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CITY OFVANCOUVER

Kensington-Cedar Cottage CityPlan Committee

Meeting Notes

Kensington-Cedar Cottage CityPlan Committee Meeting
Thursday, May 5, 2005
7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Trout Lake Community Centre

In Attendance: John Buckberrough (Chairperson), Betty Houk, Margaret Marquardt, Peter Wohlwend, Dennis St. Aubin, David Marcantonio, Kim Nulty, Jeff Nulty , Gary Shilling , Ann McLean, Alison McNeil , Barbara McGeough

Devorah Kahn (COV, Food Policy Coordinator)

Chris Robertson (CR) (COV, Planning)

1) Introductions- John Buckberrough

2) March Notes- John Buckberrough

Adopted

3) Additions to the Agenda

The Dickens Community Group is organizing a neighbourhood clean-up on May 5, if you’re interested meet at the ICBC parking lot at 10:00 am.
The KCC Neighbour is looking for funding from the KCC CityPlan Committee and would like to present a proposal at the June 9th meeting. CR to add to this item to the agenda.
Jenny Kwan and Libby Davis would like to come and speak to the CityPlan Committee on the restorative justice proposal. All agreed John Buckberrough to arrange.
Federal MP David Emerson, is looking for kids between the ages of 14-18 to participate in the Youth Advisory Commission, a meeting is scheduled for May 5. Anyone who might be interested can contact his office.

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4) Food Policy Discussion- Devorah Kahn (COV)

Devorah Kahn provided an overview of the City’s Food Policy Program noting that Food Policy is concerned with the production, processing, access, distribution, consumption and reduction of food waste. She noted the impact food has on our cities and local neighbourhoods and outlined the challenges facing our current food system, i.e., increased distance between consumer and producer, negative environmental impacts, hunger, health and nutrition and highly mechanized production. She also noted that things like restrictive covenants used by grocery store operators to limit the future use of a site would be reviewed as part of the Food Policy work.

Devorah advised that in addition to the staff team working on the Food Policy Program that a Food Policy Council, comprised of individuals from all aspects of the local food system (i.e., nutritionists, food wholesalers and distributors, chefs and restaurant owners, food retailers and grocers, managers of non profit organizations and academics), had also been established to examine the function of the local food system and provide ideas and policy recommendations.

The Food Policy Council meets on the fourth Tuesday of every month at 6:30 pm . The meetings are open to the public and are held at the Vancouver School Board, 1580 West Broadway, room 120. For more information on the Food Policy Council or program you can visit them on-line at: www.vancouver.ca/foodpolicy

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5) Saving Charles Dickens Elementary- Barbara McGeough, Allison McNeil

The group expressed concern with the potential loss of Charles Dickens Elementary noting the building was a significant landmark in the neighbourhood. They also expressed concern over the public consultation process undertaken by the Vancouver School Board. The group felt the process had been somewhat limited and that retention options had never fully been explored. The group further noted that a number of older schools had been identified for seismic upgrading and they worried that the School Board may use this consultation approach as a model for the rest.

The group also felt that there were issues that had not been adequately addressed by the School Board, i.e., the costs of redevelopment versus retention, the heritage value of the building and the seismic code issues. They would like to see an independent review of this information presented to the community.

CR provided the following additional information:

a Development Permit to demolish the building was expected in the next couple of weeks;
Karen Hemmingson is the Project Facilitator and e-mails and letters regarding this project should be directed to her;
The project will be treated as a contentious application and will require additional public notification and process;
The statement of significance indicates that the building has heritage value;
The project will be taken treated as a heritage building and taken to the Vancouver Heritage Commission for their review, but the City cannot force the owner to add it to the Heritage Registry;
The City’s real estate department will be reviewing the applicants project proforma (costs);
The City has asked the Vancouver School Board to provide an overall plan outlining their intentions for the other schools scheduled for seismic upgrading.

Action(s)
CR to confirm with the City’s Building Code Department the seismic issue and clarify the level to which a heritage building can be upgraded.

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6) ACM Follow-up

At this years ACM Kerry Williams of the Business Association indicated that the start date for the public realm improvements had been delayed. The works originally scheduled for August of this year would not be undertaken until next year. We now have confirmation that the works will not be delayed and construction will start on August 14.

7) Thin Streets Proposal- Chris Robertson (handout)

Peter Ladner had asked whether the KCC CityPlan Committee would be interested in piloting a “Thin Streets” project in their community. Chris provided a brief outline of the “Thin Streets” concept and asked the group if they would like Peter and Ted Sebastian to come out to the next CityPlan Committee meeting to discuss this idea further. The group expressed interest.

Action(s)
CR to arrange a presentation with Peter Ladner and Ted Sebastian for the next meeting

8) Kingscrest Park Celebration– Chris Robertson.

The Kingscrest Park Subcommittee is planning a Park Celebration in September and they were wondering if the KCC CityPlan Committee might be able to help fund part of this celebration. The Committee agreed to allocate $500.00 to the celebration. It was suggested that the Park Celebration not be scheduled for September 18th , to avoid a potential conflict with a multicultural event planned in the community that day.

Action(s)
CR to contact Elisabeth Jang and advise that CityPlan Committee had approved $500.00 for the park celebration and that September 18th be avoided.

9) Next Meeting

The next CityPlan Committee Meeting is June 9, 2005 at the – Trout Lake Community Centre, Rm. 201. Please note this is the last meeting before the summer break (July and August).

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