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Kensington-Cedar Cottage - Cityplan Meeting Minutes

Minutes from January 12, 2001 Meeting

MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE KCC CITY PLAN COMMITTEE
HELD ON THURSDAY JANUARY 12, 2001
At the Trout Lake Community Centre

IN ATTENDANCE: Louise Cameron, Barb Wright, Annie Dempster, June St. Lawrence, Stan Jang, Marilyn Pollard, Tracey McGuire, Don Genoversa, Tom Little, B. Kim Stansfield, Anne Roberts, Donna Chang, Ken Baker, Uli Racehorn

ALSO IN ATTENDANCE: Cathy Buckham, City Staff

BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES OF DECEMBER 7, 2000

GARBAGE

At the December 7, 2000 meeting the administrative report written by Kevin Van Vliet dated November 28, 2000 with respect to residential recycling, garbage and yard trimmings was discussed. A letter dated December 13, 2000 was forwarded to the Standing Committee on City Services and Budgets and Vancouver City Council voicing the concerns expressed by this Committee. Council did not respond to any of the recommendations set out in this Committee's letter. Councilor Tim Louis responded by letter. He was interested in the idea of an annual recycling fee and a point of purchase fee.

GIBBY'S FIELD - 1460 East 18th Avenue

At the December 7 meeting the Gibby's Field group asked the Committee to support a moratorium on further residential development of the above noted property. A letter was sent to the Mayor and Councilors dated December 22, 2000 supporting a moratorium on the sale and/or development of Gibby's Field.

On January 10, 2001, Mavis Dixon of the Gibby's Field group heard from Bruce Maitland, the Manager for Housing and Properties for the City. He assured Ms. Dixon that there would be a moratorium on further residential development on Gibby's Field until the community has had a chance to complete its visioning process. No deadline for the moratorium has been set but it is understood it is not infinite. The Gibby's Field group has a lot of work to do but the moratorium at least allows them some time to find a workable solution.

KNIGHT STREET STUDY

Dale Bracewell, the City engineer assigned to the Knight Street study, will attend our February 1, 2001 meeting. He is to conduct a route analysis of Knight Street from Burrard Inlet to the Fraser River.

It was agreed this Committee needs to take an active role in this study. However, it was decided we would not take on the steering committee role but rather we would be involved in getting a subcommittee together. Barb Wright, Uli Rasehorn and Ken Baker will initiate the Knight Street subcommittee. Ken Baker will chair the subcommittee. The subcommittee will endeavor to contact people who were previously involved in the KCC Transportation Workshops and people who attended the April 27th, 2000 AGM. Cathy Buckham will provide the contact lists to the subcommittee.

KINGSCREST - Vancouver Chinese Baptist Church

It was agreed another public meeting with the Church and the community should be held to review the current plans. Anne Roberts will speak to the Kingscrest subcommittee about getting the Vancouver Chinese Baptist Church to host this meeting.

The issue of the lane between the Church property and the balance of the property was again brought up. Public use of this lane is integral to the idea of a neighbourhood centre around this area.

Cathy Buckham stated that the question of "Who pays?" for any improvements or amenities with respect to this lane is at issue. Would there be circumstances where Engineering would pay, can improvements be implemented against development charges or is there a way to have the developer incur these charges? Cathy Buckham will report back.

NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE PLANNING

How can we implement the Neighbourhood Centre? We have been advised that Frank Ducote, Senior Planner, will be able to take on this project by the end of March. What happens to our project if Mr. Ducote is NOT available for the end of March? We feel Neighbourhood Centre Planning is a matter of urgency in this area. If Mr. Ducote's team cannot be available for April 2, 2001 we would like someone else to step in.

C-2 REVIEW

A consultant has been hired for the C-2 review. The review process will last for one year.

NEW BUSINESS

GROCERY STORES IN THE EASTSIDE

Concerns have been raised over the loss of grocery stores in the eastside. The City was involved in a grocery store workshop and Trish French, Senior Planner, will write an information report on the workshop.

Concerns were once again raised over the restrictive covenant Safeway has on the Kingscrest site. The covenant states that no grocery store can be built on this site. The City legal department is of the opinion nothing can be done to remove this covenant. This covenant effectively blocks neighbourhood planning and concerns around the lack of grocery sites available.

It was suggested that the community could boycott Safeway to show their displeasure. However, it was pointed out that it is not possible to ask the community to boycott the only grocery store in their neighbourhood.

Anne Roberts was going to see if we could get another legal opinion on the issue of the covenant.

LITTLE MOUNTAIN NEIGHBOURHOOD HOUSE

Marilyn Pollard representing Little Mountain Neighbourhood House attended the meeting. She explained how the Neighbourhood House had out grown their existing facilities and were looking at two properties on Fraser Street for future development. Ms. Pollard was looking for a letter in support of the project from our Committee. While the Committee agreed in principal to the proposed Neighbourhood House, it was agreed that this issue be put over to the February 1st meeting while particular concerns were investigated. Donna Chang would review the impact of such a development on the Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood House.

FRASER STREET BLOCK OUT CRIME GROUP

Tim Little reported on the ongoing concerns of the Group and what they were doing to advance their cause.

The issue of developing a Business Improvement Association (BIA) for Fraser Street was brought up. The merchants on Fraser Street must motivate the formation of a BIA.

BROADWAY AND COMMERCIAL SKY TRAIN STATION

Barb Wright reported there is much pessimism and disappointment around the Sky Train development at Broadway and Commercial. All the work that went into developing a strategy and suggested desirable uses for the commercial space available seems to have fallen by the wayside. It would appear a private sector developer is considering fast food franchises. Apparently, the developer can put in any business as long as it falls within the "use" clause. Fast food outlets fall within the uses acceptable for the area. It is generally felt that if this is an example of precinct planning, then it is a disaster. The Province and the City have a good opportunity to make decisions with respect to neighbourhood livability around this Sky Train expansion.

The other major concerns focus on security issues surrounding the Sky Train station. No commitment has been made with respect to security. All reports say security issues are a priority but no action has been taken.

It was suggested that Donna Chang draft a letter, on behalf of KCC, voicing the concerns of the community and their vision for the area. Once drafted Donna will fax it to Anne Roberts.

It was also suggested that concerned citizens e-mail George Puil, Gordon Price and Jennifer Clarke with respect to the safety of Sky Ttrain and the lack of commitment and decisiveness around security issues.

YOUTH

At the April 27th, 2000 KCC City Plan Committee AGM, the participants were asked to identify issues, ideas, and projects the Committee should focus on within the context of the Visions Directions. Two ideas that received a lot of support at the AGM involved youth in the community. One idea was to create youth programs to consider Community Visions Implementations; the other was emphasis on community support by the large youth population.

Annie Dempster, Uli Rasehorn, Donna Chang and Louise Cameron agreed to meet and come up with suggestions on how to involve youth.

NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will take place on Thursday, February 1st, 2001, at 7:00 P.M. at Trout Lake Community Centre.

Questions or Comments? E-mail: cityplan@vancouver.ca