Kensington-Cedar Cottage CityPlan Committee
Meeting Notes
June 6, 2002
Trout Lake Community Centre
7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
In Attendance: Anne Roberts (Chair), David Marcantonio, Elliot Neck, Jeff Nulty, Ken Baker, Kim Nulty, Lisa Atkins, Louise Garvin, Nicole Figueiredo, Raymond Chang, Stan Jang, Sue Watkins, Uli Rasehorn, Barb Wright (Community Safety Office)
Also In Attendance: Catherine Sinasac, and Andrea Tang Planning Department, City Hall
1. KCC Listserve
The problem with the reoccurring message has been fixed. More residents are encouraged to sign-up.
2. Central Valley Greenway - Catherine Sinasac
Council directed City staff to do more work on the greenway and traffic calming. The latest proposal is for:
- eastbound traffic - to make it bus and local resident vehicle use only; and
- westbound traffic - for all users except large trucks
Barb, Catherine, and local residents are working on this project and have a meeting tonight. It was indicated that the City understands that the community wants more traffic calming and more greening. Council has consequently, encouraged staff to do more work with the community.
3. Grace McInnes Park - Louise Garvin
Discussion regarding the empty lots at Commercial and 11th (under the Skytrain station), focused on the need for a playground as part of the redevelopment of this space. It was agreed that a "pocket park" would work best. Residents are aware that merchants would like to use the space for more parking. Property under the Skytrain station is owned by the City and Translink. A "pocket-park sub-committee" was formed with Louise as the Chair.
4. KCC Greenway Work Party - Andrea Tang
A ‘weeding party' is scheduled for Saturday, June 22nd, at the Cedar Cottage Greenway on 19th and Dumfries. The garden is overgrown with weeds and needs attention. It was noted that residents who were involved in the creation of the garden have moved to other neighbourhoods.
Uli stressed that the local community needs to own this problem and take it on. The area needs a few key people to be committed to the project. One suggestion was to involve people from the Gibby's Field group or Tyee Elementary since they are so close to this greenway.
5. 2002 Traffic Signal Report
After reviewing the report by City Engineering staff, the committee concluded that it has not been vocal enough regarding pedestrian safety concerns and the need for traffic signals in KCC. Several intersections and crossings in KCC need attention:
- Knight & 35th. (An overpass was suggested.)
- Commercial & 20th is a problem. (A "Commercial Street" subcommittee is being formed.)
- Victoria & 12th is also congested and spilling over onto 11th Ave. (Traffic calming on 11th is needed.)
Anne Roberts pointed out that Winston Chou in Traffic Management is the contact person for concerns related to pedestrian safety. Winston's phone number is 604-873-7913. Another resource is "B.E.S.T." (Better Environmentally Sound Transportation).
Access to the 2002 Traffic Signal Report is available on the City of Vancouver website.
6. Chinese Language Workshops
Anne expressed concern that a number of Chinese-speaking attendees at the AGM in April were unable to participate in the discussion due to communication barriers. She suggested that a separate meeting or workshop be held (perhaps with the Vision areas in Sunset and Victoria-Fraserview Killarney), in Cantonese or Mandarin, to gauge Vision priorities of residents who are unable to participate in a discussion in English.
7. Neighbourhood Centres
There is a proposal to acquire funding for a 2-year planning process which focuses on Kingsway and Knight. This proposal includes implementing new types of housing. The program focuses on two main streams: ‘shopping area improvements' and ‘new housing types'. The public will be involved in the planning process through a variety of ways (community meetings, committee work, events,...).
8. Windsor Way
Uli noted that the demonstration project is going very well and that new gardens are being planted south of Kingsway. The May 23rd greening event was a success at community-building, as indicated from the numerous participants of various backgrounds.
8. Neighbourhood News & Ideas
Anne Roberts informed the committee that there will be a Wal-Mart petition event on Main Street & 29th Avenue on June 15th at 11am to celebrate the 5,000th signature.
Stan Jang informed the committee that his wife will be organizing a Kingcrest Party for June 23rd.
Sue expressed concern about the cell phone towers that have recently been installed.
David expressed interest in building a multi-use artists' space on Commerical Street and asked whether this would be something in harmony with the KCC Vision. A multi-use studio building would include things such as dance, theature, metal shops, wood shops, galleries, etc. Uli noted that revitalization of Commercial Street is already occurring with the improvements at Lord Selkirk School. David said there is funding, but energy is still needed.
A planting party is scheduled for June 15, 10am, at the "triangle" by the Cedar Cottage Pub at Clark and Kingsway.
There was also discussion of how the City is working harder to enforce by-law infractions on the old Safeway site (the Liquidation Flea Market).
Meeting adjourned.
Next meeting date:
Thursday, September 12, 2002*
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Trout Lake Community Centre
*KCC CityPlan Committee meetings are held on the first Thursday of the month, except for September, when the meeting is held on the second Thursday of the month.
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