you now if you're ready to do your presentation. We've got 10 minutes for you and then 20 minutes to discuss.

31:27Thank you very much for the introduction.

31:30Stuart Anderson, who is online with you will do the presentation this morning or this afternoon for you.

31:38So I will turn it over happily to Stuart.

31:42Thank you, Jamie. Good afternoon, everyone. Hope you can hear me clearly.

31:48So far.

31:51Good afternoon members of the committee and the chair.

31:54Thank you for your time today. It's really good to be meeting with you. Like the previous meeting presentation. We are early in our study as well.

32:05So this is almost like a pre consultation to meet with you today and let you know what the parking master plan study is going to do.

32:16I'm not at the point of any recommendations, but we do want to hear your thoughts, questions and suggestions as we go forward.

32:26So today, yes, Jamie's here. We also have Sue coming who is a consultation in public engagement specialist who's working with us on the project.

32:38I should say I'm not city staff. I'm with a consulting company called BA group.

32:44So just want to again speaking to this slide that's on the screen now just wanted to get the preliminary thoughts and opinions of the the AC today.

32:57If we could hit the next slide please Sarah.

33:04So this study is is an update to a previous parking master plan that was done for the city of Guelph in 2015.

33:15As you might imagine some changes since then. So the city has decided to do an update.

33:22The intent is that this is a very long term study.

33:26We're looking at 20 plus years into the future to try to identify what the right amount of parking for downtown Guelph is.

33:37Where it is provided, how it is provided and the pricing of how that parking is provided as well.

33:46And the city's coming at it from the point of view that parking is important for access to the downtown.

33:53So it's being considered from that regard, but also with regard to a number of the city's other objectives and studies that have been completed in the last few years.

34:05Not least of which is the transportation master plan that is really targeting increased transit use and increased use of other alternatives to the private car.

34:20So next slide please sir.

34:23Thank you.

34:24The one thing I realized I left off in this presentation is is the geographic scope of this study. So this is the study is related to city owned and operated parking.

34:38So that includes on street and off street parking within the downtown boundaries and the actual boundary is a planning the downtown secondary plan boundary.

34:53So it's a little bit bigger than just the downtown core itself extends over the river along Elizabeth Street and a little bit more than you might imagine.

35:04So the intent is to ensure that this parking update of the parking master plan considers the other studies that the city is currently working on the infrastructure renewal, the downtown, sorry, the transportation master plan and other aspects.

35:24So we're trying to forecast into the future to look at how or how much growth they will be in the downtown based on employment and population forecasts that the city has also looking at changes in technology, including work from home and other aspects of what might change the needs for

35:48people to travel to and from the downtown for work and for shopping and for for entertainment uses as well.

35:57So the intent is that we will look at how to support multiple users of the system, including we're hoping to obviously include the the accessibility lens to this as well, which is why we're we're here today.

36:14But to come up with a range of options for for how the parking system will be operated in the future and how this will be planned for over the next 20 years and also how the financing of the system will work.

36:30The next slide, Sarah, please. I just wanted to cover what we have done so far. I mentioned where toward the beginning of the study so far we have done some data collection in 2022, which it really has been parking surveys in the downtown core, the on street and off street parking facilities,

36:54and measuring how how well used those were and that was done in fall in October and November of 2022. We've had some meetings with stakeholders to to understand parking, how parking affects those stakeholders.

37:13And we've started to look at the needs and opportunities for parking in the downtown and we've started to look at what some of the possible drivers that might change those supplies and demands are that that we can foresee in the future.

37:33The next, the next slide again just wanted to mention that we're at the beginning of the study we we do have a number of formal public engagement opportunities that will be coming up in April 2023 is the first of those so there will be a public survey that will be released on via the web, and also a virtual meeting presentation

38:01and discussion and a workshop of downtown stakeholders that will be conducted in April. We will go away and do some some work and understanding what those what those inputs mean and and having some ideas on what again what the parking supplies and demands might be in the future we will come back in June 2023 for a second round of public consultation so there will be another survey.

38:31Another open house and presentation and discussion and we intend then to come back to the AC meeting at some point after that June.

38:42Consultation and we'll have some recommendations and findings from the study.

38:49So again it's it's early for us but next slide please sir.

38:56Thank you. And so just today then we'd like to leave the rest of our time or as much time as you would like to talk about parking from the accessibility lens and if you have any comments in particular we're very interested in in what works well with respect to parking.

39:18From the accessibility standpoint in the downtown today what works well and the sound the second side of that coin I guess is what ideas might the members of the committee have for any improvements or any particular things that that you think we really need to take a close look at as we move through our study.

39:38So that's I think that's it for me for now.

39:43I'd like to turn it over to the committee for comments.

39:48Thank you so much.

39:49All right, if people use the hand raised function, I'll be able to see.

39:53And we can ask some questions.

40:03I'm sorry. Donna, go ahead. Hi. Um what what what are the

40:12parameters of downtown? You mentioned that it was larger

40:15than we might think. Yes, it's so that technically the area is

40:23the downtown secondary plan area. Um just generally again,

40:28apologies. I didn't have a map included which would have said

40:33a thousand words. Um but just generally it's it's the area

40:37that's the downtown and over to the river as far north as

40:44London and as far south as Wellington essentially and then

40:48it includes the piece over the river that's the the the

40:53innovation area I believe it's referred to along Elizabeth. So

40:58that's that's really the area. I mean it's it's it's really

41:01the downtown and as I said, it's there's a there's a map in

41:04the downtown secondary plan area and that's that's the area

41:09we're we're looking at. So within that it's on street and

41:12off street parking that is uh owned managed by the city of

41:17Guelph. Right. I think a map would be really helpful. Is it

41:21possible we could get a copy of that maybe? I can work with

41:27you Stuart to get a map from you. Uh uh uh following the

41:31meeting. Um I'll follow up and we can get that map and then

41:35I'll get it up to the A. Okay. Okay. Sure. Sure. Uh and one

41:38more question. Um does this does this fit in with the public

41:42transit uh plans, future plans or is there any connection? Yes,

41:49it it definitely will. Uh we know there's there's an update um

41:54service plan that's being worked on I think as we speak. So

41:58we're intending to fold in uh the recommendations or the

42:02strategies that that come out of that study or that update

42:06for the from the transit. Um yes. Great answer. Yes. Thank

42:12you. Thanks Donna. Uh Mike, you're up next. Uh just set a

42:18curiosity. Stuart, how many accessible parking spaces are

42:21currently downtown? Wow. That's that's a great question. I

42:27don't have the answer to in front of me. Uh I do I do not

42:31know. I don't know if Jamie Jamie's Edel might know the

42:34answer to that off the off the top of his head. Yeah, I can

42:38help Mike. There are um 19 on street stalls on the in the

42:45downtown area. There's 19 on street. There are 22 in the

42:50West Parkade. There are eight in the East Parkade. There are

42:5712 in the Market Parkade. I believe there are two in the

43:03Mactano lot. We are planning for four more in the needs lot

43:07when it gets redone this summer. So if I could do my math

43:13although I see that Sarah's doing it for me uh I'll just

43:18wait for Sarah to do her arithmetic. 63. You are 63. So

43:23would it be unrealistic for us to maybe round that number up

43:28to say something like 70 in the next little bit just to get a

43:32nice kind of round number um and then just to kind of because

43:36you said you guys will be working with like kind of

43:38transit uh to kind of plan things out for accessible

43:42parking and stops etc correct? Yes, that's well yes we're

43:48we're we'll be taking into into account the strategies um

43:53coming out of the the transit service plan for the next

43:56five years and the changes that the city has recommended

44:00through the transportation master plan study that was done.

44:03So yes. Okay, cool. Awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you.

44:10Thanks Mike. Okay Deborah go ahead. Thanks and I again am so

44:16pleased to get a chance to um be proactive with these

44:21conversations. Thank you. Um uh my question is about winter

44:26and about winter parking. When we had a discussion about the

44:31new parking um or the changes to parking and underground

44:36parking related to the library the new library we had

44:40not so happy of it set of discussions about accessible parking

44:44and um I I'd like not that not to happen again.

44:49So that's why I'm grateful we're we're having a proactive

44:52conversation but it seems to me part of what people raised

44:56during those moments was we are a multi-season

45:00um city we have to deal with snow but we also have to deal

45:04with heat and rain and how many of the parking spaces that

45:11we're planning for also um are sheltered have good um

45:19snow removal um have easy access to sidewalks um right so how

45:26do we deal with the complexities of the climate we live in

45:29and the changing climate that we live in? Thanks. Stuart I'm

45:39happy to answer that question if you like. Um I think that's a

45:43it's a great question it's a great consideration that we're

45:46that we're working through I think I think there's probably two ways that we

45:50can give you some insight into some of our thinking.

45:54For um very sensitive to the you know very sensitive awareness about

46:01um changing the grade that goes from an accessible stall that's on street

46:05onto the sidewalk so um we're going to make sure that we stay

46:09connected to uh Paul Hutchinson's team in traffic as

46:13they work through reconstruction of all those access

46:16points along the the sidewalk and the curb so we're going to say

46:20quite connected to that um and I think that's also one of the

46:24reasons why we really focus on making sure there's enough

46:26accessible parking within the parkades um but but candidly from my

46:31perspective it really only solves sort of half of the problem

46:35to be fair. If if that's not the location you want to get to

46:39if it doesn't work for any number of reasons it doesn't really matter that

46:43it's covered so um thank you for raising that because I think

46:47that's an important sensitivity we need to think through as we plan

46:51what the future operation might begin to look like so

46:55I don't have an answer for the on street for right now but I really appreciate

46:59that that that caution has been raised as we think through what it could look

47:02like in the future. Thank you. Janna go ahead. Did you say Janna

47:18Powerlack? My apologies. I said Janna. I'm Wonders of Mew- oh it's Jen Jennifer

47:22that's fine. Oh sorry. No I'm under my alias of that my son Jack so it makes no

47:28sense so my apologies all but I appreciate your

47:32flexibility um yeah I I agree love the the opportunity to to chat

47:37here um I was wondering um if if there are any

47:44stats available to say like day to day do you get a sense of how many of those

47:5063 accessible parking spots are busy in a day or if there's

47:55busiest times of day um because we know the population

48:00is aging there will be more demand for them um I'm I curious to see

48:07how do we best serve or make best use of those

48:11let's hope 70 available spaces um for our users going forward so I'm just

48:17I'm curious are there stats available or how how often they're monitored?

48:24Yeah that's a that's a good question too that that is something we we have

48:28collected data on last year in the fall so we do have and again sorry I don't

48:34have it off the off the top of my head but we have measured how often the

48:38spaces are used throughout the day that's including all all spaces

48:44especially the on-street ones so how many times a day

48:48each space is used we we will have that information so we could bring that to

48:52the to the consideration and discussion of accessible

48:56parking as well. Yeah I think that would be to be

49:01for me it would be great to know not not that I'm deciding for anyone here I'm

49:06just I'm curious to see if it's like store hours where it's

49:11busiest typically through Monday to Friday during

49:14store hour days and then how do the positions

49:18fill differently when you're near residential spaces say for the evenings

49:23and weekends right so to make sure we're getting the

49:26right number of spaces and the there can be different styles of

49:31say mini vans or accessible parking and how people

49:35get in and out of them to make sure that we have the right variety or enough of

49:39a variety for that and I was also thinking about

49:43the lighting that's available like street lighting

49:46for those spaces because I'm thinking of those who

49:51where vision could be an issue I'm selfishly thinking of my mom who's

49:57losing her sight where she it'll be night blindness for her so that added

50:03lighting would be helpful. One other thing and this is the

50:10answering while throwing out an idea for the second point you have up on the

50:13screen what ideas do you have for improving how accessible

50:16parking could be provided if there is a way because you

50:20can't book the spots ahead of time nor should you there's a way to find out

50:24where those full spots are so people aren't driving around

50:27because if you need an accessible parking spot in the entire downtown you've got

50:3263 options and how far away do you have to go

50:38this time to get into one that's available and works for your vehicle

50:43for you to be able to get comfortably to your spot

50:46with a and are you going four blocks or are you going 40 meters

50:51so I was something was hitting me like high in the sky dream

50:56would be like an app the drivers could see live

51:00what spots are available right now. Yeah great suggestion thank you

51:06yeah I mean the technology is is there to be able to do that kind of thing

51:12so it's a good suggestion yeah it's something we can we can think about and

51:16this the city has installed on some parking spaces

51:22on the streets at least some occupancy sensors that detect when a vehicle is

51:28parked on them so there you know there's some

51:31information that may be able to be you know put out there I don't know

51:38we'll have to see how that could work. They need to find out too if a delivery van was

51:41using it when they shouldn't be right possibly yeah okay

51:46no I appreciate the conversation. Thank you. I don't see any other

51:55questions so I have a couple of thoughts as well. I have four points but they're

52:00pretty quick just some suggestions I have. The first thing that I was thinking

52:05of when we talked about this is when the city first started shutting down

52:11the city used to I don't know if they still do shut down traffic downtown

52:15on the weekends during the school year and that was hard for me because I

52:19couldn't go out to bars and things with my friends because I need to be close

52:23to the places that I'm going if I'm using my wheelchair

52:27and when I first contacted the city about it I

52:31had someone say to me this was years and years ago but I had someone say

52:35well it's it's only on the weekends and it's only late at night when only bars

52:39are open anyway so we're not as worried about

52:42so just a reminder that there's no one type of business that disabled people

52:46frequent more than others like yes we need access to doctors

52:49offices we also need access to bars and we also need access to rock climbing

52:54places and we also need not that there are any

52:56downtown but anything that anyone can access should have some

53:00accessible parking near it and sometimes I think we fall into just

53:04making things accessible that we think disabled people might want.

53:08The other thing the other thought I have is I know that the city

53:13has been there have been discussions at council and with the city about

53:17making downtown pedestrian only and cars are an accessibility device for a lot

53:22of us for folks who are blind or low vision we

53:25can't just people like that can't just walk blocks to their

53:29destination people like myself if I'm using my

53:32walker or wheelchair I can't go far so just keeping that in mind as that

53:37conversation continues that we make sure that we're not

53:41blocking disabled people out of downtown if we are making areas pedestrian only

53:45perhaps having some sort of variance for people with accessible passes or

53:50something like that.

53:53A third thought I had was about accessible electric

53:57electric car parking spots I know that the government of Ontario doesn't

54:01currently legislate that there have to be accessible

54:05electronic spots but I think they're going to honestly

54:08so it might make sense to go ahead and do that or if we're not going to go ahead

54:13and do that if there is any electric parking being put in

54:17make sure that they're wide enough for a type A so that if we do decide to put in

54:22some type A and type B it's easy enough later to go back and just put an

54:26accessible parking sign on one of the parking spots if

54:31it's already wide enough for a type A.

54:34And then the final thought that I had was about in Toronto

54:38and Ottawa and Niagara and some of these other

54:41bigger areas in order to make up for the fact that there are

54:46not as many accessible parking spots around

54:50they have they've chosen to allow people with accessible parking permits to

54:54park anywhere for free so those pay stations paid city

55:00lots anything owned by the municipal government any

55:03parking spots with meters they in Toronto they even let you

55:07park on in like certain no parking zones and they let you park

55:12on residential in residential areas that you would usually need a residential

55:15permit to park on the street you can park in those areas

55:18so as long as it's not in the way of people's safety you're allowed to park

55:22pretty much anywhere for free because if you can't find an accessible spot but

55:25you still need to access things that can be helpful and I don't know whether

55:29the city of Guelph has thought about that but that could be really helpful

55:32for us as well I've often wish we did that like near the hospital so if there's

55:36any paid parking downtown that we could implement that that'd be helpful

55:42that's all I had great thank you great yeah those are good good comments and

55:49suggestions and there are all things that we we can and can will look to

55:55as we go through the study thank you thanks and then Kathy just raised her

55:59hand as well go ahead Kathy I thank you I just wanted to add

56:04something last minute for that last comment that you brought up one of my

56:07concerns for adding more parking spaces is on one hand it would be

56:12wonderful to have more spaces available but on the other

56:16I don't want a design to encourage those who don't require parking to park

56:22there so adding more my concern or barrier would be

56:29that people that don't require accessibility parking would

56:32just use that spaces because it reduces spaces on on for for their needs or

56:38preferences so that's always that type of struggle and I think that last comment

56:43would be a really great solution to consider to be able to provide those

56:49spaces without monopolizing the downtown core and I know that a few

56:55spaces are just more but it could just be a few more opportunities for people

56:58to park in them which we don't want as well

57:00all right thank you thanks yeah I've been picked up by cab drivers before who

57:12have said oh I'm just here for a minute and then I'll be gone before anyone

57:16could call bylaw anyway so people do park in the spots a lot if they think

57:20they're going to be passed all right if we don't have any more

57:27questions I think we can move along thank you so much to

57:30all the staff members who came to speak about that today we appreciate the

57:33early engagement it's great thank you thank you very much

57:38all right so then we can move along we're a little ahead of schedule which

57:45I don't think has happened in like a year at the AAC

57:50so I don't know if Andrew Miller's here and ready but we have

57:53the protected cycling network study on College Avenue

57:58five-minute presentation and 10-minute AAC discussion

58:02Andrew just walked in he's in person here okay perfect perfect timing welcome

58:10Andrew thank you okay it was also coming down but I guess she's a little bit

58:16behind I want to just get started and she pop on in yeah I can get started yeah

58:23she's not speaking during the presentation so just your personal

58:26work yeah awesome well okay she's the manager of the

58:31overall study so awesome

58:35all right good afternoon I'm Andrew Miller from designing construction here

58:41to present the College Avenue corridor study of the

58:45protected cycling network we're currently in the process of

58:49detailed designing this corridor so if we wanted to

58:52combine gather some feedback so the agenda for this

58:57discussion is that we are going to define what a protected cycling facility

59:02is briefly review the previous AAC engagement that was

59:06undertaken last year we're going to review the concept designs

59:11for the corridor which includes protected bike lanes and cycle tracks

59:17we're going to review our design process stakeholders

59:21and get feedback on that and then yeah gather feedback sorry on the

59:25stakeholders and accessibility related barriers of protected bus stop concepts

59:31and protected intersection concepts which you'll see through the presentation

59:37so first what's protected cycling facility this is a facility that's given

59:42dedicated space within the right of way for people to cycle and is physically

59:46separated from vehicle traffic so previously last year we

59:53had two engagement sessions with the AAC this would have been done through

59:57Benita Van Miltonberg in the transportation planning department

1:00:01where Kate's from the first engagement was in February of 2022

1:00:08during this engagement there was a motion passed to recommend that

1:00:11Maltese paths not be used on these networks so

1:00:16pointed that and also iterated the need for visibility triangles tactile

1:00:23walking safety indicators and parking near the bike lanes

1:00:28the second engagement was in July where we heard further feedback

1:00:33that we needed to protect low vision pedestrians

1:00:37and provide curb cuts to allow for mid-block crossings

1:00:40we're going to do a quick re-run through of what these concepts are so

1:00:47protected bike lanes are the picture on the left

1:00:51these are bike lanes that are at road level with a physical barrier separating

1:00:55them from traffic cycle tracks are on the right

1:00:59similar concept but this is up in the boulevard behind the curb providing

1:01:04safe space for the cyclists to traverse the corridor

1:01:13here we have an overview of the concept for College Avenue

1:01:19College Avenue the project limits run from Janefield Avenue

1:01:24just near the Hanlon all the way over to Dundas Lane

1:01:27on the far east side of the University of Guelph Campus

1:01:31in this we have three sections we have protected bike lanes from the Hanlon to

1:01:35Edinburgh cycle tracks from Edinburgh to Gordon and then

1:01:39protected bike lanes again from Gordon to Dundas Lane

1:01:45also indicated on this figure are four protected intersections that we want to

1:01:50implement at Scottsdale Edinburgh Gordon and Eastring Road

1:01:55as well as five protected bus stops in the protected bike lane sections

1:02:00which you'll see later I see a hands up but I'm going to continue and then we

1:02:06can get to get to the questions at the end

1:02:10so so far we've identified these stakeholders outside of our typical

1:02:16municipal stakeholders so the city of Ottawa is the leading municipality in

1:02:20Ontario in protected intersection designs so we've

1:02:23spoken with them about how they're implementing their

1:02:26designs. WSP is an engineering consultant with

1:02:30specific expertise in cycling infrastructure they're also working on

1:02:34Guelph's complete streets design guidelines which I've been involved with

1:02:38as well so we've been discussing some of the issues

1:02:41that we've come across with them we're looking to reach out to CNIB to

1:02:47get an idea of what we can do to improve the situation

1:02:51for blind or low vision pedestrians and of course the AAC which we are here to

1:02:57talk to you now about our concepts and we want to come back later to discuss

1:03:01more detailed design later on. So these are the concepts

1:03:08this is a protected bus stop concept so in the section

1:03:11of roadway that's going to have protected bike lanes at road level

1:03:16when there's a bus stop we need to provide a level boarding

1:03:20ability and rather than have the bus come into the bike lane and cut it off

1:03:24entirely we're looking at using this concept to raise the bike

1:03:29lane up to sidewalk level and provide an identified and dedicated

1:03:35crossing for pedestrians to get onto the bus across the

1:03:40protected bike lane in this case the bike lane comes up

1:03:45providing that level boarding there will be tactile walking safety indicators

1:03:49along the edge of the protected bike lane so that people know where

1:03:54the bus stop ends and the cycle lane begins

1:03:58there will be yield the pedestrian signs for the cyclists

1:04:01so that they stop whenever there's a bus present at the bus stop

1:04:05and allow the pedestrians the right way to get on and off the bus before they

1:04:08proceed through the bus stop. This one is a lot to look at at

1:04:16first but it's not too bad so this is the protected intersection

1:04:19concept this is the leading design that's used in most

1:04:26intersections to provide the safest crossing setup for

1:04:33both pedestrians and cyclists while crossing a motor vehicle

1:04:37intersection effectively the way this works is that the cycle track will be

1:04:44basically another car lane off to the side

1:04:48and the pedestrians will have to cross the cycle track in a two-stage

1:04:52setup so the pedestrians come up to the edge of the cycle track

1:04:57they have marked crossing where the cyclists have to yield to pedestrians

1:05:01they cross to a pedestrian island where they'll wait for the signal to cross

1:05:07the vehicle traffic and then they'll be given the green light

1:05:10across to the other pedestrian refuge island and then they get

1:05:14priority to cross back to the sidewalk across the other cycle track

1:05:18there's a lot to this one so i'm happy to come back and talk about specifics

1:05:23because this one's a hard one to just describe off the bat

1:05:27carry on from there so the feedback we're looking for is whether there are

1:05:34any additional stakeholders community groups or other

1:05:40people you think that we should be collecting feedback from

1:05:45and next slide and then beyond that with these specific design concepts we

1:05:55would like to hear the AAC's feedback on accessibility related barriers at

1:06:02this protective bus stop concept and the protected intersection concept so we

1:06:06can carry that through into the design thank you and this is my

1:06:11contact information thank you so much

1:06:22i see we have a hand up from brian first and then andrew you're up next go ahead

1:06:27brian hello thank you uh so i have a question

1:06:40uh you might have to go back in the slide so on college you had three sections

1:06:45it was protected uh protected and then i think it was

1:06:51signal track and then protected again we'll go up some more but there yeah so

1:06:56you have the protected cycle track protected why

1:07:01why three approach or why why break it up in the middle

1:07:05why not just have one for one continuous

1:07:10so the reasoning behind this is really functional so the section from

1:07:16jane field to adenborough is being studied in the transit master plan to

1:07:21potentially um use bus uh bus priority lanes in that

1:07:26section so we wanted to turn that into cycle tracks but because they may

1:07:30possibly need the width of the right of way that or the the road platform

1:07:34there's no sense in moving the curbs in just to move them back out in a

1:07:38couple years so we're just essentially preserving that space for

1:07:42them in case they need it at which point we'll do full cycle tracks once we

1:07:47have that uh scope nailed down on what they need there the middle section for

1:07:51the cycle tracks uh this was going to be a protected

1:07:55cycling section actually it kind of flipped through the process

1:07:58um the water main through this section needs to be replaced and

1:08:02potentially some of the sanitary sewer which are both under both curbs

1:08:06so the it made sense that if we're pulling out the curbs anyway to replace

1:08:10the undergrounds we would just put the curbs back

1:08:13in a different position to allow us to use the rest of the boulevard for cycle

1:08:18tracks and then the last section through the

1:08:21university this was specifically at the request of the university

1:08:24because the right of way is so tight through there it would be very difficult

1:08:29for us to pull out all of that infrastructure and push

1:08:34push our bike lanes into the boulevard it would have included a lot of tree

1:08:37removals a lot of utility relocations so they asked us to go with that approach

1:08:42through through that section okay I understand uh and now to the the bus

1:08:49slide um you have a yield uh you said you're going to have a

1:08:54yield sign and from my experience like yield signs are

1:09:02uh they can or cannot work um especially when

1:09:11as long as the yield sign is at with visibility height for the cyclist

1:09:16and uh it wouldn't be nice if there was some kind of if it was lit up somehow

1:09:23not just the sign but ideally if a bus pulled into that section if there was a

1:09:29flashing light on the sign I'm not sure if we have the technology for that

1:09:34but it would be nice if there is some kind of

1:09:38if it was lit up to draw more attention because there

1:09:42I see potential for accidents with uh with the bike lane in the pedestrians

1:09:48crossing there yeah that's a good point

1:09:54I also have uh one other the the the other design you showed with the uh

1:10:03uh loop is that the same the protecting intersection concept is that the same

1:10:09one that we see currently at stone and gordon no this one is uh a little bit

1:10:15different so the one at stone and gordon would have the slide the cycle

1:10:19crossing's a little bit closer in and there's one little cutout into the

1:10:24sidewalk where the bikes would um queue where this pulls the cycle track fully

1:10:32out of the intersection and you have the cyclist queuing

1:10:36behind that refuge island but the little number one there is is a protective refuge island so

1:10:42that vehicles coming around the corner can't accidentally clip the cyclists who

1:10:49are there waiting it has them fully back and protected from any vehicle traffic

1:10:54while they're queued to uh cross across the intersection okay on this example okay

1:11:02on this illustration here it's it's a little difficult to see

1:11:06where the sidewalks are I see a pedestrian crossing in the road there but I see

1:11:13the pedestrian shared the cycle tracks no so I think this one they used a really urban section

1:11:22so the sidewalk is shown really wide uh basically everything from the cycle track down into the

1:11:28bottom right corner is all sidewalk uh in our designs it would be more of a regular 1.5 meter

1:11:35sidewalk widening out at the intersection um but that's a that's a good point that's a little

1:11:41bit misleading that it doesn't show uh what where the edge of the sidewalk is very well

1:11:47okay thank you I appreciate that thanks Brian all right Andrew uh and then Jennifer

1:11:59hello uh so in the protected intersection concept you've got uh I'm assuming there will be

1:12:07steps taken to allow for to allow for accessibility aids to get through the intersection without

1:12:15issue I know that even with some existing curb cuts they can be problematic for getting

1:12:22wheelchairs over yeah in this concept the the cycle track and the pedestrian crossings should

1:12:30all be at the same level and it should all be level with the road through through the

1:12:36intersection um to increase the convenience of getting through the accessibility of it

1:12:48my other thought is do you have measures in place to help with uh

1:12:56legally blind or low vision individuals uh for the crossing because we've now got more lanes

1:13:12yeah so effectively this would be similar like on the on the cycle track approach it would be

1:13:19similar to the bus stop where we'd have to have a yield we don't we're we haven't really been a

1:13:26lot of interest in adding a specific light for the cyclist just due to the cost and complexity of it

1:13:35uh we're mostly relying on the yielding factor being enough to stop value it's gonna be a bit of a

1:13:48this is one of the issues we need to work out is how to make sure the cyclists stop

1:13:52and then once you're across the cycle track it'll behave the same way as in an intersection now

1:13:58currently does with the auditory and tactile warnings to let you know where the crossing is

1:14:03when it's safe to cross well Andrew you're muted thank you thank you thanks uh and Jennifer

1:14:21and i'm sorry i said your name wrong originally with the confusion at first i now i know who you are

1:14:27so sorry about that oh not a worry at all no honestly um i appreciate the conversation here again

1:14:34um love the idea of bike lanes going in for uh safety there as well and i had a couple of questions

1:14:45and uh one other resource that might be worth getting in touch with um as one of the other

1:14:51questions there one just really quickly what's the width of the bike lane um that'll be going in

1:14:58the cycle tracks are optimally two meters wide okay there may be some narrowing down to a minimum

1:15:08of one and a half depending on the conditions that we're facing but two meters is our intention

1:15:15okay uh okay that'll essentially become lane a one lane of traffic for cyclists that'll be

1:15:23interesting to see if people try to get around one another there that'll be interesting to see

1:15:28how they maneuver that with that then um it's a good size it's not huge um but how uh what would be

1:15:40there sorry are there already discussions for clearing it throughout the year for snow and dust

1:15:45with uh uh frequency or i know like we have different times that we clear out downtown

1:15:53versus arterials versus residential roads um to make this truly an alternate way of travel

1:16:01is there already discussion in how it'll be cleared out through snow and through the different

1:16:05kinds of seasons we are engaging with operations right now we've come across a couple of uh

1:16:12uh issues with clearing frequency required on the woodland multi-use paths and now the speed

1:16:17belt multi-use paths so now as we expand our network we're trying to get them on board with

1:16:23increasing the clearing capacity okay that because yeah that certainly becomes a factor um

1:16:33the other one that you were showing a picture of there for the ramp for the bikes

1:16:38i love the idea that people can get on and off the bikes um i i see in toronto sounds funny it's

1:16:48it's related to accessibility the cyclists have said that's been hazardous because the way that

1:16:54they the material that they've used to install them in toronto um becomes very slippery when it's wet

1:17:01so then you've got buses or a cyclist thing going on to the road to get around these things

1:17:08um do you know what material you're planning on using to make those ramps with it would be my

1:17:13intention that ours would just be an ash ball i can take this ash walled lane okay what toronto's

1:17:20doing is putting green thermoplastic paint on top which does get quite slippery in the rain

1:17:26yeah and yeah we try to avoid that especially because now you're rising up above the vehicle

1:17:34elevation and you don't want to slip into the vehicle lane for sure for sure okay cool um and

1:17:39i can put it in the chat if you want i don't know if you've heard of moda city life um they do

1:17:45tremendous work about bike accessibility um it's a husband and wife team they're actually from

1:17:50london ontario but they now live in um the netherlands and they've got a book out it's all about

1:17:57curbing traffic and adding remarkable pieces for accessibility in it so i can throw that in here

1:18:04they were actually just in canada last summer so uh when you were looking for additional resources

1:18:10i can share that as well that'd be excellent yeah yeah sorry to jump in the chat's actually

1:18:16disabled in these oh i'm sorry just because people with screen readers but if you email it to sarah

1:18:21and leon i can email it to that group that's fine for transparency or i can yeah i can get you in

1:18:28touch with i just sure they're like contacting full okay cool i've got it up online here as well

1:18:36so if you want to still let us know jen um that's great just to confirm that i've got the right

1:18:44yeah moda citylife.com and it's just his email is chris at that so chris at moda citylife.com

1:18:54they were actually yeah they were just here in in july i think so yeah just got instagram and

1:19:00everything oh yeah they're all over the place a couple books out the whole bit perfect thanks so much

1:19:07um kathy we have about two more minutes if you have a question go ahead yeah just a quick question

1:19:15so you had said that with the bus stops there'd be no none of that green paint i think will there be

1:19:23any indicators for people with sight loss to be able to stand in the right spot where the the

1:19:29asphalt is ramped up so they're able to find where the bus will stop and and just use that pathway

1:19:38yeah we would want to put on the crossing bars like are shown in the picture so that the bus

1:19:45has something to aim for and people know where to stand it would even improve the efficiency of our

1:19:50bus stop loading and unloading as people can just be in the right spot right from the start

1:19:55and will it also um

1:20:00because sometimes if I'm standing too far back

1:20:04opposed to just right closer to the road,

1:20:06the bus will just go by.

1:20:08So like a consistent issue is,

1:20:11will the buses slow down every single time?

1:20:13So bikers can assume that the buses will slow down

1:20:17instead of buzzing right by,

1:20:19like will that type of communication with the transit

1:20:22be there to make sure that they are stopping enough

1:20:25to have people supporting,

1:20:27like sorry to have people so a person with a vision loss

1:20:31is able to understand that the bus will stop from them

1:20:34and not feel sort of concerned

1:20:36that they're going to go sort of right by

1:20:38if they're not able to see exactly where they stop

1:20:40because that's always something you have to try to,

1:20:44you're worried about and feel anxious about

1:20:46that the bus will just sort of miss you

1:20:48and this is one step away from the curb.

1:20:51So I would feel that I would want the bus to know

1:20:53that I'm there, but also I don't want to be jumping out

1:20:56into that bike space and then the bikes themselves,

1:20:59the bikers will sort of need those,

1:21:05I don't know, like gestures basically

1:21:07that the bus will stop.

1:21:08So I don't know if there's like a consistent best practices

1:21:11that will be implemented.

1:21:13Yeah, that's a good question.

1:21:15I'm going to have to discuss that one with wealth transit

1:21:17and see what their take on it would be.

1:21:22Yeah, we haven't really addressed that at this point,

1:21:25but it'll be something I'll take into consideration

1:21:27and discuss with them to see what the best way

1:21:31to balance their needs with this accessibility need is.

1:21:42Awesome, thanks so much everyone for that engagement

1:21:44and thank you Andrew for the presentation.

1:21:47I really personally appreciate a lot the fact

1:21:49that every time folks come to talk to us

1:21:53about the protected bike lanes,

1:21:55it's very, very clear that you listened the last time

1:21:57that we talked and you come with like,

1:21:59hey, here's that problem you pointed out,

1:22:01here's the solution like with the protected bus

1:22:04loading zones that's really appreciated, thank you.

1:22:08Well, thank you for having me.

1:22:11All right, so next we have a comprehensive zoning

1:22:15bylaw update, we have Abby Watts to talk for six minutes

1:22:21and then we talk for nine minutes.

1:22:24Thank you.

1:22:26Thank you.

1:22:28Great, thank you.

1:22:29So I'm not sharing my screen then,

1:22:31you guys are just gonna go through

1:22:32the PowerPoint presentation, is that the way it works?

1:22:35Yeah, I'm not, it's for Abby.

1:22:38All right, perfect.

1:22:39Well, good afternoon, thanks for having me.

1:22:41I'm Abby Watts, I'm the project manager

1:22:43for the comprehensive zoning bylaw review

1:22:45and here with me today is Elisa Pompa,

1:22:47she is also a policy planner.

1:22:50So today I'm gonna provide you a brief update

1:22:52on the project, review the issues that were raised

1:22:55the last time we came to the AAC as well as council issues,

1:23:00outline how staff have updated the proposed zoning bylaw

1:23:03to reflect those comments and then the AAC

1:23:06will have some time to ask questions

1:23:07and provide additional feedback.

1:23:10So just to start, as I understand

1:23:12there's some new AAC members,

1:23:14so this might be a new topic for some of you.

1:23:17So just to go over what a zoning bylaw is,

1:23:21it is a series of rules that tells how we can develop

1:23:24a property, so where buildings and structures

1:23:27can be located and parking the size of buildings

1:23:30and structures and the size of lots.

1:23:32So these regulations are legal requirements

1:23:36and they ultimately implement the vision

1:23:37that our city has defined in our official plan.

1:23:42So in terms of the project timeline,

1:23:44it is a project that started in 2019.

1:23:47We are currently in the last phase of the project

1:23:52releasing the final draft of the zoning bylaw

1:23:54for council decision and we are anticipating

1:23:57going to council on April 18th for that decision.

1:24:02Just a quick update on community engagement

1:24:04or at least our recent community engagement.

1:24:07We did come to the Accessibility Advisory Committee

1:24:10in December of 2021.

1:24:13We also have a planning advisory committee

1:24:15which we've attended a few times

1:24:17and we'll be providing an update on March 1st as well.

1:24:21We released the second draft

1:24:22to the Comprehensive Bylaw on July 13th

1:24:26at the statutory public meeting

1:24:27which is a requirement of the Planning Act

1:24:30and we held a public open house on July 6th of last year.

1:24:37So just very quickly, we've established some key principles

1:24:40for this new zoning bylaw.

1:24:43Basically it's required to align with the official plan,

1:24:45land use designations and policies.

1:24:48It prezones lands for maximum height and density

1:24:50anticipated by the official plan.

1:24:53It introduces flexible zones

1:24:55that allow multiple building typologies

1:24:57as well as new mixed use zones.

1:24:59It simplifies uses, brings up to date

1:25:03our regulations with contemporary practices.

1:25:06So something like AODA standards.

1:25:09There is an emphasis on built form.

1:25:12We do take into consideration recent development applications.

1:25:15So anything that's been approved by council recently

1:25:18will be integrated into the new zoning bylaw.

1:25:21It is a Guelph specific approach.

1:25:23We've used Guelph data and it's been written by Guelph planners

1:25:26and it streamlines the development review process.

1:25:29So we would expect less development applications

1:25:31going to council for approval in the future.

1:25:35So we did hear some feedback from AAC

1:25:39as well as some feedback at the statutory public meeting

1:25:42that we will go over today.

1:25:45So I'll go over each of these points in the next few slides.

1:25:50You just wanna go to the next slide.

1:25:53So the first concern was around stacked townhouses from AAC.

1:25:58So the concern is that stacked townhouses aren't accessible

1:26:02and that's impacting a large portion of the population

1:26:05like seniors and people with disabilities.

1:26:07So we are limited in what we can do

1:26:10through the zoning bylaw to address this concern.

1:26:13The zoning bylaw does take authority from the planning act

1:26:16and so we aren't able to restrict certain typologies.

1:26:20So this comment is outside of the scope

1:26:23of the comprehensive zoning bylaw to deal with.

1:26:28This second concern was around sidewalks

1:26:31and making sure that sidewalks are on both sides of the street.

1:26:34And again, this is outside of the scope of the zoning bylaw

1:26:37because we do not regulate the city

1:26:40or the city right away through the zoning bylaw.

1:26:42It's only private property that we regulate.

1:26:44So there's no regulations around sidewalks

1:26:47that we find in the zoning bylaw.

1:26:52The next concern was around residential driveway width.

1:26:55So this is something that is within scope of our project.

1:26:58The concern was that driveway widths may cause an issue

1:27:02from an accessibility perspective for people transferring

1:27:06from their vehicle to a mobility device.

1:27:08And driveway widths are a very hot topic in the city.

1:27:12So we have done an extensive review of driveway widths

1:27:17and the proposed regulations.

1:27:19And we are proposing to add a specific permission

1:27:22for wider driveways to meet the accessibility needs.

1:27:26And what that looks like is allowing wider driveways

1:27:30in line with AODA's type A parking space,

1:27:34which is the 3.4 meters wide,

1:27:37plus the 1.5 meter wide access aisle.

1:27:40So this would allow driveways to be widened,

1:27:46but it would be for regular use of an accessible vehicle.

1:27:49So we're proposing to define accessible vehicle

1:27:52to mean a motor vehicle designed and manufactured

1:27:55or converted for the purposes of transporting persons

1:27:59with who use mobility aids.

1:28:01And then for the purposes of this bylaw,

1:28:04an accessible vehicle would mean a van with a side ramp.

1:28:07So that's really to ensure that those accessible vehicles

1:28:10with side ramps have the additional space that they need

1:28:15to access the driveway and then ultimately get

1:28:18to the front door.

1:28:21Parking would not be permitted within the 1.5 meter access aisle

1:28:25and that area would need to be marked with hatched markings

1:28:29or something along those lines.

1:28:34The next concern we heard was around minimum parking standards.

1:28:39So then the rate of accessible parking that's provided

1:28:43on different developments.

1:28:44And this was from Adele get at the public meeting.

1:28:48So just generally a concern for reducing parking minimums

1:28:52are at the city.

1:28:54And then also this delegate also wanted AAC

1:28:59to review and write a report before council adopts

1:29:03new zoning bylaw in the future.

1:29:06So just to kind of provide a little bit more background,

1:29:08so parking minimums are proposed to be slightly reduced

1:29:13within areas known as parking adjustment areas,

1:29:16which are the city's nodes and intensification areas.

1:29:19And this is to promote active transportation,

1:29:21transit use and the development of walkable communities.

1:29:25But note that parking is still required in these areas.

1:29:29So to address this concern, we've made sure

1:29:32that the regulations have been revised

1:29:35to ensure accessible parking would not be reduced

1:29:37within the parking adjustment areas.

1:29:40And this means that accessible parking would be calculated

1:29:43based on the required parking rate outside

1:29:45of the parking adjustment areas.

1:29:47And that would be consistent for any development

1:29:49across the city.

1:29:50So there's no, although the general parking rate

1:29:54might be reduced, accessible parking spaces

1:29:56would be the same city wide.

1:29:58And then just to address the last part of that concern

1:30:01was that AAC does have the ability to pass a motion

1:30:05and that motion would be included in the decision report

1:30:07that would go to council.

1:30:13And then the last was another,

1:30:16oh, it was a concern from AAC.

1:30:18So this is around committee of adjustment.

1:30:23And when the committee reduces the parking rate,

1:30:27that overall reduces the accessible parking rate as well.

1:30:33And this is unfortunately outside of the scope

1:30:35of the comprehensive zoning ballot

1:30:36because that is a separate process

1:30:39to go through the committee of adjustment.

1:30:40And it would have to be dealt with through that process.

1:30:49And then the last, next slide, almost the last slide.

1:30:52We just wanted to highlight that out of the statutory

1:30:55public meeting council did have a number of comments

1:30:58around accessible parking.

1:31:01So they did make sure to tell us to consult with the AAC,

1:31:07consider increasing accessible parking,

1:31:10go above and beyond AODA standards,

1:31:14and then also to review our comparison municipalities.

1:31:19So just in response to that,

1:31:21we're just highlighting that we have consulted with AAC before

1:31:24and then we're following up with you today.

1:31:27And we have been working with accessibility staff

1:31:29throughout the project.

1:31:31We have reviewed other municipal zoning bylaws

1:31:33through this process.

1:31:34And it is typical for zoning bylaws to align with AODA standards.

1:31:41And in some cases, they haven't been updated

1:31:43to align with AODA standards.

1:31:45They're a bit behind.

1:31:47And then just the last comment on that slide

1:31:49is that it is difficult for us to propose standards

1:31:52that go above and beyond provincial standards

1:31:56because they can be difficult to defend

1:31:58if we have to go to the Ontario Land Tribunal

1:32:02and or if we get appealed by different developments.

1:32:07So the last slide for you is just some questions.

1:32:11We're just looking for your input today on those revisions.

1:32:15If they, if the updated driveway with regulations

1:32:19resolved some of the concerns AACs previously had

1:32:24and if the AAC has any concerns

1:32:26with the proposed accessible parking ratios

1:32:28and the approach we've taken to those in the zoning bylaw.

1:32:32And then obviously we're open to any additional other comments

1:32:36or concerns or questions that you might have.

1:32:41Thank you.

1:32:42Okay, we've got Kathy.

1:32:43Is that your hand still up from before?

1:32:46Or is that a new question?

1:32:49No, that's from before. Thank you.

1:32:51Okay, cool.

1:32:54Go ahead, Jennifer.

1:32:57Thanks, I'm Chatti today.

1:32:59I just curious, you talked about the expanded driveway

1:33:06for accessible parking.

1:33:08Will that be on every home?

1:33:15So it's an option for, I mean, really this will impact

1:33:20driveways that are restricted to three or 3.5 meters.

1:33:25So it's really going to address townhouse

1:33:27and semi-detached lots.

1:33:29Any single detached is permitted to have a minimum

1:33:32or yeah, a minimum of five meters to obviously more than that.

1:33:38So this is really to address the more narrow lots.

1:33:42So this gives the ability for any lot to exceed

1:33:46the maximum three meters,

1:33:49but it does have to be tied to an accessible vehicle.

1:33:51So we have a lot of other concerns about widening driveways.

1:33:56So we don't want to permit it for every lot in the city,

1:34:00but where it's justifiable, it can be permitted.

1:34:06And it just has to maintain no parking on the access aisle

1:34:11and those sorts of things.

1:34:12Can I share some feedback?

1:34:15Because so it sounds like somebody with a disability

1:34:20has to be, sorry, someone who uses a wheelchair

1:34:23or mobility device or uses an accessible vehicle

1:34:27has to be the first time home buyer of that home.

1:34:31So after say, maybe their neighbor would have

1:34:36the smaller standard driveway and correct me

1:34:39if I'm wrong, but now somebody who would benefit

1:34:45from having an accessible parking lot, parking driveway,

1:34:49wouldn't have that as an option

1:34:51because the previous owners didn't have

1:34:55an accommodation put in place for that build.

1:34:58So like to me,

1:35:01Oh, sorry, just to add a little context.

1:35:04So this would allow any homeowner to extend their driveway.

1:35:07So even if the first time purchaser didn't do it,

1:35:11you as a new purchaser with an accessibility vehicle

1:35:14have the ability to widen it.

1:35:16Okay, at the cost of the homeowner.

1:35:20And so for, okay, okay.

1:35:24And for new builds, okay, sorry,

1:35:27it's just, it's an interesting way to look at it.

1:35:29Nevermind, I'll let other people chat and processing.

1:35:38Thanks, Jennifer.

1:35:41I don't see any other hands up.

1:35:43So I had a comment.

1:35:46I just wanted to touch on the last slide.

1:35:50You spoke about how it's difficult to,

1:35:52that you tend not to go above and beyond

1:35:54what the AODA requires

1:35:56because it can be difficult to defend.

1:35:58And I wanna just encourage some kind of gentle curiosity

1:36:03and problem solving around that point

1:36:05because a little bit of background about me,

1:36:07I work in accessibility, I'm disabled also,

1:36:11but I'm an accessibility specialist as well.

1:36:13And in all fields that I,

1:36:15and then the work that I do with the AAC

1:36:18and the Canadian Center for Disability Studies

1:36:20in all fields that I work in,

1:36:22we across the board consider the AODA

1:36:25to be the absolute least bar,

1:36:28like the lowest bar that we must legally meet,

1:36:31but we always try to go above and beyond.

1:36:33There's this saying of like,

1:36:35you don't wanna live in a building

1:36:36that's just barely up to code

1:36:37and no one wants to live in a world

1:36:39that's just barely accessible.

1:36:40Unfortunately, the AODA was enacted in 2005

1:36:43and many portions of it have not been even like updated

1:36:48at all since then.

1:36:50So because of that, when the city's building parks,

1:36:53we have the FADM as well

1:36:54because we recognize that just the AODA is not enough.

1:36:57The AODA is very limited in its scope a lot of the time.

1:37:00So I've just, I've never heard that before

1:37:02in any other area when we're talking about accessibility

1:37:06in my 15 years working as an accessibility specialist.

1:37:11I've never heard someone say,

1:37:12it's hard to do more than the AODA.

1:37:15So I understand that there is probably some kind of,

1:37:21you know, a potential pushback or a lawsuit or something,

1:37:23but there's gotta be a solution there

1:37:26because the AODA is not meant to be the maximum.

1:37:31That's not why it was written

1:37:33or how it was put into legislation either.

1:37:37So yeah, I don't know what the solution is there,

1:37:39but I just wanna encourage some curiosity around that point.

1:37:52Would you like me to add some feedback

1:37:56or that be helpful?

1:37:59Next question.

1:38:02Was that from Elian?

1:38:03Sorry, I couldn't hear you.

1:38:04We can't hear you.

1:38:06It's from me.

1:38:08Like I can, I can,

1:38:11I can give you some information

1:38:12that will help fill in that gap

1:38:14of understanding what this is all about

1:38:17and why it's worded that way

1:38:20or I can wait and just put my hand up.

1:38:25For me, for why-

1:38:27Yeah, I'm not sure, was that a question?

1:38:29No, it was an encouragement to try and problem solve

1:38:33to not have the AODA be the maximum that we're reaching for.

1:38:36It was just worded that like we can't really surpass the AODA.

1:38:40And in my experience, that's not a best practice

1:38:43when it comes to accessibility

1:38:44because the AODA is so outdated

1:38:46and tends to be a bare minimum.

1:38:49Like you absolutely have to do at least this much.

1:38:52So I've never heard that ever in any other field

1:38:57when referring to the AODA.

1:38:59So I'm not so much looking for feedback

1:39:02as to why that's the approach.

1:39:05I'm more hoping that we can problem solve,

1:39:08the city can problem solve a way around those concerns

1:39:12of we don't wanna make things too accessible.

1:39:15It just doesn't sound like a best practice in my opinion.

1:39:19Maybe I can just add just a bit of context.

1:39:23We are using the AODA standards as a minimum.

1:39:26So it's not that we're setting a maximum,

1:39:28it's just a minimum.

1:39:30So developers can definitely add additional accessible spaces.

1:39:36And maybe I should have rephrased that a little bit

1:39:40because our driveway with solution

1:39:42is definitely going above and beyond.

1:39:44I would say out of our research,

1:39:46we are the first municipality to introduce something

1:39:48that allows some additional width for accessibility.

1:39:52But when it comes to parking rates,

1:39:55it's a pretty contentious issue with development applications.

1:40:00So we often see developments come in

1:40:02as for less than less parking.

1:40:05So for us to go above a provincial standard

1:40:09in this situation, it would be difficult.

1:40:12We could get pushback for it from the development community.

1:40:17And then we would have to defend our new standards

1:40:21that we've come up with at the OLT,

1:40:24which wouldn't have any basis for that new rate

1:40:31beyond, because it is beyond what the AODA

1:40:35provincial legislation required.

1:40:40Okay, thank you.

1:40:41Yeah, I think that's been my experience in most areas

1:40:45is that when you go above and beyond the AODA,

1:40:48there is pushback from someone somewhere,

1:40:50but maybe it's worth attempting to go above and beyond

1:40:54and dealing with the pushback if it happens.

1:40:56But I'm not sure if that's possible.

1:40:59That was just my point, but yeah, thanks.

1:41:05Andrew, go ahead.

1:41:11So with the widening of driveways

1:41:17relative to accessible vehicles,

1:41:20you said that was only for people

1:41:22with a designated accessible vehicle,

1:41:25then with a side loading.

1:41:30Are there ways to apply for an expansion if needed

1:41:36if you don't happen to have a vehicle

1:41:39that meets those requirements?

1:41:43I know that we haven't had a van with a ramp in it for years

1:41:49because it got killed by the speed bumps,

1:41:53among other things, but we still need extra space

1:41:58to load in with accessibility or mobility aids.

1:42:02Are there options for those kinds of situations?

1:42:11So not how the regulations currently written.

1:42:14So if you have some feedback on types of vehicles,

1:42:20mobility aids and sort of the minimum width

1:42:24that would be required, that would be helpful.

1:42:39Thank you.

1:42:40I'll just add, Lorelai, real quick that for folks like Andrew,

1:42:43for example, that if you wanna sit on that comment from Abby

1:42:47and think about some of the information

1:42:50that we are available, please shoot us an email.

1:42:53It could be a phone call,

1:42:54and we can certainly include your feedback

1:42:56following the meeting.

1:43:02Awesome, thank you so much.

1:43:05Since I don't see any other questions, we can move along.

1:43:09Thank you so much for your presentation.

1:43:24All right, so this next item,

1:43:26sorry I had to loosen up my screen reader for a sec.

1:43:29The next item is a project introduction

1:43:31about the Emma Street to Earl Street

1:43:33Cycling and Pedestrian Bridge.

1:43:35This is just an intro, so we've got five minutes for staff

1:43:38to kind of let us know what's going on,

1:43:41but it's just a for information item

1:43:44because they're gonna be coming back

1:43:45and talking to us more later.

1:43:47This is just very first basics.

1:43:54Oh, so we have Jackie Kay, sorry about that.

1:43:56Go ahead, Jackie.

1:44:00Thank you for having me.

1:44:01My name is Jackie Kay, as you mentioned,

1:44:03and I'm the project engineer here at the City of Guelph

1:44:07in the designing construction team.

1:44:09And I'm here to introduce, as you've mentioned,

1:44:12an exciting project that we are just starting to work on,

1:44:16the Emma to Earl Cycling and Pedestrian Bridge.

1:44:19So what I'm going to say pretty much follows

1:44:24a similar format to the project summary

1:44:26that was provided to you guys prior to the meeting.

1:44:28So I'll briefly go over the background,

1:44:31give you an update on the project status

1:44:34and talk to you about the general next steps

1:44:36as well as the steps specifically for the AAC.

1:44:40So as a bit of a backgrounder,

1:44:42the Emma to Earl Cycling and Pedestrian Bridge project

1:44:46was sort of born out of an assessment

1:44:50that they did on Speedvale Avenue.

1:44:53And when they were looking at improvements in that corridor,

1:44:56they determined that a portion of Speedvale Avenue East

1:45:00between Woolwich and Manhattan Court

1:45:03was too narrow to accommodate pedestrians

1:45:06and on-street cycling lanes safely.

1:45:12So in 2016, we started a municipal class

1:45:16environmental assessment to evaluate the option

1:45:19of placing a pedestrian and cycling bridge

1:45:22over the Speed River.

1:45:24And the proposed bridge would connect the Emma Street

1:45:29and Earl Street right of ways.

1:45:31So it would be located just south of the existing

1:45:35Speedvale Avenue East Bridge.

1:45:39So from a project status perspective,

1:45:41we've completed many preliminary environmental

1:45:45and technical reports in relation to the bridge

1:45:47and its proposed location.

1:45:50We've hired our design consultant

1:45:52and we're starting to think about design concepts

1:45:56and we're currently working on preparing three concepts

1:46:02that we can share with everyone.

1:46:06And the concepts are gonna be designed

1:46:08based on provincial and municipal standards

1:46:10and best practices.

1:46:13So our next steps are once those design concepts

1:46:18are developed, we'll make them available

1:46:21to the general public through the Have Your Say portal.

1:46:25We're hoping that can be done at the end of Q1,

1:46:29perhaps the beginning of Q2.

1:46:31And at this point, we're gonna be seeking

1:46:34accessibility related feedback from the ACC

1:46:39on the overall concept.

1:46:41So we won't have all the details,

1:46:43but from those concepts, we'd be looking at feedback

1:46:47on key items of concern or likes or dislikes.

1:46:52See, there's a hand up.

1:46:53I don't know if...

1:46:54The chair will...

1:46:56At the end?

1:46:56Okay.

1:46:57We will be incorporating both the public and ACC feedback.

1:47:03ACC.

1:47:03AAC.

1:47:04I always say AAC.

1:47:05That's okay, C.

1:47:06My apologies.

1:47:08The AAC feedback, and we'll be developing

1:47:12a detailed design from there.

1:47:15We'll be coming back to the AAC to present

1:47:19the detailed design as well as the feedback

1:47:21that we've received and seek any additional feedback

1:47:25on once we have more of the specifics for the project.

1:47:29And then we'll be sharing the final designs

1:47:31with the public in relation to construction details,

1:47:35timing and potential impacts

1:47:37on the surrounding infrastructure.

1:47:40And we're hoping to have...

1:47:42They have an ambitious schedule

1:47:44and we're hoping to have the construction completed

1:47:46by the end of 2024.

1:47:50So that's sort of high level in a nutshell,

1:47:53the starting of the amateur-early cycling

1:47:56and pedestrian bridge project.

1:48:00Awesome.

1:48:00Thank you so much.

1:48:02And Brian, I see your hand up there,

1:48:03but we actually didn't add any time for discussion

1:48:07on this item because it's a for information item.

1:48:10All we really need right now is a motion to receive

1:48:12because this is just...

1:48:14This isn't...

1:48:15Staff is gonna come back to us soon

1:48:17to get our thoughts on this.

1:48:19This was just letting us know what's going on.

1:48:22So if anyone would like to make a motion

1:48:24to receive the information, that would be helpful.

1:48:31And then whatever your question was, Brian,

1:48:33we can get to it when they come back.

1:48:37We've got Andrew and Brian.

1:48:39Perfect.

1:48:42Awesome.

1:48:43And then we have five minutes left

1:48:45for your section at the end

1:48:49about site plan internal review, Sarah.

1:48:56Thanks, Lorelai.

1:48:59All right, so...

1:48:59Sorry, 10 minutes left, I guess.

1:49:01Yeah, sorry.

1:49:02Okay.

1:49:03Thank you very much.

1:49:04So the next item and last item on our agenda

1:49:07is the site plan internal review, new legislation impacts.

1:49:13So for the agenda for this item,

1:49:15I will briefly review the new legislation

1:49:18and impacts of the new legislation.

1:49:20And then we'll move on to changes

1:49:22to the AAC review process with regards to site plan,

1:49:26confirmation of the AAC's interest

1:49:28in the internal review process,

1:49:31the details to consider,

1:49:32and hopefully I'm looking for a motion

1:49:35at the end of this item,

1:49:37and then a scheduled training for interested members.

1:49:44So the new legislation, we have two new bills.

1:49:47Some of you may have been familiar with this

1:49:49as it may have impacted your work.

1:49:53The first bill is bill 109,

1:49:55and this is the More Homes for Everyone Act.

1:49:59It came about late in 2022 last year.

1:50:03So it aims to address housing shortages

1:50:05by mandating municipalities to expedite approvals

1:50:09to build homes faster.

1:50:11It also requires municipalities

1:50:13to partially refund zone change application fees

1:50:17and site plan application fees

1:50:19if decisions are not made within 90 days.

1:50:24Then we have bill 23.

1:50:25So bill 23 is the More Homes Built Faster Act.

1:50:29They sound similar.

1:50:32This one introduces municipal housing targets

1:50:36based on population size and growth.

1:50:39So provincial goal is to build 1.5 million homes

1:50:43in 10 years.

1:50:45So for our city, the city of Welf,

1:50:47we've been assigned a housing target of 18,000 by 2032.

1:50:54So to meet this target, the bill proposes

1:50:56to exempt developers from paying development charges,

1:50:59parkland dedication fees, and community benefit charges.

1:51:04So what are the administrative impacts

1:51:06for municipalities?

1:51:08Site plan applications must be approved 60 days

1:51:11from the day they are submitted.

1:51:15So approval delays have implications for municipalities

1:51:19that impact fees collected from the applicant.

1:51:23So there are three delay points.

1:51:26The maximum of these delay points is 100% of the fees

1:51:29are refunded to the applicant

1:51:31if an approval is not received within 120 days.

1:51:37So the Planning Act has been amended

1:51:39to support applicants in this process.

1:51:43A little bit of that was discussed

1:51:45with regards to the comprehensive zoning by-law item

1:51:49that we had there in that there's kind of like

1:51:51an appeal mechanism or something that, again,

1:51:55supports applicants in this process.

1:52:00So departmental impacts of the new legislation,

1:52:03there's two categories of comments now.

1:52:07So those who have maybe participated

1:52:09in site plan review previously,

1:52:11so our returning AAC members,

1:52:14this may be a little bit more familiar to you,

1:52:17but I'm gonna do my best to explain

1:52:19so that everyone who may be interested

1:52:21can also participate in those meetings.

1:52:24So the two categories of comments is required comments

1:52:27and then recommended comments.

1:52:30So required comments, and this is for all staff,

1:52:32not just accessibility, but it has certainly impacted us,

1:52:36comments must be supported by law,

1:52:39federal, provincial, by-laws, for example.

1:52:44Recommended comments are comments

1:52:47that are for consideration by the applicant.

1:52:49So I can submit a whole two pages of comments

1:52:55that are recommended,

1:52:56but they're for consideration by the applicant.

1:52:59They're not supported by laws or standards.

1:53:04Then we have accessibility impacts of the new legislation.

1:53:07So specifically for us, what does that mean?

1:53:11With regards to required comments,

1:53:13accessibility or accessibility related requirements

1:53:17all come from the AODA, Design of Public Spaces Standards.

1:53:23And for new and existing facilities owned, leased,

1:53:26or operated by the City of Guelph,

1:53:28requirements come from the AODA, Design of Public Spaces,

1:53:32and the Facility Accessibility Design Manual, or FADM.

1:53:37With regards to recommended comments,

1:53:39accessibility related recommendations come from the FADM,

1:53:44AAC review feedback, and other related best practices.

1:53:50So changes to the AAC review process,

1:53:52what does this mean for AAC?

1:53:56For non-city development applications,

1:53:58so not city owned, leased, or operated,

1:54:01before the provincial legislation came about,

1:54:05the AAC and accessibility recommendations

1:54:08were brought forward to the applicant.

1:54:11The FADM was used as a supporting document,

1:54:13as it includes the AODA requirements,

1:54:16and in a lot of cases goes above the requirements.

1:54:21The unmet recommendations were escalated,

1:54:25although this rarely happened.

1:54:28And then otherwise, recommendations were met

1:54:31by the applicant.

1:54:33Now, working with the provincial legislation,

1:54:36AAC and accessibility AODA supported comments

1:54:40are brought forward to the applicant.

1:54:43The AAC and accessibility and FADM supported comments

1:54:47are recommendations, if beyond AODA standards.

1:54:52And unmet requirements will be escalated,

1:54:56and requirements are expected to be met.

1:55:03So next we're gonna go into confirming the AAC's interest

1:55:07in the internal review process.

1:55:08So to date, the AAC currently reviews industrial use sites,

1:55:14commercial use sites,

1:55:16and multi-residential use sites as well.

1:55:20So AAC members can volunteer for meetings.

1:55:24So how this has previously happened

1:55:26is you do the training with me,

1:55:30and now that you're trained,

1:55:31you kind of can select which meetings you'd like to go to.

1:55:33We do hopefully get a good turnout for each meeting,

1:55:37but also understand that they are so frequent

1:55:39that you would choose which ones kind of work for you.

1:55:44So the meetings do take place every two weeks

1:55:46on Tuesday evenings for up to two hours,

1:55:49beginning at 6 p.m.,

1:55:51depending on the number of submissions

1:55:54and the complexity of the submissions.

1:55:56Sometimes we go only an hour,

1:55:59so we could do the full two hours.

1:56:01And these meetings are electronic

1:56:03through Microsoft Teams.

1:56:07So details for you to consider in your interest

1:56:10in confirming your interest in the internal review process

1:56:14is there are two upcoming opportunities

1:56:18to resume the internal review meetings,

1:56:22that being Tuesday, February 28th, next Tuesday, at 6 p.m.

1:56:27Sorry, Sarah, you have lost quorum.

1:56:34Maybe you could just double check for me,

1:56:36but I believe we have lost quorum currently.

1:56:40Let me take a quick look here.

1:56:51What's the name?

1:56:52Yes, I see five members here, but of eight.

1:56:56So it seems that we've maybe lost the members

1:56:58who have had to pop off early.

1:57:03Maybe I'll direct back to you, Liz,

1:57:05what's the process here?

1:57:06We discontinue, I assume that is the case.

1:57:10Yes, we can, I'll check with Donna here,

1:57:14but I think we can maybe wait a second

1:57:18to see if quorum resumes.

1:57:22There's actually seven of us here, not five right now.

1:57:26So we only need one more for...

1:57:28Correct, quorum is eight.

1:57:30So you can either adjourn and resume

1:57:34on this item at the next meeting,

1:57:36or I'm not sure if maybe it was just a connectivity issue

1:57:41that we lost somebody,

1:57:44but we can't continue until we have reached quorum.

1:57:49I did get a couple of messages here in the meantime

1:57:52that we did have members over in the meeting

1:57:54who needed to pop off early.

1:57:59So I don't know if we'll get quorum again.

1:58:05Lorela?

1:58:06Yeah, I'm counting eight, but I could be wrong.

1:58:08I don't know if Ted is, because Jack is actually,

1:58:12and Jack is actually Jennifer.

1:58:15So I'm seeing eight, yeah.

1:58:19I think we do have quorum.

1:58:20Okay, we've got, just let me know if I'm wrong.

1:58:23We've got myself, Andrew, Donna, Elizabeth, Jennifer, Kathy.

1:58:30Sorry, sorry Lorela, Donna Trombley

1:58:33is actually not a committee member.

1:58:35She's one of the clerk's office staff there, yeah.

1:58:37Oh, so it's not.

1:58:38There were two Donnas, yeah.

1:58:39Okay, the other Donna, okay, that's why.

1:58:41Donna, committee member, I think has popped off the call.

1:58:45Okay, thank you.

1:58:48I counted like four times, I was like,

1:58:49I'm pretty sure we're all here.

1:58:50Okay, thank you.

1:58:52Yeah, so yeah, we are sitting at seven then.

1:58:56Okay, so I don't think we are gonna get quorum back.

1:58:59Like I would be surprised,

1:59:00but maybe I directed to you, Chair Root,

1:59:03and let me know what you think is the best approach here.

1:59:08Well, we can't do anything else without quorum.

1:59:10So since this was a short item,

1:59:12and we've gotten through most of it,

1:59:13do we wanna just add it to the next agenda

1:59:17really briefly to craft a motion?

1:59:19Can this wait until then?

1:59:21Yeah, we can definitely add it to the next agenda.

1:59:23And maybe this is something that I can coordinate

1:59:27with the AAC interested members through email as well.

1:59:32So I'll take those two approaches,

1:59:35we're all trying to schedule it via email with the committee,

1:59:38and then we'll get more information

1:59:40maybe in the April meeting.

1:59:42Okay, awesome.

1:59:43So we don't need a motion to adjourn then do we?

1:59:46Cause we have to adjourn.

1:59:48I believe that is correct.

1:59:49All right, thanks everyone for coming.

1:59:52Thank you.

1:59:53Thank you.

1:59:54Bye.

1:59:55Have a good evening everybody, thank you.

1:59:57Bye.

2:00:01Okay