Planning, Environment and Water Advisory Committee

0:02This work that's been done by a consultant on the downtown Heights. So I don't know if anyone in this group

0:08Was following along for that project

0:12SVN was our consultant for that project and they're continuing this work for the Buildform guidelines

0:18So this this presentation that I have right now is kind of what was used for some other consultation materials

0:26I want this kind of to be a more informal discussion

0:31So if you guys have any

0:32Questions or comments or thoughts as I'm going through please feel free to interrupt me or raise your hand or whoever's chairing in

0:40the room can kind of

0:42Make sure that I don't miss any raised hands in the room right now

0:45So we can kind of have a back and forth make sure that everyone in this group

0:50understands

0:51What this project is around?

0:53and also because this presentation isn't

0:57Specifically tailored for this group. So I want to make sure that everyone understands kind of all the context and all the pieces that go along with this one. So

1:05That being said I'm going to immediately jump out of this project so I can give you a bit more context on

1:11OPA 106 which was the result of the downtown Heights study that SVN completed for us

1:18And you may remember this

1:20Schedule which shows the updated Heights for downtown. So as part of that OPA

1:25our consultant SVN provided a whole bunch of policies in the official plan that kind of talked about

1:34Some high-level urban design

1:37Standards and guidelines within the official plan policies that were meant to inform the build form the build form of this additional height

1:44That's been identified downtown

1:47I'm just gonna scroll up

1:49So that we can see

1:51Some of those policy sections

1:53They provided things like step-back requirements

1:58Different requirements around like the size of the block how the the build form and the massing should be in general

2:08Things like where residential pick up and drop-off areas and labis should be located so pretty high level policy direction on build form standards

2:17and

2:19The reason why that this

2:22Current project the build form standards update is being kind of following up on this project is

2:29Probably due to the way that our current build form standards and guidelines are now so it's been quite some time since they were originally

2:37Published and established in the city

2:40and they're not

2:43Necessarily the most easy to understand so now I'm on the city's web page for urban design for the urban design manual

2:50And our current urban design manual is in three different volumes and here are all the links to the different documents

2:57You can see that we've got volume one volume two

3:00We have built form standards for mid-rise buildings

3:03We have commercial build form standards and then we've got urban technical urban design concert plans

3:09What you'll notice in that is that there are no build form standards for tall buildings

3:16Which is what the downtown?

3:19Heights project was mostly targeting

3:23Kind of a secondary

3:26Document to the urban design manual which is technically a part of it

3:29But is kept in a separate place and I'm again going to lead you through the labyrinth of our website

3:35The downtown Guelph streetscape manual is a separate document just for downtown

3:42Where you have to click on through two links to get to it and again it has

3:47Several different sections in different PDFs. There's the introduction. There's the streetscape manual build form standards

3:54And then there's section four, which is the st. George square conceptual design

3:58so

3:59in a nutshell our current urban design manual is kind of broken into

4:04lots of different pieces that are kind of spread in through different areas and then

4:09there's a lot of duplication between

4:12those different documents different standards and kind of

4:17Guidelines are kind of repeated in different places the way that our documents are currently structured aren't necessarily the most intuitive

4:24and easy to understand and

4:26Then you'll also notice here that section 3.0

4:30build form standards

4:32Applies to all building types. It's not just tall buildings. It also applies to mid-rise and to to low rise as well

4:39But just for downtown

4:40So there is kind of this gap for tall buildings that applies city-wide because of course we are expecting some tall buildings

4:47outside of downtown as well

4:50And then in addition we want to make sure that all these build form standards and guidelines are updated to be you know

4:58Reflecting the most current

5:00Language from the province make sure that they reflect our current master plans and things like that. So there are a few aspects to this project

5:08But it has not been

5:11Kind of envisioned as major changes more like consolidating bringing together the documents that we currently have and making sure that they are in line with

5:19With the official plan and kind of filling in some of those gaps

5:24To smooth out the edges, I suppose with the tall buildings currently only really applying downtown

5:29We want to make sure that we can have guidelines and build form standards throughout the entire city

5:34Okay, so back to

5:36The build form standards and guidelines project

5:42So

5:43This is kind of just reiterating what I just brought up. So after the

5:472024 height updates in the OPA 106

5:51We're consolidating all of the build form guidelines into a single consolidated build form guideline and standards manual and

5:58We're looking for feedback on you know, if we're heading in the right direction how we can make this the most intuitive straightforward

6:06And easy to apply document as we can so some of the objectives that we have for this project are to streamline and align the guidelines with current bylaws

6:15policies and regulations

6:17Secondly, we want to eliminate duplication by consolidating principles guidelines and standards

6:23Currently in our guidelines

6:25Some of those principles are repeated across multiple different documents, even though they say essentially the same thing

6:32And same with standards because we have standards for downtown as well as for the citywide

6:39A third objective is to clarify the terminology and establish a clear hierarchy of terms and

6:45the way that we've envisioned that through this update is by having kind of a

6:50Principles urban design excellence high at the top of that hierarchy

6:54We have design guidelines which are kind of that high-level aspirational

6:59policy direction for how

7:03Build form is established and implemented and then we have the very particular build form standards

7:10Which are essentially what it is currently in the zoning bylaw very quantifiable numbers that must be

7:17complied with

7:19And then finally we want to ensure alignment with the official plan by integrating downtown exemptions into the manual

7:25So our current project is kind of conceptualized as three phases

7:34Our first phase was earlier this fall with a background review and technical assessment

7:39Where our consultant went through all of our build form standards and guidelines

7:43They identified all the areas where there were

7:47duplications where there were some places where we could provide some updates and restructuring

7:52And including kind of where we would best be able to get some engagement from different groups

7:58The current phase which is the one that we're currently in is to draft the build form guidelines and standard roots

8:04manual

8:06And in this phase we are hoping to consolidate the various urban design documents and guidelines to provide draft

8:12document for review and comments and then the final phase which we're expecting to come

8:18Early in the new year

8:21first

8:22quarter first half of

8:242026 is to provide the final recommendations report to council and that will be

8:30the

8:31after we revise the

8:34draft that we

8:36provide to the public and

8:40Get feedback from staff and the public on that will revise it will provide it to council and then council will vote

8:46To endorse that one or not

8:48so the scope of the of the project again is those

8:55Documents that I was showing you the links to on our website earlier, so volume one

8:59We're not proposing to make any major changes on that one

9:02It's essentially just making sure that the language and the terms that are used reflect our current master plans and language that we use in other other documents

9:11Same with volume two the urban design max urban design action plan again. We're not really

9:18Making any major changes with that. We're just making sure that it's updated to reflect current language

9:24Where we are proposing or targeting for more

9:28out

9:30kind of consequential

9:32Reorganizations and consolidations is through the built form standards for mid-rise buildings and townhouses

9:37So we're making some small I guess we're making some revisions and consolidation of that document and then we're also

9:45Making some consolidations for the downtown streetscape manual and built form standards so that we can kind of shuffle those

9:51downtown standards in with all of the rest of the documents and

9:55Guidelines and standards from the other parts

9:58So this is kind of a there's a lot going on here, but essentially what you see is our current

10:09Documents that we have on the left-hand side and how they're structured in the different sections in those documents

10:16And then on the right is how we are

10:20Proposing to

10:21Consolidate them together. So on the left you can see all of the blue

10:26Squares are what we're proposing to be putting into part a of the the restructured guidelines

10:34all of the green

10:36Circled or squared sections we are putting into part B, which is for streetscape manual

10:41Which will include all the streetscape directions from all of the different documents that we were looking at earlier

10:47the orange

10:50Sections are all going to be consolidated into part C and this is the area that we are putting in the most amount of effort

10:58And thought in terms of how we structure it how we format it and how we can make it

11:04You know as succinct and direct and easy to apply as possible

11:10And then finally the other urban design studies are remaining largely as they are

11:14We're just moving the st. George Square conceptual design from the current downtown streetscape manual

11:20Into that's into that section with other urban design studies and conceptual designs

11:31one thing that our

11:33Consultant and what we want at the city is to really put forward design excellence

11:37And as the foundational commitment for all development within wealth every development application will be reviewed through this critical lens to ensure

11:45The resulting build form is context sensitive human scale

11:50Sustainable enduring and contributes meaningfully to the city's public realm and character

11:55So these are already some things that are kind of

11:58embodied in our streetscape manual and our urban design guidelines and build form standards and official plan policies and zoning bylaw standards

12:06But we really want to articulate that through

12:09These build form standards and urban design guidelines

12:13so we've tried to

12:17Capture some of those through these this list of principles

12:21At the highest level of our urban design guidelines so things like public realm definition

12:27We are looking for active frontage

12:30How do we think about parking and servicing?

12:32What about architectural diversity and connectivity and

12:36Then on the other on the other side of that coin. We're looking at sustainable design principles. So how can we?

12:42Design our urban form so that it's compact so that it can promote

12:47People using different types of uses and compact use of transit

12:53How can we support sustainable?

12:56Transportation and mobility. How can we contribute to climate resilience and ecological integration?

13:02So these are some of the very high level design principles that we're looking at

13:07articulating through this design manual

13:16This is a brief note about the way that we talk about build form so

13:24In our official plan policies, we have three different

13:27Typologies we have low rise we have mid-rise and we have high rise and

13:31Typically low rise is anything that is below four stories. So that'll be your single detached. That'll be anything up to three stories

13:40and then

13:42The city of Guelph is a little bit

13:45The way that we describe mid-rise buildings and tall buildings is a little bit divided

13:50So in some areas of the city outside of downtown mid-rise is

13:55Considered anything between four and six stories and then high rises

14:00Buildings above six stories outside of the downtown

14:03however, according to our downtown secondary plan

14:07high-rises

14:08everything that is

14:09Above 12 stories and then mid-rises between four and 11. So

14:14If you can hold that in your mind a mid-rise in downtown is between four and 11

14:19Whereas a mid-rise outside of downtown is just four to six. So there's a big, you know, when we are applying these tall

14:26building standards

14:27across the city

14:29for downtown it starts at 12 and

14:32Outside of downtown it starts at seven stories

14:39Before I keep going I just want to make sure that I haven't left anyone behind is everyone doing alright

14:44Do anyone have any questions or clarification?

14:50Okay

14:52We'll keep going so

14:58The built-form manual the guideline standards common to all built forms. So the way that we are structuring this

15:07Section C and I'll just go back to the structure that we're proposing and this might be a little small for you to read

15:12But essentially the structure that we're proposing is that we have an introduction with the high-level design excellence

15:18Section two will be the city structure that talks about like nodes and corridors will have in fill and greenfield sites

15:273.0 will be

15:31Design principles that apply city-wide and then section four will be design guidance and standards

15:40That apply to low rise mid-rise high-rise and then other types of building so going back to here

15:48This first section will talk about guidelines for all buildings

15:54Across the city. Did I skip that one? Yeah, here we go. So this one talks about open space and landscape

15:59lighting, amenity areas, accessibility and safety, utilities, mechanical systems and waste as well as sustainability and

16:06Here's an example of what some of those page layouts may look like

16:10So we start off the section with kind of a high-level

16:15Indication of what design excellence is for that we're trying to achieve

16:20We have an intent of open space and landscape like why are we providing open space and landscape? What would make it good?

16:27And then we have guidelines specific for that. So those guidelines

16:32I'll read one out here soft landscaping should include a mix of trees gardens grasses perennials and shrubs

16:39So these are using language that are like should language that is very aspirational saying here is what the ideal

16:46Target is for what we're looking for. There are different ways to interpret that

16:52Following along with the intent but those guidelines are generally

16:59Aspirational higher level

17:01and

17:02Try to guide the development in this form rather than be a zoning bylaw standard

17:08That must be followed

17:11And another aspect of these guidelines is that these are consolidated from the existing guidelines as well

17:17So a lot of this is kind of taken from our existing

17:20documents

17:24Then on the other side here, we have a similar page with the accessibility and safety

17:29We have a section for the intent. What do we want from accessibility and safety and then some bullet point guidelines to

17:37direct how

17:39Development occurs to ensure that there's accessibility and safety

17:42The section on low rise building provides guidelines for height

17:51massing and transition for the streetscape articulation and frontage

17:55servicing loading and parking as well as development standards

18:00so

18:02Here they the consultants really done a good job of really

18:06Categorizing each of the different guidelines that has been kind of found across all of our different documents and putting them together

18:13And categorizing them in a way that that makes sense that they're not

18:17Duplicated and so that they could be found and applied more easily. So for instance for height massing and transition

18:26Height and massing are put together and then transition zone is also put together

18:31And these guidelines kind of fall into that. So it's a little bit easier to find what you're looking for

18:38In the way that is being proposed to be structured

18:41And again, this is just an extract of the draft built form guidelines and standards

18:52Another real objective or I guess a really good benefit of the way that our consultant is

18:58updating the guidelines and standards is they're introducing some more

19:03Graphics and images to help illustrate how some of these guidelines and standards should be applied and they've created these really great

19:11I guess visuals of a neighborhood

19:14So here for low rise in townhouse again

19:17We've got that same intent box and then we've got kind of pointing out different guidelines

19:23That would apply in those areas

19:27So it's really clear where those things are expected to be applied

19:36The next section in section C

19:40Deals with mid-rise and high-rise guidelines and standards for mid-rise and high-rise and

19:45It provides for height massing and transition streetscape

19:49Articulation and frontage servicing loading and parking and development standards. So again, it's a very similar setup and layout to the low-rise buildings

20:00You have the different

20:03Design guidelines grouped together in a hopefully intuitive way

20:08and the guidelines are

20:11essentially the the aspirational the shoulds the

20:15Direction for what we want to achieve, but you know aren't necessarily

20:22Setting in stone that that absolutely must be done giving a little bit of interpretation

20:27But really just setting in stone like laying out very clearly and articulating what the city would like to see from development

20:33So that one we're reviewing it from the

20:35planning perspective

20:38We have a benchmark to evaluate it against and again we are proposing to include

20:48Graphics that help illustrate what some of those guidelines look like and how they're applied

20:54To inform the built form and massing and and graphics like this will be spread throughout the design

21:05guidelines and standards

21:10So at this point, I guess I'd like to just open the floor and kind of

21:17Hear from you if you have any feedback if you have any thoughts. I know that we don't have the

21:23might not be able to respond very

21:26Specifically as you don't have the document in front of you, but kind of just in general

21:32What are the challenges and can you suggest alternatives?

21:35We might consider how can we provide direction to make these challenges easier to deal with and and if you have any experience with

21:42Development or you know building or going through these processes. What are some of the design standards that you have particular?

21:50I guess

21:52Questions about or things that you're extra

21:55You want to see included or you want to see maybe expanded on in the

22:00the

22:02updated built form guidelines and standards

22:05Hey, thank you for the presentation William

22:12We have any questions?

22:14Yeah, yeah, sorry. I have a question

22:20Excuse me. So you discussed that the

22:23Guidelines are what the city would like to see

22:27Aspirational kind of design excellence how

22:30You know, is there going to be some sort of tool built into the guidelines?

22:34That allows a potential applicant or developer to self-evaluate on how their given development is already going is going to basically

22:44Follow within or meet some of these guidelines

22:46Or is this going to be left to kind of subjective review at the city level once an application is filed

22:53It's obviously with aspirational and you know focusing on a guideline that is

23:01Let's say malleable or has has some movement in it

23:04How you know are there going to be tools that a applicant or developers disposal that will allow them to kind of navigate those guidelines in an

23:11Effective way before submitting an application and realizing that you know boxes were missed or things need to be brought to a higher level

23:19Yeah, I believe at the city there are currently designed check

23:24There is a design checklist that

23:27Developers can use and then another piece that we haven't really touched on

23:32I haven't really touched on this presentation are these design standards, which are much more concrete concrete

23:39Shell must kind of must be included or must meet these standards

23:45And this is kind of the last piece that we're working on before we really feel confident to I

23:50Guess have the draft ready for people to look at

23:54And what we're really kind of working out right now is that the zoning bylaw actually has a lot of a lot of those really detailed

24:01design standards so a lot of the things that we would be including in these

24:06Design standards and urban design manual is already included in the zoning bylaw. So

24:13We're really just trying to balance between making it really

24:17You know clear and setting up those standards

24:21against kind of repeating

24:23Direction and more than one place

24:26So things like setbacks, you know angular plane separation distance some of these questions, I think

24:32These questions are posed here a lot of these standards are again in the the zoning bylaw already and the zoning bylaw is

24:43Enforceable in a way that these design standards are not in this document

24:48So we're really just trying to balance that

24:51Okay, thank you. Yeah

24:53So my question was really about how do we kind of take inputs from other departments say

25:06Transportation, you know and other departments that that should be integrally part of these conversations that we're having

25:13Because because urban design is so much about how people get around

25:18And is that part of the conversation as well?

25:20Are we kind of just like we're trying to pull together things from different pieces that seem disjointed as part of the different

25:28The sections ABCD that you just talked about where you're trying to bring synergies

25:33So are we are we trying to do that with different departments and seeing because this should be also

25:39You know communicated to developers when they are thinking about how people then you know moving from one place to the other

25:46Because that happens to be such an important part

25:49So that's one question and the second is really about

25:54Just the biggest piece that everyone's talking about which is affordability. So sustainability absolutely

26:00It's so great to see there

26:02Are we also thinking of affordability as as one of the pieces because that seems to be so much at the forefront of conversations?

26:12Yeah, I'll start answering your first question and if I have to be reminded of your second one

26:16I'll I'll ask

26:18But essentially the streetscape direction that we have along I think you were mentioning about you know how people get around

26:28A lot of that direction is already provided through our urban design guidelines and standards and

26:34What we're proposing through this is to really just consolidate that direction that already exists

26:40So those documents and those streetscape manual and their design standards

26:45Those were produced through a really comprehensive process

26:49That went through a lot of consultation internally as well as consultation with the public and different stakeholder groups

26:57We haven't gone through that process now. So we are really

27:01carrying forward all of that work that's already been done on on

27:06the streetscape design

27:09and some of those more

27:11Some of those aspects that you were just mentioning as well and this project is

27:16More focused on the the massing and the build form

27:20Especially related to the tall buildings aspect

27:25And then your second question was around affordability and if we've considered that through this project at all

27:32I'll acknowledge that like affordability is top of mind

27:36For everyone right now, and I don't think that you could really kind of get away from that on any project that we're dealing with at the city

27:43this one, however is a

27:47relatively quite scoped project really intended to

27:52consolidate the the guidelines and standards that we have that developers have to

27:58consider when they are making applications and

28:03The most direct way the most direct line between this project and affordability is really making it so that there are fewer kind of

28:12confusion less uncertainty about the development process so that when people want to understand

28:17What they need to do in order to get to building in order to get to creating a good urban environment

28:25That they kind of that they can get those answers easily

28:29And that they don't get confused while trying to find them

28:32So I think I tried to illustrate straight that at the beginning where you have to kind of click through a whole bunch of different links

28:38To see different design standards and manuals

28:42Hopefully this project will make it so that you can find all of that in one place

28:46And that you know exactly which ones you absolutely must follow which ones you should and why you should be doing those things

28:54so really the intent here is to make it so that

28:57It's a lot easier a line to draw between you know concept and building

29:03By following the consolidated standards

29:07Did that answer both questions?

29:11Thank you. Thank you

29:17Thank you, William so much for your presentation

29:20I

29:21Also have two questions the first one's more of a check

29:25Slash well, no, it's after questions. Well, um, so just confirming that I understand the project currently

29:31You're not looking for input on the content. It's input on the way that it's being restructured

29:38and

29:40Just peeking at the have your say website

29:43I think that's also what it's saying

29:46But it goes on to say there will be opportunity influence priority areas and identify which features built-in forum standards should have size

29:54I'm not quite sure I understand what that means

29:57and also

29:59Could you

30:02Is there any overlap or can you explain what the overlap with this new

30:08Consolidated document will be with the green development standards if any

30:15Okay, again two questions. I'll do my best to remember them both in one go

30:20With the green development standards, I've already forgotten your first one with the green development standards

30:28I

30:30Yeah, with the green development standards, we are kind of working in tandem with that project

30:35So we are kind of we have looped in the project manager for that one

30:39And we are making sure that these development standards and the guidelines are

30:44Inline with what is recommended through the green development framework and I think

30:51Yeah, so we we have outlined here sustainable design principles that our

30:57Consultant has reviewed against our current work on the

31:02Green development framework

31:04However, we also want to be really cognizant that

31:09We don't want to duplicate standards in more than one place if we can help it

31:13If there's an update in one place then it means that we have to update it in the other place or else it ends up adding to the confusion

31:19And we also want things to be easily

31:23We want people to be able to locate them easily

31:25So if we have them in both places it might contribute to a bit of that confusion, but that being said we are confident that the

31:33Design principles and some of those high-level direction will

31:37It does align with the work of the green development framework

31:43And can you remind me of your first question?

31:45my first question is a bit of a check on

31:49the objective of this project being

31:52Restructuring and not changing the content. I'm sorry the content

31:55Okay, the guidelines themselves or the standards

31:58But it sounds like from the what's your say website that maybe there's some very specific areas where you might be looking for

32:05input on actually

32:07tweaking guidelines

32:09Yeah, so I think what we're looking for right now and specific is kind of some of these questions that I have up on the on the screen right now

32:17so things like

32:21And this might not be

32:23The exact right demographics just in terms of like if you've had experience building

32:27What is kind of the big barriers? What are some of the things that make it more difficult?

32:33One of the things that we're really concerned about is we don't want to provide

32:37Build form standards that it is going to make it impossible to build anything for instance

32:41even if it's really good

32:44in terms of urban design or aesthetically if it just doesn't work with the way that

32:51engineering and construction materials

32:54work in

32:56Wealth which you know every municipality has a bit of a different kind of

33:01Culture around construction techniques. We want to make sure that we're kind of in line with those things

33:08The other thing is that we want to make sure that you know if you a layperson is trying to understand what they can build in their backyard or what kind of

33:16What design standards they should be looking at?

33:19We really want to make sure that the the structure in the format is intuitive

33:23so I guess our real intent here is in

33:26Consulting and engaging with the public is we want to make sure that the the points that we're raising here is kind of

33:32Intuitive that we're articulating it clearly that there's no confusion around how it's being presented

33:39and

33:42We're still kind of in that in between stage where we don't quite have

33:47The draft ready for people to view but once we do

33:52We will be able to kind of have that available for you to look at really kind of

33:59Go through this in a lot more detail and kind of provide your input on very specific things

34:03So we are planning on having a survey out once those

34:08Draft guidelines are published. Okay. Thank you. I

34:17Just to sort of build on what was an initial question

34:20I found it difficult to really get my teeth in anything because it is very high level you're talking about sort of

34:28Almost conceptually sort of how are we going to bring all these documents together and I can see that certainly there's a lot of value in it

34:35The kinds of questions though that you're asking us to to address

34:40Are very detailed and if you don't know all the background documentation

34:45If you're not familiar with all these other guideline documents that you're consolidating

34:49It's rather difficult. I think to get into some of the specifics because you're asking very specific questions here that are

34:56Detail oriented detailed focused and yet we're dealing with a broad-scale high level

35:02discussion around consolidating

35:05documents, so

35:06The question really is then and you I think you just touched on it

35:11We will get an opportunity to actually look at the draft document

35:15early in the new year, I guess

35:17correct

35:19as soon as we're

35:21We're comfortable with the way that we've balanced. I touched on this earlier where we're trying to balance the

35:26The standards against our zoning by-law to make sure that we're you know, not duplicating things that we're still in line with

35:34the zoning by-law and then this is also

35:36You know this project kind of is coming in at the same time as a bunch of others that are very related so the

35:42Community planning permit system for downtown. We also have the green development framework

35:48We want to make sure that it lines up with the zoning by-law as well. So

35:52We really are trying to make sure that we kind of

35:56Work for grasping all these different threads and making sure that the design standards that we're putting forward

36:02Really reflect those things and kind of work with them so that they're not

36:07Duplicating so that they're not kind of conflicting with those things. So that's why there's a bit of a delay

36:14Right now we still hope to get those out for you to look at more specifically and hopefully that will be

36:23That'll be a really good opportunity

36:24I think for you to kind of understand what we're looking at more than just what I've showed you here tonight because I agree it is very

36:32High-level. It's a little bit aspirational. I haven't really given you

36:36specifics

36:38But that we are planning on providing that to you to give to give your feedback and

36:44For you to have a look at that

36:46That's great. I certainly appreciate the

36:50Value and it works in that is happening here

36:54because yes, there's been a lot of things going on and no question about that and

36:59Of course the learning never stops either so there's all it's a dynamic situation

37:03That's going to be ongoing, but I certainly see the value in this consolidation and

37:08With that in mind, you know given where we're going to be going with this in the future

37:12I've got a lot of specific questions, which I'm going to save for later

37:17But one of the things that you point out early on is design excellence and

37:23You know that that really resonates

37:25I think you know that's something we should all be striving for

37:29And I just wondered

37:31It kind of takes me back to the green development framework to is to whether or not the city has in place a

37:37Program to recognize design excellence

37:41so

37:42You know things that are happening downtown the new developments that are occurring across the city

37:49if someone really makes the effort to to

37:52Play play along and do their best to integrate these various design guidelines

37:59If the city has a program whereby they might recognize that excellent work

38:06Yeah, this is actually a question that I'm not

38:09Confident I can respond to I I don't actually know if there's a

38:14Design excellence award or a recognition within the city of of Guelph

38:19Maybe

38:20Can I ask can I poke Lucas if he's familiar with if there's any design excellence awards for?

38:29Guelph

38:32Yeah, I can I can provide a little bit more detail

38:35Maybe not maybe not too much more but at one point in time. We did have urban design

38:41Awards at the at the city. I think it is something on our radar

38:48In terms of maybe attempting to bring them back at a particular point in time

38:52But I I don't have more specifics on when or if for certain

38:58That would be occurring, but it is something that we have done in the past

39:07There's some other staff that are sort of joining as visually did they want to weigh in on any of this

39:13Hi there, it's Emily Irvine calling

39:18speaking, thank you Lucas and and William

39:22and Lucas summarized it

39:25Correctly, I understand that that there were some programs in the past and

39:30It is something we are looking into I don't have information on timing right now

39:33We have had this comment before so it's something that

39:37There we find some interest in so it is something that's going to be on our radar the timing to yet to be determined

39:47Thank you. Hey, any other questions or comments?

39:55seeing none

39:56we do have a

39:59recommendation

40:02Before before you move on I just want to kind of provide a next steps for this project

40:07So make sure that you understand where this project is going

40:11No, that's a my fault. I should have kind of signal that beforehand

40:17But essentially the next steps for this project is that we want to make sure that we have aligned the zoning by-law

40:22ongoing studies including the green development framework the downtown CPP

40:26The heritage district conservation plan, which is something that I haven't mentioned yet, but is also something that is kind of

40:33being considered

40:34concurrently with with this project and is helping to inform

40:38how the design standards are put together

40:43And we are having our consultant team draft the development standards and we will be able to

40:49publish those

40:51Hopefully in not too long

40:54and we can kind of follow up with more consultation and

40:57specifically, hopefully hopefully having a survey in the new year as well and then

41:03We have March 2026, but it's likely that might not be the date anymore. So

41:11Just keep in mind March 2026 might not be when we go to council specifically so

41:17That's the end of my presentation. Thank you very much. I

41:21Appreciate your time listening and providing comments and questions and

41:27This group will definitely be informed when the draft is published and you can provide your input on that

41:35Great. Oh, that just makes me ask will will you be coming back specifically to this group?

41:43Once those have been published

41:45Or is that more of a you'll you'll send out that draft and we can look at it ourselves

41:51I think I would see value it kind of possibly you coming back to

41:57I understand if we're looking at as of now in March, that's that's looking a little bit tight or only looking at

42:03Kind of two meetings in between that but I would see value possibly in us being able to discuss it again

42:11once there's a bit more

42:13For us to dig our teeth into

42:15Yeah, I think that's definitely a possibility that we could

42:24We could bring this project back to this committee

42:29Once we have a draft and we haven't kind of hammered out the specifics of

42:35The next phase of the project. We're still there's a few things in flux

42:40on the horizon so we don't have

42:44Specific dates on a lot of these next steps

42:48But that's definitely something that I can work out with Lucas if it makes sense to bring it or have this fits in with the survey

42:56in our next

42:58Consultation round for this project

43:03Thanks, yeah, I think I would also agree that that would be valuable

43:10We got an opportunity to look at the document and then have some discussion with yourself

43:15In this setting I think would be helpful

43:17Okay, I

43:22think we could move on to

43:25Yeah, the recommendation that's part of our agenda and

43:29That is that the planning environment water advisory committee receives a presentation provides staff for the following comments

43:35Well, we provided a number of verbal comments nothing specific

43:40I don't think that we need to include within the recommendation

43:44anyone

43:46Okay, so we'll just go with the general I

43:48recommend

43:50recommendation

43:51and maybe strikes

43:53Following comments part out of it

44:17As a bar is to regarding the built-up guidelines and standards manager validation

44:42So I get a motion to prove the recommendation oh

44:48Seconder

44:49Gabby all in favor

44:52We opposed

44:55Like it okay, it's carry

44:59Okay any

45:01Announcements from the I don't have any as a chair, but any staff announcements to be made this evening

45:11Oh, good evening everyone

45:17Just in follow-up to I believe was two meetings ago where I had shared

45:23Information on the water and wastewater capacity allocation policy. I just wanted to share

45:28I'd hope to come back in December a little bit delayed, but we will be before you in January

45:34With what is the revised policy in advance of it coming to Council in February? So

45:42First week of the new year will work to circulate that to the team and

45:46Yeah, look forward to coming back to the group kind of sharing where we've went with the policy and

45:53Soliciting feedback and hopefully endorsement from the committee

45:56Okay, thanks for that point

46:02I think Lucas has something to share

46:06Yeah, thanks. Just just some Council updates to be aware of specifically for tomorrow night if you are around or interested

46:15One will be bringing forward an amendment to the city's affordable housing community

46:20improvement plan. I don't think that this was before

46:24This committee or previous versions of the committee but very basically our affordable housing community improvement plan provides grants

46:33To individuals property owners developers who are looking to build a long-term affordable housing in our community

46:40So specifically we're making amendments to our additional dwelling unit

46:45Grant program in particular just mostly to broaden the eligibility criteria to allow for

46:52different types of

46:55Arrangements or different types of projects to to move forward in response to some of the feedback that we've received as well as provide

47:01Some increased funding for certain infrastructure

47:04Requirements, so that's that's the one on item on the agenda and the other item on the agenda is we'll be going to Council

47:11Just seeking direction on if Council would like us to prepare

47:15Any necessary official plan amendments or zoning by law amendments to allow five plus units

47:23Committee might remember or previous versions of the committee might remember

47:27Some work on four units as of right which actually went before Council for decision about a year ago today almost

47:34I think it was actually a year ago Wednesday

47:38But now we're going to Council to seek direction on if they would like us to potentially look at five plus

47:45There are a number of caveats attached to that whether it's servicing

47:50Requirements or size of the lots, but there's some more information in the council agenda for tomorrow and and might be of interest

47:58To to this committee as well

48:00So it would certainly encourage you to to tune in if you're around and available or to watch later at your own time

48:06Okay, thank you very much Lucas. That's certainly affordable housing is something that we talked about on numerous occasions

48:14As I'm sure staff have so appreciate the update on that

48:19Brian

48:21You have something to share

48:24Yeah, mine's similar in the vein of

48:27Wayne was saying so back. I think it was September

48:32shared with you folks kind of early discussions and kind of flashed on the

48:37our corporate climate action plan document

48:41That was to be going to council. I just wanted to update the group

48:45So things have been delayed and pushed through agendas but is going to be presented to

48:52Council in January

48:54for January Council

48:56Not committee the whole I think that there's actually not going to be a January committee of the whole because of a light agenda

49:05But I also wanted to let folks know to

49:08some of the some of the

49:10feedback that was that was

49:12Heard from the advisory committee

49:15Things like, you know talking about return on investment was one thing that I heard kind of loud and clear

49:22And then also just kind of clear clarity on targets

49:26So I just wanted to let you folks know that you know that that has been investigated and is incorporated

49:33At least in the presentation and through the council report or the staff report to

49:39That will be going to council in January

49:42I can share some slides with you if you wanted to I know I didn't put this on the agenda

49:47But I just wanted to really just give you that feedback loop that you know

49:52Your remarks and your feedback is well well received and incorporated into the presentations that are going to be going to council

50:00Well, thank you very much for that. Yeah, I think we all appreciate the fact that

50:04you know the input that we provided has been

50:08Given some serious consideration, so does anybody need to see his slides at this point

50:18Okay, is it something perhaps you could email to us Brian that we could take a look at over time. I don't know

50:25That's doable. I'm okay if clerks is okay

50:33Sorry, what was that I said I'm okay if clerks is okay

50:37Yeah, through the chair Brian you and I can connect we can provide the slides or

50:43form a memo and attach that to

50:46That memo and distribute it to the committee via email that works for me

50:51Yeah

50:52Yeah, that would be appreciated if you take the time to do that

50:59anything else

51:01Say none and will we get a motion to

51:09conclude the meeting

51:11That's yours

51:13Seconder oh

51:16All in favor

51:19Thank you. Thank you everyone

51:21I guess Christmas is just around the corner

51:25so you're celebrating Christmas enjoy and

51:29all the best of the seas of everybody and

51:33Hopefully we'll see everyone in the new year. So thank you very much to staff and the volunteers of the committee. Thank you

51:49Pardon is it the next thing on this? Yeah