Planning and Development Committee Meeting Agenda October 17, 2016 – 7:00 PM Council Chambers Whitby Municipal Building
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1. Declarations of Pecuniary Interest
2. Presentations
3. Delegations
3.1 Colleen Quinn-Joyce and Sharon Worsley representing Spencer School Community Centre Re: Planning and Development Department Report, PL 101-16 Designation of the Spencer School, 1877, located at 7035 Country Lane, as being of Historic and Architectural Value and Interest under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. c. O.18
4. Correspondence
5. Public Meetings
5.1 Planning and Development Department and Public Works Department 5 - 11 Joint Report, 98-16 [7:30 p.m.] Re: Street Name Change due to Highway 407 and 412 Construction
Recommendation: 1. That Council approve the renaming of the streets impacted by the West Durham Link Highway 412 as shown on Attachment #2; 2. That the Clerk be instructed to bring forward the by-law(s) to change the street names in accordance with Attachment #2; and, 3. That the affected residents be reimbursed in the amount of $200.00 per property to assist with any related costs incurred due to the street name change upon the final passing of the by-law(s).
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5.2 Planning and Development Department Services Report, 100-16 [7:40 12 - 21 p.m.] Re: Country Lane Estates Inc. - Draft Plan of Subdivision and Zoning By- law Amendment (SW-2016-03 and Z-12-16)
Recommendation: 1. That Planning Report PL 100-16 be received as information; and, 2. That the Planning and Development Department report back to the Planning and Development Committee at such time as the public input and agency comments are received and assessed.
5.3 Planning and Development Department Report, PL 99-16 [7:50 p.m.] 22 - 91 Re: Downtown Whitby Action Plan 2016
Recommendation: 1. That Report No. PL 99-16 regarding the Downtown Whitby Action Plan 2016 be received as information; 2. That Council adopt the Downtown Whitby Action Plan 2016 as presented in Attachment #1; 3. That if the Downtown Whitby Action Plan is adopted by Council, that any new financial considerations for projects and initiatives beyond those already included in the budget and budget forecast, will be identified through the annual budget process; 4. That the interdepartmental action team provide quarterly updates on the Downtown Whitby Action Plan to Council; and, 5. That a copy of the Downtown Whitby Action Plan be circulated to the Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee (DWDSC) and be made available at Town Hall, the Whitby Public Library and on the Town's website.
6. Staff Reports
6.1 Planning and Development Department Report, PL 101-16 92 - 112 Re: Designation of the Spencer School, 1877, located at 7035 Country Lane, as being of Historic and Architectural Value and Interest under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. c. O.18
Recommendation: 1. That the Planning Report Item No. PL 101-16 be received as information; 2. That the Notice of Intent to designate the Spencer School, 1877, located at 7035 Country Lane, be published as per Section 29. (1.1) of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O 1990 c. O.18; 3. That, if there are no objections to the designation in accordance with Section 29. (6) of the Ontario Heritage Act, the Clerk be
Page 2 of 257 Planning and Development Committee Agenda October 17, 2016 – 7:00 PM
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authorized to introduce the by-law designating the property under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act; and, 4. That, if there are objections in accordance with Section 29. (7) of the Ontario Heritage Act, the Clerk be directed to refer the proposed designation to the Conservation Review Board.
6.2 Planning and Development Department Report, PL 97-16 113 - 120 Re: Ontario's Five Year Climate Change Action Plan: 2016-2020
Recommendation: 1. That Planning and Development Report Item PL 97-16 be received as information; and, 2. That staff report back at such time as more details are released by the Province of Ontario on implementation of the actions contained in Ontario’s Five Year Climate Change Action Plan: 2016- 2020.
6.3 Planning and Development Department Report, PL 102-16 121 - 218 Re: Durham Community Climate Adaptation Plan - Staff Comments
Recommendation: 1. That Planning and Development Report, Item PL 102-16 be received as information; 2. That Council receive the Durham Community Climate Adaptation Plan (Attachment #1 to Planning and Development Report Item PL 102-16) as information; 3. That Council endorse the staff comments in Planning and Development Report, Item PL 102-16; 4. That the Durham Community Climate Adaptation Plan be considered as input into the development of a Town of Whitby strategy and plan of implementation to climate change; 5. That staff report back in 2017 with a proposed framework for a Town of Whitby approach for climate change; and, 6. That the Clerk forward a copy of this report and Council’s Resolution to the Region of Durham.
7. New and Unfinished Business
New and Unfinished Business - Planning and Development Committee 219 - 227
8. Adjournment
9. Advisory Committee Minutes – For Information Only
9.1 Accessibility Advisory Committee Minutes - September 13, 2016 228 - 257 Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee Minutes- September 15, 2016
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Doors Open Whitby Advisory Committee Minutes - September 20, 2016 Brooklin Downtown Development Steering Committee Minutes - September 22, 2016 Accessibility Advisory Committee Minutes - October 4, 2016
Page 4 of 257 Agenda Item # 5.1
Town of Whitby Report
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Date of meeting: October 17, 2016 Department: Planning and Development Department Public Works Department Report Number: PL 98-16 File Number(s): Not applicable.
Report Title: Street Name Change Due to Highway 407 and 412 Construction 1. Recommendation: 1. That Council approve the renaming of the streets impacted by the West Durham Link Highway 412 as shown on Attachment #2. 2. That the Clerk be instructed to bring forward the by-law(s) to change the street names in accordance with Attachment #2. 3. That the affected residents be reimbursed in the amount of $200.00 per property to assist with any related costs incurred due to the street name change upon the final passing of the by-law(s). 2. Executive Summary: On June 13, 2016 Planning and Development Committee report PL 63-16 was referred back to Staff. Staff were to meet with the emergency responders to discuss the street name changes. Staff have consulted with the Durham Region Police and the Whitby Fire and Emergency services regarding the street name changes. The first responders are in agreement that the street name changes are not necessary to eliminate any confusion in responding to an emergency call except for two (2) locations as shown on Attachment #2.
3. Origin: The Planning and Development Department in conjunction with the Public Works Department is reporting on the concerns raised by the impacted residences.
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Report number: PL 98-16 Page 1 of 5
Page 5 of 257 Agenda Item # 5.1
4. Background: On June 13, 2016 the Planning and Development and Public Works Departments brought forward a recommendation report, PL 63-16, to rename a number of existing streets/roads due to the construction of the 412 and 407 highways (see Attachment #1). Discussions with emergency personnel at the time advised that it was necessary to rename the streets/roads divided by the construction of the 412 and 407 highways. A number of written submissions were provided in response to the street name change notice circulated by the office of the Clerk. A number of residents attending the Committee meeting were advised that the report was going to be referred back to Staff to confirm the need for the proposed street name changes.
5. Discussion/Options: Staff met with Durham Regional Police and Whitby Fire and Emergency Services requesting that the street names and suffixes for Halls Road, Country Lane and Garrard Road remain unchanged. It was agreed that existing street names could remain unchanged with the following two (2) exceptions:
Lake Ridge Road As part of the 412 highway construction north of the 401 highway, a new Lake Ridge Road access has been installed which by passes the Almond Subdivision. The original Lake Ridge Road will remain in order to provide access to the property owners in the subdivision. The Durham Regional Police and Whitby Fire and Emergency Services support a name change for the original Lake Ridge Road to Old Lake Ridge Road which would be between Almond and Cresser Avenue as shown on Attachment #2. The use of Old Lake Ridge Road was a name recommended by a petition. The renaming of Lake Ridge Road South to Old Lake Ridge Road will require seven (7) property owners to change their personal information to reflect the new street name. The $200.00 financial contribution is being provided through the Ministry of Transportation in order to pay for a portion of the personal information to be changed. It is noted that there is no fee for requesting a street name change through Service Ontario and the Post Office.
Lyndebrook Road Lyndebrook Road is an unopened road allowance between Coronation Road and Halls Road. In that the 412 highway has been constructed through this unopened road allowance, Lyndebrook Road will not be constructed to connect with Lake Ridge Road. Therefore, the portion of open road allowance between Lake Ridge Road and Halls Road is recommended to be renamed to Peleshok Drive as shown on Attachment #2.
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Report number: PL 98-16 Page 2 of 5
Page 6 of 257 Agenda Item # 5.1
The Durham Regional Police and Whitby Fire and Emergency Services support the name change for safe emergency responses. It is noted that the street name change does not require any changes of address to the adjacent property owner(s).
Durham Regional Police / Whitby Fire and Emergency Services The emergency first responders i.e. fire, police and paramedics do not use GPS to find individual addresses. Through the Region of Durham Police, when a 911 call comes to the dispatcher from a cell phone, x/y co-ordinates are used to identify the general location of the call. When a 911 call is received through a land line, the municipal address and street name are provided through the Bell system as a call display. The dispatcher then determines the nature of the emergency and dispatches the information to the Fire Department and paramedics. 6. Public Communications/Plan: The Clerk will provide a notice of intent to rename the two (2) streets in accordance with the Municipal Act.
7. Considerations: 7.1. Public Upon Council’s final consideration of the notice of intent to rename the streets within the municipality, the Clerk will prepare an interim renaming by-law to give legal effect to the street name changes. The Ministry of Transportation is responsible to prepare the reference plans for each street name change. Council will be required to pass a final by-law with the legal descriptions using the street name in the interim by-law. Notice will not be provided for the final by-law as it is simply a formality to include the legal description (upon completion of the reference plans by MTO). The final by-law(s) will be registered in the Registry Office.
7.2. Financial The Ministry of Transportation is providing the municipality with a financial contribution of $200.00 per property that is impacted by the street name change. The funds will be provided upon final approval and registration of the by-law(s) to affect the street name. It is noted that there is no fee for requesting street name changes through Service Ontario and the Post Office. The Ministry is also providing the municipality with a cash contribution for the installation of new permanent street name signs, stop signs, no exit signs and associated pavement markings on the roadways.
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Report number: PL 98-16 Page 3 of 5
Page 7 of 257 Agenda Item # 5.1
7.3. Impact on and input from other Departments/Sources The Public Works Department, Whitby Fire and Emergency Services and the Durham Regional Police have been consulted in the street name changes resulting from the construction of Highway 407 and 412 (formerly West Durham Link).
7.4. Corporate and/or Department Strategic Priorities Not applicable.
8. Summary and Conclusion: The name changes have been brought forward to avoid confusion for emergency responders. Visitors and commercial service deliveries will also be better served by the change. 1. That Council approve the renaming of the streets impacted by the West Durham Link Highway 412 as shown on Attachment #2.
2. That the Clerk be instructed to bring forward the by-law(s) to change the street names in accordance with Attachment #2.
3. That the affected residents be reimbursed in the amount of $200.00 per property to assist with any related costs incurred due to the street name change upon the final passing of the by-law(s).
9. Attachments: Attachment #1 – Recommended Street Name Changes Attachment #2 – Renaming of Streets Impacted by the Extension For further information contact: John Austin, x2277 Michael May, x2249
Original Approved and Signed.
Suzanne Beale, Commissioner of Public Works, x4311
Original Approved and Signed.
Robert B. Short, Commissioner of Planning, x4309
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Report number: PL 98-16 Page 4 of 5
Page 8 of 257 Agenda Item # 5.1
Original Approved and Signed.
Robert Petrie, Chief Administrative Officer, x2211
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Report number: PL 98-16 Page 5 of 5
Page 9 of 257 Agenda Item # 5.1
Attachment #1 PL 98-16 Location Sketch
Townline Rd W Townline Rd E
Myrtle Rd W
Wilson Patterson Road
BaldwinSt N
Ashburn Rd Lake Ridge Rd RidgeLake Rd N Brawley Rd W Joseph Ruddy Street
Columbus Rd W Columbus Rd E Peter Irvine Court Donald Fleming Court
Jim Souch Court Joyce Marshall Court Winchester Rd W Highway 407 Winchester Rd E Eleanor Stevenson Court
Peleshok Drive
Jim Lavelle Court Highway412
Barry Mount Court Thickson Rd ThicksonRd N
Baldwin St S
Taunton Rd W Taunton Rd E Brock St N Brock St
Rossland Rd W Rossland Rd E AndersonSt Halls Court
CochraneSt
Dundas St W Dundas St E Vickery Street
Highway 401
BrockS St Thickson Rd Rd S Thickson
Town of Whitby Planning and Development Department Date: May 2016 N
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Attachment #2 PL 98-16 Location Sketch
Myrtle Rd W Myrtle Rd E
Baldwin St N
Brawley Rd W Brawley Rd E Lake Ridge LakeRd
Inset 1
Garrard Rd Cochrane St Cochrane
Ashburn Ashburn Rd Country Lane Country
Columbus Rd W
Baldwin St N Halls Rd N Rd Halls
Highway 407 E
Peleshok Dr Baldwin St Winchester Rd W Winchester Rd E
Highway 407 W
Lake Ridge Rd N Rd Ridge Lake Halls Rd Halls
See Inset 1
Lyndebrook Rd
Baldwin St S Conlin Rd
Halls Rd N Rd Halls
HallsRd
Garrard Rd
Garden St
Thickson RdThickson N
Country Lane Country Coronation Rd Coronation
Taunton Rd W Taunton Rd E Inset 2
Highway 412 N
Cresser Ave Rossland Rd W Rossland Rd E
Highway 412 S 41 Lake Ridge Rd S 45 Lake Ridge Rd S 47 Lake Ridge Rd S
Brock StBrock N
CochraneSt Anderson St See Inset 2 Churchill Ave Dundas St W Dundas St E
59 Lake Ridge Rd S Highway 401 E
63 Lake Ridge Rd S Hopkins St Henry St
Old LakeRidge Rd 65 Lake Ridge Rd S Consumers Dr
69 Lake Ridge Rd S Victoria St W Victoria St E Champlain Ave Thickson Rd S Almond Ave LakeRidge Rd
LakeRidge Rd S HallsRd 1575 Dundas St W
Town of Whitby Planning and Development Department Date: September 2016 N
Page 11 of 257 Agenda Item # 5.2
Town of Whitby Report
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Date of meeting: October 17, 2016 Department: Planning and Development Department
Report Number: PL 100-16 File Number(s): SW-2016-03 and Z-12-16
Report Title: Country Lane Estates Inc. – Draft Plan of Subdivision and Zoning By-law Amendment 1. Recommendation: 1. That Planning Report PL 100-16 be received as information; 2. That the Planning and Development Department report back to the Planning and Development Committee at such time as the public input and agency comments are received and assessed. 2. Executive Summary: The 1.1 hectare draft plan concept is proposed on lands municipally addressed as 4275 Country Lane, north of Taunton Road West and is comprised of 20 units of single detached dwellings, two open space blocks, two road widenings, a 0.3m reserve and roads. The draft plan area excludes the existing residential dwelling of which is intended to become a separate, independent lot. A zoning application is necessary to implement the draft plan of subdivision and to change the current zone category of the existing residential dwelling to conform with the newly adopted West Whitby Zoning By-law.
3. Origin: The Planning and Development Department has received applications for a Draft Plan of Subdivision and a Zoning By-law Amendment from agent Evan Rodgers on behalf of the landowner, Country Lane Estates Inc.
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Report number: PL 100-16 Page 1 of 6
Page 12 of 257 Agenda Item # 5.2
4. Background: On May 26th 2015, a formal pre-consultation was held with the applicant, Planning and Development staff and related stakeholders to determine the information and materials required to submit a complete application in accordance with the Planning Act and Whitby By-law 5967-07. The subject site, municipally known as 4275 Country Lane, is located on the east side of Country Lane approximately 600 metres north of Taunton Road West and abuts the recently approved Heathwood Homes draft plan of subdivision (SW- 2011-01). A tributary of the Lynde Creek lies adjacent to the southeastern property line (see Attachment # 1). The entire parcel is 1.4 hectares in size; however the developable area subject to the draft plan application is 1.1 hectares with the balance of the land to remain as a separate lot outside the draft plan area. Country Lane Estates Inc. proposes to develop a draft plan of subdivision comprised of 20 lots for single detached dwellings, two open space blocks, two road widenings, a 0.3m reserve and a road (see Attachment # 4).
• The 1.1 hectare draft plan is comprised of the following: • 20 single detached lots at 8.0+ metre frontages (0.79 ha.) • 2 Open Space Blocks (0.14 ha.) • 2 Road Widenings (0.01 ha.) • Local Road (0.18 ha.) • 0.3m Reserve West Whitby Secondary Plan The draft plan is located within the Town’s recently adopted West Whitby Secondary Plan (WWSP) and is designated as both Low Density Residential and Environmental Protection Area. Under the policies of the WWSP, lands situated within the Low Density Residential designation are subject to Section 4.2.3.9 of the Official Plan and shall not generally exceed a maximum building height of 3 storeys. The development proposal must maintain a minimum density of 25 units per net hectare within the Low Density Residential designation. The density for the Country Lane Estates draft plan is 25.2 units per hectare. A portion of the draft plan area is designated as Environmental Protection Area along the southeastern limit of the property. These lands are subject to the policies of Section 4.9 and 5 of the Official Plan and include hazard/flood plain and valley lands.
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Report number: PL 100-16 Page 2 of 6
Page 13 of 257 Agenda Item # 5.2
Site Statistics Description
Site Location & Size Municipally known as 4275 Country Lane, East of Country Lane, North of Taunton Road West (1.4 hectares) (see Attachment # 1)
Legal Description Part of Lot 30, Concession 4; municipally known as 4275 Country Lane
Present Use Residential (Single Detached Dwelling)
Proposed Use 20 Residential Dwelling Units
Regional Official Plan Designation Living Areas
Town Official Plan Designation Schedule ‘V’ – West Whitby Secondary Plan – Low Density Residential and Environmental Protection Area (see Attachment # 2)
Present Zone Category ‘A’ – Agricultural Zone, By-law 1784, as amended (see Attachment # 3)
Proposed Zone Category See Section 5 – Zoning By-law Amendment to implement the draft plan
Surrounding Uses to the North Future Residential
Surrounding Uses to the East Future Residential
Surrounding Uses to the South Residential / Lynde Creek Tributary
Surrounding Uses to the West Agricultural
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Report number: PL 100-16 Page 3 of 6
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5. Discussion/Options: Draft Plan Layout The Country Lane Estates Inc. triangular shaped draft plan provides connectivity from the adjacent Heathwood Homes subdivision via the future ‘Blenheim Circle’ to Country Lane through a proposed 18.0m local street right-of-way, identified as Street ‘R’. Three of the twenty lots front on to County Lane, whereas the balance of the lots will be accessed from Street ‘R’. The two open space blocks (Blocks 22 and 23) have been illustrated on the draft plan shall be conveyed to the Town as part of the application and will not be considered as parkland dedication. Two 1.5 metre wide road widening blocks (Blocks 20 and 21) also illustrated on the draft plan are necessary to extend a future multi-use trail northward from Taunton Road to the Heber Down Conservation Area in accordance with the Towns’ Cycling and Leisure Trails Master Plan. No direct or formal access to the Lynde Creek tributary will be provided through the subject draft plan application. An access across the tributary has been secured through the adjacent Heathwood subdivision.
Applicant Owned Lands outside the Draft Plan Area The existing dwelling located outside the draft plan area is intended to remain as a separate, remnant lot and will continue to maintain an access from Country Lane. The draft plan submission materials have identified the existing slopes on the north side of Lynde Creek within the remnant lot at 4275 Country Lane as ‘hazard lands’. These hazard lands will be adjacent to the Town's lands once the open space block (Lynde Creek tributary) is transferred to the Town through the development of the Heathwood subdivision. To avoid any potential litigation and liability issues related to a possible slope failure of these lands in the future, the Public Works Department will require the applicant to enter into an indemnification agreement that releases the Town from any claims or liability and shall be registered on the 4275 Country Lane property title. In addition to the requirement for an indemnity clause, the Town will require a 1.5 metre wide road widening along the entire frontage of the remnant lot for extension of the future multi-use trail. The applicant shall prepare and submit a draft reference plan and record of site condition (RSC) to identify the road widening to be conveyed to the municipality at the applicant’s cost.
Zoning By-law Amendment The zoning by-law amendment application is necessary to change the subject lands from the current ‘A’ – agricultural zone category of By-law 1784, as
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Report number: PL 100-16 Page 4 of 6
Page 15 of 257 Agenda Item # 5.2
amended, to the appropriate land use categories for residential lots and open space blocks in accordance with the recently adopted West Whitby Zoning By-law. The remaining lot supporting an existing single detached dwelling unit is to be rezoned from ‘A’ – Agricultural zone category to a low density zone category as established in the West Whitby Zoning By-law.
Supporting Documents In support of both the subdivision and zoning applications, the following documents have been received and are available for review by the public during regular business hours at the Town’s Planning and Development Department:
• Functional Servicing and Stormwater Management (GHD) • Hydrogeological Study (R.J. Burnside and Associates Limited) • Geotechnical Investigation and Slope Stability Assessment (Amec Foster Wheeler) • Stage 1 and 2 Archaeological Assessment (This Land Archaeology Inc.)
6. Public Communications/Plan: The Introductory Public Information Meeting for Country Lane Estates Inc. is in accordance with the provisions of the Town’s Official Plan and the Planning Act. Residents located within 120 metres of the subject property have been provided Public notice of the meeting. In addition to the notice circulation, a notification sign has been posted on site along the Country Lane frontage at least 14 days prior to the public meeting.
7. Considerations: 7.1. Public Not Applicable
7.2. Financial Not Applicable
7.3. Impact on and input from other Departments/Sources Not Applicable
7.4. Corporate and/or Department Strategic Priorities Not Applicable
8. Summary and Conclusion: All comments received at the public meeting, as well as any subsequent written submissions, will be considered by the Planning and Development Department in its review of each development application. A recommendation report will be
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Report number: PL 100-16 Page 5 of 6
Page 16 of 257 Agenda Item # 5.2
brought forward to the Planning and Development Committee at such time as input from the commenting agencies, departments and the public have been received and assessed.
9. Attachments: Attachment # 1 – Location Sketch Attachment # 2 – Official Plan Schedule ‘V’ – West Whitby Secondary Plan Attachment # 3 – Zoning By-law 1784 Attachment # 4 – Draft Plan of Subdivision Original Concept For further information contact: Carl Geiger, x2355
Original Approved and Signed.
Robert B. Short, Commissioner of Planning, x4309
Original Approved and Signed.
Robert Petrie, Chief Administrative Officer, x2211
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Report number: PL 100-16 Page 6 of 6
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Attachment #1 PL 100-16 Location Sketch
Draft Plan Area
Other Lands Owned by the Applicant Heathwood Homes Draft Plan Country Lane Country (SW-2011-01)
Taunton Rd W
Town of Whitby Planning and Development Department
Applicant: File Number: Date: SW-2016-03 N Country Lane Estates Inc. Z-12-16 October 2016
Page 18 of 257 Agenda Item # 5.2
Attachment #2 PL 100-16 Excerpt from Town of Whitby Secondary Plan Schedule 'V'
Subject å
Country Lane Country Land
(LP ø
Legend Boundaries Land Use Designations Symbols and Overlays West Whitby Community Secondary Plan Boundary Prestige Industrial ø Separate Elementary Schools Secondary Plan Greenbelt Plan Boundary Environmental Protection Area å Public Elementary Schools Schedule Central Area Boundary Major Open Space ¹½ Public Secondary Schools Official Plan Transportation Mixed Use One (DP District Park Town of Whitby Mixed Use Two V Existing Arterial Road Network LP Local Park Special Mixed Use Two Policy Areas ( Future Arterial Road Network (Refer to Section 11.12.2.2) Flood Policy Area This Schedule froms part of the Official Proposed Collector Road Network High Density Residential Gateway Areas Plan of the Town of Whitby and must be ² read in conjunction with the written text. Railway Medium Density Residential West Durham Link (WDL) Low Density Residential 25 0 25 50 75 100 Special Purpose Commercial Almond Village Special Policy Area Metres
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Attachment #3 PL 100-16 Excerpt from Zoning By-Law 1784
A A
H-TRN-W Country Lane Country
Subject Land
TRN-W-1
Town of Whitby Planning and Development Department
Applicant: File Number: Date: SW-2016-03 N Country Lane Estates Inc. Z-12-16 September 2016
Page 20 of 257 Agenda Item # 5.2
PL 100-16 Attachment #4 Applicant’s Proposed Subdivision
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Town of Whitby Report
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Date of meeting: October 17, 2016 Department: Planning and Development Department
Report Number: PL 99-16 File Number(s): Not applicable.
Report Title: Downtown Whitby Action Plan 2016 1. Recommendation: 1. That Report No. PL 99-16 regarding the Downtown Whitby Action Plan 2016 be received as information. 2. That Council adopt the Downtown Whitby Action Plan 2016 as presented in Attachment #1. 3. That if the Downtown Whitby Action Plan is adopted by Council, that any new financial considerations for projects and initiatives beyond those already included in the budget and budget forecast, will be identified through the annual budget process. 4. That the interdepartmental action team provide quarterly updates on the Downtown Whitby Action Plan to Council. 5. That a copy of the Downtown Whitby Action Plan be circulated to the Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee (DWDSC) and be made available at Town Hall, the Whitby Public Library and on the Town’s website. 2. Executive Summary: The Town of Whitby Council has adopted a set of eight goals for the 2014 – 2018 term, many of which address downtown revitalization. In response, staff are bringing forward the recommended Downtown Whitby Action Plan 2016 for Council’s consideration and adoption (Attachment #1). The goal of the Downtown Whitby Action Plan is to inspire change so that together we can make Downtown Whitby a destination. The Action Plan provides a summary of the
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Report number: PL 99-16 Page 1 of 20
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public consultation and engagement sessions; the feedback received (Attachment #2); the Vision for Downtown Whitby; the four Objectives of the Plan and the various action items to implement the plan. Overall the draft plan as presented to the public over the spring/summer 2016, was in keeping with the public’s feedback and comments. Only minor changes are being recommended based on public feedback including a slight change to the Vision Statement; changes to the priority of some action items; and the addition of two new action items related to mitigating vandalism and illegal activity in Downtown Whitby and establishing a new permanent location for the Whitby Farmer’s Market. Overall, staff are extremely appreciative of the public participation, comments received and the general enthusiasm to initiate positive and progressive changes in Downtown Whitby. There is a sense from the community consultation that change is needed and that they are happy to see this Action Plan move forward. This report provides a summary of the consultation sessions undertaken; the feedback received; recommended changes to the Action Plan; presents the recommended Downtown Whitby Action Plan for Council’s consideration and adoption; and outlines the staff members on the interdepartmental action team who will be providing quarterly updates on projects for Council’s information. If Council adopts the Downtown Whitby Action Plan, financial considerations for projects and initiatives will be identified through the annual budget process. It is also recommend that a copy of the Downtown Whitby Action Plan be provided to the Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee (DWDSC) and that the Action Plan be made available at Town Hall, the Whitby Public Library and posted on the Town’s website.
3. Origin: The Town of Whitby Council adopted a set of eight goals for the 2014 – 2018 term, many of which speak to downtown revitalization. In response, staff brought forward Report PL 27-16 to the March 7, 2016 Planning and Development Committee meeting which highlighted a ‘Framework for a Downtown Whitby Strategy for Action’. This report outlined some preliminary ideas on the proposed vision, objectives and action items along with a series of visuals which were used to create conversation within the community. The report recommended that staff undertake community consultation and stakeholder engagement and report back with the findings including a final plan for Council’s consideration. In addition, the report also recommended that an interdepartmental action team be formed to work collaboratively on the initiatives in the Downtown Whitby Action Plan. This report provides a summary of the public consultation sessions and input received, highlights the interdepartmental action team and brings forward the recommended Downtown Whitby Action Plan for Council’s consideration and approval.
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Report number: PL 99-16 Page 2 of 20
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4. Background: Downtown Whitby is a unique destination and focal point of the community. Over the years the municipality has provided a significant investment into capital projects and operating programs that directly or indirectly benefit Downtown Whitby such as the Façade Improvement Grant Program, library services, streetscaping projects, heritage property tax rebate program, active transportation, downtown events, advertising and the Downtown Magazine. These initiatives show a desire by the municipality and the community to strengthen the downtown and enhance its identity. The Downtown Whitby Action Plan will provide a comprehensive strategy over the next several years on targeted projects to further improve and foster positive changes in the area.
5. Discussion/Options: In March 2016, staff brought forward a report on the Framework for a Downtown Whitby Strategy for Action for Council’s consideration and general endorsement prior to undertaking public consultation. Council was supportive of the report and directed staff to seek community and stakeholder input and report back with the findings for Council’s adoption. Council also directed staff to form an interdepartmental action team to collaboratively work on the initiatives in the Action Plan on a go forward basis. This section provides discussion on the engagement sessions that were held; summarizes the public input received; notes any proposed changes to the Downtown Whitby Action Plan; and provides a list of staff members on the interdepartmental action team who will assist moving this plan forward.
Public Engagement/Consultation Sessions The goal of the Downtown Whitby Action Plan is to inspire change so that together we can make Downtown Whitby a destination. Therefore, a number of community and stakeholder engagement and consultation initiatives were held to obtain feedback on the proposed Downtown Whitby Action Plan and generate interest and buzz about Downtown Whitby. The sessions ranged from open houses, pop-up booths, display boards at Town Hall, phone and email conversations, feedback via social media on Facebook & Twitter, completion of comment cards, and one-on-one discussions with residents and visitors.
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Report number: PL 99-16 Page 3 of 20
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Downtown Whitby Spring Clean-Up (April 23)
Doors Open Whitby (May 7)
Public Engagement Session (June 28)
Farmer’s Market Pop Up Booth (May 18 & 25, July 6, 14, 20)
BIA Formation Committee Meeting (June 20) – presented draft action plan
Visioning Display Boards in Town Hall (Month of June)
Comment Cards Ranking Priority of Action Items – handed out at pop-up booths
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Comments Received & Proposed Changes to Downtown Whitby Action Plan Staff received a lot of great feedback on the Downtown Whitby Action Plan and on Downtown Whitby in general. Many comments targeted specific action items and have helped shape and guide the recommended Action Plan presented in this report. Overall the Vision Statement, four Objectives and various Action Items as presented were in keeping with the public’s feedback and comments. A summary of the public comments received and overall priority ranking of the various action items can be viewed in Attachment #2. The following section provides a summary of the comments received and the proposed changes to the Action Plan where recommended.
Vision Statement The proposed vision statement in the original report PL 27-16 was as follows: “To create a vibrant, viable, innovative and walkable urban destination that offers unique opportunities and experiences for people to live, work, play and connect.” Many people agreed with the proposed Vision Statement and made comments on ensuring that a variety of retail / shopping uses are a priority and to develop a downtown that draws people to it and inspires and engages people and visitors of all ages. It was also recommended to change the vision statement so that it is posed in the present tense as it should paint a picture of a desired future state. Therefore staff are proposing minor edits to the vision statement and recommend the following: “Downtown Whitby is a vibrant, viable, innovative and walkable urban destination that engages and inspires people to shop, live, work, play and connect.”
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Objective #1 Enable new opportunities for a prosperous and innovative Downtown The following table summarizes the public comments received on the action items in Objective #1 and provides any recommended changes by staff.
Objective #1: Enable new Public Comments Proposed opportunities for a Change prosperous and innovative Downtown
1.1 Update the Downtown Many comments were related to No change Whitby Community improving the façades of buildings, Improvement Plan making the area more investment In progress (CIP) with improved ready and attractive to new See Report PL financial incentives for development while taking into 88-16 development/ consideration the tax impact for redevelopment servicing of more intense type projects including development. expanding the CIP boundaries. Although this item was not ranked as a top priority by the public, staff and Council have identified this item as a top priority for the municipality and therefore recommend no change in ranking.
1.2 Update the Economic This item was considered the second Change ranking Development Strategy highest priority from the public. and move Item to for Downtown Whitby There were many great suggestions 1.5 inclusive of attracting as to the types of businesses and desired businesses uses that people would like to see (based on (i.e. innovative sector). downtown including government projected budget offices, a university, cinemas, high forecast of quality stores, supermarket, family- project and staff friendly businesses, art gallery / recommendation) creative sector. There was also a
comment that noted the need to do a market analysis to understand what types of businesses could be sustainable as well as recommending leasing strategies for owners. This feedback will be useful as staff undertake the review and update to the Economic Development Strategy.
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1.3 Work towards the This item was ranked the highest Change ranking redevelopment of 201 priority from the public. Comments and move Item to Brock Street South stated that it’s time for the Town to do 1.2 (the old Fire Hall site) something with these lands while and adjacent lands ensuring that the Farmer’s Market (based on public into a mixed used, retains a location in downtown. prioritization pedestrian friendly ranking and development. As the Farmer’s Market was a major feedback) item of discussion, staff recommend that it become an action item of its In progress own and have included this under Objective #3 below.
1.4 Update the Downtown Comments focused on the need to No change Whitby Secondary increase the population through Plan to review land higher densities and the ability to uses, identify provide enhanced design guidelines intensification areas, to avoid blank walls at ground level. provide urban design Other ideas were to provide direction policies and review to redevelop “backyard areas” such transportation needs. as laneways and encourage flexible uses in ground floor retail space (i.e. temporary residential) until local demand can support retail tenants. Staff are of the opinion that this is a top priority for the municipality as it will feed into many other action items moving forward.
1.5 Review the Town’s Although there were not many direct Change ranking municipal real estate comments on this item, one comment and move Item to assets, gaps and made by several people was to 1.6 opportunities within consider adding public washrooms in the downtown (i.e. the downtown. (based on public community facilities, prioritization parking, parks etc.) ranking) and create a strategy to manage, grow and develop the assets moving forward.
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1.6 Streamline the Only one comment was provided Change ranking development review which was to consider the use of a and move Item to process for Planning Community Planning Permit System 1.3 and Development which combines zoning, site plan and applications (i.e. minor variances into one application (based on staff delegate Site Plan process. This could be something recommendation Review to staff). considered through the Downtown and inclusion as Whitby Secondary Plan Review. a top 18 item in the Service Delivery Review)
1.7 Review servicing Although this item was ranked fairly No change requirements to high amongst the public, there were ensure that no direct comments provided. This (based on staff development sites item will require consultation with the recommendation) have appropriate Region of Durham who administers
infrastructure (i.e. water and sanitary services. parking, servicing, stormwater management).
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Objective #2 Create Downtown Whitby as a walkable pedestrian-focused destination The following table summarizes the public comments received on the action items in Objective #2 and provides any recommended changes by staff.
Objective #2: Create Public Comments Proposed Downtown Whitby as a Change walkable pedestrian- focused destination
2.1 Review current and This item was ranked the highest No change future municipal priority from the public (tied with Item parking demands in 2.2 below). Comments include See Report PW Downtown Whitby and eliminating street parking from the 18-16 and Report develop a Parking main streets (i.e. Brock Street); PW 31-16 Master Plan to meet providing more accessible on-street In progress these demands. and off-street parking; closing streets periodically using the Open Streets Movement to attract visitors and residents to walk, cycle and roll down the street; and provide free street parking. These comments will feed into the study and provide guidance moving forward.
2.2 Develop a Streetscape This item was ranked the highest No change Improvement Master priority from the public (tied with Item Plan for roads, 2.1 above). Comments include the sidewalks, pedestrian need to increase sidewalk widths to crossings, street encourage more pedestrian activity, furniture, trees, accessibility and sidewalk cafes; lighting, cycling, more benches/sitting areas; uniform signage and and welcoming streetscapes; connectivity in consideration of the flexible roads Downtown Whitby with design that removes the curb to offer specific focus along a flexible space for parking, walking, the Brock Street spine; driving, cafes, events etc.; street and develop related trees, flower baskets and engineering design landscaping; provide charging standards. stations for mobility devices in downtown and more bicycle parking. These comments will be included as part of the study.
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2.3 Conduct a Downtown This was considered an important No change Whitby Corridor Study priority from the public. Comments to review and improve include the need for pedestrian movement and flow of crossings at Brock and Colborne traffic in downtown. Streets and along Dundas Street between Henry & Hickory Streets; the need to redirect truck traffic and commuter traffic to other roads; and the need to review on-street parking as it relates to traffic flow. This input will be useful for inclusion in the study.
2.4 Review services (i.e. This item was tied for fourth with item No change snow and waste 2.5 below. Comments include the collection) in need to review garbage collection to Downtown Whitby in consider rear yard (laneway) pick-up order to implement to improve walkability in the improvements and downtown and the need to provide efficiencies. more regular and frequent street cleaning.
2.5 Work with business This item was tied for fourth with item No change and property owners 2.4 above. One comment included to provide the consideration of adding opportunities to create temporary ramps/access to accessible entrances businesses until a more permanent to their building. access is able to be installed.
2.6 Evaluate the urban This item was ranked the lowest from No change forest canopy and public feedback. Comments include natural environment to the need to consider self-watering better understand the green spaces; community gardens; most appropriate tree butterfly gardens; and drought species and resistant plants species to minimize landscape material water usage. suitable for various locations in Downtown Whitby.
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NEW Item – Continue to Although this item was not originally Add as a new work collaboratively with considered through the draft Action item and rank as Durham Region Police Plan, staff felt that it is a concern Item 2.7 Services and By-law raised by business owners, residents Enforcement to proactively and members of the Downtown See Report LS mitigate vandalism and Whitby Development Steering 02-16 illegal activity in Downtown Committee. Therefore staff Ongoing Whitby. recommend to add this item to the Action Plan.
Objective #3 Inspire and enhance cultural life The following table summarizes the public comments received on the action items in Objective #3 and provides any recommended changes by staff.
Objective #3: Inspire and Public Comments Proposed enhance cultural life Change
3.1 Continue working on This item was tied for third with 3.2 Change ranking creating a Heritage below. Comments include the need and move Item to Conservation District to ensure heritage preservation does 3.6 (HCD) Plan for Perry’s not counter attracting development Plan and the Four and businesses to the downtown as (based on public Corners. well as general questions on where prioritization the HCD’s were located. ranking, addition of Farmer’s Market item below and projected budget forecast of projects)
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3.2 Create opportunities to This item was tied for third with 3.1 No change animate and cultivate a above. There were many great ‘people place’ at comments and ideas including In progress Celebration Square at hosting more events such as free the Whitby Public volunteer led workshops (gardening, Library. arts, yoga); a skating rink in the winter; more landscaping and shade areas; play music on a sound system; outdoor movies; add colour to the space; and kids activities. Staff are currently working with the 8- 80 Cities non-profit organization that works with communities to make people-friendly cities and spaces through community engagement and pilot project activities. This will be initiated this fall.
3.3 Conduct a cultural This item was considered an Change ranking mapping exercise and important priority from the public. and move Item to create a Culture Plan Comments include the need for more 3.5 with specific street festivals; buskers; art shows; input/ideas for more theatre space; celebration of (based on the Downtown Whitby. the history of Whitby; and investment addition of a new in cultural facilities versus private item related to investment in office/commercial the Farmer’s development. It was also indicated Market and that a Culture Plan should be projected budget completed for the entire community forecast of to determine strengths and gaps project) inclusive of undertaking a cultural
mapping exercise.
3.4 Develop a streamlined This item was tied for the lowest No change and pre-packaged priority with 3.5 below. There were event policy with not many direct comments on this (based on staff special consideration item; However, many comments in recommendation) for road closures, fee other areas discussed the need for In progress schedule, and more events and activities in licencing requirements Downtown Whitby. As the downtown for downtown events continues to grow and the Town gets (both Town run and more requests to host events in the private events). downtown, it is important that a standard policy is established.
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3.5 Update the public art This item was tied for the lowest Change ranking policy and develop a priority with 3.4 above. One comment and move Item to municipal policy to noted the need to have art exhibits 3.7 acquire, fund and on closed sections of the road. promote public art at (based on public key locations within Staff notes that investing in public art prioritization the municipality can be another type of incentive and ranking and including Downtown way to invest in community projected timing Whitby. development. Staff also notes that of project) cultural mapping and a Culture Plan should precede a public art strategy.
3.6 Collaborate with This item was ranked the highest Change ranking Downtown Whitby priority from the public. Comments and move Item to business and property include providing opportunity for pop- 3.1 owners on pilot up shops; outdoor display of retail projects to test the wares; sidewalk art; pedestrian (based on public market for creative Sundays (like Kensington market); prioritization ideas and proposals sidewalk cafes and encouraging ranking and staff (i.e. sidewalk cafes, Durham College students to recommendation) pop-up shops, participate.
incubator spaces). Staff have already been working on the creation of an on-street parklet through the conversion of an on- street parking space in Downtown Whitby. This would be used as a pilot project to generate interest and obtain feedback from downtown businesses for future implementation. Timing for this project is scheduled for summer 2017.
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NEW Item – Establish a Although this item was not originally Add as a new new permanent location for considered through the draft Action item and rank as the Whitby Farmer’s Plan, it was made very clear by the Item 3.3 Market. public that it is an important feature in Downtown Whitby. Comments (based on public included the need to keep the feedback) farmer’s market going; moving the market to a Saturday; extending the hours of operation into the evening; adding more vendors; and providing free parking for market customers. Therefore staff felt that it deserved its own action item and recommends that discussions begin this fall with the Whitby Farmer’s Market.
Objective #4 Cultivate downtown connections and promotion The following table summarizes the public comments received on the action items in Objective #4 and provides any recommended changes by staff.
Objective #4: Cultivate Public Comments Proposed downtown connections Change and promotion
4.1 Review and establish This item was ranked the lowest in Change ranking Downtown Whitby terms of priority. One comment and move Item to boundaries and identify received suggested a review of the 4.2 and brand boundaries in relation to growth of areas/districts within the the downtown. (based on staff boundaries (i.e. Four recommendation) Corners, Werden’s Staff are of the opinion that this item Plan, Perry’s Plan, is important in order to recognize the innovation district, etc). area and to be able to plan for and promote the downtown moving forward. This item will be reviewed in conjunction with the Community Improvement Plan, Downtown Secondary Plan and Heritage Conservation Districts.
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4.2 Support and help This item was ranked the highest Change ranking enable the priority from the public. Comments and move Item to establishment of a include the ability of a BIA to provide 4.1 Downtown Whitby seminars or presentations on topics Business Improvement of interest to business owners; host (based on public Area (BIA) or similar events; work with the municipality to prioritization type of business model understand statistical research and ranking) to support downtown marketability of the downtown; and In progress initiatives, events and the need to have businesses that activities. complement existing successful businesses. This item is already in progress through the Downtown Whitby BIA Formation Committee whom has been garnering support through regular meetings and canvasing the business and property owners over the summer 2016. The Town has been working with this group and providing support where necessary.
4.3 Establish key locations This was ranked as second highest No change for entrance features priority from the public. Comments into the downtown and include the fact that a downtown is Staff believe that work towards creative the public image of any town or city undertaking the designs to welcome and that its distinctiveness, quality Downtown people to the area. and appeal is linked to ones mental Whitby Boundary picture of the community. exercise first will lead into establishing gateway locations.
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4.4 Enable opportunity to This item was tied for third with item Change ranking develop Wi-Fi and 4.5 below in terms of priority. Only and move Item to improve broadband one comment was provided by a 4.5 connectivity in Whitby Youth Council member who Downtown Whitby. indicated that Wi Fi is important in (based on promotion of the downtown. projected implementation Staff have added the need to improve of project) broadband connectivity to this item which is separate from Wi-Fi but has been discussed as a need by businesses and raised at several Downtown Whitby Advisory Committee meetings.
4.5 Enhance storefront Storefront signage was tied for third Change ranking signage by updating the with item 4.4 above. This item was and move Item to Town’s Sign By-law, the topic of discussion during pop-up 4.4 providing design sessions at Doors Open and the guidance and financial Farmer’s Market. In addition, the (based on public incentives. Downtown Whitby Advisory prioritization Committee has identified business ranking) signage as a priority. Comments include the need for creative signage that is tasteful; and more coordinated signage.
Overall, staff are extremely appreciative of the public participation, comments received and the general enthusiasm to inspire change so that together we can make Downtown Whitby a destination.
Recommended Downtown Whitby Action Plan – Attachment #1 The recommended Downtown Whitby Action Plan 2016 is presented in Attachment #1 for Council’s consideration and adoption. The final plan outlines the public consultation component, the Vision, Goal, Objectives and the 26 action items listed in prioritization. The charts within the Action Plan list each action item and include:
• Proposed timelines in terms of project commencement and duration; • Project Collaborators in terms of which department and/or outside organizations are responsible for implementing the project; and • Resource considerations such as staff and/or financial impacts. This section also indicates whether the item has been identified through the Capital Budget; if the item was identified through the Service Delivery Review process; and whether the item could be funded through the Downtown Improvement Reserve.
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This document provides Council, staff and the public with a comprehensive list of the major initiatives and priorities in Downtown Whitby moving forward. Successful delivery of the Action Plan will require continued collaboration with staff, Council, the community, businesses, stakeholders and agencies.
Measuring Success of the Action Plan The Plan includes the Downtown Whitby Walkability Map which provides a snapshot of existing attributes within a five and ten minute walking radius of the Four Corners at Brock and Dundas Streets. This map shows existing key features, stable neighbourhoods, potential gateway opportunities, municipal property, and lands that could be redeveloped over time amongst other data. The Walkability Map can be used as a benchmark demonstrating Downtown Whitby’s current state. The map can be updated over time and used as a way to measure success of the Action Plan as projects begin to take shape and redevelopment of the area occurs. Some action items may require that staff from the interdepartmental team in collaboration with others, gather information on an item that might not be available currently (i.e. current number of accessible businesses within the downtown). This will assist the municipality to gauge the overall health of the downtown and whether over time, the downtown is doing better, worse or staying status quo. This Action Plan demonstrates a commitment to investing, enhancing and growing Downtown Whitby into a pedestrian-focused, healthy and vibrant community.
Interdepartmental Action Team As per Council’s direction in Planning and Development Committee Report PL 27-16, an interdepartmental action team has been established to collaboratively work on the initiatives in the Downtown Whitby Action Plan together. The interdepartmental team includes the following staff from each of the Departments:
• Christy Chrus, Project Lead – Planning and Development • Maria McDonnell – Planning and Development • Craig Kelly – Public Works (Operations) • Dhaval Pandya – Public Works (Engineering) • Matt Powers – Community and Marketing Services (Parks & Recreation) • Sheila McGrory – Community and Marketing Services (Economic Development) • Debbie Guiry – Corporate Services (Treasury)
Staff will also require partnership with arms length sectors such as the Whitby Public Library, Region of Durham, Durham Region Police Services, the Downtown Whitby BIA Formation Committee, downtown business and property owners and residents as required.
As per Council’s direction, quarterly reports will be provided at the end of each quarter.
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6. Public Communications/Plan: Notice of this report was circulated to the following groups and individuals:
• Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee • Downtown Whitby BIA Formation Committee • Members of the public who attended the community engagement session on June 28, 2016 and/or who sent in emails or phoned in with comments • Accessibility Advisory Committee • LACAC Heritage Whitby • Whitby Sustainability Advisory Committee • Active Transportation and Safe Roads Advisory Committee • Ethno-cultural and Diversity Advisory Committee • Whitby Youth Council
If Council adopts the Downtown Whitby Action Plan, a copy of the final plan will be provided to members of the Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee, will be made available at Town Hall and libraries and will also be uploaded to the Town’s website.
7. Considerations: 7.1. Public Staff are optimistic that the Downtown Whitby Action Plan will work towards supporting the needs of the Town, its residents and downtown business and property owners on a go forward basis. The Action Plan takes into consideration many of the items that are listed in the Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee 2011 Strategic Action Plan Update as well as aligns with Council’s 2014 – 2018 Goals. Many of the action items presented in the plan will continue to involve public consultation and engagement sessions, providing further opportunities for residents and stakeholders to come together and work towards a common goal to strengthen and promote Downtown Whitby.
7.2. Financial The Downtown Whitby Action Plan has been developed using existing staff resources. Many of the action items listed will continue to use existing staff resources to implement the plan moving forward. If the Downtown Whitby Action Plan is adopted by Council, any new financial considerations for projects and initiatives beyond those already included in the budget and budget forecast will be identified through the annual budget process. Many projects/initiatives are already included within the budget or the forecasted budget. Currently the Downtown Improvement Reserve (DIR) has an approximate balance of $852,000 by the end of 2016. The 2017 proposed estimated annual contribution will be $287,000. The DIR also funds
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the Façade Grant Program within an annual contribution of $75,000. The current DIR balance plus future contribution is sufficient to fund those projects identified in the Downtown Whitby Action Plan which require DIR resources. The outputs from all these initiatives need to be prioritized in conjunction with other municipal priorities.
7.3. Impact on and input from other Departments/Sources The Downtown Whitby Action Plan has been discussed and supported through the interdepartmental action team with Senior Management. It is recommended that the interdepartmental action team be managed by the Sustainability, Heritage, Downtowns and Community Development Division of the Planning and Development Department. Support from each of the departments is provided through quarterly updates which will be relayed to Council. Arms length sectors such as the Whitby Public Library and Region of Durham etc will also be included as required.
7.4. Corporate and/or Department Strategic Priorities The recommendations of this report are consistent with Council’s 2014 – 2018 Goals as follows: 2. To make workplace morale a priority by building a collaborative and creative work environment that engages the abilities of all staff members to solve problems, accomplish new things and deliver the best outcomes to residents. 5. To build downtowns that are pedestrian-focused destinations. To leverage municipal tools and resources to generate local jobs and prosperity. To facilitate a major, multi-faceted, downtown supportive investment on the lands on and around the fire hall site. 6. To enhance safety of our local streets and neighbourhoods by reducing traffic speeds and impact through design standards that support traffic calming and safe speeds across the community. To increase citizen involvement in building safe streets. To manage parking effectively on residential streets and in our downtowns. To reduce traffic impacts of new developments on existing neighbourhoods. 7. To remain the community of choice for families and become the community of choice for seniors and job creators. To focus new growth around the principles of strong, walkable and complete neighbourhoods that offer mobility choices. 8. To become the destination of choice for visitors from across Durham and the GTA. To realize the economic and social potential of our downtowns, waterfront and greenspaces in developing local tourism. To create more things to do and places to enjoy.
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8. Summary and Conclusion: In summary, this report summarizes the community consultation and engagement sessions, provides a summary of the feedback obtained and discusses the recommended changes to the Downtown Whitby Action Plan. Staff is appreciative of the input received over the spring/summer of 2016 and are pleased to see that many of the comments are in keeping with draft Action Plan as presented to Council in March earlier this year. The report provides a copy of the recommended Downtown Whitby Action Plan 2016 and recommends that Council adopt the plan as presented in Attachment #1. If the Downtown Whitby Action Plan is adopted by Council, financial considerations for projects and initiatives will be identified through the annual Budget process. The report also introduces members of the interdepartmental action team and recommends that quarterly updates to Council be provided on the various projects and initiatives as part of the Action Plan. Finally the report recommends that a copy of the Downtown Whitby Action Plan 2016 be circulated to the Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee (DWDSC) and that a copy be made available at Town Hall, the Whitby Public Library and on the Town’s website.
9. Attachments: Attachment #1 –Downtown Whitby Action Plan 2016 Attachment #2 – Summary of Public Comments For further information contact: Christy Chrus, Principal Planner Downtown and Cultural Heritage, x2367
Maria McDonnell, Manager of Sustainability, Heritage, Downtowns and Community Development, x2205
Original Approved and Signed.
Robert B. Short, Commissioner of Planning and Development, x4309
Original Approved and Signed.
Robert Petrie, Chief Administrative Officer, x2211
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Final Report October 2016 Table of Contents
Introduction ...... 1 Public Consultation ...... 2 Walkability ...... 3 Downtown Whitby Walkability Map ...... 4 Vision ...... 5 Goal ...... 6 Objectives ...... 6 Objective 1 – Action Items ...... 7 Objective 2 – Action Items ...... 9 Objective 3 – Action Items ...... 11
Page 43 of 257 Objective 4 – Action Items ...... 13 Agenda Item # 5.3 Measuring Success of the Plan ...... 15
Conclusion ...... 15 Introduction
Downtown Whitby is a unique destination and focal point of the community. From the array of historic architectural buildings, to the cultural spaces to the variety of businesses, the Downtown provides a basis for our community identity. For many years, Downtown Whitby has struggled to attract new investment to the area mostly as a result of development opportunities in other parts of the community.
In 2014, Council created a set of eight goals, many which address downtown development and the need to build downtowns that are pedestrian-focused destinations and to realize the economic and social potential of our downtowns. In response, staff drafted the Downtown Whitby Action Plan in consultation with the public, to help guide the Town of Whitby and community towards downtown renewal and investment initiatives.
This document outlines the Vision, Goal, Objectives and Action Items to initiate positive and progressive changes in Downtown Whitby moving forward. The plan is simple, realistic and presents opportunity to inspire change so that together we can make Downtown Whitby a destination!
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1 Public Consultation In the spring/summer of 2016, staff initiated several community engagement sessions and public consultation meetings in order to obtain feedback on the proposed Downtown Whitby Action Plan to ensure alignment with the community’s priorities. The sessions ranged from open houses, pop-up booths, display boards at Town Hall, email and phone conversations, social media feedback, completion of comment cards, and one-on-one discussions with residents and visitors. Through this process, staff received an overwhelming response and is appreciative of the comments and general enthusiasm to work collaboratively to strengthen and promote Downtown Whitby. The comments and suggestions have been included and applied to this Action Plan.
Farmer’s Market Pop-Up Booth
Spring Clean-Up – April 23 Doors Open – May 7
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Community
Meeting June 28
2 Walkability Walkability can be described as a measure to indicate how friendly an area is to walking. This can be attributed to many factors including the presence of sidewalks, a mix of land use patterns, accessibility, safety, connectivity, residential density, the presence of green spaces and trees, the variety of shops and services, and cultural anchors of a community. Overall, a more walkable community will provide increased health, environmental, and socioeconomic conditions to the people who live and/or work in the area.
As part of the visioning exercise for this project, staff developed a Walkability Map (next page) which provides a snapshot of existing attributes within a five and ten minute walking radius of the Four Corners at Brock and Dundas Streets. This map shows existing key features, stable neighbourhoods, potential gateway opportunities, municipal property and lands that could be redeveloped over time as well as highlights the four Downtown Connecting Corridors along the Brock and Dundas Street spines. These are areas where a high concentration of future redevelopment can likely occur as they are located along major transportation routes and within a five to ten minute walk to the commercial core.
The Walkability Map is a benchmark demonstrating Downtown Whitby’s current state and can be used to feed
Page 46 of 257 into many of the action items as presented in this plan. The map can be updated over time as projects begin Agenda Item # 5.3 to take shape and redevelopment of the area occurs.
3 Downtown Whitby Walkability Map Page 47 of 257 Agenda Item # 5.3
4 Vision “Downtown Whitby is a vibrant, viable, innovative and walkable urban destination that engages and inspires people to shop, live, work, play and connect.” The following sets of streetscape images were created to help guide a desired vision for Downtown Whitby, defining many of the Objectives and Action Items in this plan.
Celebration Square Brock & Colborne Streets
Brock Street Page 48 of 257 Agenda Item # 5.3
Brock & Dunlop Streets Byron Street South
5 Goal The goal of the Downtown Whitby Action Plan is to inspire change so that together we can make Downtown Whitby a destination.
Objectives 1. Enable new opportunities for a prosperous and innovative Downtown. 2. Create Downtown Whitby as a walkable pedestrian-focused destination. 3. Inspire and enhance cultural life. 4. Cultivate downtown connections and promotion.
The Downtown Whitby Action Plan can only be achieved by collaboratively working together. Therefore staff created an interdepartmental action team that will provide quarterly updates to Council on the progress of each initiative. The Action Plan provides a total of 26 action items that are divided into the four objectives outlined above. Each action item is listed in order of priority based on staff’s recommendation and public feedback. The next section highlights the action items and includes information on:
• Timing of the project – i.e. project commencement and duration of project. • Project collaborators – i.e. which departments / organizations will manage the project. Page 49 of 257
• Resources – i.e. what resources are required whether it be staff resources or financial resources Agenda Item # 5.3 * TBD – To be determined; * SDR – Service Delivery Review (i.e. if the project was identified in the SDR and may require other resources subject to SDR implementation plan) * DIR – Downtown Improvement Reserve (if the project will be financed from this reserve).
6 Objective 1 Enable new opportunities for a prosperous and innovative Downtown
Action Item Timing Project Resources Collaborators
1.1 Update the Downtown Whitby Community In-progress Planning and Staff Resources Improvement Plan (CIP) with improved Development; Corporate Complete Q2 2017 financial incentives for development/ Services redevelopment projects including expanding the CIP boundaries.
1.2 Work towards the redevelopment of 201 In-progress CAO in consultation with Staff Resources Brock Street South (the Old Fire Hall site) and all departments TBD adjacent lands into a mixed used, pedestrian friendly development.
1.3 Streamline the development review Various timeframes Planning and Staff Resources process for Planning and Development for various Development; Public SDR applications (i.e. delegate Site Plan Review to initiatives Works; Corporate staff). Services; Community and
Marketing Services Page 50 of 257
1.4 Update the Downtown Whitby Secondary Start Q4 2017 Planning and Staff Resources Agenda Item # 5.3 Plan to review land uses, identify intensification Development in Capital Forecast 2017 1 – 1.5 year areas, provide urban design policies and consultation with the $500,000 review transportation needs. duration public
7 Objective 1 Objective 1 Enable new opportunities for a prosperous and innovative Downtown
Action Item Timing Project Resources Collaborators
1.5 Update the Economic Development Start Q1 2020 Community and Capital Forecast 2020 Strategy for Downtown Whitby inclusive of Marketing Services; $150,000 1 year duration attracting desired businesses (i.e. innovative Planning and SDR sector). Development
1.6 Review the Town’s Municipal real estate Start Q1 2018 Corporate Services; Staff Resources assets, gaps and opportunities within the Planning and SDR 1 – 2 year duration downtown (i.e. community facilities, parking, Development; Community TBD parks etc.) and create a strategy to manage, and Marketing Services; grow and develop the assets moving forward. Public Works; Legal
1.7 Review servicing requirements to ensure Ongoing through Public Works; Region of Staff Resources that development sites have appropriate development Durham; Planning and infrastructure (i.e. parking, servicing, applications Development; Utility stormwater management etc.). Companies Page 51 of 257 Agenda Item # 5.3
8 Objective 2 2 Create Downtown Whitby as a walkable pedestrian-focused destination
Action Item Timing Project Resources Collaborators
2.1 Review current and future municipal parking In-progress Public Works; Planning Capital Forecast demands in Downtown Whitby and develop a Parking and Development 2017 $150,000 Master Plan to meet these demands. Start Q1/Q2 2017
1 year duration
2.2 Develop a Streetscape Improvement Master Plan Start Q1 2018 Planning and Capital Forecast for roads, sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, street Development; Public 2018 $100,000 1 – 1.5 year duration furniture, trees, lighting, cycling, signage and Works DIR connectivity in Downtown Whitby with specific focus along the Brock Street spine; and develop related engineering design standards.
2.3 Conduct a Downtown Whitby Corridor Study to Start Q1/Q2 2017 Public Works Capital Forecast review and improve movement and flow of traffic in 2017/2018 $100,000 downtown. 1 year duration
Page 52 of 257
2.4 Review services (i.e. snow and waste collection) Ongoing Public Works Staff Resources Agenda Item # 5.3 in Downtown Whitby in order to implement SDR
improvements and efficiencies.
9 Objective 2 Create Downtown Whitby as a walkable pedestrian-focused destination
Action Item Timing Project Resources Collaborators
2.5 Work with business and property owners to Ongoing through Planning and Various Capital provide opportunities to create accessible entrances Façade Grant Development; Town’s Projects to their building. DIR $75,000 Façade Program and/or Accessibility Advisory Grant Program streetscape Committee; Downtown improvements business/property owners 2.6 Evaluate the urban forest canopy and natural Ongoing through Public Works; Planning Staff Resources environment to better understand the most streetscape and Development SDR appropriate tree species and landscape materials improvements suitable for various locations in Downtown Whitby. and/or development applications
2.7 Continue to work collaboratively with Durham Ongoing Durham Regional Staff Resources Regional Police Service and By-law Enforcement to Police Service; By-law 2016 Graffiti Capital proactively mitigate vandalism and illegal activity in Enforcement Page 53 of 257 Downtown Whitby. Mitigation Program One-Time Reserve 2016 $10,000 Agenda Item # 5.3
10 Objective 3 Inspire and enhance cultural life
Action Item Timing Project Resources Collaborators
3.1 Collaborate with Downtown Whitby businesses and In-progress Downtown business/ Staff Resources property owners on pilot projects to test the market for property owners; 2017 $15,000 Parklet Pilot creative ideas and proposals (i.e. sidewalk cafes, pop-up Planning and Parklet Pilot Project shops, incubator spaces). Project DIR Development; Public Complete Q2 Works; Chamber of 2017 Commerce
3.2 Create opportunities to animate and cultivate a ‘people In-progress Planning and Capital Forecast place’ at Celebration Square at the Whitby Public Library Development; Whitby 2016 $20,000 – (i.e. develop a strategy and live testing of pilot projects). Strategy - Q2 Strategy Public Library; 2017 2017 $22,000 – Pilot Community and Projects Pilot Projects Marketing Services DIR - Q3/Q4 2017
Page 54 of 257 3.3 Establish a new permanent location for the Whitby Q2 2017 Planning and TBD Agenda Item # 5.3 Farmer’s Market. Development; Whitby
6 month Farmer’s Market; Public duration Works
11 Objective 3 Inspire and enhance cultural life
Action Item Timing Project Resources Collaborators
3.4 Develop a streamlined and pre-packaged event policy In-progress Community and Staff Resources with special considerations for road closures, fee schedule Marketing Services; and licensing requirements for downtown events (both Town Complete Q4 Planning and
run and private events). 2017 Development; Public
Works; Corporate Services 3.5 Conduct a cultural mapping exercise and create a Start Q1 2018 Community and Capital Forecast Culture Plan with specific input/ideas for Downtown Whitby. Marketing Services; 2018 $110,000 1 year Planning and SDR duration Development
3.6 Continue working on creating a Heritage Conservation Perry’s Plan Planning and Capital Forecast
District (HCD) Plan for Perry’s Plan and the Four Corners. Start Q1 2018 Development; LACAC 2018 (Perry’s Plan) Heritage Whitby $50,000 Four Corners 2020 (Four Corners) Start Q1 2020 $50,000
Page 55 of 257 Both HCDs 2
year duration Agenda Item # 5.3 3.7 Update the public art policy and develop a municipal Start Q1 2019 Community and Staff Resources policy to acquire, fund and promote public art at key Marketing Services;
locations within the municipality including Downtown Whitby. 6 month Planning and
duration Development; Public Works
12 Objective 4 Cultivate Downtown connections and promotions
Action Item Timing Project Collaborators Resources
4.1 Support and enable the establishment of a In-progress Downtown business/property Staff Resources Downtown Whitby Business Improvement Area owners; Corporate Services; (BIA) or similar type of business model to support Start Q4 2016 Planning and Development
downtown initiatives, events and activities. 6 month duration
4.2 Establish Downtown Whitby boundaries and In progress Planning and Development Staff Resources identify and brand areas/districts within the boundaries (i.e. Four Corners, Werden’s Plan, Complete Q3
Perry’s Plan, innovation district). 2017
4.3 Establish key locations for entrance features In progress Planning and Development; Staff Resources into the downtown and work towards creative Public Works; Community and Consultants
designs to welcome people to the area. Locations Q3 Marketing Services DIR(for designs
2017 and future construction) Page 56 of 257
Designs Q1 Agenda Item # 5.3 2018
13 Objective 4 Cultivate Downtown connections and promotions
Action Item Timing Project Collaborators Resources
4.4 Enhance storefront signage by updating the Start Q1 2018 Planning and Development; Staff Resources Town’s Sign By-law, providing design guidance Downtown business/ property DIR
and financial incentives. 6 month owners
duration
4.5 Create opportunity to provide Wi-Fi and improve Ongoing Corporate Services; Planning TBD
broadband connectivity in Downtown Whitby. and Development; Community and Marketing Services; Chamber of Commerce Page 57 of 257 Agenda Item # 5.3
14 Measuring Success of the Plan
Success of the plan will be measured on completion of the various action items as well as regular updates to the Walkability Map which highlights Downtown Whitby’s features and attributes on how walkable the area is within a five and ten minute walking radius of the Four Corners at Brock and Dundas Streets. Some action items require that more information be collected in order to be able to measure the item over time. This will be completed through the interdepartmental team in collaboration with other groups.
Conclusion The Downtown Whitby Action Plan is a comprehensive document that outlines the priority projects and investments in Downtown Whitby moving forward. The plan focuses on four key objectives with a total of 26 action items that will be undertaken and evolve over time.
Council’s adoption of this Action Plan will define and prioritize downtown initiatives and conveys Council’s commitment to investing and achieving the downtown vision. The ongoing leadership from multiple stakeholders including Council, staff, business and property owners, organizations and committees will Page 58 of 257
ultimately lead to the successful implementation of the Action Plan. Everyone has a role to play in shaping Agenda Item # 5.3 and building Downtown Whitby so that together we create a destination. This Plan sets the foundation to achieve this goal.
15 Attachment #2 PL 99-16 Downtown Whitby Action Plan Summary of Priority Rankings, Display Board and Handout Comments
The following tables represent the public’s priority ranking for each of the action items under the four objectives.
Objective #1: Enable new opportunities for a properous and innovative Downtown 14
12
10
8
6
4
Page 59 of 257 2 Agenda Item # 5.3
0 Redevelopment of Update the Economic Review servicing Update the Update Downtown Review Town's real Streamline old fire hall Development requirements Community Whitby Secondary estate assets development review Strategy Improvement Plan Plan process
1
Objective #2: Create Downtown Whitby as a walkable pedestrian- focused destination 12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Page 60 of 257 Develop a Downtown Develop a Streetscape Conduct a Downtown Review services (i.e. Create accessible Evaluate urban forest
Parking Master Plan Improvement Master Traffic Operations Study snow, waste etc) to entrance to businesses canopy and naural Agenda Item # 5.3 Plan improve efficiencies environment
2
Objective #3: Inspire and enhance cultural life 12
10
8
6
4
2
0 Test pilot projects in Create a Culture Plan Reanimate Celebration Heritage District in Develop a streamlined Update public art policy Page 61 of 257 downtown Square Downtown event policy Agenda Item # 5.3
3
Objective #4: Cultivate downtown connections and promotion 16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0 Support establishment of BIA Establish gateway Enhance storefront signage Enable opportunities for Establish downtown features/location into Wi-Fi in downtown boundaires / brand areas downtown
Page 62 of 257
Agenda Item # 5.3
4
Vision Statement
The proposed Vision for the Downtown Whitby Action Plan is: “To create a vibrant, viable, innovative and walkable urban destination that offers unique opportunities and experiences for people to live, work, shop, play and connect.”
• It’s a wonderful vision, how many meetings & people did it take to craft it? What we need is a downtown that is practical, efficient and good to look at. • A safe, warm, friendly environment conducive to commercial, social and learning experiences for all ages. • To create a vibrant, viable, innovative and walkable urban centre with “24/7” animation and uses which serve a diversity of uses from both residents (with a mix of incomes and housing types) and visitors (using strong multimodal transit opportunities) and which supports a wide diversity of uses and densities, allowing for change over time in response to changing needs. • Welcoming, comfortable, all-age friendly community. • A vision statement paints a picture of a desired future state and is usually posed in the present tense. A small suggestion might restate it as; “The Whitby Downtown is a vibrant, viable, innovative and walkable urban destination that offers unique opportunities and experiences for people to live, work, shop, play and connect.” • What are the goals and guiding principles in revitalizing the Downtown? • Economic impact? Beautification? Businesses attraction, retention and incubation? Employment? Intensification? I think that the purpose should be clearer. • A vision without heavy traffic would be great but now that we’ve become a GTA bedroom community – solving traffic is paramount. • We hope that the vision looks to drawing people to a dynamic space that continually engages residents and visitors. • One of the most important factors in the credibility of a downtown is its ability to support healthy retailing, restaurants
Page 63 of 257 and personal services. Merchants need the conditions that allow for healthy, profitable businesses. • Downtown Whitby will become the busiest commercial area in Whitby, where merchants have the confidence to invest Agenda Item # 5.3 in high quality shops and to offer the best in fashions, art and regional products in the Whitby marketplace. It will be Whitby’s cultural and entertainment centre, the place to see and be seen, and the premier attraction for tourists and out-of-town visitors • The proposed Vision for the Downtown Whitby Action Plan sets out desirable attributes but doesn’t address the scale of what must be done or the inspirational change that is necessary to stimulate others to invest in the vision. The 5
Downtown needs to become a major employment centre with at least 5,000 new jobs. It needs an infusion of new institutions such as a new hospital, post-secondary education and major cultural facilities. It needs 20,000 new residents with the income to support the specialty goods and services that the Downtown will offer. It needs to become a thriving shopping district that will provide a focus for all of Whitby and for its out-of-town visitors. It needs to provide an inspiring image of the new City that will be the pride of its residents. • To create an “environmentally sustainable”, vibrant, viable, etc.. I believe we should add this term because eventually all municipalities in Canada will have to deal with this issue. It seems to fit hand in hand with our considerations of downtown improvements. While we are working on this, we might as well make provisions for a sustainable future.
Objective # 1: Enable new opportunities for a prosperous and innovative Downtown
1.1 Update the Downtown Whitby Community Improvement Plan (CIP) with improved financial incentives for development and redevelopment projects and review/update boundaries of the CIP. • Freshen up all the façades of 4 corners buildings- inspire excellent businesses to move there. • Attracting business and commerce- filling empty storefronts. • Include brownfield costs in 1.1. • Prevent ground level dead space with no doors or openings (i.e.: Scotiabank building, Freshco) by giving incentives for owners to fix these where existing. • Fix the storefronts and make downtown interesting. There are enough bars. • Get rid of undesirable business (if only it was that easy). • All businesses/ landlords encouraged to use CIP funds for building improvements (facades etc.). • I am concerned about the implications of offering reduced property taxes as a means to attract development. While I support the development of vacant land, an empty plot requires far fewer services than a six-storey building. How will the town pay for the services that six-stories of residences or businesses require? This past year, the Town passed a
Page 64 of 257 one-time tax levy to provide additional funding so that the Fire Department can cope with workload without having to
rely on Oshawa routinely sending resources to help. How will services cope with increased demand in the downtown? Agenda Item # 5.3 • Store fronts all painted same colours, tough to do possibly but would look great. • Through demographic and retail market studies, the municipality can determine the desired size of the downtown and the size of the retail market that will be needed to support healthy, thriving downtown merchants. That market support must be ensured through policies in the Official Plan that can be implemented through the zoning by-law and through the operating and capital budgets of the municipality. 6
• New opportunities for the Downtown will require that the Town make it more attractive for new development to choose to locate in the Downtown rather than elsewhere. Downtown development should be the Town’s #1 priority. Given the state of the Downtown shopping area no new commercial facilities should be approved outside the Downtown until the Downtown is redeveloped and performing all of the many essential functions of a healthy downtown. • Pearson Lanes is a gift, not only location-wise, but aesthetically, architecturally etc. Why has it remained a unused? The perfect location for a whole neighbourhood (and beyond) to shop for deli, bakery, fresh fruit and veg, and other essentials. A good (or simply funky) antique shop wouldn’t go amiss. There never seem to be enough of them. • Are there brownfield redevelopment projects in the works downtown?
1.2 Update the Economic Development Strategy for Downtown Whitby in order to better attract and retain desired types of business development (i.e. innovative sector). • Aggressive bids/ procurement- similar to Peel Region. • Focus all new fashion stores in the downtown. • The downtown needs a hospital, government offices and a university. • Walkable destinations: cinemas, ice-cream shops, family destinations. • Independent café/ bookstore. • Performing arts centre/ old fire hall. • Fine restaurants with patios in front on Brock Street! • A liberal arts university. • A performing arts high school. • Create spaces for youth groups to rent, i.e.: cadets, scouts etc.. • I think there is too much ‘red tape’ when new business wants to come to Whitby. Relocate more Town employee offices Downtown to seed the local economy and stimulate demand for more office/ commercial employment and supportive uses. • While boutique stores provide a pleasant backdrop for a stroll, they are not necessarily conducive to repeated trips downtown. What I saw missing from the plan was any safeguards for essential retail stores, such as pharmacies and Page 65 of 257 supermarkets. Essential retail stores encourage people to shop and spend more time in their neighbourhood, creating a more vibrant space. The downtown has recently lost one of its two supermarkets and the design proposals suggest Agenda Item # 5.3 that the Freshco site may also be redeveloped. Where will people living in a pedestrian-friendly downtown be able to buy their groceries without getting in a car? • Patios are a welcoming spot for patrons. • Shopping animates the sidewalks and public spaces. It stimulates conversation and it provides the things we need as we go about all of our other Downtown activities. The quality of the shopping experience is directly related to the 7
success of all these other uses. Anything that diminishes that quality causes everything else in the Downtown to suffer. • Agree with having an ice cream parlour in downtown and things that are relatively inexpensive for families. • I would suggest that the Economic Development Plan include a gap analysis as to what type of business could be sustainable and incubated whereas the Town might provide some incentives or assistance in developing these businesses types. • Downtown has lost its cinema and ice cream shop (Baskin Robbins). • Need a conscientious effort to attract stores and high quality shops to downtown (i.e. similar to Port Perry, Port Hope, Uxbridge, Cobourg). • The parking lot fenced off at the former No Frills site is a visual eyesore. • Need to go out and actively attract businesses. • The market in Collingwood is held on Saturdays from April to October in a parking lot; this is main draw for residents and visitors who stay to shop and dine. I like the Wednesday market here at the old fire hall but attendance is limited to those who don’t work. Further Collingwood offers a grant for students to incubate businesses and we have seen many youth opening stands at the market as a result. • The municipality can provide a leadership example by ensuring that all street front space in publicly owned properties is put to immediate retail use. • The municipality should support strategic planning and management of the downtown in a manner that is competitive with private sector initiatives. It should encourage property owners to effectively manage the layout and content of the shopping experience. It should support demographic and market research, the promotion of the downtown, and leasing strategies that lead to ongoing renewal and excitement in the downtown shopping experience. • You need entertainment attractions downtown. Escape rooms, lasertag, skyzone, virtual reality arena - someplace you can take a date! There's more to life than restaurants Whitby!! • Take Port Perry as a model. Or Uxbridge. A book store would be a good start. • A coffee shop other then Tim Hortons, a loose tea shop, a bakery with specialty breads and bagels and rolls. An art gallery or pottery shop featuring local wares from the region. A retro arcade for both young and old. • Remove the strip club. • Get rid of the Royal strip club it will help.
Page 66 of 257 • Maybe consider getting Hotel Royal to close somehow. • We shouldn’t encourage franchises to open up in Downtown Whitby. Instead we should encourage creative / Agenda Item # 5.3 independent business sector and local businesses. • More artists, galleries and films brought to downtown. • The consensus seems to be to make it a more daytime / dinner time place than a late evening one. The AMC plaza seems more conducive for late night venues. Bottom line, what exists as a general 'vibe' hasn't worked for a long time. 8
• Yes, the idea of cafes in the downtown core is great in theory but in practical terms right now, it's just about the only business that attracts any foot traffic at all to the area and judging by the sheer number that have come and gone in very quick succession, they are marginal at best and usually fold within a few months of opening. You need to attract a far more diverse business mix to the area. • If the replacement of many existing buildings on the periphery of the four corners results in the "condo-fication" of the downtown, where will people shop for basics such as groceries? Many of the residents in this area have no car (can't afford to own one) or have limited physical mobility and mental skills so they rely on getting to shops on foot (as witness the recent closure of No Frills at Brock and Dunlop). • I do frequent the Farmers' Market on Wednesdays but have been frustrated, along with other shoppers, that many of the shops on Brock always seem to be closed for some unknown reason. One of the restaurants on Dundas, Cafe Marca, that I enjoyed eating at, along with some of my friends, has now been closed for some time and despite my best efforts to find out if and when it will reopen, I have not been successful. • I think the downtown area needs a specific destination to inspire people to visit - something that will make the area unique!! • Rather than continue the trend to urban sprawl, the Town should build more density and diversity of function in Downtown Whitby in order to make it a more affordable and interesting place to live. • To develop an economy that allows people to work and live in the same town, thereby eliminating or reducing commuting time. One possible solution is to develop a telecommuting culture: The Town could approach the federal and provincial governments to enact laws and create incentives for people to work from home, thereby reducing traffic and long commutes. • Encourage the growth of small and medium size businesses, in order to enable women & New Canadians to start their own small businesses. • Support an organic farming industry to expand the agricultural economy of the area. • The most recent ‘change’ being the closure of the No Frills, which leaves that area feeling quite ghetto-ized. And what are plans for the long-abandoned firehall? And why can’t more permanent tenants be found? • More family oriented downtown businesses. • As the centre of most activities in the region, downtown is the necessary location for facilities that serve regional markets and do so in the most sustainable manner. These regional facilities include government services, commercial services of all kinds, hospitals and medical clinics, colleges and universities, and religious and cultural institutions. Page 67 of 257
• Are there different owners of the former No Frills site? Redeveloping the site entirely could be challenging for Agenda Item # 5.3 businesses such as the Royal Bank.
9
1.3 Work towards the redevelopment of 201 Brock Street South (the Old Fire Hall site) into a mixed used, pedestrian friendly development. • It’s time to do something with the fire hall. • Old Fire Hall site - great one in Peterborough on Water Street. • The old fire hall is a heritage building and should not be demolished but a new use within the existing structure should be encouraged.
1.4 Update the Downtown Whitby Secondary Plan through a review of land uses, the identification of intensification areas, the provision of urban design guidelines and a review of transportation needs. • Develop “backyard areas”. • Anchor stores to encourage people to make regular trips downtown. • Clean up the backsides of the commercial buildings: create an exemplary interface between the downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods. • Additional storeys of condos stepped back from existing street/building line. • Provide a second level outside for stores. • Increase the population through higher density residential to create an organic economy that serves the immediate area. The area will then become a destination for people from outside of the area (self fulfilling prophecy). • Maybe just remove the block on Brock St. between Colborne and Dundas on the West side. • Livable downtown with mixed use development. • Develop a strong brand/ identity: reason for people to visit (x5). • I think there maybe are too many bars downtown, maybe we could de-incentivize the bars. I mean sure, have bars but spread them out. So less bars and locate the ones that you do have on the fringes of the downtown. • Allow for flexible uses in ground floor retail spaces (i.e.: renovation into temporary residential) to give flexibility where local demand may not yet support retail tenants. • Change zoning or urban design guidelines downtown to prevent ground level “dead space” with no doors or openings (i.e.: see Scotia bank building, Freshco). Page 68 of 257 • Review back alley/ laneway uses and identify candidates for “mews” style laneway animation: cafes, walkways, Agenda Item # 5.3 patios, gardens etc. • Needs: density and diversity, parking, transit, events. What about residents? • Port Hope has visual design standards for business signage (Even the sign for First Choice haircutters looks great!) • The visible face of a healthy, vibrant, distinctive downtown. A showcase of the best that the Town has to offer tourists and visitors. High order goods and services for highly educated leaders and professionals. Low cost basics for 10
students and low income residents. An essential stimulus for public activity and social interaction. Off-peak support for public transit. Off-peak support for evening activities. Off-peak support for security. • The Official Plan and zoning by-law must provide for growth and change in the downtown to balance the appeal and amenity of the downtown with its high land costs and rents. The Official Plan and Zoning By-law must be meaningful and be enforced to instill confidence in merchants investing in the downtown that the municipality is a partner in driving and developing downtown as a hub for business. The quality of public parks and public spaces and the standard of maintenance of those places must also accommodate and appeal to the needs of higher income households. • By designating the downtown as the commercial, cultural and government centre of the municipal region in its Official Plan, the municipality will begin to reassure downtown businesses that the downtown has a long term and healthy economic future. • The municipality must designate the downtown in its Official Plan as the fashion centre of the municipality. It must designate mandatory retail frontage along its prime shopping streets. It must then follow up this decision by providing for the highest standards of design and maintenance in the municipality and by diligently implementing these standards through its zoning, urban design, property standards regulations, and public works initiatives. • The municipality should undertake an insightful, long range, urban design strategy and plan to make the transition from current conditions to a regional focus of independent fashion merchants by 2031. • The municipality should map the extent of mandatory retail frontage in its downtown. It should manage the number and the extent of non-retail uses in that critical retail street frontage to avoid gaps and blank walls in the continuity of shopping. It should manage the intensity and quality of storefront design to ensure a lively retail environment. • I do understand that bars and clubs attract some visitors to the downtown area but I've often despaired at the damage (in terms of late-night noise, litter and even occasional property damage) caused by this type of business. Does the town have plans to limit the number of licenses issued to clubs / bars - or better yet, to move them out of the downtown altogether and re-locate them (as some towns do in many countries) to light industrial sites or other areas away from the heart of their downtowns? Why can't the town introduce a by-law requiring businesses to clean up the sidewalk in front of their establishments? This is a given in places like the UK and much of Europe. A family-friendly downtown can only work if it's clean and safe for families to come to the area at all reasonable hours of the day. • I do frequent the Farmers' Market on Wednesdays but have been frustrated, along with other shoppers, that many of the shops on Brock always seem to be closed for some unknown reason. One of the restaurants on Dundas, Cafe Page 69 of 257
Marca, that I enjoyed eating at, along with some of my friends, has now been closed for some time and despite my Agenda Item # 5.3 best efforts to find out if and when it will reopen, I have not been successful. • A good design idea from the book “Happy City”: "But the urban landscape does not need to adopt a spectacularly threatening stance to drive people away. Antisocial spaces are as common in the city as blank walls. In fact, blank walls are part of the problem. Jan Gehl's studies of street edges provide evidence. Gehl and others have found that if a street features uniform facades with hardly any doors, variety, or functions, people move past as quickly as possible. But if a street features varied facades, lots of openings, and a high density of functions per block, people 11
walk more slowly. They pause more often. People are actually more likely to stop and make cell phone calls in front of lively facades that in front of dead ones.” • Town should consider acquiring site of fire, then run design competition for use of the site.
• Sustainability of the revitalization will require resources for infrastructure and long-term coordination. I trust that the plan will articulate the needed resources and an implementation timeline. • Town should acquire rear lane, control destiny if necessary by expropriation. • Review the Town’s real estate assets, gaps and opportunities to improve assets in the downtown (i.e. community facilities, parking, parks etc.) and create a strategy to manage, grow and develop the assets moving forward. • I wish to highlight the disconnect between the proposal and the current demographic makeup of the downtown core. There is a significant low-income population in the blocks surrounding the four corners, a fact highlighted by the Region’s Public Health Department identifying the downtown as a priority area. Many of the proposals I saw favour gentrification and retail outlets geared towards discretionary income. We have already lost one of two downtown supermarkets, which severely limits the options for those living in the area without the means to drive across town to buy food. I am not suggesting that the proposals seek to price certain demographics out of the area, but I would like to see a greater emphasis on a mix of retail and housing, including subsidized housing. • Would like to see more housing for mature adults, “bungalow lofts”, not senior housing or retirement homes but where active older adults can be centrally located. • The strategy that is necessary to achieve these features will come from planning policy: shopping is the most important of the many roles of the Downtown; shopping is one of the interdependent activities that make other roles successful; Downtown retailing is different from suburban shopping areas; the Downtown must expand with the growth of the town to remain relevant. These important policy issues must precede the action plan. Otherwise the action plan is very unlikely to succeed in the four main objectives mentioned above. • The remaining downtown houses are often the smallest and least up-to-date houses in the local market. Many downtown residents have limited incomes and are the most likely to live without cars. But many of the retail goods that they need such as food, low cost clothing, and home improvement products are located in the outlying shopping areas where a car is needed to get to them. There is often a fundamental mismatch between
Page 70 of 257 the costs of living downtown and the incomes of those who live there. • Sustainability in urban planning applies to a lot of different issues and one of those is accessibility. As the hub of the Agenda Item # 5.3 transportation system, the downtown is the place where everyone can get to relatively easily. Downtown locations are typically the most sustainable locations in terms of energy consumption, commuting distance, time spent travelling and public infrastructure. • Downtown development in terms of architectural design is important. How will this be addressed moving forward? • What are the projected densities for the downtown area? 12
• Town should consider retail development at the back of buildings. • What will the impact be of intensification on heritage buildings? Will they be protected?
1.5 Streamline the development review process for Planning and Development applications (i.e. delegate the Site Plan application review process from Council to the Planning Department).
• Consider Community Planning Permit System for Downtown Whitby
1.6 Review servicing requirements to ensure that current and future development sites have appropriate infrastructure (i.e. parking, servicing, stormwater management).
• No comments provided
Objective # 2: Create Downtown Whitby as a walkable pedestrian-focused destination
2.1 Review current and future municipal and private parking demands in Downtown Whitby and develop a Downtown Parking Master Plan to meet these demands • Available and accessible parking- below/above grade garages. • Huge problem is parking. Maybe ban cars from the downtown? • I think on street parking should be free in Downtown (in front of shops) to encourage customers (i.e.: Bowmanville Downtown). • Create ample parking. • Try to eliminate street parking on Brock Street downtown area only.er room for streetscape Page 71 of 257
• Traffic and parking are the big challenges. Maybe remove all buildings on one side of Brock St. from Mary to Agenda Item # 5.3 Dunlop!!! No way… of course but that is the problem. • The objective is to create a walkable pedestrian friendly environment yet the actions speak to cars and parking versus walkable access to downtown. There should be an action item that creates walkable and pedestrian friendly access to downtown from the neighborhoods. • There is an Open Streets movement that speaks to closing streets periodically to attract residents and visitors to
13
the streets. Early evidence has shown that this approach has a positive economic impact on local businesses. Bogota closes a main highway every Sunday for folks to walk, ride and roll and attracts thousands of visitors every week. Toronto, Hamilton and Burlington have created Open Streets to resounding success. Toronto has named theirs the ‘Paved Park’ and offers activities such as yoga, massage and activities along the route. I think this approach would serve to revitalize and attract people to the downtown core and could highlight local businesses. People attract people. • Enforcement of parking laws during rush hours. • I would love to see the parking spots on Dundas removed since we have 2,500 other parking spots. • If we can’t have them removed then how about the following: Westbound no parking 6:00 AM – 9:00 AM Mon – Fri. the right turn at Brock has an exception note added. We don’t need no parking westbound in the evenings as you have currently. Most of the time the westbound lane is open in the morning anyway since nothing is open, I have blown through the light many of times when people wouldn’t let me in. Eastbound no parking 4:00 – 7:00 PM Mon – Fri4:30 – 6:00 is not long enough when people get off work in Toronto at 5:00.Free parking • Free parking. • Move on-street parking off of the main streets to create a more pedestrian friendly area. • Part of the concept proposal calls for the construction of multi-storey parking garages near the downtown core. First, I wasn't aware that there was a serious lack of parking at present; second, based on what I've seen in other towns who have taken this approach, this type of structure usually results in unintended and unwanted uses. • If you want to increase commercial development in the downtown core you will need to remove the street parking and curbs on Brock Street for the two blocks north and south of Dundas. Fortunately, there really are not that many parking spaces so that the reduction of street parking can be accommodated by existing public. • Under Objective #1, you suggest that developers should be allowed to pay the Town a fee so that they may avoid providing adequate parking to facilitate their building project. Either the parking is necessary or it isn’t necessary. If it is necessary then either the developer will have to incorporate it into its plan or the Town will have to provide suitable parking on a permanent basis. You cannot have commercial businesses operating in the downtown core without adequate parking facilities. You will simply encourage trespassers to park on adjacent private properties. If adequate parking cannot be achieved, then you will have to scale back the development. Similarly, residential parking must also be adequate, or you will simply not sell condominium units. Page 72 of 257
• We will need a parking area as presently that is sorely lacking. Agenda Item # 5.3 • Make the downtown area a no-car zone, this will significantly reduce the need for vehicle parking. The more room we make for cars, the more cars there will be. The book “Happy City” describes the parking arrangements in Vauban, Germany, an experimental green neighbourhood of about five thousand people: “Long-term on street parking is forbidden. But if you move to Vauban, you have two options. If you own a car, you are contractually obligated to purchase a parking spot in one of the two garages at the edge of town [at a cost of 20,000 euros].
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But if you don't own a car…and you are willing to sign an intimidating "car-free" pledge…you do not have to fork out for a parking spot. Instead, you buy a share of a leafy lot on the edge of town for about 3,700 euros. This is an investment: if the car-free culture prevails, you will share that park with everyone.” • Are there plans to add accessible parking to Downtown Whitby? There is only 1 accessible on-street parking space by the Legion at the moment.
2.2 Develop a streetscape improvement master plan focused on road, sidewalks, pedestrian crossings and street furniture design improvements, as well as, tree, lighting, cycling and signage in Downtown Whitby, particularly along the Brock Street and Dundas Streets. • Increase sidewalk space: one way traffic. • Widen the sidewalk and improve the lighting (x2). • Clean sidewalks. • Add scooter charging stations in Downtown. • More benches. • More street sweeping. • Similar to downtown Cobourg: beautiful downtown. Strollable, beautiful plants, classy. Pretty up the buildings and streets. Make it look like an up and coming area, not run down. • By law for business signage. • Accessible and welcoming streets and sidewalks. • Walkable streetscapes for people and encouraging passive/active recreation. • Walkability. • Regular and frequent street cleaning. • Downtown area to be cleaned on the weekends. • Clean are and make it more accessible for everyone. • Places to put doggie bags, bicycle lanes. • I rely on both DRT and GO services as I do not drive. I understand that people are concerned about lack of space on sidewalks at the Four Corners Pulse bus. Any plan for the downtown must find a way of including more space Page 73 of 257
so that people can wait for buses (preferably with larger shelters) while also not blocking the flow of pedestrian Agenda Item # 5.3 traffic. Public transit in Durham is increasing and the downtown must be able to accommodate this. As you said in the presentation, most municipal parking lots are not at capacity. Perhaps some of the on-street spots can be converted to dedicated bus bays? • Recently I had to give up driving because of health issues and now I have to walk to the grocery stores, pharmacies, bank, etc. I have had Rheumatoid Arthritis for 27 years and with treatments and medications I am still able to walk but short distances. It is almost impossible to find a bench etc. to rest for awhile while going to, 15
say the grocery store. I walk from Hickory St. N. to Freshco on Brock St. which is the closest grocery store for me. I have to walk the full distance, shop, and then walk back without a rest because of no place to sit for any length of time. I am sure I am not the only one that has to do this. There are many Seniors in this area. It is OK if you have a walker or scooter but I am unwilling to go there just yet. I am sure more people would be willing to go "up town" more if they did have this convenience. Also Ash Park needs more benches there as well. We like to walk around for exercise but again, not many places to sit and rest there either. • Bloor Street in Yorkville great example of streetscape, extremely colorful and inviting. • Lighting a downtown is important. • Uniformity is very important. • A park like setting would be a draw to the public. Water features, a bandshell and twelve month landscaping to highlight all seasons. • Interlock walkways, with streetscape sitting areas. Safety for all patrons. • Whitby is a commuter town, 110,000 people in Durham go to work in the GTA. Whitby is a bottleneck for traffic. You can take Highway 2 from Bowmanville to Toronto on a 2 lane highway except for Whitby. If you want support for your downtown how about consider those of us that need to use Highway 2 (Dundas) to get to work and home again. • Develop and implement a comprehensive maintenance plan for the downtowns. Baskets, planters, benches, weeding etc. • Collingwood has wide sidewalks to allow for outdoor seating in front of restaurants and cafes. People are drawn to the downtown experience. • The municipality must monitor pedestrian traffic on downtown sidewalks. It can then focus public facilities and public activities in the downtown as necessary. The municipal offices, the hospital, post-secondary education, the courts, and major facilities for assembly and recreation should be planned to support high levels of foot traffic in the heart of the municipality. They should also be strategically located to stimulate movement through the downtown along the retail street frontages that are so critical to its success. • Pedestrians need a reason to come to the Downtown. They will come to the Downtown for jobs, for healthcare, for education, for entertainment, for recreation and for celebration. The Town’s #1 priority should be to focus all new development of such facilities on the Downtown until pedestrian foot traffic in the downtown reaches a minimum of 500 persons per hour. Page 74 of 257
• No through traffic, sidewalk café’s as in Unionville for a starter. Agenda Item # 5.3 • While the artist's concept drawings showing folks happily seated at sidewalk tables on Brock Street between Dunlop and Dundas are all very idyllic, who would want to indulge in a coffee while 18-wheelers rumble by only a couple of feet away from the tables? Unless you can do something drastic about the traffic passing through what is already a fairly narrow "canyon" between the tall buildings on this part of the downtown (such as making this a pedestrian only zone or introducing European-style vehicle emission controls), let's be realistic about the
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four corners: unlike other towns that were mentioned as examples of places where improvements have been made in recent years, Whitby is "blessed" with not one but two major highways which intersect right where these proposals are focused. • The old Fire Hall on Brock to me is an eye sore, together with the plaza where the old No Frills store was. That whole area should be redeveloped to include a "walkable pedestrian-focused destination" to attract families to the area. • Safe routes in the downtown core for cycling. Maybe restrict riding or cycling on sidewalks in the downtown core, but ensure cyclists can get there: using Mary, Green and other routes. Provide safe and secure parking close to Downtown for cyclists. • I was recently in Unionville and was impressed with their Main Street area. • Need to include a public water fountain and doggie drinking station in the downtown.
2.3 Conduct a Downtown Traffic Operations Study to review and improve the movement and flow of traffic through downtown. • Flashing lights for crosswalks for people and bicycle traffic. Can be located at secondary streets such as Byron, Colborne. • Alternate traffic flows- alternate routes for traffic through downtown. • Pedestrian friendly crossings between north side of Dundas and south side of Dundas. • Redirect traffic around Colborne to Highway 2 block, i.e.: walk only on Brock. • Re-direct traffic through Garden or other N/S road, make Brock St. pedestrian only. • Develop alternate routes to the 401 and the GO station with fewer 4 way stops. • Should the direction sign at Thickson and #12 read- NO TRUCK traffic through Brooklin and Downtown Whitby? • Hasn’t 2.3 been done already? Get trucks out. • Close Brock St. to vehicle traffic on weekends in the summer. Encourage people to walk through shops. If people are accepting of it then nicer stores will want to join in. Then more people will come. It will feed upon itself. I am referring to the four corners area only. • Notice there are no big trucks downtown in the visioning concept on the front page. Page 75 of 257 • My problem with the four corners is the five parking spaces on the eastbound lanes. I live in West Whitby and Agenda Item # 5.3 people in my neighborhood avoid our downtown at all costs largely due to this bottleneck. It is embarrassing seeing the frequent backed up traffic no matter the day or the time (the no parking signs are either ignored /not enforced/seriously outdated). I can appreciate the parking spots also act as a pedestrian safety barrier but I would think traffic and urban planners can figure something out for that. In my opinion these parking spots must be removed otherwise same old for our four corners. 17
• Downtown is where all of the historic routes into town, including the railways, typically converge. In most municipalities, the downtown continues to be the most central and most accessible place in town. It has the highest density of streets and a remarkable ability to adapt to changing transportation needs. It also has the widest range of activity generators in town. It is the one place in town that is active day and night. The future of our transportation systems will therefore continue to focus on downtowns as the hub of the system. • Reroute trucks from the downtown. • The current parking and curbs on Brock Street, two blocks north and south of Dundas, have reduced the traffic flow to, and the potential development of, downtown core. The bottleneck of traffic at that location dissuades motorists from entering this area and accordingly they seek passage via parallel residential arteries. The first page of your presentation suggests the further restriction of traffic along this vital corridor. If you do not have traffic entering the area and parking to facilitate that traffic, then you will not have pedestrians walking along the sidewalks. This is your current dilemma. • There are rumours that the Town is considering diverting heavy traffic from the downtown area and widening the sidewalks; in some of my letters I have said we should look at Unionville, we could be like that strolling through the downtown and not having to cover your mouth because of diesel fumes. • Every time I drive past the Four Corners, it strikes me how the aesthetic, historic and cultural value of this area can only be fully appreciate when on foot or on a bike. Besides, all drivers share the same frustration with the daily rush-hour bottlenecks at the Four Corners, which are made worse by the lack of left turn lanes. Why not eliminate passenger cars entirely? Public transit can be re-routed to the edges of the connecting corridors, with minimal loss of efficiency. Municipal parking garages can also be built at the edges of the connecting corridors, for those who still want to own a vehicle. Once the density and variety of functions is built into Downtown Whitby, more people who live there may opt not to drive a car. Possible exceptions: emergency vehicles; delivery vehicles and waste collection vehicles with a 5mph speed limit in this zone. • Is there opportunity to re-route truck traffic to Thickson Road from Brock Street?
2.4 Review services (i.e.: snow and waste collection) in Downtown Whitby in order to implement improvements and efficiencies.
Page 76 of 257 • Improve walkability by changing garbage collection to be picked up behind the buildings in the downtown where possible. Agenda Item # 5.3
2.5 Work with Downtown Whitby business and property owners to create accessible entrances to their building. • I wonder if they would consider adding temporary ramps/ access to businesses in Objective #1 until permanent
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storefront accessibility could be addressed in Objective #2 • I also think if there is still money in Objective #4 it would be better spent helping downtown businesses further improve their accessibility (i.e.: washroom improvement grants) over spending money on wi-fi. • Victoria Fields is not accessible to the elderly or the disabled so we miss out on this special event that brought life to our Town I’m sure they could paper their walls with my numerous letters regarding this matter. • Consider the effect of aesthetics on emotions and mental health when creating building regulations: broaden the definition of accessibility to consider the needs of not only wheelchair users but also parents with strollers and seniors with scooters, etc..
2.6 Evaluate the urban forest canopy and natural environment to better understand the most appropriate tree species and landscape material suited for Downtown Whitby and the most optimal planting locations. • Infiltrate Downtown Whitby with self watering green spaces and/or community gardens in order to conserve mature trees and wildness of the green space so as to satisfy people's need to connect with nature, not simply to cosmetically enhance commercial development . There is a stand of trees on Dundas west of the College Apartments. There are small plots of green space east of Hickory St., Pine St. & Dundas which could be turned into butterfly gardens with a stone walking path inserted providing continuity. Drought-resistant plants could be used to minimize water usage. If the Town leases the land, the larger plot could serve as a site in the summer for a couple of rentable, portable kiosks for art and craft vendors. In the winter, the kiosks can be converted into solar greenhouses for a community vegetable garden. Page 77 of 257 Agenda Item # 5.3
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Objective # 3: Inspire and enhance cultural life
3.1 Continue working on creating a Heritage Conservation District Plan for Perry’s Plan and the Four Corners. • Ensure heritage preservation doesn’t run counter to other goals, i.e.: attracting development, business and people. This district should be able to support additional density in a way that is sensitive to heritage resources. • Implement new while preserving old (as in heritage). • I would also suggest that you consider removing ‘heritage’ designations from commercial properties. Nineteenth century developments are not really suitable to twenty-first century business. That a building is old, does not imply that it is well-built, useful, or even beautiful. Making these properties available for redevelopment will enhance opportunities and your ability to achieve your objectives.
3.2 Review opportunities to animate and create a ‘people place’ at Celebration Square at the Whitby Public Library. • Have free, volunteer led workshops (gardening, brewing, arts, yoga etc.). • A town square with food concessions and street vendors. • Host more events at the community space in front of the library Square. • More trees/ landscaping. • Interactive water feature. • Shade structures colourful umbrellas. • A skating rink in the winter (x10). • Concerts, more plantings, color, seating, kids activities. • Fountains and landscaping. • Christmas tree for lighting (real tree) (x2). • Collingwood plays music in their downtown core which is thematic (Christmas etc.) the music creates a positive and happy attraction. • Benches.
Page 78 of 257 • Raised planters and covered seating (gazebo).
• It is beautiful now (waterfall, benches, flowers, café, space). Agenda Item # 5.3 • More events! • Great job so keep it up. • Outdoor movies (x3). • Get rid of the used cars. Link the square to the shopping area. Add a café. • Walking history tours around downtown. 20
• Umbrellas, for shade. • Kids fountain, play space (like the Ontario Science Centre). • More events, better promotion. • Partner with Whitby Courthouse Theatre for outdoor shows here. • ‘Celebration Square at the Library’ is a small area! • The Plan must embrace the concepts of Placemaking through Projects for Public Spaces to demonstrate best practices in revitalizing our public spaces. • A ‘people place’ already exists at Celebration Square. • Collingwood has music piped over speakers on Hurontario St. (not loud) and often themed to the Elvis Festival, Christmas, etc. this is a very welcoming and a warm touch. • Mini libraries are erected in Orillia that are literally a cabinet on a pole that people “take a book and leave a book”. This concept promotes the library system, literacy and leaves a really homey feel. • I am certain that you know about “Projects for Public Spaces” (PPS) which originated in NYC and developed the Placemaking movement. The movement engages residents in making public spaces dynamic and magnetic. I hope that the revitalization plan embraces the concepts of Placemaking not only in the downtown but is extended over time to other public spaces in Whitby. The downtown will need to be “programmed” to be effective in drawing people to the space. • The municipality should initiate a design concept for use of the civic square to accommodate vendors of fashions, accessories and street foods and open the Square as a weekend tourist market. • The beautiful library seemed, for a while, to be the only reason to come downtown. I also think the lovely outdoor area of the library fronting onto Dundas is under utilized and could have more cultural activities on a regular basis to attract regular visitors. • Treat Celebration Square as a performance stage and provide it with equipment to accommodate child and adult audiences. • A list of possible equipment to be housed at the WPL may include: a removable stage, removable semi-circular bleacher-style seating, removable sound system, portable large screen TV, video cameras, a circus-tent size umbrella for shade in the summer. The Town will need to determine if this equipment should be purchased or rented from a supplier on an as-needed basis.
Page 79 of 257 • Theatrical/Musical Performances: Making Downtown Whitby a no-car zone, will reduce traffic noise significantly, making the performances that much more enjoyable. For example, Driftwood Theatre's annual summer performances Agenda Item # 5.3 would not be marred by traffic noise along Dundas St. • Remembrance Day Ceremonies: I thought it was a great idea to block off the street for the ceremony last year, but even with no cars, the small area around the Cenotaph was too congested with people to get a clear view. Hold the main ceremony at Celebration Square which can accommodate more participants and attendees. During the final part of the ceremony, the veterans can parade from Celebration Square along Dundas to the Cenotaph for the wreath 21
laying. Those at Celebration Square will be able to watch on the parade on a large screen TV. • Busker Festival: Once Downtown Whitby is established as a pedestrian zone, an outdoor Busker Festival, with Celebration Square as the main stage, would be a wonderful way to bring locals and tourists together. • Whitby Ghost Walk Tour: Many towns and cities such as Kingston and St. Petersburg, Florida have "Ghost Walk Tours" or "Haunted Walks." These tours combine the study of history and architecture with psychology and storytelling. They are typically guided tours that begin at dusk. They are both educational and entertaining and also a great promotional tool for a city's heritage and cultural districts. The Whitby Public Library currently publishes pamphlets on the various self-guided walking tours in the Heritage Conservation Districts. I suggest the Town should go one step further and create a script that incorporates history and storytelling and recruit local amateur actors as tour guides.
3.3 Develop a Culture Plan for Downtown Whitby. • More street festivals, i.e.: Blues Fest, County Town Carnival, maybe use side street not Brock & Dundas for less detoured traffic volume. • We need a theatre space. • Festivals in ministry, art shows, buskers. • Festivals celebrating: food, music, like Oshawa’s Fiesta Wear. • Something like Waterloo’s Grande Porch Party. • Go back to our roots: keep up harbour days etc.. • More events downtown. • More downtown events with street closed. • Family festival in the summer, bring the north part of the city down here. • Community garden and longer hours for farmer’s market. • Vegetable gardens- have people using food bank to help grow it! • Year round farmer’s market with free parking for customers. • Keep farmer’s market and possibly move it to Saturdays to attract more people to downtown. • Keep the farmer’s market (x4).
Page 80 of 257 • I support businesses in the Downtown core but parking for the farmer’s market is difficult. • I would have more emphasis on the Farmer’s Market, promotion and designation. Agenda Item # 5.3 • Unionville has a Farmer’s Market on a Sunday with buskers to entertain the folks. This would be a great idea for downtown. • I wish you had more events like Bowmanville, Port Perry where streets are closed and the public can walk freely on Main Street. • In regards to a Cultural Plan, I would like to see the History of Whitby celebrated not forgotten. 22
• Dog-friendly park, street food, concerts, gospel singing events. • A cultural plan should be completed for the whole community to determine the strengths and gaps, cultural mapping etc. and how culture can enhance the community as well as the downtown. • The downtown of any community is its cultural and social centre — its heart and soul. This is most likely the original place of settlement. It is the place that connects us to the founders of the community and makes us realize that we are part of a continuum that spans past generations and those to come. This is where we find the oldest buildings, including the iconic churches, town halls and courthouses that give our municipality its character. In its libraries, museums, art galleries, public spaces and streets and lanes we have a repository of the city's heritage. The names of our streets connect us to the people and the events that built our cities. And within these buildings we also find our past and present leaders. • Downtown streets and public spaces are the places to see and be seen. They are the places for people watching, for meeting and greeting. They are the romantic places that are always free and inviting, and where you always feel that you belong. Only in the downtown will you find the concentration of institutions and associations that bring minds, social consciousness and civic aspirations together to make life in our cities better for all. Such organizations including Boards of Trade, social planning councils, service clubs, historical societies, colleges and the YMCA find the centrality, amenity and proximity of the downtown essential for their success. • The municipality should initiate a call for proposals to construct a permanent food market attached or adjacent to a downtown transit terminal. • It has been found that where municipalities have been successful in reviving their downtowns their success has been a result of public investment in cultural facilities rather than private investment in office/commercial development. With this in mind, the Town’s #1 priority should be the development of a cultural plan to include new cultural facilities in the Downtown and to give Whitby residents strong reasons to come downtown on a daily basis. • Places with much fewer resources (and certainly lower property taxes) seem to manage on a much more creative level. • Are there areas of the downtown being considered for cultural pursuits? Everything is really spread out right now. • Sidewalk painting used to happen in the past. This could be re-invented in the downtown.
3.4 Develop a streamlined and pre-packaged event policy with special consideration for road closures, fee
Page 81 of 257 schedules, and licencing requirements for downtown events (both Town run events and private requests for events). Agenda Item # 5.3 • Spectra vision for events to draw public.
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3.5 Update the public art policy and develop a municipal policy to acquire, fund and promote public art at key locations within the municipality including Downtown Whitby. • Art exhibits on closed sections of road. • Maybe add another acting theatre, another art gallery in the downtown or at least close by. I would like to see a gallery that has a standing exhibit representing Whitby. The Lynde House is a good start. The track record of private initiative in producing inspirational public art and architecture has been very good and generally surpasses anything that can be accomplished by publicly funded, committee driven initiatives. • Unionville has a wonderful free Art Gallery right in their downtown. I know we have the Station Gallery but it is not downtown where it would be easier to wander in and enjoy changing displays.
3.6 Collaborate with Downtown Whitby businesses and property owners on pilot projects to test the market for creative ideas and proposals (i.e. sidewalk cafes, pop-up shops, incubator spaces). • Pedestrian Sundays like Kensington market (x3). • Pop up shops. • Outdoor display of retail wares. • Sidewalk art. • Yes! • Install tent / food stands with seating areas, small tables/chairs. Maybe encourage Durham College students to par- take in such an initiative.
Page 82 of 257 Agenda Item # 5.3
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Objective # 4: Cultivate downtown connections and promotion
4.1 Review and establish Downtown Whitby boundaries and identify and brand areas/ districts within the boundaries (i.e. Four Corners, Werden’s Plan, Perry’s Plan, innovation district, etc.). • The municipality should review the growth of the municipality and the relative size of the downtown at least every 5 years and adjust the boundaries of the downtown accordingly.
4.2 Support and enable the establishment of a Downtown Whitby Business Improvement Area (BIA) or similar type of business model to support downtown initiatives, events and activities. • Establishment of a downtown BIA. • BIA should be responsible for events (with city approval) grants are available to non-profit organizations. • BIA's provide for regular meetings of business owners and frequently include seminars or presentations on topics of general interest. Municipalities are in a better position to arrange for meetings amongst property owners for discussions of mutual interest in matters such as leasing strategies or growth of the downtown. Municipalities are also better able to monitor the downtown, to undertake statistical research, and to provide an overview of commercial development trends and trends in the growth of the municipality. • Statistical research should include: new investment in the downtown (building permits, changes in assessment, real estate prices), downtown turnover, foot traffic, household income in the surrounding neighborhoods, levels of education, critical mass of retail stores, business mix/continuity in shopping, retail mix, retail space inventory (what percentage of retail floor space is downtown, what is the ratio of independent to chain retailers), levels of sales per square foot. • I am grateful to places like LaFontaine, KB, Healthy Meats, the Farmer’s Market, Nice Bistro and other long time businesses to the downtown who give the community places to support. Businesses that complement existing success stories are what we need. Not more competition in the same genre. • My pet peeve for years has been the leave of the Town Carnival to Victoria Fields which helped boost interest and Page 83 of 257
business to the Town core. Agenda Item # 5.3
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4.3 Establish key locations for gateway features into the downtown and work towards creative designs to welcome people to the area. • The downtown is the public image of any town or city. For good or bad, the distinctiveness, the quality, the amenity, the appeal of the downtown is inextricably linked to our mental picture of the municipality. Whether we like it or not, Downtown Hamilton is Hamilton, and Downtown Oshawa is Oshawa. You wouldn't say you have been to either city if you haven't been to its downtown. • This identity is critically important to tourists who have so many choices in where they travel. They are inevitably attracted to those places that are distinctive, recognizable, memorable, appealing and compelling. The downtown's identity is also important to new residents who may choose to associate themselves with that identity. It is important to local businesses who add their names to the city's skyline or who compete to build the tallest or most iconic buildings. It is important to investors who avoid the risks that are associated with downtowns in obvious decline. It is important to businesses that are considering relocating to our cities and who check out our downtowns to determine if their families could feel comfortable there. • Connections and promotion are important but not the most important objective that the Town needs to pursue. A more urgent objective is to clearly define the many roles of the downtown, why a strong and healthy Downtown is essential to the municipality, and what characteristics are essential to the Downtown. Then the Town will be in a strong position to distinguish the Downtown from all of the other commercial areas throughout Whitby and to plan for its growth in accordance with the growth of the municipality.
4.4 Enable opportunities to develop Wi-Fi in Downtown Whitby. • Wi-fi helps in promotion! (Whitby Youth Council)
4.5 Enhance storefront signage by updating the Town’s sign by-law, providing design guidance and financial incentives. Page 84 of 257
• Creative signage is good if tasteful. Agenda Item # 5.3 • The downtown merchants should undertake the staging of all vacant retail floor space. Staging should include cleaning and painting the premises as necessary, creating dramatic fashion displays using clothing, accessories, props, lighting and signage from downtown businesses. As in a film production, credit should be given to everything.
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OTHER COMMENTS : • Public washrooms (x3). • Foot patrol police officers. • I would like to see less debating and more actions taken to bring Whitby Downtown to the status of Bowmanville and Port Perry. • Speakers corner, “train little” to Whitby Harbour. • There used to be a toy train that went from Downtown Whitby to the harbor – what happened to this? • Somewhere friendly to bring my kids. • Whitby blooms with untouched opportunities. Look at for example Downtown Toronto. A tourist destination. Maybe add attractions which tell you/gives you a wider range of people. An attraction for every age group with accessibility for each. • Add a 3.7: Create and support an annual calendar of events that celebrates cultural, historic and active living in Whitby. Huntsville celebrates a ‘Girls Weekend’ in November that attracts thousands of women to enjoy shopping and the Town provides shuttles from events and opportunities. This event has significant economic impact on the local economy during a shoulder season. • Consider how the use of technology can enhance the attraction to the downtown core. Parks Canada has developed an app that highlights ecological and environmental features within the parks system. Wouldn’t it be exciting to have an app that interprets the history and interesting facts about the development of Whitby over the years instead of chasing Pokémon, residents and visitors can chase facts about Whitby. • I trust that the Plan will include an implementation strategy complete with the required resources. This important work will require continued focus and coordination. • Nothing much has changed in the downtown. • Some older buildings have been refurbished – Michael Penny has done a great job at investing and making changes to the downtown. • Would the Town consider focus groups rather than surveys? More immediate response and people with an interest in seeing progressive change! Page 85 of 257 A Downtown has many roles and each of them is important to the life of the municipality. Each of these roles needs to
• Agenda Item # 5.3 be described in detail and benchmarks set to ensure that these roles are achieved and can be protected. • When any of these regional services locate in peripheral locations, savings are gained by the owner/developer from lower land costs and easy access to the highway system. But these savings are offset by extra costs that are paid by the employees, customers and the public at large. Fuel costs, vehicle and vehicle maintenance costs, and time lost to commuting are paid by the employees and customers. The extra road capacity and road maintenance costs are paid by the municipality. The costs of air, water and land pollution and associated health costs are paid by everyone. 27
• It is extremely efficient for a retailer to bring a full truck load of laundry detergent to a single location. It is extremely inefficient and hardly sustainable for everyone in the Region to drive to a peripheral location to get it. • How will you engage Whitby's young people in the process? Granted, youngsters are not normally interested in local politics but judging by the average age of the attendees at the community meeting, it doesn't look as if anyone less than 35 years old will have any input into what for them might be critical decisions about the shape of Whitby's future. • I hope you won't take these comments as being unduly negative: it is high time that something was done to revitalize the heart of the town but it's going to take more than tidying up a few sidewalks here and there. The last thing this area needs is to be turned into a sea of condos a la Toronto but by looking to partner with developers to realize this vision • I have been a resident of Whitby since 1999 and have always been a big supporter of the downtown area. However, I have endured a number of years where there was no inspiration to venture there. • Sunday morning is quite messy after a Saturday evening from the bar activity. • What changes were made to the nuisance by-law? Were people given tickets rather than being charged or arrested? • We need to have cameras installed in downtown. • Bars should hire off duty police officers. • Need to re-evaluate the location of bus stops in the downtown core so that you do not have to walk through a cloud of smoke. • Can the bus stop at the Four Corners be moved as there is so much pollution from traffic and it would be a better location for an accessible parking space. • I appreciate the efforts staff have made as I have seen an improvement in the last 5 years. • What will happen at the fire site on Brock Street South – will they be required to use a heritage or modern façade for the new building?
Display Board Comments - What would you like to see at the following locations: Byron Street • Having the market on Byron St. would create problems for businesses regarding parking. • Increase Legion space in order to permit use for Youth Groups, i.e.: Whitby Air Cadets who now travel to Oshawa
Page 86 of 257 • I like the flexible roads presented, i.e.: Front St. Toronto or King St. Kitchener • Bike lanes Agenda Item # 5.3 • Need more parking lots • Can we please do something about amount of litter in our fair town • More accessible parking • Restaurants need to stay open later (x2) • Outside beer garden 28
• Narrow street, sidewalk cafes • Art galleries (x3) • Keep all businesses but clean up all storefronts!!! • Turn it into a narrow street filled with arts boutiques and galleries • Sidewalk cafes, greenery • Proper cigarette disposal units (x3)
Downtown Whitby Street Plaza • Independent book store • Condos with shops at street level, supermarket and other necessary retail • In part, a bus transportation hub, i.e.: Hamilton downtown but on a smaller scale • Durham college site • More density: mid rise condos, office, retail (x2) • Food store • Durham college/ U of T (x2) • Health / fitness (x2) • Restaurants (x3) • Need re-branding renovation similar to plaza west side of Thickson • Dollarama • Community centre • Food store • Perhaps store with residence above, increase density (x2) • Apartment buildings with more residents • Proper super markets with deli • More bike ring parking (x3) • Condos
Page 87 of 257 • Family restaurant where families can take their children and it is not expensive
• Commercial/ residential Agenda Item # 5.3 • Major redevelopment • People/ main street • Farmer’s market • Keep a grocery store: people who reside there need a walkable option • Get all parking off the boulevards 29
• Address trees and street furniture • Encourage redevelopment • Mixed use market/ park area… looks ugly now • Farmers market, trees, flowers, maybe this can have a stage for music events • I have been lamenting about the late No Frills parking lot, what an eyesore right in the middle of our Town
Brock Street • Street trees and landscaping • Outdoor patios (x2) • One way traffic: more sidewalk space • Benches and street furniture • More high quality residential arts above and behind existing streetscape (stepped back) • Trees, flower baskets, store front to conform to a suitable standard for the area • Fine restaurants with patio • More street seating (x3) • Clean up graffiti please • Rotate big semi’s off Brock Street (x2) • On street seating for restaurants • Mardis gras: bring it back with street closed off for celebrations • Pedestrian friendly • Safer cross at Brock & Colborne • Bike paths and bike parking spots • Similar to downtown Port Perry: quaint shops, restaurant, art shops/ workshop area (x4) • Clean up/ beautify, delete parking and add wider sidewalks and plantings/ decorations (x2) • Reduce rent on business to attract more companies • Should be similar to Port Perry to keep the heritage and promote tourism (x2)
Page 88 of 257 • More flowers
• Close Brock Street on Saturdays and create a walking mall Agenda Item # 5.3 • We need a downtown coffee shop like Balzacs in Stratford or independent coffee shop that you see in Toronto or downtown Oakville, Downtown Burlington • Signage like Michael Penney • More bike parking (x2) • Keep the businesses - all of them!! But clean up storefronts – keep the history alive 30
• Redirect traffic around Colborne to Highway 2 to make pedestrian only block • Free wi-fi • Proper cigarette disposal units • Create a demonstration project to show how second floors can be upgraded to good quality residential • More late night shopping evenings, with music and bake sales! And later hours Monday to Friday: hard to get to stores for working folks • Support small businesses: cafes • Mid block crosswalks • More greenery: make it pretty like downtown Port Perry or Cobourg • Less transport trucks • Crosswalk at Colborne/Brock • Convert brock street to a “flexible street” (x2) • The Chamber of Commerce building front facade is not accessible. How will folks in wheelchairs learn about what is happening if they can’t get up the stairs?
Old Fire Hall • Brock Street Brewery (x2) • Restaurant • Mixed use residential and commercial (x2), mid rise condo/apt. with commercial at street level • Café with outdoor patio • Transit hub • Brock street brewery or other restaurant • Performing arts center: close Colborne St • Work/live lofts • Space for Whitby Air Cadets who currently parade in Oshawa • Brock St. brewery or other restaurant (fine restaurant) • Meeting facilities for small groups Page 89 of 257
• Movie theatre and art centre Agenda Item # 5.3 • Leave the market, people enjoy it (x3) • Brewery • Indoor/ year round market (x3) • Indoor artisanal craft market in winter • Please look good. Lots of seniors on foot (x2) 31
• Movie theatre (critically acclaimed) • Making sure farmers market is located in downtown area where there is foot traffic (x3) • Permanent farmers market (x2) • Well connected market: walkable, parking etc. • More parking for farmers market • Flatten hill on front north side • Open firehall for indoor artisan market (x2) • Fire museum or church • Demolish building to create a park with pathways, benches and gardens and more space for farmer’s market (x4) • U of T / Durham College (x3) • Farmers market not on Wed: make it on Saturday or Sunday (x3) • Have organic produce at the market • Brock St. Brewery (x2) • Tear down and allow development that aligns with Downtown architectural vision • Reno and rent out, space should have went to Brock St. Brewery. Why is it still sitting there empty and ugly • A theatre space (x2) • Downtown accommodation (x2) • Benches (x2) • Brewery • Bigger farmer’s market including Saturdays • Make it a people place! Events!! Market!! • Keep the market with longer hours (weekends and evenings): expand. More accessible for those commuting- need better hours! • Residential/commercial to have people downtown • Mixed use: commercial, office, residential- high density (x2) • Family brewery/ eatery, craft/ local/ communal/ music/ outdoor patio • Park/ market space • Make it a gathering place with art and music so people can feel welcome and have a community bonding place (x2) Page 90 of 257
Agenda Item # 5.3 Bell Building on Brock Street South • Midrise condo/apt with street level commercial • Midrise office with ground floor retail • Space for Whitby air cadets currently in Oshawa
32
• Ground level stores- professional • Commercial/ residential • Landscape • Negotiate to get store front at street level on the bell site • Town should complete the broken street grid, don’t wait for developers. More street frontage creates more development sites • Town/ region to undertake necessary infrastructure capacity studies. Conclusion will identify necessary capital costs and make strategic investment program. Takes cost off developers, too adhoc • Beautify/ landscape (x5) • Park benches • Reno and rent out, it’s been dormant for too long (x2) • Flowers/ planters, benches (x3) • Inside year round • Dream park attraction for kids • Build new retail across the street frontage • Redesign, meeting place, art garden • Park / garden space • Community yoga/ music/ place space • Community garden Page 91 of 257 Agenda Item # 5.3
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Agenda Item # 6.1
Town of Whitby Report
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Date of meeting: October 17, 2016 Department: Planning and Development Department
Report Number: PL 101-16 File Number(s): Not applicable.
Report Title: Designation of the Spencer School, 1877, located at 7035 Country Lane, as being of Historic and Architectural Value and Interest under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O c. O.18. 1. Recommendation: 1. That the Planning Report Item No. PL 101-16 be received as information; 2. That the Notice of Intent to Designate the Spencer School, 1877, located at 7035 Country Lane, be published as per section 29. (1.1) of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O 1990 c. O.18.; 3. That, if there are no objections to the designation in accordance with section 29. (6) of the Ontario Heritage Act, the Clerk be authorized to introduce the by-law designating the property under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act; and, 4. That, if there are objections in accordance with section 29. (7) of the Ontario Heritage Act, the Clerk be directed to refer the proposed designation to the Conservation Review Board. 2. Executive Summary: The Spencer School building, built in 1877 on property located at 7035 County Lane (See Attachment#1) is a good example of a historic school building that conforms to the plan of one of the most identifiable Ontario one-room schoolhouse types built in Upper Canada in the outlying rural areas near larger towns that served the rural population educating many generations of local children. This one-room schoolhouse represents an important stage in the development of a
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Page 92 of 257 Agenda Item # 6.1
standardized public education system in Ontario and in the history of rural education in Whitby Township. The Spencer Community Centre Board approached the Town of Whitby to request designation of 7035 Country Lane under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. This request was supported by the Town’s LACAC Heritage Whitby Advisory Committee. As part of the designation process, Staff reviewed the Spencer School Designation Report and Statement (See Attachment #2) and are satisfied that the property meets the requirements for designation under the Ontario Heritage Act as set out in Ontario Regulation 9/06 (See Attachment #3).
3. Origin: The Spencer School, located on lands municipally identified as 7035 Country Lane is included on the Town’s Heritage Register as a Listed Property. This property is currently known as the Spencer Community Centre and is run by the Spencer Community Centre Board, a group of community members who operate the Town- owned facility. Council endorses the Board but it is not a Committee of Council. Members are elected within the Board itself. The Board itself does some minor repairs of the facility and is responsible for the programming of the space. The Town is responsible for an annual inspection of the facility in addition to any major maintenance. The Board has a strong sense of stewardship in their role of managing the Spencer Community Centre. The Board has also demonstrated their pride in the facility by documenting the building’s history and role it played in the community. This connection with the building also resulted in their approach with the Town to discuss its potential designation. In initial discussions with the municipality, they provided the following reasons why they felt the Spencer School property was important to conserve for future generations:
• This is the last red brick one room school house in Whitby.
• It is very important building to the history of the town and a way of life now gone.
• The building has been well cared for and is in good shape and the exterior has been maintained to keep its historical value.
• There are people still living in the area that attended this as a school.
• The building has continued to be a part of the local community as a community centre.
• The building continues to provide a venue for events such as euchre, yoga, a home schoolers group, hunter training, triathlon training, family parties, wedding receptions, and many other functions.
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Page 93 of 257 Agenda Item # 6.1
• The school still has its bell tower and the original bell, and the brick work around the windows is unique as is the cupola which holds the bell.
• The entire property including the mature tree beside the building which is a tree of significance as it is seen in pictures as a small tree just planted. As a result of these discussions, representatives of the Spencer Community Centre Board attended a LACAC meeting at which their request to explore designation under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act was supported by the heritage committee. Subsequently, a Designation Report and Statement for the property was prepared.
4. Background: Planning Staff has reviewed Designation Report and Statement prepared for the Town of Whitby to assess whether the property meets the requirements for designation under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, as set out in Ontario Regulation 9/06. For the designation of properties under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, the following sections must be complied with: Notice of Intention to Designate “29. (1.1) Subject to subsection (2), if the council of a municipality intends to designate a property within the municipality to be of cultural heritage value or interest, it shall cause notice of intention to designate the property to be given by the clerk of the municipality in accordance with subsection (3). 2005, c. 6, s. 17 (1). Consultation (2) Where the council of a municipality has appointed a municipal heritage committee, the council shall, before giving notice of its intention to designate a property under subsection (1), consult with its municipal heritage committee. R.S.O 1990, c. O.18., s 29 (2); 2002, c. 18, Sched. F, s. 2 (9).”
5. Discussion/Options: Planning Staff reviewed the Designation Report and Statement, to determine if the Spencer School property meets one or more of the criteria for determining whether it is of cultural heritage value or interest, as outlined in Ontario Regulation 9/06. It is Staff’s opinion that the property does meet one or more of the criteria listed in Ontario Regulation 9/06, including:
• The building incorporates a standard architectural plan and retains most of its original external features. The school conforms to the plan of one of the most identifiable Ontario one-room schoolhouse types. Slightly set back on a corner lot facing the primary concession road, the well-proportioned building is rectangular in plan. Typical of this style, the well-proportioned
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building form along with its setback from the road and positioning on the lot with landscape features are all essential to its character. This designation includes the large tree east of the schoolhouse. (Criterion 1i, 3i,ii,iii)
• Spencer School is a well-preserved example of the hundreds of one-room schoolhouses that were built throughout Upper Canada from the mid- nineteenth century into the twentieth century. The schools were located in the outlying rural areas near larger towns and served the rural population educating many generations of local children. The one-room schoolhouse represents an important stage in the development of a standardized public education system and the history of rural education in Whitby Township. (Criterion 2i,ii) Based on the Designation Report and Statement of Reason for Designation, a Designation By-law will be prepared and brought to Council in early 2017 for their consideration.
6. Public Communications/Plan: The Town of Whitby is required to issue a public notice under section 29. (1.1) of the Ontario Heritage Act in order to proceed with the designation of Spencer School, 1877, located at 7035 Country Lane. This will provide for an opportunity for objection from the public within 30 days from when the notice of intent to designate is published.
7. Considerations: 7.1. Public The public have the opportunity to object to the proposed designation by-law within 30 days of the notice publication, as per the requirements of section 29 (5) of the Ontario Heritage Act.
7.2. Financial Not Applicable.
7.3. Impact on and input from other Departments/Sources Community and Marketing Services (CMS) staff are aware of the ongoing process of designation. If endorsed by Council, a copy of the report will be provided to CMS staff along with Council’s resolution. LACAC reviewed the Designation Report and Statement for the Spencer School property at their October 20, 2015 regularly-scheduled meeting. The following motion was approved: “That LACAC Heritage Whitby Committee accept the report as drafted, with the further mention of the original bell and possible validation of Campbell's School connection to the site on the report's Description of Heritage Attributes.”
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As a result of this motion the Designation Report and Statement was updated to mention the original bell and to further research the existence of the Campbell School and its connection to the site. This research revealed that on March 5, 1855, James Warren transferred one quarter of an acre of his land holdings to the School Trustees for the location of a rural school and that in 1877, the Spencer School replaced the earlier school structure on Lot 30, Concession 7 and was identified with a date stone in the gable as S.S. No. 6. (School Section No. 6). This updated Designation Report and Statement will be circulated to the LACAC Heritage Whitby Committee at their regularly-scheduled meeting of October 18, 2016 for their information. The updated Designation Report and Statement will also be posted online.
7.4. Corporate and/or Department Strategic Priorities This proposed designation of the Spencer School property aligns with the 2014 - 2018 Council Goal # 8 which states “To become the destination of choice for visitors from across Durham Region and the Greater Toronto Area; to realize the economic and social potential of our downtowns, waterfront and green spaces in developing local tourism; and to create more things to do and places to enjoy.”
8. Summary and Conclusion: The Spencer Community Centre Board has approached the Town of Whitby to request designation of 7035 Country Lane under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. This request has been supported by the Town’s LACAC Heritage Whitby Advisory Committee. As part of the designation process, Staff has reviewed the Spencer School Designation Report and Statement to determine if the property meets one or more of the criteria for determining whether it is of cultural heritage value or interest, as outlined in Ontario Regulation 9/06. Staff is satisfied that the property meets the requirements for designation under the Ontario Heritage Act. To proceed with designation, Council must direct staff to publish a Notice of Intention to Designate the property according to the requirements of the Ontario Heritage Act before a municipal designation by-law can be prepared for Council’s consideration.
9. Attachments: Attachment #1 Locational Map Attachment #2 Spencer School Designation Report and Statement Attachment #3 Ontario Regulation 9/06 For further information contact: Stephen Ashton, x2269
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Original Approved and Signed.
Robert B. Short, Commissioner of Planning, x4309
Original Approved and Signed.
Robert Petrie, Chief Administrative Officer, x2211
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Report number: PL 101-16 Page 6 of 6
Page 97 of 257 Townof WhitbyPlanning and Development Department 7035 Country Lane 7035 Country Applicant: Location Sketch Attachment #1
Country Lane Columbus Rd W Rd Columbus File Number: File N N / A Subject Land October 2016 October Date: Page 98 of257 Agenda Item#6.1
PL 101-16 N Agenda Item # 6.1
Attachment #2 PL 101-16
| Designation Statement, 7035 Country Lane, Brooklin, Ontario
DESIGNATION STATEMEN T
DESCRIPTION OF THE P ROPERTY 7035 COUNTRY LANE, B ROOKLIN , O N T A R I O Lot 30, Concession 7 (Country Lane at Columbus Road)
SPENCER SCHOOL Spencer School is a one storey red-brick schoolhouse located at 7035 Country Lane, Brooklin. The one- room school was built in 1877 on the north-east corner of concession 7 (Columbus Road) at Country Lane on lot 30 and served the rural residents north-west of the village of Brooklin. The school was closed by the School Board in 1965 and given to the Town for a nominal fee. Since 1967, the former schoolhouse has been used as a community centre that is governed by an independent board and the building is maintained by the town.
STATEMENT OF CULTURA L HERITAGE VALUE OR INTEREST The cultural heritage value of the former Spencer Schoolhouse is related to its architectural design, and historic and contextual value.
The building incorporates a standard architectural plan and retains most of its original external features. The school conforms to the plan of one of the most identifiable Ontario one-room schoolhouse types. Slightly set back on a corner lot facing the primary concession road, the well-proportioned building is rectangular in plan. Typical of this style, the well-proportioned building form along with its setback from the road and positioning on the lot with landscape features are all essential to its character. This designation includes the large tree east of the schoolhouse.
Spencer School is a well-preserved example of the hundreds of one-room schoolhouses that were built throughout Upper Canada from the mid-nineteenth century into the twentieth century. The schools were located in the outlying rural areas near larger towns and served the rural population educating many generations of local children. The one-room schoolhouse represents an important stage in the development of a standardized public education system and the history of rural education in Whitby Township.
DESCRIPTION OF HERIT AGE ATTRIBUTES Key exterior attributes that exemplify the heritage value of the Spencer School as an example of a one- room schoolhouse that incorporates the Ontario Gothic Revival style include:
Scale, simple form and massing Rectangular plan with symmetrical front façade featuring a three bay design and incorporating a high gable roof with projecting eaves and a plain soffit Red brick construction in stretcher bond pattern Date stone in the gable identifying the building as being completed in 1877 and noting it was S.S. No. 6. (School Section No. 6) Wooden bell tower with bell with stylized bargeboard Symmetrical rows of windows on each side elevation with semi-circular windows incorporating brick rounded segmental arches Large tree east of the schoolhouse
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| Designation Report, 7035 Country Lane, Brooklin, Ontario
7035 COUNTRY LANE , B R O O K L I N , O N T A R I O Lot 30, Concession 7 (Country Lane at Columbus Road)
S P E N C E R SCHOOL , 1 8 7 7
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROPERTY
Spencer School is a one storey red-brick schoolhouse located at 7035 Country Lane, Brooklin. The one- room school was built in 1877 on the north-east corner of concession 7 (Columbus Road) at Country Lane on lot 30 and served the rural residents north-west of the village of Brooklin. The school was closed by the School Board in 1965 and given to the Town for a nominal fee. Since 1967, the former schoolhouse has been used as a community centre that is governed by an independent board and the building is maintained by the town.
Spencer School is a well-preserved example of the hundreds of one-room schoolhouses that were built throughout Upper Canada from the mid-nineteenth century into the twentieth century. The schools were located in the outlying rural areas near larger towns and served the rural population educating many generations of local children. The one-room schoolhouse represents an important stage in the development of a standardized public education system and the history of rural education in Whitby Township.
C ONTEXT At the time of construction, Spencer School was located in Whitby Township which was part of Ontario County. Whitby Township and the town of Whitby were named for the town of Whitby in Yorkshire, England. Whitby Township was established as a municipality in 1849. In 1851, the large area identified as the Home District was divided into York, Peel and Ontario Counties and Whitby was included as part of Ontario County. In 1855, the south-west part of the Township was incorporated as the Town of Whitby. The eastern portion of the Township separated in 1858 and formed the Township of East Whitby. In 1968, the Town of Whitby and the Township amalgamated to form the Town of Whitby. In 1974, this amalgamation was incorporated in the newly created Regional Municipality of Durham which extends to the City of Oshawa in the east, to Pickering and Ajax in the west and to Scugog Township in the north.
Whitby Township was initially populated by early settlers dependent on subsistence farming. By the mid-nineteenth century wheat was a dominant crop. The Town of Brooklin was founded in 1840 as the village of Winchester. The settlement was named after a village of the same name in Hampshire England. The 1846 Smith's Gazeteer gave the following description of Winchester:
“A village in the township of Whitby situated near the centre of the township, five miles from the village of Windsor. The plank road to Scugog passes through it. It was commenced in 1840 and contains about 300 inhabitants. Professions and trades - one physician and surgeon, one grist mill, one ashery, one tannery, seven stores, three taverns, two wagon makers, three blacksmiths, three coopers, three tailors, three shoemakers, one cabinetmaker.1”
1 Winter, Brian. Page 62.
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| Designation Report, 7035 Country Lane, Brooklin, Ontario
By 1847, the Town of Winchester needed to establish a post office. There was already a post office in another hamlet called Winchester near Ottawa, so the name of the Whitby Township community had to be changed. At a public meeting held on August 11, 1847, the citizens of Winchester voted to change the name of the community to Brooklin. It is not known how the name was chosen but a brook did run through the village. Similar to many small villages and hamlets across Ontario that were established near rivers and creeks, Brooklin established a mill on Lynde’s Creek that ran through the settlement. A brick mill was built in 1848 on Mill Street (now Cassels Road East) replacing a frame structure that earlier had burned down. Bickell’s Mill was located on the creek near Way Street. The creek was later renamed Bickell’s Creek.
By 1851, the town continued to expand. W.H. Smith published a description of Brooklin in Canada, Past, Present and Future noting the population was 550, and included two grist mills, a tannery, woolen factory, foundry, ashery, brewery and soap and candle factory.
By 1866, Mitchell and Company noted there were three churches, a town hall, a school, three flour mills, a pump factory, two general stores, two hotels, a woolen factory, a cabinet factory, several tailoring stores, two blacksmith and wagon shops and the population had increased to 600. As the village enlarged, the services available to local residents increased and facilities to process agricultural crops expanded. By the 1870s, local farmers were less dependent on wheat as a single cash crop and had expanded their production to include mixed crops, livestock and dairy farming.
In 1844, Edgerton Ryerson was appointed the Superintendent of Schools of Upper Canada and introduced reforms to the education system which included schooling that was universal and accessible to all children. Prior to this period, schooling was often reserved for those who could afford the expense and the children of poorer families or those that resided in rural areas were often not able to participate. The Common School Act of 1846 and 1850 in addition to the School Act Amendment of 1871 further developed a province-wide system of schools opening education to all children from age six through to high school age.
The modifications to the education system also introduced a number of significant changes to the structure of the school system. These changes included establishing the responsibilities of trustees, superintendents, and teachers; providing formalized education for teachers; establishing a General Board of Education and a government Education Department; and defining attendance requirements which became mandatory.
The government provided grants to construct schools in rural areas situating schools a distance of three concessions apart. The one-room schoolhouse design was standardized and incorporated elements that would allow adequate natural light and maximize air circulation. Many of the school buildings were 18 by 20 feet in size. Not only did the schoolhouse building serve as the local school, but they were often used as the community centre for meetings and other special social functions.
The first school in Brooklin was a one-storey frame building which was constructed in 1855 on the south side of Winchester Road. By the early 1870s, the frame schoolhouse had been replaced by the Brooklin School which was built on the north side of Winchester Road at 72 Winchester Road East west of Queen Street. The new school had two classrooms, one for junior pupils and the other for more senior students. In 1877, there were 163 students with an average 93 pupils attending each day. By 1880, the School Board had approved the addition of two new classrooms to the east side of the school.
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| Designation Report, 7035 Country Lane, Brooklin, Ontario
CAMPBELL SCHOOL On the 1860 Tremaine Map of Ontario County, a school is indicated on the south-west corner of Lot 30, Concession 7, with the land being identified as being owned by James Warren. The land transactions for Lot 30, Concession 7 indicate that on December 22, 1846, one hundred and fifty acres transferred from John Campbell to James Warren. John Campbell (1794-1876) was the senior patriarch of the Campbell family who was a merchant, sawmill owner and builder in the Brooklin area. Born in Newark, New Jersey in 1791, he settled in Whitby Township in 1832 and assisted in clearing the land, improving Whitby harbour and he established a mill and store with Daniel Way in Brooklin. The 1851 Census indicated that John Campbell had six children and it was noted that several of the youngest children attended school. James Warren was married to Matilda Campbell (1819-1892), the eldest daughter of John Campbell. The census of 1851 indicated the Warren’s had two children, John (12 years old) and Harriet (9 years old) and both attended school. To the south of the James Warren property in Concession 6, Lot 30 and 31, several brothers of Matilda Campbell Warren had their farms including Robert E. Campbell (1823-?) who resided in a one and a half storey frame house with merchant shop with five children. Hiram Campbell (1821-1909) also resided on the same lot and concession and was a farmer with at least four children. Some of the neighbouring families whose names appear on the 1860 Tremaine Map such as the Nicol family also had children attending school. On March 5, 1855, James Warren transferred one quarter of an acre of his land holdings to the School Trustees for the location of a rural school. A neighbouring school in Whitby Township indicated on the Tremaine Map of 1860 was the Dryden School located on the north-east corner of Concession 7, Lot 20 (Thickson Road). The school was referred to as the Dryden School because it was located on the James Dryden farm. Although a description of the first schoolhouses has not been found, they may have been of frame construction and simple in design similar to the many other early schools and buildings that were used as schools throughout the province during this period. In the late 1870s, both the Dryden School and Campbell School were replaced with one-storey red brick one-room schoolhouses. In 1877, the Spencer School replaced the earlier school structure on Lot 30, Concession 7 and was identified with a date stone in the gable as S.S. No. 6. (School Section No. 6). The Dryden School was completed in the late 1870s and officially known as the Union School (School Section No. 6). It was closed by the 1960s and converted to a residence and later demolished in 1991. Myrtle School was built on the south side of Concession 9 west of Highway 12. This school building was of frame construction with an exterior board and batten finish that was later covered with insulbrick in the 1940s. The building was demolished in 1978.
During the mid-twentieth century, when towns experienced major growth and transportation infrastructure was expanded, schools became centralized. Many rural schoolhouses were deemed outdated and obsolete and no longer maintained. School boards closed many rural schools which often led to demolition of the buildings. Suburban development often encroached into former rural areas contributing to additional building loss.
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| Designation Report, 7035 Country Lane, Brooklin, Ontario
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE Spencer School incorporates a standard architectural plan for one-room schoolhouses and retains most of its original external features. The architectural style of the school incorporates elements of the Gothic Revival style evident in the scale of the building, rectangular plan with gable front, the semi- circular windows and the style of the bell tower with decorative bargeboard.
SPENCER SCHOOL Spencer School is a one-storey red brick building and conforms to the plan of one of the most identifiable Ontario one-room schoolhouse types. Located on a corner lot facing the primary concession road, the well-proportioned building is rectangular in plan with a high gable roof with projecting eaves with plain soffit. The schoolhouse has a wooden bell tower with bell located at the gable point on the front façade. The bell tower has been embellished with stylized bargeboard. The school has a dated stone in the gable identifying the building as being completed in 1877 and noting it was S.S. No. 6. (School Section No. 6).
The building plan incorporated symmetrical facades with three bays. The front façade is situated in the gable end and originally included two semi-circular windows with brick rounded segmental arches. Archival photos suggest the original windows were 12 over 12 sash. The central entrance was located in a small brick entry vestibule whose shape repeated the shape of the schoolhouse with a gable front. The vestibule was accessible by a central door with a transom window above the door that provided light to the interior space. This design element has been altered and the two front windows have been extended and converted into entrance doors. The original entrance with transom window has been filled in with brick. Additionally, a plain roof has been added over the doors to provide shelter from the elements. These roofs merge into the roofline of the vestibule and hide the semi-circular brickwork of the former windows.
The east and west facades have three large semi-circular windows of the same size with brick work that incorporates rounded segmental arches. The large windows provide natural light and a source for air circulation. The windows have been modified with modern inserts.
Typical of this style, the well-proportioned building form along with its setback from the road and positioning on the lot with landscape features are all essential to its character. This designation includes the large tree east of the schoolhouse.
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| Designation Report, 7035 Country Lane, Brooklin, Ontario
View of Spencer School in 1897. Photo from the Whitby Archives Collection.
View of Spencer School in June 18, 1907. Photo from the Whitby Archives Collection. The growth of the trees on the property is evident when comparing the two photos taken ten years apart. Photo from the Whitby Archives Collection.
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| Designation Report, 7035 Country Lane, Brooklin, Ontario
View of Spencer School in 1908. Photo from the Whitby Archives Collection.
View of Spencer School in 1960. Photo from the Whitby Archives Collection.
View of Spencer School in 1965, the year the building ceased being used as a school. The location of the original door is visible in the brickwork on the front extension which has been altered with the addition of two small windows. Photo from the Whitby Archives Collection.
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| Designation Report, 7035 Country Lane, Brooklin, Ontario
1860 Tremaine Map of Ontario County with early school identified.
Map of Ontario County from the 1877 Illustrated Historical Atlas. Red highlight identifies location of Spencer School. Yellow highlight identifies location of Dryden School. The 1877 Atlas identifies J. Warren as the owner of Concession 7, Lot 30 with a lot size of 149.5.
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| Designation Report, 7035 Country Lane, Brooklin, Ontario
Dryden Public School, circa 1880 demolished in 1991. Myrtle School photo circa 1940 demolished in 1978. Photos (left and right) from the Whitby Archives Collection.
Dryden Public School circa 1965. Photo from the Whitby Archives Collection.
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| Designation Report, 7035 Country Lane, Brooklin, Ontario
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Archival Sources Goad’s Fire Insurance Atlas, 1895 Census of Ontario County, 1851 Tremaine Map of Ontario County, 1860 Photographs, Whitby Archives and Whitby Planning Department (Summer 2014) B o o k s Beers, J.H. & Co. Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of Ontario. Toronto, 1877 Winter, Brian. Chronicles of a County Town: Whitby Past and Present. Published by the Author, 1999. R e p o r t s Morgan, Wayne. Cultural Heritage Resource Survey Prepared for Brooklin Landowners Group: Brooklin Secondary Plan Area, Town of Whitby Ontario. December 2014, Revised.
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Ontario Heritage Act- 0. Reg. 9/06 Attachment #4#3 Page 1 of2 PPLL 101-1649PL r'~ 24-15-14 P t? ntario
Ontario Heritage Act
ONTARIO REGULATION 9/06 CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING CULTURAL HERITAGE VALUE OR INTEREST Consolidation Period: From January 25, 2006 to the e-Laws currency date. No amendments. This is the English version of a bilingual regulation. Criteria L.___Q} The criteria set out in subsection (2) are prescribed for the purposes of clause 29 (1) (a) of the Act. 0. Reg. 9/06, s. 1 (1). (2) A property may be designated under section 29 of the Act if it meets one or more of the following criteria for determining whether it is of cultural heritage value or interest: 1. The property has design value or physical value because it, i. is a rare, unique, representative or early example of a style, type, expression, material or construction method, ii. displays a high degree of craftsmanship or artistic merit, or iii. demonstrates a high degree of technical or scientific achievement. 2. The property has historical value or associative value because it, i. has direct associations with a theme, event, belief, person, activity, organization or institution that is significant to a community, ii. yields, or has the potential to yield, information that contributes to an understanding of a community or culture, or iii. demonstrates or reflects the work or ideas of an architect, artist, builder, designer or theorist who is significant to a community. 3. The property has contextual value because it, i. is important in defining, maintaining or supporting the character of an area, ii. is physically, functionally, visually or historically linked to its surroundings, or iii. is a landmark. 0. Reg. 9106, s. 1 (2). Transition 2. This Regulation does not apply in respect of a property if notice of intention to designate it was given under subsection 29 (1.1) of the Act on or before January 24, 2006. 0. Reg. 9/06, s. 2. Francais
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws_regs_ 060009 _ e.htm 5/27/2014
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Town of Whitby Report
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Date of meeting: October 17, 2016 Department: Planning and Development Department
Report Number: PL 97-16 File Number(s): Not applicable
Report Title: Ontario’s Five Year Climate Change Action Plan: 2016 - 2020 1. Recommendation: 1. That Planning and Development Report Item PL 97-16 be received as information; and, 2. That staff report back at such time as more details are released by the Province of Ontario on implementation of the actions contained in Ontario’s Five Year Climate Change Action Plan: 2016- 2020. 2. Executive Summary: The Province of Ontario has released its Five Year Climate Change Action Plan for 2016 to 2020, following the release of its Climate Change Strategy in late 2015. The Climate Change Action Plan consists of more than 70 actions intended to reduce Ontario’s greenhouse gas pollution. The province intends to reach its targets through eight action areas: transportation; buildings and homes; land-use planning; industry and business; collaboration with indigenous communities; research and development; government; and agriculture, forests and lands. In addition to the actions of the Plan, the province is also implementing a cap and trade program through the Western Climate Initiative, Inc. in order to further reduce greenhouse gas pollution in Ontario by putting a price on carbon. Participants in the cap and trade program will be required to reduce their emissions each year or purchase credits to offset their emissions. There are a number of implications and opportunities for the municipality in terms of implementation of the Climate Change Action Plan. These are identified in this
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report. More detail will be required pertaining to each action item. Staff will continue to apprise Council of actions that affect the Town as the province moves forward with implementation.
3. Origin: The provincial government has released Ontario’s Five Year Climate Change Action Plan for 2016 to 2020 to provide a roadmap for achieving its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
4. Background: In February 2015, Ontario released a Climate Change Discussion Paper. Staff provided an overview of the Discussion Paper and provided comments (see PL 29-15). In the Discussion Paper, the Ontario government set the following goals:
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15% below 1990 levels by 2020; and, • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. The Discussion Paper also proposed short and long term actions for achieving those goals and was available for public comment for a 45-day period. The Ontario government later released Ontario’s Climate Change Strategy which described how the Province expected to reach its next interim target of 37% below 1990 levels by 2030. Staff also provided an overview of the strategy (see PL 10-16).
Climate Change Mitigation and Low Carbon Economy Act (Bill 172) In February 2016, the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change introduced the “Climate Change Mitigation and Low Carbon Economy Act (Bill 172). The Act received Royal Assent on May 18, 2016. The Act is designed to address climate change, and more specifically, to decrease greenhouse gas emissions in the province of Ontario. The Act establishes the legal foundation and framework for the cap and trade program in the province, establishes the greenhouse gas emission targets for the province (as described above) and the transition to a low carbon economy, and establishes the fund for the proceeds from the cap and trade program.
Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan, released in June 2016, implements the Climate Change Mitigation and Low Carbon Economy Act and supports the previously outlined climate change strategy. The Action Plan is intended to begin helping Ontario move to a low carbon economy. This plan also sets out how the revenue from Cap and Trade will be invested in projects and programs to help reduce greenhouse gas pollution.
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Cap and Trade In April 2015, the Ontario government announced its intention to join the cap and trade system under the Western Climate Initiative, Inc. The cap and trade program is designed to help fight climate change and reward businesses that reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Cap and trade essentially puts a price on carbon. It limits the amount of emissions that can come from the economy (cap), and then allows those covered by the cap to trade among themselves (trade), creating a price for carbon. The market will set the price for carbon, and ultimately it is intended that this will reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the province. The cap will be lowered annually to drive down emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions emitted by a company/operation that exceed the cap must purchase credits or invest in green technologies to reduce their emissions. Companies may also sell their credits through the market. Facilities and natural gas distributors with greenhouse gas emissions of 25,000 tonnes or more and fuel suppliers that sell 200 litres of fuel or more per year are required to register for the cap and trade program and provide a report on an annual basis. Facilities generating more than 10,000 tonnes and less than 25,000 may choose to opt-in voluntarily. Full impacts of cap and trade are still being determined. The Town is likely to be impacted by cap and trade through increased costs to purchase fuel. Ontario will set a cap on the total emissions from the covered sectors in 2017 based on forecasted emissions.
Green Bank Proceeds from the cap and trade program will be directed to a “green bank” fund intended to be established by the province. The money in the green bank will be used to fund the actions laid out in the Climate Change Action Plan. Generally speaking, funds will assist households with low-interest financing to pay for greenhouse gas-reducing energy improvements in their homes, with special provisions to support low and modest income households. It will also support large commercial and industrial projects to transition to a carbon priced economy. 5. Discussion/Options: The province’s plan has been divided into eight main action areas for the five year period of implementation from 2016 to 2020. Each of the eight action areas are summarized below. For full details of each of the action items, please refer to Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan. The province’s Climate Change Action Plan presents many actions to be undertaken at the provincial level, with implications for local municipalities and local level urban planning. While the Action Plan has included information
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pertaining to funding required for the actions and an estimated timetable, full details on the implementation of this plan have not been released at this time. Therefore, it is somewhat difficult to fully understand the short term implications of this plan at this time. There are a number of action items that should be highlighted in terms of their potential impacts on the municipality and possible opportunities. These impacts are also highlighted below, where necessary.
Action Area: Transportation – Becoming a North American leader in low- carbon and zero-emissions transportation More than one-third of Ontario’s greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to the transportation sector. The actions in this section aim to reduce those emissions. They include: 1. Increase the availability and use of lower carbon fuel 2. Increase the use of electric vehicles Implication/Opportunity: There may be opportunities here to increase the number of electric vehicles owned by the Town. With the extension of the rebate program to 2020 and the possible HST relief on EV’s, there is potential for savings on the cost of adding EV’s to the fleet when replacing vehicles. This would also support the recommendations of the Town’s Corporate Energy and Emissions Management Plan. The province is also proposing that new homes and townhomes will be required to be constructed with a receptacle in the garage for charging electric vehicles, and as of 2018, new offices will be required to provide charging infrastructure. 3. Support cycling and walking Implication/Opportunity: An opportunity may exist in support of policies in the Official Plan, and the Cycling and Leisure Trails Plan and Transportation Master Plan to improve the commuter cycling network, safer cycling facilities and more bike parking. This is also being addressed through the provincial review of the Growth Plan. Climate change considerations are now being included in many provincial plans and policies. 4. Increase the use of low-carbon trucks and buses Implication/Opportunity: Ontario is proposing a Green Commercial Vehicle Program to provide incentives to eligible businesses that want to buy low-carbon commercial vehicles and technologies to reduce emissions. It is not clear whether municipalities would be eligible, but this may be an opportunity to watch in terms of replacing large fleet vehicles, as more details emerge. 5. Support the accelerated construction of GO Regional Express Rail Action Area: Buildings and Homes – Reduce emissions from fossil fuel use in buildings
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Buildings and the energy they consume account for almost one quarter of Ontario’s ghg’s. The province will work to improve the efficiency of existing buildings and ensure new buildings do not contribute to increased ghg’s as outlined below: 1. Improve energy efficiency in multi-tenant residential buildings 2. Improve energy efficiency in schools and hospitals 3. Reduce emissions from heritage buildings 4. Help homeowners reduce their carbon footprints by supporting additional choice 5. Set lower-carbon standards for new buildings Implication/Opportunity: The government intends to update the Building Code with long-term energy efficiency targets for net zero carbon emissions for small buildings by 2030, and some initial changes that will be effective by 2020. More consultation on these changes is still to occur. 6. Promote low-carbon energy supply and products Implication/Opportunity: Ontario intends to introduce a renewable energy content requirement for natural gas and will be consulting with the industry on how to implement this. Methane released from sources like landfills and municipal green bin collection can be renewed and directly substituted for conventional natural gas. 7. Help individuals and businesses manage their energy use and save money 8. Training, workforce and technical capacity Action Area: Land-Use Planning – Support low-carbon communities This section focusses on good community planning as a way to reduce ghg emissions and conveys actions to support the development of low-carbon communities. 1. Strengthen climate change policies in the municipal land-use planning process Implication/Opportunity: The purpose of this action is to empower municipalities by giving them more ability to act at the community level. The government intends to consult on and propose amendments to the Municipal Act to allow municipalities to require the installation of electric vehicle charging stations on surface parking lots, and to pass by-laws to set green development standards. The Province also intends to propose amendments to the Planning Act to make climate change a Provincial Interest in order to ensure climate change is taken into consideration when planning decisions are made. Additionally, there are plans to consult and propose amendments to the Planning Act to make climate change mitigation and adaptation mandatory in official plans.
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The government is also looking at eliminating minimum parking requirements in municipal zoning by-laws over the next five years. More detail on exactly what will be required in Official Plans is still needed to fully understand the policy implications for municipalities. 2. Support municipal and other stakeholder climate action Implication/Opportunity: The government intends to establish a greenhouse gas pollution reduction challenge or fund for proposed projects by municipalities that already have municipal/community energy plans in place or climate change policies with greenhouse gas inventories in place. Additionally, the government proposes to fund the development of Community Energy Plans and Climate Action Plans for municipalities that do not currently have these plans. Whitby is currently participating in the Durham Community Energy Plan. Opportunities for a Whitby specific energy plan will be explored in the future. 3. Reduce congestion and improve economic productivity Implication/Opportunity: The province intends to ensure municipalities have tools to pilot congestion management plans and “low emission zones”; and will provide grants for the implementation of Transportation Demand Management Plans to help reduce single-passenger vehicle trips.
Action Area: Industry and Business – Keeping Ontario competitive: A strong centre of modern, clean manufacturing and jobs Industrial activity accounts for more than one quarter of Ontario’s ghg’s. Actions in this section will help companies across the province move to low-carbon technology. 1. Help industries adopt low-carbon technologies Action Area: Collaboration with Indigenous Communities – Partner to reduce emissions and transition to a low-carbon economy Climate change poses certain specific challenges for the Indigenous communities that depend on natural ecosystems. 1. Collaborate with Indigenous communities Action Area: Research and Development – Focus on climate science and zero-carbon breakthroughs Actions in this section are planned to support additional research and development in climate change science and technologies. 1. Support innovation and commercialization of new low-carbon technologies 2. Set tax and regulatory policies that encourage innovations 3. Support research and development through a Global Centre for Low- Carbon Mobility
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Implication/Opportunity: Based at an Ontario post-secondary institution in Ontario, a Global Centre for Low Carbon Mobility will be set up to advise the government on low-carbon transportation and help direct funding for research, development and manufacturing.
Action Area: Government – Move toward a carbon neutral public service The Ontario Public Service will be reducing its own emissions by 50 per cent below 1990 levels over the next five years. 1. Reduce emissions and energy costs across government Action Area: Agriculture, Forests and Lands – Productive, sustainable, and a pathway to creating offsets The Province has recognized the role natural systems play in climate change mitigation and adaptation. The actions in this section focus on 1. Reduce emissions from waste and move Ontario towards a circular economy 2. Increase our understanding of how agricultural and natural lands emit and store carbon 3. Maximize carbon storage from agriculture 4. Understand and enhance carbon storage in natural systems Implications/Opportunity: This will include actions to enhance Ontario’s natural systems and will include an expanded Greenbelt and increased tree planting by doubling the number of trees to be planted in urban municipalities from one million to two million. 5. Update Environmental Assessments to Account for Climate Change Implications/Opportunity: The province will address climate change in environmental assessments. A draft guide entitled Consideration of Climate Change in Environmental Assessments in Ontario has been developed, and includes consideration of climate change mitigation and adaptation for new projects. As previously mentioned, climate change considerations are currently being included in provincial plans and policies.
6. Public Communications/Plan: There is no public communication required at this time.
7. Considerations: 7.1. Public Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan was released publicly in June 2016 and offers new opportunities for homeowners, businesses and municipalities to take action against climate change.
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7.2. Financial There are no financial implications at this time. However, the Ontario Climate Change Action Plan has outlined a number of actions that will impact municipalities. Details in terms of timing, action details and potential financial impact on municipalities to implement new requirements are not known at this time. Staff will continue to keep Council apprised of additional implications to the municipality as it becomes available.
7.3. Impact on and input from other Departments/Sources This report has been shared with the Whitby Sustainability Advisory Committee and the Corporate Sustainability Team.
7.4. Corporate and/or Department Strategic Priorities The Corporate Sustainability Plan, currently under development and the Corporate Energy and Emissions Management Plan provide the basis for support for the Province’s Climate Change Action Plan: 2016 – 2020.
8. Summary and Conclusion: The Ontario government has released its first Five-Year Climate Change Action Plan for 2016 to 2020. Actions within the plan are intended to begin moving the province of Ontario to a low carbon economy. There will be a number of both implications and opportunities for municipalities in the implementation of the Plan. Staff will continue to keep Council apprised of information pertaining to implementation requirements as it becomes available. In terms of next steps for the Province, a Climate Change Adaptation Plan will be released sometime in 2017 with a focus on ensuring Ontario’s communities and infrastructure will adapt and be resilient to the changing climate.
9. Attachments: Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan For further information contact: Meaghan Craven, Sustainability Coordinator, x2317
Original Approved and Signed.
Robert B. Short, Commissioner of Planning and Development, x4309
Original Approved and Signed.
Robert Petrie, Chief Administrative Officer, x2211
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Town of Whitby Report
Report to: Planning and Development Committee Date of meeting: October 17, 2016 Department: Planning and Development Department
Report Number: PL 102-16 File Number(s): Not Applicable
Report Title: Durham Community Climate Adaptation Plan – Staff Comments 1. Recommendation: 1. That Planning and Development Report, Item PL 102-16 be received as information; 2. That Council receive the Durham Community Climate Adaptation Plan (Attachment #1 to Planning and Development Report Item PL 102-16) as information; 3. That Council endorse the staff comments in Planning and Development Report, Item PL 102-16; 4. That the Durham Community Climate Adaptation Plan be considered as input into the development of a Town of Whitby strategy and plan of implementation to climate change; 5. That staff report back in 2017 with a proposed framework for a Town of Whitby approach for climate change; and, 6. That the Clerk forward a copy of this report and Council’s Resolution to the Region of Durham. 2. Executive Summary: Over the last two years, with participation from a number of local municipalities, conservation authorities and other responsible agencies, the Region of Durham has undertaken an exercise to develop a Community Climate Adaptation Plan. This Plan has been approved in principle by the Durham Region Roundtable on Climate Change. It was circulated for stakeholder review and comment from
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September 12 to October 11. The Plan will be going forward to Regional Council for final approval later this year. This report provides a brief overview of the Plan and its 18 recommended programs. Staff have circulated the Plan to departments for comments. Those comments are summarized in this report. Staff recommend a phased and strategic approach in dealing with the implementation of the recommended programs of the Plan. There are a number of external factors, including climate change plans coming out of the Province and internal factors, including risk assessment and resource availability that need to be considered to implement a plan of this nature. The alignment of municipal priorities will in part be defined by changes in legislation, municipal priority and the funding capacities of each municipality.
3. Origin: The Region of Durham has adopted in principle the Durham Community Climate Adaptation Plan, which places responsibilities for implementation on local municipalities, in addition to other agencies.
4. Background: In 2013, the Region of Durham commissioned the services of SENES Consultants to project Durham Region’s future climate for the period of 2040 to 2049. This was based on similar projections commissioned by the City of Toronto in 2011. Whitby was selected as the proxy site for these projections. Overall, Durham’s projected climate in the 2040s shows: average temperature increases; 50% increases in one day maximum rainfalls and more intense rainstorm events, including a 15% increase in the potential for violent storms and a 53% increase in the potential for tornados. This data was then used as the background information for the development of a Community Climate Adaptation Plan (see Attachment #1) to help prepare Durham Region for the expected weather changes in the 2040s. The Region of Durham embarked on a four-phase Community Climate Adaptation plan development beginning in 2014, and includes the following:
Phase 1 – Assessment: 2014 • The SENES Study • Stakeholder engagement • Risk Analyses undertaken by task forces
Phase 2 – Program Design: 2015/2016 Task forces were reconvened in 2015 to begin work on designing programs to address the high and medium risks identified in Phase 1. A number of Town staff sat on the task forces, including Human Health, Natural Environment, Buildings, Roads and Flooding. The program design in Phase 2 was completed through a 5- step process:
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1. Inventory Applicable Actions 2. Classify Actions by Implementation Tools 3. Package Measures into Proposed Programs 4. Participate in Design Charrette 5. Produce an Integrated Plan The programs identified in the Plan have been designed to help address the risks in the buildings sector, electrical sector, flooding, food security, human health, natural environment and roads. The Durham Community Climate Adaptation Plan forms Attachment #1 to this report. Eighteen (18) programs in total are proposed in the Plan to address specific objectives to mitigate the risks associated with climate change. The programs are listed below (full details on each program can be found in the Plan):
• Protect our Outside Workers • Social Infrastructure for Emergency Resilience • The Durham Climate Resilience Standard for New Buildings • Building Retrofit for Climate Resilience • Asset Protection Against Flooding • Vegetation Management • Asset Design and Service Life Management Program • Addressing Urban Flooding • Redefine Flood Hazards Considering Climate Change • Improving Flood Forecasting, Warning and Emergency Response • Addressing Riverine Flooding • Extreme Weather Alert and Response (EWAR) System • Property Standards By-laws for Maximum Temperature Allowed in Apartments • “Cool Durham” Heat Reduction Program • Resilient Asphalt Program • Road Embankment Program • Adaptive Culverts and Bridges • Achieving Climate Change Resilience in the Natural Environment • Convene Commercial Agriculture Task Force Costs and Benefits The Plan has very clearly identified that costs to implement the identified programs have not been calculated. Implementing a plan of this nature will be complex and it will involve investing in assets and infrastructure to prevent and reduce impacts of floods and storms on property and to human life, maintain environmental quality and manage weather-related emergencies. An adaptation plan requires financial investments now to avoid future damage costs. That being said, the financial implications for the Town of Whitby, both in terms of risk and implementation are not known at this time. Significant assessment will be required in order to determine financial costs both long and short term and priorities as to the 18 program areas.
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Roles and Responsibilities The Plan contains a program responsibility matrix in order to help identify which government organizations and agencies have jurisdiction and responsibility for implementation of the actions identified. It should be noted that municipal governments have been identified as having some sort of responsibility for 17 of the 18 programs in the Plan.
Implementation The Plan contains recommendations for a process to follow once it is approved by Regional Council. The Plan recommends a process be developed for agencies and jurisdictions with responsibilities for:
• Further development of the programs and activities • Estimation of program costs and benefits • Integration of agencies efforts on each program • Consideration of adaptation programs in the context of multi-year business plans • Funding of program activities • Regular reporting on progress • Review and renewal of the programs The Region of Durham will be undertaking a similar exercise to evaluate roles and responsibilities and to assist in implementation. The plan does clearly state, “…it will be the role of each responsible agency to make informed decisions within its legal obligations and financial resources on whether and how to implement the programs recommended in this Plan” (p. 59 of Attachment #1). In terms of reporting, responsible agencies are being requested to report annually to the Region concerning their progress in implementing the proposed programs in the Plan. Additionally, the Plan recommends renewal every five years to keep pace with the changing climate and new developments in technology.
Funding The Plan has identified that many of the capital programs proposed go beyond the financial capabilities of the agencies responsible for implementation. “The Region of Durham has proposed the creation of an Ontario Climate Resilience Fund (OCRF) to address this need. This proposal was approved by Regional Council on December 16, 2015 (Report 2015-J-56) and forwarded to the Premier of Ontario and the Prime Minister. The concept calls for significant amounts of dedicated funding to be committed by the Federal, Provincial and Municipal levels and the property insurance industry to a joint fund to provide support for high- priority infrastructure investments by municipalities in Ontario” (p. 60 of Attachment #1). More information on this can be found in the Plan.
Future Phases Two additional future phases have been identified for completion of the Plan:
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• Phase 3 – Program Approval and Funding : 2017 • Phase 4 – Program Implementation: 2018+
5. Discussion/Options: The Draft Community Climate Adaptation Plan has been circulated to Town departments, including staff who sat on the task forces for comments. Below is a summary of the comments received.
Town of Whitby Staff Comments Sustainability Staff • A better understanding is needed to determine which actions can be undertaken by individual agencies on their own time and within their own budgets; and which actions will require and be dependent on complex collaboration, work program planning and financial implications for budget planning. • Wildfires are briefly mentioned in the plan, but have not been specifically addressed through a program. Many neighbourhoods in Durham Region back onto woodlots, which, in the case of wildfire, pose a threat to human health and personal property. Was this risk considered during development of the plan? Further discussion on this should be considered. • There are a number of programs that go beyond local and even regional jurisdiction. How does the Region propose to handle this through implementation? • There are still many other questions that need to be addressed, including: • What happens after the plan is approved? • Who should begin undertaking the actions? • What are the responsibilities of the agencies to take action? • How do all of the stakeholders prioritize the programs/actions in a collaborative manner? • Who leads in the case when there is a “program” that requires collaboration? Who is going to initiate the programs and ensure they stay running? • Funding – a plan of this size and nature will require significant capital and operating investment • Staff suggest that the Region consider striking an implementation task force to identify potential cost impacts and to help oversee the complex nature and collaboration required to implement such a plan over the short and long term. Long Range Planning Staff • How does Durham Region’s plan compare to Climate Change Adaptation strategies of other Regional municipalities in the GTA?
• “Best Practices” were sought through the working groups. It would be helpful to have this information for each of the programs. Rather than
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reinventing the wheel, municipalities and other agencies responsible for implementation of the programs and actions can take into consideration the relevant programs other jurisdictions have in place.
• Some of the programs and actions appear to go hand in hand with actions presented in the Town’s Draft Corporate Sustainability Plan.
• Some of the actions in the Plan may be implementable by the Town in the near term and should be given consideration through initiatives that are currently underway, including: asset management planning, Corporate Sustainability Plan, and the Lynde CN/GO culvert project.
• Food security is listed as Item 5.8 in the draft plan but does not appear to be included anywhere else in the Plan. Food security programs were initially presented at the design charrette. (Regional staff have acknowledged that this piece is currently missing due to timing conflicts with members on the Food Security Task Force. This will be added at a later date).
Building Division Staff The Buildings sector task force members met with Region staff on September 21. This task force does not support the recommendations of the Plan. It was felt that there should be a uniform approach in dealing with the issues in the Plan that may be better coming from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and that some of the recommendations are not feasible, including:
• 35” eaves to help provide shading for windows • No double width garage doors • Restrictions to basement window locations and requiring waterproof windows Whitby Sustainability Advisory Committee Comments At its meeting on October 5, 2016 the Whitby Sustainability Advisory Committee passed the following resolution: “That the Whitby Sustainability Advisory Committee, recognizing that adapting to climate change is a significant issue, encourages the Town of Whitby to continue working with the Region of Durham to implement the Durham Climate Change Adaptation Plan.” The Committee has also provided the following comments: Section 5.3 – Electrical Sector - Dykes are listed as possible flood protection mechanisms for the electrical sector. Dykes are not considered permanent flood proofing measures by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) as they have the potential to fail. For example, to remove a property from the floodplain, a dyke would not be acceptable for spill containment and protection. The Region should employ best management practice and not promote dykes.
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Section 5.4 – Flooding - This section is very comprehensive. One item that could be added is emergency evacuation routes. For example, in the City of Toronto there is a flood vulnerable area in which EMS may only have one route that won’t flood under the regulatory flood. Identifying (marking) the routes would notify all residents and non-residents, but in particular EMS, to provide ease of evacuation during an emergency. Section 8.2 – Securing Funding - In the example of Downtown Uxbridge and the undersized culvert, the author notes that the cost of replacing the culvert is public while the savings to the property owners would be private. The City of Toronto has had funding agreements with homeowners for erosion control projects, as well as developers (i.e. Port Lands) for environmental assessments for flood remediation studies. The document and policy could be strengthened by being more detailed about how the plan will be revised every few years. For example, scientific knowledge and modelling expertise is always improving, so a new version of the SENES study should be done occasionally – perhaps every ten years. The SENES study is based on 2011 work for Toronto, and the dates for the underlying data for the climate modelling calculations is unknown. Perhaps a new study based on 2020 data would be appropriate. More clarity on the process for updating and revision would also be helpful, and perhaps ensure that the follow up is done in a timely manner. The Process of Plan Development - p. 15 – Shows reduced use of road salt as a small risk. Surely less salt on the roads would be a good thing. Is there a recommended alternative for salt? Objectives and Proposed Programs - p. 21 – This section deals with workers employed by the municipalities. What about others doing the same jobs? How is each municipality in the Region going to align their priorities with the plan? Is there a timeframe to have the plan implemented thoroughly throughout the Region? Will municipal vendors be provided with requirements to meet the goals of the plan during procurement?
Recommended Approach Implementation of a plan of this nature is extremely complex and will require an extremely detailed review on the part of all of the responsible agencies. Ultimately, however, agencies are only able to truly effect change over the items that are within their jurisdiction and thus, under their control. Additionally, there are other outside factors that are going to have an impact on the actions responsible agencies take in the face of climate change. The Province’s Climate Change Action Plan, released earlier this year, identifies many actions related to climate change mitigation – reducing greenhouse gas emissions (see PL 97-16). Municipalities are only now starting to understand some of the impacts of that plan, with the specifics of the identified actions still to be released. Beyond that, it is expected that the Province will also be releasing a
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climate change adaptation plan sometime in 2017. This will almost certainly also impact municipal climate change planning. The Town has also been a member of the Partners for Climate Protection Program since 2011. Council will recall that the program is a network of Canadian municipal governments that have committed to reducing greenhouse gases and to acting on climate change. Over 250 municipalities are now part of the program. The program is a five-milestone process that guides members in developing plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The five milestones are as follows: 1. Creating a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and forecast 2. Setting an emissions reduction target 3. Developing a local action plan 4. Implementing the local action plan 5. Monitoring progress and reporting results The Town has completed the first three of the five milestones at the corporate level, but not yet at the community level. With the current external influences to the Town, this may be an opportunity to undertake the first three milestones in climate change planning at the community level. It is recommended that the Town of Whitby take a phased and strategic approach in understanding the impacts of the Durham Community Climate Adaptation Plan on its assets and resources. Given the plans being released at the provincial level, in addition to the regional level, the Town should be taking a comprehensive approach to climate change planning for the future. This is an opportunity to take the information being provided and make informed decisions pertaining to the future. Considerations need to be made for identifying risks, recognizing practices already in place that align with the actions of the plan, understanding impacts of provincial level plans, funding resources and financial planning and staff resources required to undertake planning and implementation. It is therefore recommended that at this point in time, Council receive the Durham Community Climate Adaptation Plan as information and that it be used as input into the development of future climate change planning for the Town of Whitby. It is also recommended that staff report back to Council in 2017 with a framework for climate change planning in the Town of Whitby for both mitigation and adaptation, based on the work coming out of the Province and the Region.
6. Public Communications/Plan: There is no public communication required at this time. However, the Region may want to consider communicating the Plan with the public.
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7. Considerations: 7.1. Public The Whitby Sustainability Advisory Committee has reviewed the Durham Community Climate Adaptation Plan, received a presentation from Brian Kelly and has provided comments (as outlined in this report). The Committee has also received a copy of this report.
7.2. Financial There are no financial impacts at this time. The actions identified in the plan, however, could have significant operating and capital budget impacts. Town of Whitby staff need to assess what is currently being done, where there are gaps and where there is risk in order to determine the actions required to implement any of the recommended actions related to climate change. This may be achieved through the development of a Town of Whitby specific climate action plan. At this time, $300,000 is a forecasted 2017 capital budget item for the development of a community strategic plan that will incorporate climate change considerations. The scope of this plan has yet to be determined, however, it could include risk analysis, climate change mitigation and adaptation. Further to that plan being developed, budget and funding would be required for implementation. The Department has yet to identify the additional cost impacts to the community strategic plan. Staff resources are also going to be required in order to undertake an exercise of this nature.
7.3. Impact on and input from other Departments/Sources Department Heads have received the Durham Community Climate Adaptation Plan, received a presentation from Brian Kelly and have been provided the opportunity to submit comments. Staff members who participated on the task forces as part of the development of the Plan have been provided with a copy of the plan and given the opportunity to comment. All of the above noted parties have received a copy of this report.
7.4. Corporate and/or Department Strategic Priorities A Community Climate Adaptation Plan is in keeping with the goals and objectives of the Corporate Sustainability Plan.
8. Summary and Conclusion: The Region of Durham has undertaken an exercise to develop a Community Climate Adaptation Plan through the use of task forces consisting of representatives from local area municipalities, conservation authorities, electrical utilities and others. Eighteen proposed programs have been identified in the Plan
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to be undertaken as part of climate change adaptation planning across the Region of Durham. Local municipalities have been identified as having some responsibility in 17 of the 18 programs identified. The Durham Community Climate Adaptation Plan has been circulated to stakeholders for review and comment. The Plan was circulated to Department Heads, departmental task force members and the Whitby Sustainability Advisory Committee. This report outlines comments received from staff and the Whitby Sustainability Advisory Committee. Staff recommend that the Durham Community Climate Adaptation Plan be received as information at this time, and be further used as input into the development of a framework for a Town of Whitby specific approach to climate change. A phased and strategic approach should be taken to address both climate change adaptation and mitigation at the municipal level given the plans coming from the Province and the Region. It is further recommended that staff report back in 2017 with a framework for a climate change work program for the Town of Whitby and estimated cost impacts.
9. Attachments: Attachment #1 – Durham Community Climate Adaptation Plan – If this attachment is required in an accessible format, please contact 1-800-372-1102 Ext. 2539 at the Region of Durham. For further information contact: Meaghan Craven, Sustainability Coordinator, x2317
Original Approved and Signed.
Robert B. Short, Commissioner of Planning and Development, x4309
Original Approved and Signed.
Robert Petrie, Chief Administrative Officer, x2211
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Attachment #1 PL 102-16
PROPOSED
Durham
Community Climate Adaptation Plan
September 9, 2016
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Durham Community Climate Adaptation Plan Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... 3 1 Introduction ...... 6 2 The Changing Climate ...... 8 2.1 The Climate Record ...... 8 2.2 Climate Lock In ...... 8 2.3 Climate Changes in Durham ...... 10 3 The Process of Plan Development ...... 13 3.1 Phase 1: Assessment ...... 13 3.2 Phase 2: Program Design ...... 16 4 Vision. Goals and Implementation Guidelines for the Plan ...... 19 4.1 Vision ...... 19 4.2 Goals ...... 19 4.3 Implementation Guidelines ...... 19 5 Objectives and Proposed Programs ...... 21 5.1 Cross-Sectoral Programs ...... 21 5.2 Building Sector ...... 24 5.3 Electrical Sector ...... 29 5.4 Flooding ...... 33 5.5 Human Health ...... 43 5.6 Roads ...... 47 5.7 Natural Environment ...... 51 5.8 Food Security ...... 53 6 Costs and Benefits of Climate Adaptation ...... 54 7 Roles and Responsibilities ...... 56 8 Next Steps ...... 59 8.1 Implementation by Responsible Agencies ...... 59 8.2 Securing Funding ...... 60 8.3 Reporting and Renewal ...... 60 8.4 Addressing Gaps in Sectoral Coverage ...... 61 1
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Appendices ...... 62 Appendix 1: Membership of DRRCC and the Climate Adaptation Subcommittee (2016) ...... 62 Appendix 2: Summary of SENES Study ...... 63 Appendix 3: Membership of Expert Task Forces ...... 78 Appendix 4: Results of Risk Assessment Process ...... 80 Appendix 5: Original Proposal for the Ontario Climate Resilience Fund (October 2015) ...... 84
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This document constitutes Durham’s Community Climate Adaptation Plan. It includes 18 proposed programs that have been “approved in principle:’ by Durham Regional Council on behalf of the Durham community. These program concepts have now been referred to a number of responsible agencies across Durham and beyond for further development, costing, approval and implementation. In addition to addressing its own responsibilities, the Regional government will monitor progress on behalf of the community.
We know that the climate is changing both globally and here in Durham and that we are locked-in to significant change before the middle of the century. The changes we face can be summarized as: “\warmer, wetter and wilder”. This Plan is the Durham community’s response to the risks posed to our infrastructure, our health and welfare and our economy. It is our attempt to prepare for a climate future that will be significantly different than when we constructed most of our roads, bridges, buildings electricity grids and storm water systems, when we designed our public health systems and when we created our economy.
On behalf of the Durham community, the Region of Durham has coordinated key players across Durham over the last three years to consider the risks (and opportunities) to Durham from the changing climate and to prepare program proposals to proactively address this future and achieve the vision:
“In the face of a changing climate, Durham region remains a liveable, resilient and prosperous community through at least mid-century.” The process to produce this Plan has been: • Scientifically-based – SENES Consultants was engaged to provide projections of the climate conditions in Durham in the 2040s. This work describes the mid-term future for which we need to plan; • Consultative - the relevant stakeholders across the Durham community were consulted on the impacts and implications of these climate projections; • Rigorous – risk analyses were undertaken by expert stakeholders to identify the issues of greatest concern; • Peer-based – best practice analysis among other municipalities identified best practices elsewhere; • Collaborative - experts from the Region, local municipalities, electrical utilities, conservation authorities and the community were engaged to design the responsive programs needed in Durham; • Comprehensive – This Plan addresses six sectors in a coordinated fashion that covers most of Durham’s risk areas. Proposals for addressing remaining sectors (agriculture, telecommunications, provincial roads and other forms of transportation) are offered.
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The 18 proposed programs in this Plan are: Cross-Sectoral programs: • Protect Our Outside Workers. • Social Infrastructure for Emergency Resilience. Building Sector programs: • The Durham Climate Resilience Standard for New Buildings. • Building Retrofit for Climate Resilience. Electrical Sector programs: • Asset Protection Against Flooding. • Vegetation Management. • Asset Design and Service Life Management program. Flooding programs: • Addressing Urban Flooding. • Redefine Flood Hazards Considering Climate Change. • Improving flood forecasting, Warning and Emergency Response. • Addressing Riverine Flooding. Human Health programs: • Extreme Weather Alert and Response (EWAR) System. • Property Standards By-laws for Maximum Temperature Allowed in Apartments. • “Cool Durham” Heat Reduction program. Roads programs: • Resilient Asphalt program. • Road Embankment program. • Adaptive Culverts and Bridges. Natural Environment program: • Achieving Climate Change Resilience in the Natural Environment. Responsibility for implementing these programs is a complex matter as legal responsibility and financial authority is distributed among: • The Region of Durham. • Local municipalities. • Electrical utilities. • Conservation authorities. • Provincial agencies. • Federal agencies.
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For each proposed program the various implementation roles and responsibilities are identified in the Plan, as are next steps to further develop these programs toward costing, approval and implementation.
Ultimately, however, it will be the role of each responsible agency to make informed decisions within its legal obligations and financial resources on whether and how to implement these programs recommended in this Plan. Thus, it will be important for each responsible agency to report on its progress on a regular basis and for this Plan to be renewed at regular intervals.
Estimating the costs and benefits of these programs is difficult at this time. The costs of these programs will include substantial capital costs for infrastructure-type responses at high priority sites and more modest operating funding for new programs of analysis, emergency response, education and research. The benefits of these programs are the avoided future damage costs from climate change and extreme weather. Actual experience from recent Canadian extreme weather events indicates that these costs are in the billions of dollars each year. In 2012, the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy estimated that every $1 spent now on adaptation will yield between $9 and $38 worth of avoided damages in the future.
Adequately addressing climate resilience needs in Durham will be a long-term process, one that will require extraordinary institutional memory, jurisdictional dedication and intra-agency collaboration. We will be at this task for the rest of our lives and that of our children.
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1 Introduction
This document constitutes a Plan for climate adaptation in the community of Durham. It includes 18 Proposed Programs which have been endorsed by the Council of the Regional Municipality of Durham on behalf of the Durham community. The Durham Region Roundtable on Climate Change (DRRCC) is the sponsor of the planning process that produced this plan and the Adaptation Subcommittee of the DRRCC provided oversight and guidance to the process. (See Appendix 1 for the Membership of the DRRCC and the Adaptation Subcommittee).
Preparing the Durham community for the effects of a changing climate is an important and timely activity and one that requires the involvement and contributions of many stakeholders and agencies in the Durham community and beyond.
There have been a number of recent official reports on climate trends and adaptation which all point to the need for increased attention to climate adaptation including:
• IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report (reports of September 2013, March 2014 and April 2014) • US National Climate Assessment (May 2014) • Canada’s Sixth National Report on Climate Change (June 2014) • Climate Change: Implications for Cities, European Climate Foundation, ICLEI and University of Cambridge (May 2014) • Looking for Leadership, Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (July 2014) • Paris Climate Accord, UNFCCC (December 2015) • First Ministers’ Vancouver Declaration on a Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change and the creation of the Working Group on Climate Adaptation and Resiliency (March 2016)
For Durham, the implications of a changing climate include both local impacts which will directly affect us and national / international impacts which will affect us indirectly. The direct impacts will result from changes to Durham’s climate and could include:
• Localized flooding; • Violent storm damage; • Various threats to human health and safety; • Ecosystem changes; • Loss of electricity supply; • Loss of transportation and communication services; • Changes to agricultural conditions and production.
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The indirect impacts will be more economic and social in character and will result from the changing climate nationally and internationally. Such impacts could include:
• Food shortages / higher prices due to crop and fisheries failures; • Higher commodity and consumer product costs due to production and supply- chain disruption; • Higher housing prices due to immigration and increased local housing demand; • Higher taxes and insurance costs due to climate-related damages elsewhere (especially in Canada); • Global economic disruption due to the costs of storm damage, rising sea levels and the collapse of local economies around the world; • Population pressures due to migration and climate refugees.
This Plan addresses only the local adaptation measures for Durham Region. These are the measures we in Durham can take to protect ourselves and our infrastructure from the changing climate. Much of Durham’s physical infrastructure (our roads and bridges, our storm water systems, our water supply and our sewage treatment systems, our buildings, energy supply systems and our communication networks) were built in the period 1950 to 2000. This infrastructure was designed and built to be resilient to the climate of this period. This is a climate that no longer exists, as recent extreme weather events in Ontario and across Canada has amply demonstrated. We not only need to upgrade our infrastructure to make it resilient to the climate of the present but to look ahead to the medium-term future (2040 to 2049) and anticipate the climate conditions that await us. On top of Canada’s well-recognized “infrastructure deficit”, we now have a “climate deficit” that needs to be addressed. This Plan is about addressing Durham’s “climate deficit”.
The goal of adaptation planning is to assess whether current programs and infrastructure design are sufficiently robust to continue to deliver desired results if subjected to the projected future climate conditions and extreme weather. By recognizing the potential risks today, appropriate strategic decisions can be made to ensure continued effectiveness.
This Community Climate Adaptation Plan is the sister document to the Community Climate Change Local Action Plan (LAP) entitled “From Vision to Action” which was received by Durham Region Council on October 10, 2012 and published in December 2012. The LAP is our climate mitigation plan; it’s about reducing our GHG emissions in order to protect the global climate from us. This Community Climate Adaptation Plan is about protecting us from the changing global climate.
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2 The Changing Climate
2.1 The Climate Record Since the 1950s, many of the observed changes to the climate have been unprecedented when compared to previous decades to millennia. For example, the average annual temperature in Canada has risen 1.5°C between 1950 and 2010. Due to factors including the thermal inertia of oceans, natural feedback mechanisms such as the melting of permafrost resulting in the release of methane, and the long lifetimes of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the Earth’s climate will continue to warm throughout the 21st century even if very significant reductions to carbon dioxide (CO2) were made today.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that “Each of the last three decades have been successively warmer at the Earth's surface than any preceding decade since 1850. In the northern hemisphere, 1983-2012 was likely the warmest 30 year period of the last 1400 years”. Further the IPCC projects that the likelihood of more frequent hot days and nights is likely (66-100% certainty) in the early 21st century (2016-2035) and virtually certain (99-100% certainty) in the late 21st century (2081-2100). It also projects that the increase in frequency, intensity and or amount of heavy precipitation is likely in the early 21st century and very likely (90-100% certainty) in the late 21st century. The IPCC concluded in 2014 that climate change has already begun and that it is “severe, pervasive and irreversible”.
2.2 Climate Lock In Climate science confirms that we are inevitably facing a future of changed climate. The greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted worldwide in the latter half of the 20th century are long-lived in the atmosphere and have “locked in” a period of accelerating climate change until at least the middle of the 21st century.
Essentially the global thermostat has been set and locked for 2050 and there is very little that society can do to alter these trends. The various climate mitigation targets now being adopted around the globe (led by the Paris Climate Accord’s goal of limiting global warming to less than 2°C with an ambition target of 1.5 °C) are essentially targets for the second half of the 21st century. Climate science projects that warming beyond 2°C will lead to irreversible and catastrophic changes to global climate (“runaway climate change” ) that will threaten the future of human society. Thus climate change is regarded by many observers as the defining issue of the 21st century.
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Such are the lead times and lag times in the global atmosphere, that whatever we do in the next two decades to reduce GHG emissions (as necessary as this is) will not materially reduce the amount of global warming before mid-century. This situation has been summarized as:
“Climate adaptation is necessary to manage the unavoidable and climate mitigation is necessary to avoid the unmanageable”.
As shown in the illustration below, globally we are on track for CO2 equivalent concentrations of as high as 1,000 PPM by the end of the century (we are currently at 404 PPM, up from 280 ppm in the mid-1800s). GHG concentrations above 750 PPM by the end of the century would lead to a global average temperature increase of 3.2 to 5.4°C (relative to the temperatures in 1850 to 1900). This is clearly a disaster scenario. We have already experienced a global average increase of almost 1°C with more locked into the climate system by mid-century. .Even the lowest emissions scenario in the illustration below, in which global emissions peak by 2020 and decline rapidly thereafter, results in a temperature increase of 0.9 to 2.3°C by the end of the century. Clearly, even the most aggressive climate mitigation policies will not protect us from significant temperature increases in the medium term.
Figure 1: Global Climate Scenarios Based on IPCC Science
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These are global trends. We know that temperature increases will be exaggerated as one moves toward the poles and that Canada’s average temperature has already risen 1.5°C since 1950 (source: Environment Canada). Locations in the Canadian Arctic have already experienced increases in average annual temperature of 3 to 4°C since the 1950s.
There will be local variations in annual temperatures caused by changes in the jet stream, the “arctic vortex” and by weather events like “El Nino” (which themselves are related to climate change). In Durham the long-term trend is for rising temperatures and we know that in general rising temperatures due to global warming will tend to make the wet regions wetter and dry regions drier.
2.3 Climate Changes in Durham But what does global climate change mean for Durham? What do the trends in temperature, precipitation, extreme weather and other climate factors mean for the Durham community? How can we plan if we don’t know the conditions for which we are planning? To answer these questions, the Region of Durham commissioned a projection of Durham Region’s Future Climate (2040 to 2049). This study was undertaken by SENES Consultants in December 2013 and was based on a similar projection commissioned by the City of Toronto in 2011.
The study was based on IPCC’s most credible scenario of future global GHG emissions and linked three climate and weather models to provide detailed projections of average and extreme climate parameters for various sites in Durham. The projections cover the future period of 2040 to 2049 compared to the base period of 2000 to 2009. Whitby was selected as the proxy site for all of Durham but data is provided for all eight local municipalities (in most cases the 1 km by 1km cell over city hall).
The summary for changes in Whitby is provided in Table 1 below.
Data for all eight municipalities is presented in Appendix 2: Summary of SENES Study. The full report is available on request.
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Table 1: Climate Projections for Whitby
Future Period: 2040-2049 Compared to 2000-2009
The following summarizes the projected climate changes for the proxy Whitby site for the future period compared with the base period:
Less snow and more rain in winter About 16% more precipitation (snow and rainfall) overall • ~50% increase in the one day maximum rainfall • ~40% decrease in the one day maximum snowfall • 100% increase in the number of days of rain greater than 25 mm • 80% reduction in the number of days with snow more than 5 cm • 146% more rain and 61% less snow in January • 217% more rain and 75% less snow in February
Rainstorm events will be more extreme • 15% increase in the potential for violent storms • 53% increase in the potential for tornadoes • 74% more rain in July • 79% more rain in August
Average annual temperature increases by 4.0oC • average winter temperatures increase by 5.8oC • average summer temperatures increase by 2.6oC • extreme daily minimum temperature "becomes less cold " by 12oC • extreme daily maximum temperature "becomes warmer " by 7.1oC
Average wind speed about the same • maximum hourly winds reduced • maximum wind gusts reduced about 13%
"Comfort" remains similar but with some extreme events • humidity and temperature taken together as the Humidex remains similar (within 8% of present on average) for most of the year but shows increases in November (up 30%) and in May through to September (up 15%) and pushes past the “dangerous” level (45°C equivalent) on several summer days, reaching a maximum of 51°C equivalent. • Wind Chill is reduced by about 50% on average but is reduced 25-45% during the winter months
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Overall, we need to prepare for a future in Durham where the climate in the 2040s is: • Warmer: 4°C average temperature increase, with 5.8°C higher temperatures in winter and 2.6°C higher in summer compared to the 2000 to 2009 decade, heat wave temperatures 7.1°C higher than normal and Humidex readings exceeding the “dangerous” level; • Wetter: 50% increase in the one day maximum rainfall, 100% increase in days with more than 25 mm of rain, 72% more rain in July and 79% more in August, 217% more rain and 75% less snow in February; and • Wilder: more intense rainstorm events, including a 15% increase in the potential for violent storms and a 53% increase in the potential for tornados.
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3 The Process of Plan Development
Work on Durham’s Community Climate Adaptation Plan began in the fall of 2013 with the approval by the DRRCC of the process for plan development. This process envisages a 4 phase process which is now scheduled to take 4 years until programs begin to be implemented. As discussed above, Climate Adaptation will be an ongoing process for many years and the plan will need to be assessed and revised as climate change unfolds over many decades. This process is just the beginning.
2014 Phase 1 Assessment
2018+ 2015 /16 Phase 4 Phase 2 Program Program Implementation Design 2017 Phase 3 Program Approval and Funding
3.1 Phase 1: Assessment Phase 1 consisted of three distinct steps: • The SENES Study • Stakeholder Engagement • Expert Task Forces to Undertake Risk Analyses
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Step 1: The SENES Study As discussed above, the SENES study provided detailed projections on where climate in Durham is going and what are the future conditions for which we need to prepare (in the 2040s).
Step 2: Stakeholder Engagement In early 2014 this data was presented to a number of stakeholders such as local municipalities, electrical utilities, conservation authorities, the business community (through Boards of Trade and Chambers of Commerce) and others. There was considerable interest in this data because it was for the first time in people’s experience local, detailed, credible and highly relevant. It raised questions about the implications for the Durham community and the potential costs of both action and inaction.
Step 3: Expert Task Forces to Undertake Risk Analyses To help interpret the implications of these projections, seven Expert Task forces were created in the spring of 2014 to identify the impacts of the climate data and undertake a common Risk Assessment of the impacts. These Expert Task Forces were: • Buildings Sector • Electrical Sector • Flooding • Food Security • Human Health • Natural Environment • Roads Sector.
Note that the public water supply system and the sanitary sewerage system were not analysed at this time due to the fact that they are entirely owned and operated by the Regional Works Department and are already assessed and protected by the Region under its Corporate Climate Change Adaptation Program.
The members of the Expert Task Forces were drawn from Regional staff, local municipalities, conservation authorities, local electrical utilities, citizen groups and post- secondary institutions. In total 58 experts from across the Durham community were involved in this activity. (See Appendix 3: Membership of the Expert Task Forces.)
While largely self-governing, the Expert Task Forces were given a common mandate to: • Define the scope of their assessments; • Identify vulnerabilities and likely impacts resulting from the climate projections in the SENES report; and
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• Undertake a risk analysis on each impact and classify it as high, medium or low risk.
The Expert Task Forces were provided with the SENES data and a common Risk Assessment procedure. They were asked to identify potential impacts on Durham and, using their professional judgement, to rank the “Likelihood of an Impact” and the “Consequences of an Impact” to provide a semi-quantitative assessment of the “Risk” to the Durham community. This exercise produced so-called “heat maps” for each Task Force where impacts that rated high likelihood and high consequence were clustered in the high risk area of the map. The risk assessment of the Roads Expert Task Force is provided below for illustrative purposes.
Figure 2: Risk Assessment (Roads)
The risk assessment work of each task force was brought to a Joint Task Force meeting on May 29, 2014 to compare their risk assessment results and discuss gaps, overlaps and interdependencies.
This work resulted in the identification of 71 high risks and 68 medium risks across the seven Expert Task Forces as summarized in Table 2 below.
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Table 2: Numbers of Risks Identified
The actual impacts and their associated risks as identified by each Expert Task Force are presented in Appendix 4: Results of Risk Assessment Process
All of the work accomplished in Phase 1: Assessment was summarized into a progress report which was presented to the newly-elected Durham Regional Council on January 21, 2015 where it was endorsed and further work authorized toward preparation of a Durham Community Climate Adaptation Plan.
3.2 Phase 2: Program Design The Expert Task Forces were reconvened in spring of 2015 to begin work on designing programs to address the high and medium risks identified in Phase 1 of the process to develop a Community Adaptation Plan. In some cases the membership of task forces was changed or supplemented slightly with representatives offering particular program development experience.
The process undertaken by the reconstituted Expert Task Forces included the following steps.
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Step 1: Inventory Applicable Actions The climate adaptation literature was reviewed and analysed for best practices to provide an inventory of applicable actions to prevent, reduce or respond to each high and medium risk identified in Phase 1. The focus at this point was on discrete actions (e.g. engineering designs for new infrastructure, backflow prevention valves, bio-swales, permeable pavement, white roofs, etc) that can clearly result in adaptation or increased resilience.
Step 2: Classify Actions by Implementation Tools These actions were then grouped by the most appropriate policy or program tools that can be used to implement the actions. Examples of tools included: regulations and plans, education and awareness, standards and codes, operational changes and capital projects.
Step 3: Package Measures into Proposed Programs The proposed actions and the relevant tools were then combined into actionable program concepts, taking into account the often complex set of legal authorities and program responsibilities among various agencies. These program concepts addressed needs in the community such as: flood prevention, flood adaptation, electricity reliability, resilient buildings, health protection, road resilience, environmental services, business continuity, and food security and supply. .The Expert Task Forces produced a total of 28 sectoral program proposals.
Step 4: Participate in Design Charrette Task Force members participated in a Design Charrette on February 29, 2016 to identify gaps, overlaps, conflicts and improvements to the 28 program proposals. These proposed programs were reviewed by the DRRCC on June 10, 2016.
Step 5: Produce an Integrated Plan Proposed sectoral programs were further reviewed to combine similar initiatives to produce and integrated and comprehensive Community Climate Adaptation Plan for approval in principle by Regional Council and referral to responsible agencies for further development, funding and implementation.
Overall, the process for Phase 1: Assessment, Phase 2: Program Design and the forthcoming Phase 3: Program Approval and Funding is presented in Figure 5 below. It is important to recognize the various program implementation roles and responsibilities in Phase 3 which belong to the regional government, the eight local governments, the five conservation authorities, the four electrical utilities and other agencies within
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Durham and outside (such as provincial and federal departments and agencies). This “web of program responsibility” will be further addressed in this plan.
Figure 3: Phase 1, 2 and 3 Program Design Process
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4 Vision. Goals and Implementation Guidelines for the Plan
4.1 Vision
In the face of a changing climate, Durham region remains a liveable, resilient and prosperous community through at least mid-century.
4.2 Goals Further development and substantial implementation of this Plan will: • Increase the resiliency of community infrastructure, programs and services to the changing climate in Durham; • Promote and facilitate the incorporation of the Proposed Programs into the business planning of the responsible agencies; • Improve emergency planning for weather extremes and in particular for vulnerable populations; • Advance the infusion of climate change information into the business planning of both the public and private sectors; • Improve the awareness, knowledge, skills and resources of government, citizens and business people regarding climate adaptation; • Improve the sustainability of Durham Region and its attraction as a place to invest, live and play; • Lead to recognition of Durham Region as a leader in climate adaptation planning and implementation.
4.3 Implementation Guidelines As this plan and the programs it recommends move toward approval, funding and implementation, there are a number of guidelines that apply to these next steps. These include the following principles and lessons: • The best climate science. Use the best climate science that is available at the time of planning and review and update this science regularly; • “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”: Wise investments now in correcting our infrastructure deficit and building for future climate and weather conditions should yield large benefits in the future. (more about this in Section 6); • Start with new infrastructure design: Investment in new buildings, roads, bridges, culverts and other infrastructure should follow leading-edge codes, standards and design criteria that account for future climate conditions, not last century’s weather. Designing and building it right the first time is much more cost-effective than replacing or retrofitting it later;
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• Prioritize our needs for retrofit: We need to inventory our current stock of infrastructure (roads, culverts, buildings, urban forests, vulnerable populations etc.) and identify the most vulnerable sites for early investment. • Follow the responsibility trail: There are many organizations in our community that are already responsible (legally and/or economically) for our protection from harm. These organizations have the risk management systems and business planning processes to respond to increased risks from climate change. • Recognize the complexity: We have a complex web of government departments, organizations and agencies and a patchwork of policy instruments and regulations that can affect climate adaptation (see Chapter 7 for example). In some cases the responsibility and control are clear and in others more difficult to identify. • Look for the synergies: Interdependencies and common interests can define a “community of interest” that can make progress on adaptation (For example home builders, home owners and the home insurance industry should all have a shared interest in improving the resilience of homes to extreme weather); • Look for help: The Durham community is not alone in this challenge. Other communities, other levels of government and private interests have experience from which we can learn and in some cases financial resources to help; • Emphasize the positive: We are building a community that is more resilient to the future. That is positive and hopeful. We have the land base, adequate fresh water, productive farmland, infrastructure, technical and management expertise and wealth to make Durham a very attractive place to live, work and play. • Stick to the plan: Climate change is irreversible for the foreseeable future. Climate adaptation measures and programs will be needed for the long haul, beginning early and strategically. We need to sustain the effort for a long time and fully implement important programs. We will need to review and update this plan on a regular basis, probably every 5 years.
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5 Objectives and Proposed Programs
5.1 Cross-Sectoral Programs
Objective 1.1: Protect outside workers from increased exposure to extreme heat and vector borne diseases.
Program 1.1: Protect Our Outside Workers
Description: Outdoor workers currently need to be protected from extreme heat and humidity and infectious diseases. As summer temperatures and humidex readings rise further and vector-borne infectious diseases (such as West Nile virus and lime disease) spread, there will be need for enhanced protective measures.
Such measures may include: • Cancelling or rescheduling outdoor work to avoid extreme heat; • Scheduling work for early morning or overnight to avoid daytime peaks; • Provision of adequate breaks; • Access to cooling and adequate hydration; • Provision of protective clothing against heat and insects • Inoculations and other measures (when available) for vector-borne diseases (as recommended by Health Canada)
Sectors: Affected sectors include: • Utility outdoor workers; • Roads and works crews; • Waste collection crews; • Conservation authority field staff; • Summer camp, recreation and outdoor sports staff; • Emergency workers (where feasible).
Responsible Agencies: • Regional Health Department (for enforcement of legislation, disease surveillance, health promotion and communication of heat warnings); • Regional and municipal works departments; • Utilities; • Conservation authorities; • Municipal recreation departments; • Sports clubs and associations; • Police, fire and ambulance services.
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Next Steps: • Set up a region-wide committee including municipal and Regional representatives and employers from affected areas to review current guidelines and programs and to benchmark against jurisdictions that currently experience the projected conditions; • Review Health Canada guidelines and current Ontario labour codes
Objective 1.2: Increase our social resiliency against weather and climate emergencies
Program 1.2: Social Infrastructure for Emergency Resilience
Description: In the event of serious flooding, extreme heat, tornados or power outages, our community’s ability to cope and bounce back (and in particular the resilience of vulnerable people) will depend on social cohesion and the services of the voluntary sector. When electricity, clean water, food, fuel, transportation and communication may not be readily available for extended periods of time, personal survival may depend on the response capacity of neighbours, volunteers and community services.
This program is designed to strengthen the fabric of our society in several ways: • Public education and training: o A training program for community volunteers and service club members to provide response and assistance to residents and businesses in times of weather emergency; o Information on access to food and potable water and safe preparation and preservation of food during an extended power failure; o A special focus on vulnerable people (such as the elderly, isolated people and those with medical situations) and their support systems. • Outreach and education for high-rise residential occupants: o A specialized information package and training for property managers of apartment buildings and condominiums concerning the specialized needs of residents in such buildings (e.g. cooling and heating, access to potable water and food, mobility and medical services); o Decision guidance on evacuation vs shelter in place • Enhanced coordination among emergency responders, social service agencies and volunteer groups to service vulnerable populations.
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Sectors: • General public and high-rise residents; • Vulnerable populations; • Volunteer organizations; • Emergency responders.
Responsible Agencies: • Durham Emergency Management Organization; • Durham Region Social Services • Durham Region Health Department; • Emergency responders (police, fire and rescue, paramedics).
Next Steps: • Convene a community-wide coalition of emergency, social service and health agencies to identify gaps and needs for improved emergency services; • Approach service clubs to provide needed support.
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5.2 Building Sector
Objective 2.1: Improve the design of new buildings to future climate conditions.
Program 2.1: The Durham Climate Resilience Standard for New Buildings
Description: The Durham community is about to undergo a building boom. Between 2016 and 2025, there are projected to be 53,000 new housing units built in Durham, plus new industrial, commercial and institutional buildings. It is projected that these homes and buildings will be subjected to extreme heat and rainfall, violent storms, high winds and increased chance of flooding. If new climate resilience standards are not instituted, most of these buildings will be designed and constructed for last century’s climate conditions, not the climate that is projected to prevail during their lifespan. That would be a huge lost opportunity to increase the resilience of our buildings.
This program proposes to develop separate Durham Climate Resilience Standards for: • Low-rise residential buildings (e.g. detached homes, semi-detached, town and row houses) • High-rise residential buildings (apartments and condominiums), industrial, commercial and institutional buildings.
These standards would prescribe climate resilience features for all new buildings in Durham constructed after 2020, with a phase-in period starting in 2018.
Such standards would be adopted through municipal by-laws and enforced through Official Plans, Plans of Subdivision, Site Plan approvals and Building Permits.
Example measures for low-rise houses are outlined in Table 3: Sample Components of a Resilient House Standard. Such adaptation measures in new buildings are low cost if incorporated at the time of design and construction. They are often impossible to undertake and much more costly if undertaken as retrofits at a later time.
Eventually these measures should be adopted into the Ontario Building Code (and Durham should also lobby for this) but this is a very slow process and, without local leadership in Durham, we will miss the opportunity to make a significant portion of our future building stock resilient to future climate conditions.
Sectors: • Development and construction industry; • Municipal planning and building departments.
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Responsible Agencies: • Municipal governments, Planning and Chief Building Officials; • Ontario Ministry of Housing, Building Code Division; • Region of Durham.
Next Steps:
• Convene a committee of municipal officials to develop Resilience Standards for Durham (with consultant assistance as appropriate) and design a uniform by-law and program for all municipal jurisdictions in Durham; • Consult with the design and construction industry on these proposed standards and program; • Seek clarification on delegated jurisdiction to municipalities for building standards referred to in the new Ontario Climate Change Action Plan; • Investigate the interest of the home insurance industry in supporting a Home Resilience Standard for purposes of identifying claims risk and setting premiums.
Table 3: Sample Components of a Resilient House Standard Component Requirement Rationale Notes House Structure Roof Trusses Hurricane straps attaching Prevent roof lift-off every truss to the upper wall during high winds top plate Basement Windows No basement windows Prevent overland below grade or within 20 cm flooding from of grade; OR entering the Waterproof windows only basement Garage doors No double width garage Prevent blowout in doors high winds Entry doors No double entry doors Prevent blowout in without steel centrepost high winds Eaves Eaves over windows are at Reduce solar gain, least 0.9 m wide (including especially in eaves trough) summer Plumbing and Drainage Sanitary sewage Backflow prevention valve Prevent sewage outlet installed on sewage outlet backup into from house basement Sanitary sewage Sewage outlet and Ensure no cross- connection basement floor drains connection to attached to separate storm sewers sanitary sewage line (where available)
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Component Requirement Rationale Notes Storm water Footing drains connected Ensure no cross- connection through backflow prevention connection to valve to separate storm sanitary sewers; sewer (where available) manage Downspouts drain to surface stormwater on site percolation features (LID) Driveways and Porous pavement on Reduce runoff walkways driveways and walkways Exterior Finishing Roof sheathing To be attached every 10 cm Reduce loss of Nail size to roof truss with minimum 6 sheathing in high and cm nails winds spacing TBC Roof finishing Shingles, tiles or metal roof Reduce heat Albedo finishing to be light coloured retention in attic numbers (albedo above xxx) and local exterior need to heating be set Foundation walls Drainage membrane from Is this grade to footings to be already installed on all exterior part of foundation walls code? Electrical Wiring Garage electrical 220 volt roughed-in service To accommodate service to garage electric car charging Connection of Convenient connection point To provide easy Can this external electrical for external generator, with and safe point be generator grid isolation protection connection of external? generator during blackouts
Objective 2.2: Promote the resilience of existing buildings to future climate conditions through adaptation retrofit measures.
Program 2.2: Building Retrofit for Climate Resilience
Description: While it is more difficult and usually more costly to equip existing buildings (rather than new ones) for climate resilience, there is often a set of retrofit measures that can be undertaken cost-effectively on a site-specific basis. This is analogous to building energy conservation measures, for which we have about 40 more years of technical and program experience. Energy audits are regularly used to identify the specific set of energy measures that are appropriate and cost-effective for a given building. Similarly “resilience audits’ are now being developed to advise homeowners
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and building managers of the specific measures they can take to protect their buildings against extreme weather.
On August 5/16, Burlington launched (with Provincial assistance) a pilot Home Adaptation Assessment Program (HAAP) developed by the University of Waterloo’s Intact Centre for Climate Change. The program provides a site-specific set of recommendations for homeowners to protect their houses against flooding and may lead to a province-wide audit program. This program and other similar efforts should be tracked for possible adoption in Durham.
The Durham program would consist of several elements: • Education concerning the need for home and building climate adaptation measures; • Adoption of one of the emerging resilience assessment systems for use in Durham; • Training for the home audit, renovation and construction industry concerning adaptation assessment and retrofit measures; • Possible provision of financial incentives or loans for the more costly measures identified by the audit (potentially through Local Improvement Charges and the recently-announced “Green Bank” in the Ontario Climate Change Action Plan); • Linkages to the building insurance industry for resilience certification and lower premiums.
Sectors: • Residential; • Industrial; • Commercial; • Institutional; • Construction and renovation industry.
Responsible Agencies: • Region and local municipalities; • Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change; • Ontario Ministry of Housing.
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Next Steps: • Investigate the availability of the Home Adaptation Assessment Program developed by the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation at the University of Waterloo; • Assess availability and effectiveness of other audit programs with a wider scope (beyond just flooding) • Seek clarification on the scope and mandate of the “Green Bank” announced in the Ontario Climate Change Action Plan.
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5.3 Electrical Sector
Objective 3.1: Prevent loss of electrical supply caused by flooding of electrical equipment.
Program 3.1: Asset Protection Against Flooding
Description: Extreme rainfall that results in overwhelmed drainage infrastructure poses the risk of overland flooding. Flooding of underground electrical vaults or surface- mounted electrical equipment can lead to failure and electrical outages. Electrical equipment that may be at risk of flooding should be reassessed for continuing adequacy. Consideration should also be given to projections of future extreme rainfall and the consequential changes to floodplain mapping. There are two broad management approaches to safeguard equipment from flooding:
1. Prevention: • (re)-locate the equipment outside areas that are at risk of flooding;. • ensure flood control infrastructure (storm water drainage) is adequate.
2. Protection: • ensure design of equipment is capable of withstanding submersion; • ensure that barriers are in place to prevent overland floods from reaching • equipment (e.g. diking, flooding proof vaults).
Actions to protect electrical equipment should include: • Working with municipalities to build storm water infrastructure to avoid flooding; • Overlaying revised floodplain maps (from conservation authorities) with electrical infrastructure maps; • Flood-proofing equipment that is critical and vulnerable; • Revising practices to eliminate electrical equipment in high flood risk areas..
Sectors: • Electrical utilities and their customers; • Municipalities.
Responsible Agencies: • Electrical distribution utilities; • Conservation authorities; • Municipal works departments.
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Next Steps: • Inventory all underground and surface electrical equipment and assess vulnerability to flooding; • Overlay revised future floodplain maps with electrical infrastructure maps; • Identify priority equipment and develop a business case for prevention or protection.
Objective 3.2: Prevent electrical outages due to trees falling on electrical lines and equipment.
Program 3.2: Vegetation Management
Description: Ice and snow accumulation on vegetation and high winds can lead to trees or limbs falling onto electrical lines (especially neighbourhood distribution lines) causing damage and electrical outage.
This is an existing problem (witness the ice storm of December 2013) that may be exaggerated by climate change due to: • warmer climate leading to longer growing season; • extremes of heat and changes to precipitation may stress vegetationmaking it more susceptible to damage; • projected increase in the occurrence of wind storms; • potential for more freezing rain (in the short term).
Adaptation actions should include: • reviewing existing vegetation management strategies to ensure that they are aggressive enough for future tree canopy risk;. • modifying future tree planting strategies in terms of location and species;. • considering the business case for burying wires.
Sectors: • Electrical distribution
Responsible Agencies: • Electrical utilities; • Municipal foresters; • Regional foresters.
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Next Steps: • The electrical utilities should review, modify and implement vegetation management programs as necessary; • The electrical sector should consider the business case for burying local distribution lines; • Urban foresters should reconsider the location and species of future tree plantings.
Objective 3.3: Improve electrical reliability through equipment design and service life management.
Program 3.3: Asset Design and Service Life Management Program
Description: Extreme temperatures, high winds, lightning storms, snow and ice accretion and vegetation can lead to either the accelerated aging of existing infrastructure or immediate damage. Either case results in a reduced infrastructure life expectancy. In order to maintain system reliability, additional maintenance and/or renewal/replacement before the expected end of service-life may be necessary. Examples include: • heat can cause sagging and annealing of overhead conductors; • lightning strikes can cause repeated tripping of protection which can reduce service life; • high winds from microbursts, tornados and hurricanes can exceed the design criteria for overhead conductors and result in outages. Adaptive actions should include such measures as: • Reviewing existing protection design and operation (codes and practices) for continued adequacy against future climate conditions; • Updating design codes and standards and building/maintaining to the new standard;. • Accelerated replacement of vulnerable electrical infrastructure; • Raising awareness with governing bodies that climate change and weather extremes will increase costs to maintain electrical reliability..
Sectors: • Electrical distribution
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Responsible Agencies: • Electrical Utilities; • Codes and standards agencies (e.g. CSA); • Ontario Energy Board.
Next Steps: • Review existing codes and practices against future condition.
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5.4 Flooding
Objective 4.1: Reduce the severity and frequency of urban flooding.
Program 4.1: Addressing Urban Flooding
Description: Increasing rainfall intensities and violent storms will challenge existing infrastructure and potentially cause severe flooding in urban areas. These events could threaten the health and wellbeing of citizens and the community. By taking action to address this flood hazard that includes impacts of climate change, a proactive approach to community protection will be possible.
Durham’s conservation authorities and municipalities should adopt new standards and codes, and take actions that protect the built environment from urban floods.
Adaptation actions covered by this program include the following:
Implementing Low Impact Development (LID) • Implement LID techniques; • Implement site LIDS with green infrastructure; • Implement programs to help reduce the impervious surfaces of the lands.
Addressing Infrastructure • Undertake monitoring and self-assessment and rehabilitation studies for existing storm water conveyance systems; • Develop and implement Storm Water Management Fee and Credit program in all municipalities; • Address storm water discharge – define a climate change factor of safety when designing for storm water; • Implement backflow preventer and sump pump programs; • Install a 3rd pipe system when opportunity arises (a separate foundation drain collection system); • Protect critical services from overland flow (e.g. waterproofing all critical underground services that could be affected, such as sanitary drains and electrical service); • Ensure Operation & Maintenance of SWM infrastructure; • Implement major and minor system conveyance improvements.
Addressing Existing Development • Acquire land in flood vulnerable areas; • Retrofit buildings that are susceptible to flood damage; • Flood-proof existing residential structures;
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• Remove homes from the floodplain; • Remove Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs); • Use parks and public lands for flood storage; • Define and protect major overland flow routes; • Reduce flooding due to existing constructions created by limited capacity of railway structures and highway 401 structures.
Addressing Future Development • Promote less land consumptive transportation infrastructure & parking areas; • Increase capacity of flood plain; • Manage redevelopment in the flood plain; • Update policies to further restrict development in the flood plain and other hazard lands; • Provide flood plain freeboard/buffers (horizontal & vertical); • Update Planning Policy and Design Standards; • Revise the current Provincial SWM Policies and Building Standards.
Addressing Pollution that Results from Flooding • Inventory potential pollution hazards; • Reduce risks of pollution hazards.
Sectors: • Municipal planning and urban design; • Conservation authorities; • Provincial departments; • Development industry; • Railways.
Responsible Agencies: • Conservation authorities; • Municipal planning and works departments; • Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC); • Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF); • Ministry of Transportation (MTO); • Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and Canadian National Railway (CNR).
Next Steps: • Approach Metrolinx and railways to address issue of flooding “pinch-points” on the new GO train line to Bowmanville; • The Region of Durham should support a new Durham Region Flood Hazard Standards Committee that would develop new standards for urban flooding and flood plain mapping as well as infrastructure and development design standards
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in consultation with stakeholders. These standards could be adopted by local municipalities and conservation authorities and cited in Official Plans, Site Plan requirements, and Building Permit requirements; • The Region of Durham should support a committee of local municipalities that would consider the implementation of a consistent Storm Water Management Fee and Credit program in Durham Region; • Municipalities and conservation authorities should adopt Low Impact Development standards into any updates of applicable planning, development, and regulations documents; • As flood plain mapping is updated, conservation authorities should review existing and future flooding damage centres, and with municipalities, develop flood mitigation strategies that consider climate change impacts.
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The Great Wall of Durham
Durham Region has a “Great Wall” somewhat like China’s but in Durham’s case the great wall consists of the railway and highway embankments that run along the lakeshore parallel to the highway 401 corridor. The largest wall includes the railway line that was built in the 1880s by The Grand Trunk Railway at a time when most of Durham was forest and farms and flood runoff was modest. Today the rail lines are owned by CNR and CPR and are used extensively by freight trains, GO trains and VIA Rail. The embankments are of substantial height in many areas and are punctuated by bridges and culverts that are in some cases too small for the much greater runoff caused by modern development and hard surfaces to the north. There are several well-known “pinch-points” where already there is occasional flooding on the north side of the corridor.
A future extreme rain event in Durham could trigger large-scale urban flooding at these pinch-points and potentially flooding across the 401 in places as well as the washout of the main rail lines. One well known pinch-point is where the Oshawa Creek crosses under the rail lines and 401 in south Oshawa. While complicated by the ownership of CNR and CPR, early expansion of these bridges is considered a priority and could avoid major transportation disruptions. Further analysis and costing of this and other sites along the Great Wall of Durham, as well as pre-emptive investment are critical
.
Flooding on Corbett, Oshawa and Harmony Creeks, as a result of pinch-points (Courtesy CLOCA).
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Downtown Oshawa under “regulatory flood” event. (Courtesy CLOCA)
Objective 4.2: Reduce the risk of flood damages by updating flood plain maps and redefining future flood hazard areas.
Program 4.2: Redefine Flood Hazards Considering Climate Change
Description: Durham conservation authorities and municipalities should adopt new standards and codes for defining flood plains which take into account the higher intensity and severity of storms to be encountered as a result of a changing climate. The newly defined flood hazard areas will require appropriate protection of health, property and services against severe flooding events.
Adaptation actions covered by this program include the following:
Changing Standards • Increase the maximum precipitation /rainfall standard in one day and potential for violent storms; • Change flood plain mapping standards to include more intense rainfall; • Update flood plain modelling standards to account for climate change; • Undertake climate change sensitivity analysis for flood plain modelling.
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Improving Modelling • Use 2D modelling in urban areas where appropriate; • Use Best Management Practices in modelling and mapping (eg. Lidar and real time modelling); • Model flood plain scenarios to define duration of flooding; • Maintain up-to-date flood plain models.
Assessing Hazards • Update flood plain mapping with new standards; • Identify flood vulnerable areas; • Undertake risk assessments.
Sectors: • Conservation authorities; • Municipal planning and community design; • Public works; • Development industry.
Responsible Agencies: • Conservation authorities; • Municipal planning departments; • Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF); • Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MOECC).
Next Steps: • The Region of Durham should support a new Durham Region Flood Hazard Standards Committee that would develop new standards for flood plain mapping as well as infrastructure and development design standards in consultation stakeholders. These standards could be adopted by local municipalities and conservation authorities and cited in Official Plans, Site Plan requirements, and Building Permit requirements; • Collaboration between municipalities and Conservation Authorities to use federal National Disaster Mitigation Program funding to undertake risk assessments and new flood plain mapping initiatives
Objective 4.3: Reduce the impacts of flooding.
Program 4.3: Improving Flood Forecasting, Warning and Emergency Response
Description: The program addresses how to best forecast and warn communities of events that threaten the built environment (health, property, and services) from the magnitude of flood that may be experienced due to a changing climate. Additionally,
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the program looks to create emergency response that is more flexible and therefore better responds to potential extreme flood events.
Adaptation actions covered by this program include the following:
Improving Monitoring • Evaluate monitoring networks; • Improve event-based monitoring network; • Upgrade monitoring networks, • Leverage other monitoring networks and encourage multi-agency utilization.
Improving Forecast Models • Develop predictive models tailored to more intense rainfall events; • Improve integration of weather forecasts into predictive models; • Operate predictive flood model; • Improve overall Flood Forecasting and Warning systems.
Addressing Emergency Communications • Improve public communication; • Improve business communication; • Ensure telecommunications back-up; • Ensure communication plan addresses CC flooding; • Create web based information tools; • Inform political leaders; • Increase the public awareness on the subject matter.
Protecting Infrastructure Critical for responding to flooding events • Update Emergency Response Agreements; • Ensure availability of appropriate vehicles and equipment; • Protect operational centers; • Protect evacuation centers; • Protect critical services.
Addressing Flood Depth • Ensure access and egress; • Employ access egress delineators; • Develop depth of flooding mapping for flood stages; • .Ensure access for emergency vehicles.
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Addressing Flood Event Planning • Improve the quality and frequency of training; • Include annual checklists; • Update detailed Emergency Response Plans; • Develop reporting metrics; • Improve emergency management planning.
Addressing Flood Event Cleanup • Coordinate clean-up support; • Address building integrity following flood event.
Sectors: • Municipal emergency planning organizations; • Public works; • Conservation authorities; • Provincial ministries and agencies.
Responsible Agencies: • Emergency management organizations; • Conservation authorities; • Municipalities; • Provincial ministries and agencies.
Next Steps: • Conservation authorities should review monitoring networks and flood forecasting models to ensure climate change events are considered where possible. Ongoing review should be considered as monitoring and model technology improves; • Updates of conservation authority flood contingency plans and municipal emergency management plans should include improvements in areas of public information and communication • As part of future updates and as information becomes available, conservation authority flood contingency plans and municipal emergency management plans should be evaluated to ensure resources are available and able to address the potential extent of flooding present during climate change events. Where these plans are found deficient, strategies to address the deficiency should begin immediately.
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Objective 4.4: Reduce the severity and frequency of riverine flooding.
Program 4.4: Addressing Riverine Flooding
Description: Large system flooding can be a result of the inappropriate development within the natural flood control elements of a watershed. These elements are natural attenuators of floods that for centuries have lessened the impact of floods on downstream developments. Examples include wetlands, flood plains (storage), forests and areas of natural cover. Protection of these natural flood management elements is often the most cost effect form of flood protection. This program will look to put in place proactive management of watershed resources to reduce flooding and protect communities.
The Adaptation Actions covered by this program include the following:
Watershed Scale Considerations • Integrate planning process with watershed studies; • Conserve headwaters, wetlands, forests, areas of natural cover, (i.e. features and functions); • Develop storm water management (SWM) criteria through watershed scale studies; • Preserve major recharge areas; • Consider cumulative impacts; • Restore natural heritage systems.
Addressing Riverine Flooding • Improve riverine crossing – employ climate change factors of safety; • Implement riverine conveyance improvements; • Maintain stream geomorphology; • Manage floodplain infrastructure based on flood and erosion risk.
Sectors: • Municipal planning and design; • Conservation authorities; • Development industry.
Responsible Agencies: • Conservation authorities; • Municipal planning departments; • Provincial ministries (MOECC and MNRF).
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Next Steps: • Conservation authorities should review existing watershed plans to ensure climate change considerations are included. Where climate change considerations are lacking, conservation authorities should develop work plans to update watershed plans; • Durham Region should develop a funding program to ensure watershed plans are updated at a minimum of every 5 years and these updates should include consideration of climate change where older plans have not included this work; • Conservation authorities should work with Durham Region and local municipalities to ensure that recommendations found within watershed plans are considered/reviewed by municipal councils and integrated into municipal planning documents; • Regional and local municipal works departments should include climate change considerations in all updates to infrastructure and asset management strategies.
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5.5 Human Health
Objective 5.1: Provide advanced warning of impending extreme weather
Program 5.1: Extreme Weather Alert and Response (EWAR) System
Description: This program is designed to create a mechanism to alert Durham residents (especially vulnerable populations and the agencies that serve them) about impending extreme weather events (high temperatures and humidex readings, ice storms, flooding, tornados and poor air quality) and to provide, where possible, access to response systems to protect people. The responses could include opening of cooling/warming centres, free public swims, outreach to vulnerable people, checking on seniors and people with health issues etc.
A more limited Heat Alert and Response System (HARS) employing harmonized heat criteria across southern Ontario was pilot tested by Durham Region Health Department in the summer of 2015 (as part of the Pan AM/ParaPAN Games). Environment Canada provided meteorological services and early notification of extreme heat events. Municipal and community partners were provided the opportunity to receive these early notifications through an email subscription service. Early notification allowed partners to prepare in advance for the extreme heat. The general public was alerted to extreme heat one day prior via media release and through the DRHD website.
The full EWAR program should include a Vulnerable Persons Registry (VPR) which can be used to communicate with vulnerable persons and their caregivers proactively, to provide warning when extreme weather conditions are forecasted and to provide vital services during emergency situations, especially when extreme weather results in electricity outages. Currently Durham Region Police Services maintains a Vulnerable Persons Registry that is focused on people with cognitive challenges that may cause them to wander. This program could be expanded to cover all vulnerable populations and include health and social service agencies and community partners (such as Red Cross, Salvation Army, Central East-Community Care Access Centre, school boards etc.) Community partners would be encouraged to develop strategies and to network together with other partners to identify gaps and ways to mitigate service disruption risks.
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Sectors: • Health and social service sector; • Community partners; • Vulnerable groups; • General population.
Responsible Agencies: • Regional Municipality of Durham: Health Department, Social Services Department, Durham Emergency Management Office and Durham Region Police Services; • Local Municipalities: parks and recreation departments (for cooling/warming centres, evacuation centres), fire and rescue departments; • Environment Canada (for extreme weather alerts); • Health Canada; • Public Health Ontario; • Local and regional community partner agencies.
Next Steps: • Undertake an inventory of municipal recreation centres, libraries and other facilities which could serve as cooling/warming centres and emergency evacuation centres, including the current and future availability of back-up power; • Investigate existing Vulnerable Persons Registries and the potential to integrate and maintain these systems to create a master VPR, including the use of cell phones and GPS to make the system more responsive. • Convene a meeting of all emergency responders and social service agencies to explore the potential for an EWAR system in Durham.
Objective 5.2: Protect tenants in multi-residential buildings from excessive heat in their units.
Program 5.2: Property Standards By-Laws for Maximum Temperature Allowed in Apartments
Description: The purpose of these by-laws in each municipality is to reduce the health risk to tenants (and especially to vulnerable populations) in multi-residential buildings (mostly apartments) from exposure to extreme heat during heat waves. The populations that are most vulnerable to extreme heat are young children, the elderly, those with pre-existing illnesses, low income and those who are socially isolated.
Tenants in multi-residential buildings without air conditioning (or with minimal air conditioning) face a number of challenges in keeping their units cool, especially during
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extended heat waves. This is not simply an issue of comfort but can also be a matter of heat-related illness and death.
Most municipalities have by-laws that regulate landlords concerning how low the temperature in a rental unit is allowed to drop in winter but none in Durham regulate how hot apartments are allowed to be in the summer.
New property standards by-laws together with tenant education efforts and assistance to landlords could significantly reduce this problem.
Sectors: • Multi-unit residential buildings (apartments, rooming houses, condominiums).
Responsible Agencies: • Health Canada and Public Health Ontario for maximum indoor temperature criteria; • Regional Health Department for communication and awareness; • Local municipalities for developing and adopting by-laws and enforcement.
Next Steps: • Set a uniform maximum allowable indoor temperature for rental units (or, where not readily feasible, require a cool common room where tenants can take reprieve from the heat); • Prepare municipal property standards by-laws and enforcement programs for council approval; • Launch awareness programs for tenants and landlords.
Objective 5.3: Reduce ambient summer temperatures in urban areas in order to reduce heat stress.
Program 5.3: “Cool Durham” Heat Reduction Program
Description: This program is intended to lower the ambient temperature in Durham Region during future summer heat waves, especially in the more urbanized areas. This “urban heat island effect “exacerbates extreme temperatures and humidex levels and leads to health problems for outside workers, exposed populations and especially vulnerable members of our community.
Durham municipalities should adopt planning, construction and forestry practices to cool our summer micro-climates and reduce the local urban heat island effect by designing, building and converting our urban areas to reflect not absorb solar radiation and to use trees and other vegetation to provide cooling through shading and evapotranspiration
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Measures to cool Durham include: • reflective roofs (also called white roofs, cool roofs); • “green” or vegetated flat roofs; • increased urban tree cover on public and private land; • shading structures in parks and public spaces; • light coloured pavement and buildings; • improved thermal performance in buildings and passive cooling design; • water features in landscaping (rain gardens, bio-swales).
Sectors: • Municipalities; • Construction industry.
Responsible Agencies: • Municipalities: Chief Building Officials, Planning Departments, Works and Urban Forestry.
Next Steps: • The Region of Durham could prepare a Durham Reflective Roof Standard that could serve as a common definition of what qualifies as a white/light/reflective roof for different types of buildings. • Similar standards for pavement materials and landscaping could also be developed. • These standards could be adopted by local municipalities and cited in Official Plans, Site Plan requirements, building permit requirements and in procurement of buildings and roof repairs.
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5.6 Roads
Objective 6.1: Improve the performance of roads under extreme heat conditions.
Program 6.1: Resilient Asphalt Program
Description: Durham municipalities should adopt planning, design, construction and maintenance practices to reduce the absorption of heat and/or increase tolerance to extreme heat in order to prevent softening of asphalt and subsequent deterioration of roads. Such a preventive measure would maintain the expected life of road pavement, thereby avoiding an increased maintenance cost. Major cities like Toronto have identified that the economic consequence of asphalt softening will severely impact the city’s financial health, if not addressed in time.
Asphalt pavement is composed of aggregates and asphalt cement that are designed to perform over a range of temperatures. The asphalt cement binds the aggregates and it softens when subjected to temperatures higher than what it is designed for, making the asphalt more susceptible to rutting and the initiation of cracks.
Measures to address the extreme heat impact to asphalt pavement include the following: • using resilient asphalt that can tolerate extreme heat; • using alternative pavement surfaces such as concrete at critical locations like intersections and bus bays; • using light colored asphalt pavement to reduce heat absorption; • increasing urban tree cover to reduce heat impact, etc.
Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) has been taking a lead in experimenting with resilient asphalt that is more heat-tolerant. Municipalities can benefit from this research when planning their programs related to road design, asphalt standards, maintenance and replacement.
Sectors: • Public works; • Construction.
Responsible Agencies: • Regional and municipal works departments; • Ministry of Transportation, Provincial Design Standards Branch.
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Next Steps: • Monitor ongoing impact of heat on existing pavement; • Identify and prioritize emergency and economic routes that require early attention; • Consider application of resilient pavement on priority routes including transit and truck routes emergency and evacuation routes; • Keep abreast of latest developments in resilient asphalt and modify specifications accordingly.
Objective 6.2: Improve the resilience of road systems to extreme rain storms.
Program 6.2: Road Embankment Program
Description: This program is intended to address the detrimental impact of extreme storm events on road embankments and the subsequent economic and health consequences to Durham’s community at large. Road embankments are often used in conjunction with storm sewers, culverts and bridges to allow water courses, roads, trails, railways and wildlife corridors to pass under the roadway without eroding the infrastructure.
Approaches to address the extreme storm impacts to road embankments include the following: • Upgrading critical infrastructure to withstand extreme storm events; • Using resilient erosion control treatments on shoulders and embankments • Improving drainage corridors; • Increased maintenance of embankments and shoulders.
Adaptation actions covered by this program include the following: • Identification and inventory of critical infrastructure segments currently at • risk for embankment or shoulder failure during storm events; • Establish a monitoring program to inspect road segments that are • susceptible to failures during extreme storm events; • Upgrade of critical infrastructure segments currently at risk for • embankment or shoulder failure during storm events; • Schedule and implement routine inspection and maintenance programs • for road embankments; • Improve planning and engineering requirements for roads requiring • embankments or granular shoulders (e.g.. consider flatter slopes of 4:1; • vegetated and reinforced slopes; or reinforced shoulders); • Increase geotechnical requirements for embankments and shoulder • designs to reduce failures;
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• Research and incorporate the use of geo-synthetic reinforcement to • reduce embankment failures; • Research and incorporate the use of granular sealing on shoulders • susceptible to erosion; • Research and incorporate the installation of engineered drainage systems • in areas prone to erosion; • Avoid constructing new roads in areas vulnerable to extreme storm • events; • Provide emergency preparedness, response and management training to • field staff in case of embankment failures following extreme events; • Provide field staff with training on safely dealing with catastrophic failures • of road embankments following extreme storm events; • Implement traffic management plans for areas susceptible to embankment • or shoulder failures (e.g.. load restrictions, road closures or alternate • routes); • Consider paved shoulders in areas prone to erosion; • Improve storm water management and drainage practices in areas susceptible to embankment or shoulder failures.
Sectors: • Public works; • Conservation authorities
Responsible Agencies: • Regional and municipal works departments; • Conservation authorities; • Ministry of Transportation, Provincial Design Standards Branch.
Next Steps: • Initiate a program to identify and inventory critical segments currently at risk for embankment or shoulder failure during storm events; • Review the existing construction design criteria for embankments to • ensure ability to withstand extreme storm events; • Consider pilot projects to test various geo-synthetic materials and other • reinforcement products on embankments and shoulders; • Transit and truck routes, and emergency and economic interest routes • should be identified and prioritized for early implementation.
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Objective 6.3: Protect roads from washout at stream crossings
Program 6.3: Adaptive Culverts and Bridges
Description: Durham municipalities should adopt planning, design, construction and maintenance practices to adapt its culverts and bridges to withstand newly projected extreme and frequent storm events. Such a preventive measure would make our transportation infrastructure more resilient and reduce the need for significant spending on restoration work after such extreme storm events.
Recent experiences in Canadian cities like Toronto and Calgary serve as a vivid demonstration of impacts from such extreme storm events and the very high social, business and restoration costs. Culverts and bridges (storm structures) maintain the continuity of water courses (both natural and manmade) under roads, trails and other transportation corridors. They were designed to perform satisfactorily over a range of storm averages and extremes and will fail if they are subjected to above-design storm events, resulting in potential road and embankment washouts
This program recommends the following measures be taken to adapt the Region’s culverts and bridges to face future extreme storm events: • inventory and assess storm structures to determine vulnerability and to improve their adaptive capacity; • modify inspection and maintenance practices to proactively accommodate future • storm intensities; • implement rehabilitation and capital improvements/replacements where required; • initiate research and development to update the design criteria for future storms; • train municipal operations and depot staff in emergency preparedness and response measures.
Sectors: • Public works; • Conservation authorities; • Transit and rail authorities.
Responsible Agencies: • Regional and municipal works departments.
Next Steps: • Conduct an inventory of all culverts and bridges to assess their capacity and current condition.
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5.7 Natural Environment
Objective 7.1: To enhance natural capital and build climate resilience in the natural environment.
Program 7.1: Achieving Climate Change Resilience in the Natural Environment
Description: One comprehensive program is recommended to address identified climate change risks to the natural environment across Durham. This program is adaptable at the local level and takes a “no-regrets” approach, in which any action undertaken is seen as positive in building resilience within the natural environment. The program builds upon work completed to date and current programs by recommending concrete, on-the-ground actions that will further build resilience within the natural environment and consider the urban/developed environment.
The recommended approaches and actions include:
Adaptive Management of our Plans and Policies • Update policies, strategies, plans, studies, programs and reports that may have been developed without full consideration of climate change and may not adequately address anticipated changes in the natural environment or identify most vulnerable and highest risk functions and features; • Implement applicable policies, strategies, plans, studies, programs and reports as they relate to the natural environment and climate change resiliency in the natural environment;. • Evaluate and monitor the performance of the policies, strategies, plans, studies, programs and reports to better understand the effectiveness of actions in building resilience of the natural environment.
Collaboration • Establish a working group that will oversee natural environment adaptation to climate change within the Durham Region;. • Continue to define one connected natural heritage system that integrates targeted systems across Durham Region.
Stewardship, Education and Outreach • Use existing and develop new conservation programs to protect, enhance and restore the health and resiliency of the natural environment. Specific actions should include, but are not limited to: a. Tree and shrub planting within a natural heritage system context; b. Forest management;
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c. Sensitive habitat creation and restoration (e.g., tallgrass prairie, wetlands); and d. Riparian areas and in-stream habitat creation and enhancement.
• Incorporate and support the concepts of green infrastructure to protect, enhance and restore the health and resiliency of the natural environment and communities. Specific actions and techniques should include: o Backyard habitat creation; o Green roof installation; o Rain gardens; o Soakaway pits; o Permeable groundcovers; and o Bioswales. • Develop new and promote existing education and outreach programs to increase understanding of: o the natural environment; o the impacts of climate change on the natural environment; o how the natural environment can help society adapt to climate change and the ecosystem services it provides.
Sectors: • All sectors are effected by and interact with the natural environment
Responsible Agencies: • Conservation authorities; • Region and local municipalities.
Next Steps: • Develop workplans to integrate anticipated climate change impacts to the natural environment into existing municipal and conservation authority policies, plans, programs and activities; • The Region of Durham should work with the 5 Durham conservation authorities to develop funding for integration of climate change considerations into watershed plans; • Establish a joint technical working group among the 5 Durham conservation authorities and municipal staff to promote, guide and provide expertise to support development and implementation of adaptation efforts; • Create a Durham Stewardship and Outreach working group involving the Region and the 5 conservation authorities to improve community understanding of the roles the natural environment and green infrastructure have in climate adaptation.
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5.8 Food Security
Objective 8.1: Develop subsequent programs to address climate adaptation in the commercial agriculture and food supply sectors.
Program 8.1: Convene Commercial Agriculture Task Force.
Description: During this phase of the Community Climate Adaptation Plan development, it was not possible to sufficiently engage the agriculture sector to develop specific program proposals for agriculture. This program is a ”place-holder” for future development of such a program or programs.
It is proposed to convene at an appropriate time of year representatives from the various agricultural commodity groups to develop programs to protect agricultural practices from the effects of changing climate and where possible to benefit from these changes (such as longer growing seasons).
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6 Costs and Benefits of Climate Adaptation
Climate adaptation is an investment in the future of Durham – -- in the viability of our physical infrastructure, the protection of our health, personal security and environmental quality and in the ability of our economy and our society to function in a climate that will be significantly different from today’s.
We are asked to invest in measures to: • extend the lifespan of our roads, buildings, bridges and electrical transmission equipment; • prevent or reduce the impacts of floods, violent storms and wildfires; • protect human life against floods, extreme heat and violent storms; • maintain environmental quality and environmental services; • manage weather emergencies when they do occur.
What are the costs and benefits of these investments? How do we estimate them and determine priorities among them?
In a purely economic sense, we are investing capital and operating funds now to avoid future damage costs from climate change and extreme weather events. However avoided costs for infrastructure damage are only part of the benefit. Human health, human life, environmental quality and the viability of local economies are all considerations which are difficult to monetize.
The National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy (NRTEE) undertook in 2012 a major study of the economic costs of climate change entitled Paying the Price; The Economic Impacts of Climate Change for Canada which found that climate change impacts could have an economic cost to Canada of $5 billion annually by 2020 (this is likely an underestimate, given the recent $6 billion cost of flooding in southern Alberta and $1 billion in Toronto in 2013 and the $9 billion Fort McMurray wildfire in 2016). The report further projected longer-term costs in Canada of between $21 billion and $43 billion per year by 2050. The report concluded that ignoring climate change now will cost us more in the long run and that adaptation is a cost-effective way to alleviate many of the impacts of climate change. It further estimated that every $1 spent now on adaptation will yield between $9 and $38 worth of avoided damages in the future (depending on the extent and rate of climate change).
Other studies from the University of Waterloo’s Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation indicate that the cost to build a new house, bridge, or transmission line that is adapted to climate change for its lifecycle will only add 0% to 5% to the construction costs which is significantly cheaper than restoring infrastructure post-damage, retrofitting rebuilding or an increased lifetime maintenance bill. The Intact Centre concludes that climate change adaptation is ”simply good and smart business for Canada”.
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The current state of adaptation program development in this Durham community plan does not allow for detailed and specific estimation of costs, let alone the avoided damage costs or “benefits” of these programs. This sort of precision will only be possible as programs are further developed by the various responsible agencies in the context of their business planning processes. For example, it is only possible to accurately determine the cost of a culvert maintenance and replacement program in a given jurisdiction after an initial inventory of the flow capacity and current condition of all culverts to determine which ones require replacement (high cost) and which ones can be managed through improved maintenance.(lower cost). Thus, program cost/benefit analyses will be staged over time and will be iterative. Moreover they will be undertaken in the context of the business planning of the responsible agencies.
That said, we know at this point that some programs will be low-cost and some will incur much more substantial costs. Generally programs that are administrative or operational in nature, such as maintenance programs, research and monitoring or emergency response activities will be low-cost and may be accommodated within existing budgets or with minor increases. On the other extreme, programs that call for capital improvements, upgrades or replacement of inadequate infrastructure will be much more costly and likely will not be accommodated within existing budgets. In between these extremes of the cost spectrum are a large number of activities that relate to the adoption of increased standards for equipment procurement and maintenance, incremental improvements to construction practices and simple retrofit actions on homes and other buildings to increase resilience.
A local example of infrastructure replacement is the culvert under Brock Street in downtown Uxbridge. It has been known for some time that the old single culvert on the Uxbridge Creek from Centennial Drive to 100 m north of Brock Street is inadequate to handle floods and poses a severe flood hazard. In the event of a rain event like Hurricane Hazel in 1954, large portions of downtown Uxbridge would be flooded up to the second storey of the commercial buildings along Brock Street. The cost of replacing and enlarging the culvert has been estimated at about $ 10 million and fortunately provincial funds have recently been made available to support this project which will be completed by 2019. In this example, the benefit of spending these funds is the prevention or reduction of future flood damage in the commercial section of Uxbridge, which given the exposure of the businesses, would likely exceed $10 million for one event. Therefore the investment is likely cost-effective; however, it is complicated by the fact that the cost is a public one but the benefit is largely private.
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7 Roles and Responsibilities
Climate adaptation presents a complex set of roles and responsibilities in terms of which government organizations and agencies have jurisdiction and legal responsibility for implementation of various programs and measures. The table below summarizes the Responsible Agencies for each of the proposed programs in this Community Climate Adaptation Plan.
Table 4: Program Responsibility Matrix
# Sector/Program Region Municipal Electrical Conservation Provincial Federal Gov’ts Utilities Authorities Agencies Agencies 1 Cross-Sectoral Programs 1.1 Protect Our Outside • • • • Workers 1.2 Social Infrastructure for • • Emergency Resilience 2 Building Sector 2.1 Durham Climate Resilience • • • 1 Standard for Buildings 2.2 Building Retrofit for Climate • • • 1,2 Resilience 3 Electrical Sector 3.1 Asset Protection Against • • • Flooding 3.2 Vegetation Management • • • 3.3 Asset Design & Service Life • • 3 Management 4 Flooding 4.1 Addressing Urban Flooding • • • 2,4, • a 5 4.2 Redefine Flood Hazards • • • 2,4 4.3 Improving Flood • • • • 4 Forecasting, Warning & Emergency Response 4.4 Addressing Riverine • • • 2,4 Flooding 5 Human Health 5.1 Extreme Weather Alert and • • • 6 • b,c Response system 5.2 Property Standards Bylaw • • • 6 • c for Maximum Heat Allowed in Apartments 5.3 “Cool Durham” Heat • • Reduction Program
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# Sector/Program Region Municipal Electrical Conservation Provincial Federal Gov’ts Utilities Authorities Agencies Agencies 6 Roads 6.1 Resilient Asphalt Program • • • 5 6.2 Road Embankment Program • • • 5 6.3 Adaptive Culverts and • • • Bridges 7 Natural Environment 7.1 Achieving Climate • • • Resilience in the Natural Environment
Provincial Agency codes: 3. Ontario Ministry of Housing 4. Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change 5. Ontario Energy Board 6. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry 7. Ontario Ministry of Transportation 8. Ontario Ministry of Health Federal Agency codes: a. Transport Canada b. Environment and Climate Change Canada c. Health Canada
As can be seen, most of the proposed programs fall into multiple jurisdictions and therefore require high degrees of collaboration to further develop and effectively implement. Such programs will require the breaking down of silos among our institutions and an unprecedented level of cooperation as well as commitment and “institutional memory” over lengthy periods of time (in some cases decades).
Just within the structure of Durham Region, there are multiple programs that require implementation by local municipalities which have the jurisdiction, for example, for areas such as: • Storm water infrastructure; • Development controls (e.g. flood zones); • Site-plan controls (e.g. low impact development techniques); • Enforcing building standards and codes; • Culverts and bridges under local roads; • Vegetation management; • Fire and emergency services.
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At the Regional level, many of these responsibilities pertain to Regional roads, water and sanitary sewer services, public health. Policing and EMS, and broad-based land- use planning. The Region can also play a useful role in coordinating the establishment of standards and procedures for uniform application by local municipalities.
Local electrical utilities have almost exclusive jurisdiction for maintaining electrical services but they require complementary activities by local municipalities and conservation authorities.
Conservation authorities have legislated responsibilities for flood prediction and management, site-plan controls, ecosystem monitoring, protection and restoration. CAs rely on Regional government for much of their funding.
Provincial ministries and agencies (and in a few cases Federal departments) play vital roles in conducting research, establishing new guidelines, standards and codes, improving their own infrastructure and regulating public and private sector activities.
Undertaking climate adaptation programs and improving the resilience of our Durham community will require extraordinary jurisdictional effort and intra-agency collaboration.
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8 Next Steps
8.1 Implementation by Responsible Agencies The purpose of this document is to present a set of proposed Programs that constitute a comprehensive Community Climate Adaptation Plan for Durham and to seek Regional Council approval in principle for this Plan on behalf of the Durham community. However as outlined in the previous chapter, the Regional Municipality of Durham does not have jurisdictional authority or responsibility for most of the measures in this plan; that responsibility is distributed among a number of levels of government and agencies. Therefore, the next steps after “approval in principle” must involve referral from Regional Council to the responsible agencies for their consideration, approval, funding and implementation within the context of their business plans.
Following approval in principle by Durham Regional Council, this plan will be officially transmitted to all responsible agencies with explicit identification of the programs and activities that fall within the agency’s areas of jurisdiction and responsibility. Furthermore, a process will be suggested for: • Further development of the programs and activities; • Estimation of program costs and benefits; • Integration of agencies’ efforts on each program; • Consideration of adaptation programs in the context of multi-year business plans; • Funding of program activities; • Implementation of activities; • Regular reporting on progress • Review and renewal of the programs
In the case of each program, Region of Durham staff will: • undertake a similar process for its areas of responsibility: • attempt to assist other agencies and coordinate activities: • promote a uniform approach across the region, where appropriate.
Ultimately, however, it will be the role of each responsible agency to make informed decisions within its legal obligations and financial resources on whether and how to implement the programs recommended in this Plan.
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8.2 Securing Funding
Some of the activities identified in this Plan are low-cost or even no cost and it is expected that many of these can be accommodated within the existing budgets and business plans of the responsible agencies. In other cases, the costs for capital programs in particular, may be beyond the capability of the agency (and its taxpayers/ratepayers) to fund on its own. This is where outside funding, particularly from senior levels of government, will be needed to assist municipalities and their agencies to undertake critical adaptation investments.
The Region of Durham has proposed the creation of an Ontario Climate Resilience Fund (OCRF) to address this need. This proposal was approved by Regional Council on December 16, 2015 (Report 2015-J-56) and forwarded to the Premier of Ontario and the Prime Minister. The concept calls for significant amounts of dedicated funding to be committed by the Federal, Provincial and Municipal levels of government and the property insurance industry to a joint fund to provide support for high-priority infrastructure investments by municipalities in Ontario. At maturity the OCRF would provide about $4 billion per year in financial support to Ontario municipalities. For more information, see the original outline of the OCRF in Appendix 5.
8.3 Reporting and Renewal Given the diverse nature of the programs in this plan and in particular the complex set of responsible agencies, it will be important for there to be full and regular reporting to the Region and to the community at large on progress in implementing approved programs. Moreover, it will be important to monitor progress and renew the Durham Community Climate Adaptation Plan based on changing climate, extreme weather experiences and lessons learned in program implementation.
It is proposed that Responsible Agencies be requested to report annually to the Region concerning their progress in implementing the Proposed Programs in this Plan. These reports should be consolidated by the Region and released to elected officials and the public.
Furthermore, it is proposed that this Community Climate Adaptation Plan be renewed every 5 years to keep pace with changing climate, program experience in Durham and elsewhere and new developments in adaptation technologies and techniques.
After the initial 5 year period, it may be possible to relax the initial reporting and renewal frequency.
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8.4 Addressing Gaps in Sectoral Coverage
As outlined in Chapter 5, the work of the Expert Task Forces was not able to adequately address the Agriculture and Food Security areas and to propose specific programs for these sectors. Given the importance of agriculture to Durham’s economy, it is recommended that representatives of the agricultural sector in and beyond Durham be re-approached to work on proposed programs to address risks and opportunities for the farming sector and food security.
Nor was it possible to organize Expert Task Forces for the following important sectors:
• Telecommunications; • Provincial roads; • Other forms of transportation (rail, air and ship).
Working with these sectors requires a provincial or national approach since the decision-makers, regulators and the industry associations are not in Durham and the infrastructure is widespread.. It is recommended that Durham Region work in concert with other municipalities and other levels of government to engage these sectors on climate adaptation and resilience. The objective should be to include these sectors in Durham’s next Community Climate Adaptation Plan in 5 years.
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Appendices
Appendix 1: Membership of DRRCC and the Climate Adaptation Subcommittee (2016)
Anderson, Roger Moore, Samantha Regional Chair and CEO Citizen Member, Student
Bridgeman, Brian Neil, Barry Commissioner of Planning and Citizen Member, Health Sector Economic Development Alternate Solly, Jeff Citizen Member, Land Development Caneo, Cesar Sector Citizen Member, Local Food Sector Vroegh, Martin Cubitt, Garry (Vice-Chair) Chief Administrative Officer Citizen member, Large Industry Sector
Gauder, Richard* Councillor Kevin Ashe (Chair) Citizen Member, Small Business Sector Councillor Jack Ballinger*
Gilbert, Dayna Councillor Adrian Foster Citizen Member, Housing Sector Alternate
Hall, Todd* Councillor Derrick Gleed Citizen Member, Energy Sector Councillor John Grant Hoornweg, Daniel* Alternate Citizen Member, Education Sector Councillor Don Mitchell Lacina, Eric Citizen Member, Student Councillor Steve Parish Alternate Manns, Hida Citizen member, Agriculture Sector Councillor David Pickles Alternate *Designates members of the Climate Adaptation Subcommittee
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Appendix 2: Summary of SENES Study Durham Region’s Future Climate (2040 – 2049) SUMMARY
January 21, 2014
Revised April 16, 2014
If this information is required in an accessible format, please contact the Accessibility Co-ordinator at 1-800-372-1102 ext. 2009.
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1. What Is this Document? This document provides a summary of a comprehensive study prepared by SENES Consultants for the Durham Region Roundtable on Climate Change (DRRCC) entitled Durham Region’s Future Climate (2040-2049). The SENES study constitutes a key starting point in the creation of a Community Climate Adaptation Plan (CCAP) which is being undertaken in 2014 by the Adaptation Sub-Committee of the DRRCC. The full study is available on request to [email protected].
The SENES study is based on a similar study undertaken by SENES for the City of Toronto in 2011 that covered the GTA and beyond. City of Toronto officials graciously provided access to the data compiled for Toronto’s study which included certain sites in Durham Region. This has allowed the DRRCC to undertake this study focused on 8 locations in Durham at significantly lower cost than the Toronto study and to complete a number of special detailed analyses (combinations of parameters) of particular interest to stakeholders.
The study provides projections of the climate that Durham Region will experience in the decade 2040 to 2049 compared the past decade (2000 to 2009). It does not forecast or predict daily weather for the future period; rather it provides projections of both climate averages and weather extremes for the future period and it does so at a high level of geographic resolution (cells of 1 km X 1km). In determining the likely impacts of changing climate in Durham, it is essential to take into account both climate averages and the extremes of temperature, precipitation, wind etc. Society must generally adapt to the changing averages, but it’s the extremes that may pose the greatest risk to infrastructure and processes.
2. Why Was the Study Undertaken? The study was undertaken as the first step of a 5-step process to produce a proposed Community Climate Adaptation Plan (CCAP) for Durham Region during 2014. The purpose of the study is to provide a state-of-the-science projection of key climate parameters for a relevant future period for purposes of planning:
• infrastructure upgrades and new design criteria; • extreme weather and emergency response programs; • business continuity programs; • improved urban and rural design for resilience; • programs and measures to protect human health and property.
The next steps are to identify the implications of these climate parameters for various sectors of the Durham community and then develop relevant programs and activities to adapt to these future conditions. These steps require stakeholder engagement.
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3. What Locations Does It Cover The report provides detailed climate projections for all eight local municipalities in the Region of Durham: Ajax Pickering Brock (Beaverton) Scugog (Port Perry) Clarington (Bowmanville) Uxbridge (Town of Uxbridge) Oshawa Whitby Whitby was selected as the proxy site for Durham Region for purposes of general data presentation in Volume 1 of the SENES report; however, full data sets for all sites are presented in Volume 2 of the study and summarized in the appendices of this document. Special analyses for all 8 sites also appear in Volume 1.
4. How Were the Projections Made? SENES Consultants is a highly specialized consulting firm based in Richmond Hill, Ontario that was Global Climate Daily Global selected by the City of Toronto in 2011 Model (GCM) Weather Observations to prepare an extensive study on
Toronto’s Future Weather and Climate
Drivers. The Region of Durham Regional Climate Global Weather Model (PRECIS) FReSH Weather Forecast Model benefitted from this earlier ground- Forecasting System breaking work by selecting the same consultant. For the Toronto and Durham Predicted Future Historical Analysis Weather Fields Fields studies, SENES selected the most
credible scenario of future global GHG
emissions (the A1B scenario of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Far Future Future Hourly Weather Hourly Weather Change) to drive a global climate
circulation model (HadCM3) and a
regional climate model (PRECIS) connected to the FReSH weather
forecasting system to project relevant Future Detailed Climate Local Weather climate parameters for the 2040 to 2049 Statistics period. These combined models also Figure 1 Schematic of how future weather and climate project the climate parameters for the is determined recent base period 2000 to 2009 which are checked for accuracy against actual historical observations to ensure confidence in the future projections. A separate “backcast” to a specific historical weather event in Durham (the July 11, 2009 microburst in Oshawa) was used to further confirm accuracy of the combined models. Large portions of the SENES report are dedicated to describing the methodology used in the study and demonstrating the relevance and reliability of the climate projections. 65
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5. Overview of Results Overall, Durham Region’s climate in the 2040 to 2049 period can be described as:
• Considerably warmer with higher humidity • Less snow, more rain in winter • More frequent and intense summer rain events • Lower winds generally • More extreme weather events with high winds and heavy rain.
Consolidated projections for all 8 sites in Durham are presented in Appendix A and summary tables for all 8 locations in Durham are found in Appendix B. The following summarizes the projected climate for the Whitby proxy site for the base and future periods:
Summary for Whitby
Climate Parameter Detailed Parameter 2000-2009 2040-2049 Extreme Max. in one Day (mm) 79 117 # days/year >25mm 6 10 precipitation Annual Total Precipitation (mm) 869 1004 Max. in one day (mm) 79 117 Extreme rainfall # days/year > 25mm 5 10 Max. in one day (cm) 28 17 Extreme Snowfall # days/year > 5 cm 9 2 Average max daily (°C) 25 28 Extreme Heat Extreme max. (°C) 33 40 # days/year > 30(°C) 2 17 Average min Daily (°C) -8 -1 Extreme min. (°C) -25 -13 Extreme Cold # days/year < -10(°C) 27 1 # days/year with min. <0 (frost days) 129 75 Extreme Daily (°C) -37 -19 Wind Chill # days/year <-20 (°C) 15 0 # degree days/year > 24 (°C) (AC req’d) 8 49 Degree Days # degree days/year > 0 (°C) 3444 4508 # degree days/year < 0(°C) (heating req’d) 475 70 Max (°C) 47 51 Humidex Average # days/year >40(°C) 3 19 Max hourly speed (km/hr) 62 54 Max. gust speed (km/hr) 119 74 Extreme Wind # days/year with wind speed > 52 km/hr 2.0 0.1 # days/year with wind speed > 63 km/hr 0.0 0.0 # days with high lightning potential/year 29 42 Potential for # days/year with EHI > 1 15.0 17.2 Violent Storms # days/year with EHI 2-5 4.9 7.5 # days/year with EHI >= 5 0 0.3
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Future Period: 2040-2049 Compared to 2000-2009 The following summarizes the projected climate changes for the proxy Whitby site for the future period compared with the base period:
Less snow and more rain in winter
About 16% more precipitation (snow and rainfall) overall
~50% increase in the one day maximum rainfall ~40% decrease in the one day maximum snowfall 100% increase in the number of days of rain greater than 25 mm 80% reduction in the number of days with snow more than 5 cm 146% more rain and 61% less snow in January 217% more rain and 75% less snow in February
Rainstorm events will be more extreme
15% increase in the potential for violent storms 53% increase in the potential for tornadoes 74% more rain in July 79% more rain in August
Average annual temperatures increase of 4.0oC average winter temperatures increase by 5.8oC average summer temperatures increase by 2.6oC extreme daily minimum temperature "becomes less cold " by 12oC extreme daily maximum temperature "becomes warmer " by 7.1oC
Average wind speed about the same maximum hourly winds reduced maximum wind gusts reduced about 13%
"Comfort" remains similar but with some extreme events humidity and temperature taken together as the Humidex remains similar (within 8% of present on average) for most of the year but shows increases in November (up 30%) and in May through to September (up 15%) and pushes past the “dangerous” level (45) on several summer days Wind Chill is reduced by about 50% on average but is reduced 25-45% during the winter months (Note: Environment Canada recognizes that Wind Chill is not confined to winter).
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6. Implications Based on these climate projections, we now need to assess the implications for our physical infrastructure, business continuity, government services, food production, health and security. Will there be increase flooding, heat stroke, vector-born diseases, tornados, disruption to energy supply? What can we do to protect ourselves and make our community more resilient to these coming changes? This is where we require the expertise of various sectors of the community to:
• identify implications; • assess vulnerabilities; • identify measures and actions to reduce impacts and increase resilience; • assist in the development of a proposed Community Climate Adaptation Plan for adoption and implementation by the public and private sectors in Durham Region.
The full SENES report is available on request to [email protected].
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Appendix A - Consolidated Projections (2000-2009 and 2040-2049 data)
Climate Ajax Whitby Oshawa Clarington Uxbridge Port Perry Beaverton Pickering Detailed Parameter Parameter 2000-09 2040-49 2000-09 2040-49 2000-09 2040-49 2000-09 2040-49 2000-09 2040-49 2000-09 2040-49 2000-09 2040-49 2000-9 2040-9 Max. in one Day (mm) 79 84 79 117 84 88 99 96 82 100 87 122 85 88 81 97 Extreme # days/year >25mm 5 9 6 10 6 10 6 9 7 11 7 11 4 9 5 9 precipitation Annual Total Precipitation (mm) 820 954 869 1004 880 1023 883 977 1025 1115 988 1104 828 955 822 960
Extreme Max. in one day (mm) 79 84 79 117 84 88 99 96 82 100 87 122 85 88 81 97 rainfall # days/year > 25mm 4 9 5 10 5 10 6 9 6 11 6 11 4 8 4 9 Extreme Max. in one day (cm) 29 14 28 17 29 18 27 21 40 26 39 25 27 31 33 29 Snowfall # days/year > 5 cm 8 2 9 2 9 3 9 1 13 6 11 4 12 5 8 2 Average max daily (°C) 24 26 25 28 24 28 24 27 25 29 25 29 24 29 25 28 Extreme Heat Extreme max. (°C) 31 40 33 40 32 40 32 40 37 43 35 44 33 40 35 43 # days/year > 30(°C) 1 6 2 17 1 11 1 9 5 28 5 27 4 26 4 15 Average min Daily (°C) -7 0 -8 -1 -8 -1 -7 -1 -9 -2 -9 -2 -10 -2 -8 -1 Extreme min. (°C) -24 -12 -25 -13 -25 -11 -25 -11 -28 -14 -27 -14 -29 -15 -25 -13 Extreme Cold # days/year < -10(°C) 24 0 27 1 27 0 25 0 36 2 36 2 39 2 27 1 # days/year with min. <0 122 60 129 75 128 73 126 71 141 91 144 92 141 82 129 72 (frost days) Extreme Daily (°C) -36 -17 -37 -19 -37 -17 -36 -17 -41 -20 -40 -20 -39 -21 -37 -20 Wind Chill # days/year <-20 (°C) 13 0 15 0 16 0 14 0 24 0 23 0 25 0.3 14 0 # degree days/year > 24 (°C) 4 17 8 49 6 38 5 32 12 90 10 80 6 68 9 43 (AC req’d) Degree Days # degree days/year > 0 (°C) 3342 4329 3444 4508 3415 4459 3420 4443 3283 4378 3280 4384 3260 4365 3431 4490 # degree days/year < 0(°C) 444 50 475 70 474 69 457 64 614 132 602 127 627 121 463 62 (heating req’d) Max (°C) 43 48 47 51 46 50 45 48 45 54 46 54 45 54 48 53 Humidex Average # days/year >40(°C) 1 6 3 19 3 16 2 13 3 24 4 25 4 25 4 17 Max hourly speed (km/hr) 65 57 62 54 65 56 70 56 69 50 69 49 75 59 62 57 Max. gust speed (km/hr) 120 74 119 74 120 77 113 77 108 78 116 80 106 84 108 74 # days/year with wind speed > 52 Extreme Wind 3 0.3 2 0.1 2 0.2 3 0.1 2 0 2 0 4 0.6 2 0.2 km/hr # days/year with wind speed > 63 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 km/hr # days with high 27 43 29 42 27 43 27 41 26 32 25 32 22 29 29 44 Potential for lightning Violent # days/year with EHI > 1 11.2 13.5 15.0 17.2 12.8 15.8 10.9 12.9 20.5 28.2 20.7 27.5 19.3 25.1 15.6 16.7 Storms # days/year with EHI 2-5 4.9 7.5
Page 200 of 257 # days/year with EHI >= 5 0 0.3
Ice Storms (pg. 108 vol. 1) ice storms will totally disappear by 2040-2049 Agenda Item # 6.3 Freezing rain and high wind 72 hours with > 12.5 mm with wind gust of >=90km/hr: zero occurrences in 2040-2049 72 hours with freezing rain of 19 mm and wind gusts of >=100 km/hr: zero occurrences in 2040-2049 Lightning #days/year increases by 16 in Pickering and Ajax, Uxbridge, Port Perry and Beaverton lowest increase of approx. 6.7days/year
If this information is required in an accessible format, please call 1-800-372-1102 ext.2600.
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Appendix B - Projections by Municipality (2000-2009 and 2040-2049)
Ajax
Climate Detailed Parameter 2000-09 2040-49 Notes: Parameter Max. in one Day (mm) 79 84 Extreme # days/year >25mm 5 9 precipitation Annual Total Precipitation (mm) 820 954 Extreme Max. in one day (mm) 79 84 rainfall # days/year > 25mm 4 9 Extreme Max. in one day (cm) 29 14 Snowfall # days/year > 5 cm 8 2 Average max daily (°C) 24 26 Extreme Heat Extreme max. (°C) 31 40 # days/year > 30(°C) 1 6 Average min Daily (°C) -7 0 Extreme min. (°C) -24 -12 Extreme Cold # days/year < -10(°C) 24 0 # days/year with min. <0 (frost days) 122 60 Extreme Daily (°C) -36 -17 Wind Chill # days/year <-20 (°C) 13 0 # degree days/year > 24 (°C) (AC req’d) 4 17 Degree Days # degree days/year > 0 (°C) 3342 4329 # degree days/year < 0(°C) (heating req’d) 444 50 Max (°C) 43 48 Humidex Average # days/year >40(°C) 1 6 Max hourly speed (km/hr) 65 57 Max. gust speed (km/hr) 120 74 Extreme Wind # days/year with wind speed > 52 km/hr 3 0.3 # days/year with wind speed > 63 km/hr 0 0 # days with high lightning potential/year 27 43 Potential for # days/year with EHI > 1 11.2 13.5 Violent Storms # days/year with EHI 2-5 # days/year with EHI >= 5
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Appendix B - Projections by Municipality (2000-2009 and 2040-2049)
Whitby
Climate Detailed Parameter 2000-09 2040-49 Notes: Parameter Max. in one Day (mm) 79 117 Extreme # days/year >25mm 6 10 precipitation Annual Total Precipitation (mm) 869 1004 Extreme Max. in one day (mm) 79 117 rainfall # days/year > 25mm 5 10 Extreme Max. in one day (cm) 28 17 Snowfall # days/year > 5 cm 9 2 Average max daily (°C) 25 28 Extreme Heat Extreme max. (°C) 33 40 # days/year > 30(°C) 2 17 Average min Daily (°C) -8 -1 Extreme min. (°C) -25 -13 Extreme Cold # days/year < -10(°C) 27 1 # days/year with min. <0 (frost days) 129 75 Extreme Daily (°C) -37 -19 Wind Chill # days/year <-20 (°C) 15 0 # degree days/year > 24 (°C) (AC req’d) 8 49 Degree Days # degree days/year > 0 (°C) 3444 4508 # degree days/year < 0(°C) (heating req’d) 475 70 Max (°C) 47 51 Humidex Average # days/year >40(°C) 3 19 Max hourly speed (km/hr) 62 54 Max. gust speed (km/hr) 119 74 Extreme Wind # days/year with wind speed > 52 km/hr 2.0 0.1 # days/year with wind speed > 63 km/hr 0.0 0.0 # days with high lightning potential/year 29 42 Potential for # days/year with EHI > 1 15.0 17.2 Violent Storms # days/year with EHI 2-5 4.9 7.5 # days/year with EHI >= 5 0 0.3
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Appendix B - Projections by Municipality (2000-2009 and 2040-2049)
Oshawa
Climate Detailed Parameter 2000-09 2040-49 Notes: Parameter Max. in one Day (mm) 84 88 Extreme # days/year >25mm 6 10 precipitation Annual Total Precipitation (mm) 880 1023 Extreme Max. in one day (mm) 84 88 rainfall # days/year > 25mm 5 10 Extreme Max. in one day (cm) 29 18 Snowfall # days/year > 5 cm 9 3 Average max daily (°C) 24 28 Extreme Heat Extreme max. (°C) 32 40 # days/year > 30(°C) 1 11 Average min Daily (°C) -8 -1 Extreme min. (°C) -25 -11 Extreme Cold # days/year < -10(°C) 27 0 # days/year with min. <0 (frost days) 128 73 Extreme Daily (°C) -37 -17 Wind Chill # days/year <-20 (°C) 16 0 # degree days/year > 24 (°C) (AC req’d) 6 38 Degree Days # degree days/year > 0 (°C) 3415 4459 # degree days/year < 0(°C) (heating req’d) 474 69 Max (°C) 46 50 Humidex Average # days/year >40(°C) 3 16 Max hourly speed (km/hr) 65 56 Max. gust speed (km/hr) 120 77 Extreme Wind # days/year with wind speed > 52 km/hr 2 0.2 # days/year with wind speed > 63 km/hr 0 0 # days with high lightning potential/year 27 43 Potential for # days/year with EHI > 1 12.8 15.8 Violent Storms # days/year with EHI 2-5 # days/year with EHI >= 5
72
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Appendix B - Projections by Municipality (2000-2009 and 2040-2049)
Clarington
Climate Detailed Parameter 2000-09 2040-49 Notes: Parameter Max. in one Day (mm) 99 96 Extreme # days/year >25mm 6 9 precipitation Annual Total Precipitation (mm) 883 977 Extreme Max. in one day (mm) 99 96 rainfall # days/year > 25mm 6 9 Extreme Max. in one day (cm) 27 21 Snowfall # days/year > 5 cm 9 1 Average max daily (°C) 24 27 Extreme Heat Extreme max. (°C) 32 40 # days/year > 30(°C) 1 9 Average min Daily (°C) -7 -1 Extreme min. (°C) -25 -11 Extreme Cold # days/year < -10(°C) 25 0 # days/year with min. <0 (frost days) 126 71 Extreme Daily (°C) -36 -17 Wind Chill # days/year <-20 (°C) 14 0 # degree days/year > 24 (°C) (AC req’d) 5 32 Degree Days # degree days/year > 0 (°C) 3420 4443 # degree days/year < 0(°C) (heating req’d) 457 64 Max (°C) 45 48 Humidex Average # days/year >40(°C) 2 13 Max hourly speed (km/hr) 70 56 Max. gust speed (km/hr) 113 77 Extreme Wind # days/year with wind speed > 52 km/hr 3 0.1 # days/year with wind speed > 63 km/hr 1 0 # days with high lightning potential/year 27 41 Potential for # days/year with EHI > 1 10.9 12.9 Violent Storms # days/year with EHI 2-5 # days/year with EHI >= 5
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Appendix B - Projections by Municipality (2000-2009 and 2040-2049)
Uxbridge
Climate Detailed Parameter 2000-09 2040-49 Notes: Parameter Max. in one Day (mm) 82 100 Extreme # days/year >25mm 7 11 precipitation Annual Total Precipitation (mm) 1025 1115 Extreme Max. in one day (mm) 82 100 rainfall # days/year > 25mm 6 11 Extreme Max. in one day (cm) 40 26 Snowfall # days/year > 5 cm 13 6 Average max daily (°C) 25 29 Extreme Heat Extreme max. (°C) 37 43 # days/year > 30(°C) 5 28 Average min Daily (°C) -9 -2 Extreme min. (°C) -28 -14 Extreme Cold # days/year < -10(°C) 36 2 # days/year with min. <0 (frost days) 141 91 Extreme Daily (°C) -41 -20 Wind Chill # days/year <-20 (°C) 24 0 # degree days/year > 24 (°C) (AC req’d) 12 90 Degree Days # degree days/year > 0 (°C) 3283 4378 # degree days/year < 0(°C) (heating req’d) 614 132 Max (°C) 45 54 Humidex Average # days/year >40(°C) 3 24 Max hourly speed (km/hr) 69 50 Max. gust speed (km/hr) 108 78 Extreme Wind # days/year with wind speed > 52 km/hr 2 0 # days/year with wind speed > 63 km/hr 1 0 # days with high lightning potential/year 26 32 Potential for # days/year with EHI > 1 20.5 28.2 Violent Storms # days/year with EHI 2-5 # days/year with EHI >= 5
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Appendix B - Projections by Municipality (2000-2009 and 2040-2049)
Port Perry
Climate Detailed Parameter 2000-09 2040-49 Notes: Parameter Max. in one Day (mm) 87 122 Extreme # days/year >25mm 7 11 precipitation Annual Total Precipitation (mm) 988 1104 Extreme Max. in one day (mm) 87 122 rainfall # days/year > 25mm 6 11 Extreme Max. in one day (cm) 39 25 Snowfall # days/year > 5 cm 11 4 Average max daily (°C) 25 29 Extreme Heat Extreme max. (°C) 35 44 # days/year > 30(°C) 5 27 Average min Daily (°C) -9 -2 Extreme min. (°C) -27 -14 Extreme Cold # days/year < -10(°C) 36 2 # days/year with min. <0 (frost days) 144 92 Extreme Daily (°C) -40 -20 Wind Chill # days/year <-20 (°C) 23 0 # degree days/year > 24 (°C) (AC req’d) 10 80 Degree Days # degree days/year > 0 (°C) 3280 4384 # degree days/year < 0(°C) (heating req’d) 602 127 Max (°C) 46 54 Humidex Average # days/year >40(°C) 4 25 Max hourly speed (km/hr) 69 49 Max. gust speed (km/hr) 116 80 Extreme Wind # days/year with wind speed > 52 km/hr 2 0 # days/year with wind speed > 63 km/hr 1 0 # days with high lightning potential/year 25 32 Potential for # days/year with EHI > 1 20.7 27.5 Violent Storms # days/year with EHI 2-5 # days/year with EHI >= 5
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Appendix B - Projections by Municipality (2000-2009 and 2040-2049)
Beaverton
Climate Detailed Parameter 2000-09 2040-49 Notes: Parameter Max. in one Day (mm) 85 88 Extreme # days/year >25mm 4 9 precipitation Annual Total Precipitation (mm) 828 955 Extreme Max. in one day (mm) 85 88 rainfall # days/year > 25mm 4 8 Extreme Max. in one day (cm) 27 31 Snowfall # days/year > 5 cm 12 5 Average max daily (°C) 24 29 Extreme Heat Extreme max. (°C) 33 40 # days/year > 30(°C) 4 26 Average min Daily (°C) -10 -2 Extreme min. (°C) -29 -15 Extreme Cold # days/year < -10(°C) 39 2 # days/year with min. <0 (frost days) 141 82 Extreme Daily (°C) -39 -21 Wind Chill # days/year <-20 (°C) 25 0.3 # degree days/year > 24 (°C) (AC req’d) 6 68 Degree Days # degree days/year > 0 (°C) 3260 4365 # degree days/year < 0(°C) (heating req’d) 627 121 Max (°C) 45 54 Humidex Average # days/year >40(°C) 4 25 Max hourly speed (km/hr) 75 59 Max. gust speed (km/hr) 106 84 Extreme Wind # days/year with wind speed > 52 km/hr 4 0.6 # days/year with wind speed > 63 km/hr 1 0 # days with high lightning potential/year 22 29 Potential for # days/year with EHI > 1 19.3 25.1 Violent Storms # days/year with EHI 2-5 # days/year with EHI >= 5
76
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Appendix B - Projections by Municipality (2000-2009 and 2040-2049)
Pickering
Climate Detailed Parameter 2000-09 2040-49 Notes: Parameter Max. in one Day (mm) 81 97 Extreme # days/year >25mm 5 9 precipitation Annual Total Precipitation (mm) 822 960 Extreme Max. in one day (mm) 81 97 rainfall # days/year > 25mm 4 9 Extreme Max. in one day (cm) 33 29 Snowfall # days/year > 5 cm 8 2 Average max daily (°C) 25 28 Extreme Heat Extreme max. (°C) 35 43 # days/year > 30(°C) 4 15 Average min Daily (°C) -8 -1 Extreme min. (°C) -25 -13 Extreme Cold # days/year < -10(°C) 27 1 # days/year with min. <0 (frost days) 129 72 Extreme Daily (°C) -37 -20 Wind Chill # days/year <-20 (°C) 14 0 # degree days/year > 24 (°C) (AC req’d) 9 43 Degree Days # degree days/year > 0 (°C) 3431 4480 # degree days/year < 0(°C) (heating req’d) 463 62 Max (°C) 48 53 Humidex Average # days/year >40(°C) 4 17 Max hourly speed (km/hr) 62 57 Max. gust speed (km/hr) 108 74 Extreme Wind # days/year with wind speed > 52 km/hr 2 0.2 # days/year with wind speed > 63 km/hr 0 0 # days with high lightning potential/year 29 44 Potential for # days/year with EHI > 1 15.6 16.7 Violent Storms # days/year with EHI 2-5 # days/year with EHI >= 5
77
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Appendix 3: Membership of Expert Task Forces
Task Force Members (past and current, as of February 29, 2016) Task Force Last Name First Name Organization Peacock (Chair) Mark GRCA Hogenbirk Tom LSRCA Lee Patrick City of Oshawa Sisson Perry CLOCA Majchrowski Mark KRCA Flooding Manoharan Antony Town of Whitby Tryon Kevin Town of Ajax Chalmers Rick Town of Ajax Farrell Laurian TRCA Jones Christopher TRCA
Lancaster (Co-Chair) Pam GRCA Whitbread Michelle City of Oshawa Del Giudice Laura TRCA Tu Christine TRCA Goldie Herb DEAC Field Tim Town of Ajax Brooks (Co-Chair) Heather CLOCA McKay Scott City of Pickering Natural Fernandes Shauna LSRCA Environment Lembcke David LSRCA Carpentier Geoff Chair of DEAC Stavinga Rob KRCA Pridham Dave KRCA Towle Ken GRCA Schofield Jade Town of Ajax Kilbourne Kristy Town of Whitby McGregor Susan Town of Whitby
McGregor (Co-Chair) Grant City of Pickering Bentley Co-Chair) Kyle City of Pickering Daubeny Sheila Town of Whitby Buildings Lawlor Gail DSA Ford Ray Town of Ajax Marshall Craig Builder
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Task Force Last Name First Name Organization Hall (Chair) Todd DRRCC Berdichevsky Arthur Veridian Lumley Tom OPG
Electrical Wu Daisy OPG Sector Shah Jayesh Oshawa PUC Patel Rajindra Oshawa PUC Singh Bob Hydro One Victal Rui Whitby Hydro
Di Pietro (Chair) Anthony Durham Region Neil Barry DRRCC
Human Health Whitbread Michelle City of Oshawa Switzman Harris TRCA Hazen Shelley TRCA Klein Sarah Town of Whitby Craven Meaghan Town of Whitby
Siopis (Co-Chair) Susan Durham Region Bishop Justin City of Oshawa Manoharan Antony Town of Whitby Rajendran (Co-Chair) Mani Durham Region Roads Robinson Barb Durham Region Hagner David Durham Region Rynard Bill Township of Uxbridge Murphy Tim Town of Ajax Ambra Anthony City of Oshawa
Elston (Chair) Suzanne City of Oshawa Drummond Mary Durham Food Policy Council Kinniburgh June Durham Food Policy Council Food Security Fast Victoria OEAC North Barb OEAC Cavallari Carol Owner, The Table Kirby Heather Durham Sustain Ability
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Appendix 4: Results of Risk Assessment Process
Expert Task Force Area High Risk Impacts Medium Risk Impacts Flooding Urban flooding major & minor system conveyance, storm water facilities, roads and transportation, sanitary services, erosion, pollution, electrical services, communication services, social services, EMS, police, fire, public use of floodplains Riverine flooding social disruption, insurance, damage to private assets, business disruption Warning & emergency monitoring, forecasting, response emergency communications, access for emergency vehicles Natural hazard definition existing mapping, standards, methods, flood hazard policies and management, hazard reduction Natural Environment Groundwater quantity changes to shallow aquifers, groundwater discharge and recharge areas Urban tree health changes to: insects or changes to abiotic features disease, species range, extreme events Surface water quantity changes to: stream erosion, changes in base flows, extreme high flows seasonal flows Surface water quality changes in: background changes in pathogen conditions concentrations, nutrient concentrations Terrestrial habitat changes to: landscape level changes to habitat matrix connections, abiotic and succession features of habitat Terrestrial species changes to: species range and presence, insects and diseases, life history traits
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Expert Task Force Area High Risk Impacts Medium Risk Impacts Aquatic habitat changes in: hydrology, changes to in-stream thermal regimes habitat Aquatic species changes in: trophic structures, species range and presence, alien invasive species and disease, life history traits Buildings Public sector buildings (new failure of AC, damage to backed-up drains/septic, and existing) exterior and rooftop flood damage to service equipment equipment, failure of heating system, damage due to lightening, roof structure failure New residential buildings backed-up drains/septic, flood damage to service equipment, roof structure failure, damage to exterior and rooftop equipment, secondary interior damage, damage to adjacent buildings, damage to exterior and rooftop equipment New ICI buildings backed-up drains/septic, flood damage to service equipment, failure of AC, collapse of light structures, damage to adjacent buildings, secondary interior damage, roof structure failure Existing residential roof structure failure, damage to adjacent buildings backed-up drains/septic, buildings, heating system flood damage to service failure, structural damage, equipment, AC failure, building devastation secondary interior damage, damage to exterior, collapse of light structures
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Expert Task Force Area High Risk Impacts Medium Risk Impacts Existing ICI buildings roof structure failure, heating failure, structural backed-up drains/septic, damage, building flood damage to service devastation, collapse of equipment, AC failure, light structures, damage to damage to exterior, adjacent buildings secondary damage to interior Electrical Sector Extreme heat sag and annealing of wires sag and annealing of wires – reduced asset life, – phase to phase short, Impact of heat on outside accelerates challenges of transmission and workers is yet to be ageing infrastructure distribution outages assessed
Temperature Vegetation management- longer growing season leading to damage and outage Precipitation
*Impact of flooding on infrastructure is yet to be assessed Freezing rain (ice storms) Infrastructure failure leading to outages (due to ice accretion and trees falling on lines) Extreme winds Outages caused by infrastructure damage Human Health Extreme heat heat related death and illness Air quality chronic exposure acute exposure Infectious Diseases tick borne Lyme disease, mosquito borne disease, rodent borne diseases Contamination of Food and food borne illness, Water water borne illness Extreme weather events extreme weather events and natural hazards and natural hazards
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Expert Task Force Area High Risk Impacts Medium Risk Impacts Roads Extreme storm events failure of culverts/bridges, bluff failure along storm sewers, and road waterfront, road failure embankments through subsoil failure, and pavement structure failure Extreme heat softening of asphalt, and buckling of pavement degradation, pavement/bridges Fewer & less cold days deterioration of road reduction in the use of road salt (opportunity) Food Security Increased rainfall soil erosion (crop production and rot Violent events and rain crop destruction (reduced road flooding (interruption storms availability of local food, of food delivery, consumer crop flattening), falling access to food) branches and power outages (electricity outages and food storage, handling, processing, access to money and fuel)
Summer temperatures water supply – quantity and Livestock (heat stroke, (averages and extremes) quality (reduction in crops increase in disease and and availability, increased pests, bacteria in water food prices, health impacts) supply), dairy production (no outdoor grazing or exercise), electricity brownouts (food spoilage, health and safety) Winter temperatures invasive species (increase (averages and extremes) in local pests), reduction in snow cover (impacts erosion and dormancy periods) Humidex heat stroke (people won’t want to garden outside), mold (spoilage) General crops (increased food prices, availability of local and nutritious food)
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Appendix 5: Original Proposal for the Ontario Climate Resilience Fund (October 2015)
Proposal for an Ontario Climate Resilience Fund
1. Introduction
This preliminary paper outlines a proposed Ontario Climate Resilience Fund designed to assist municipalities to make critical investments in the infrastructure and programs necessary to protect their communities against the extreme weather associated with the changing climate in Ontario.
2. Rationale
The global climate is being altered and in Ontario this generally means warmer, wetter and wilder weather that will exceed the capacity of our current community infrastructure and programs to cope. Indeed, this is already happening as demonstrated by recent events in Ontario. The costs of adaptation to this “new normal” are significant and well beyond the ability of the municipal property tax base alone to fund. Moreover, this “climate deficit” is on top of the current “infrastructure deficit” which municipalities are already suffering as a result of aging and neglected infrastructure. An important part of the Province’s forthcoming Climate Action Plan could be a new, dedicated Climate Resilience Fund designed to strategically direct and financially assist municipalities to make the necessary investments in new and retrofitted physical infrastructure and new programs to monitor, respond to and prevent climate-related damage.
3. The Concept
The Ontario Climate Resilience Fund could be a major element of the Ontario Climate Action Plan intended to promote, prioritize and financially support meaningful investment of funds into programs by municipal governments to protect infrastructure and citizens against the impacts of a changing climate. It should be designed as a matching grant fund to which local governments make applications which meet prescribed criteria demonstrating proactive climate adaptation planning and local co-funding. Such a Fund would be a very tangible example of investing Cap and Trade Program revenues into measures which bring direct benefit to citizens and taxpayers.
4. Sources of Funding
This program could be self-funded from the sale of allowances under the Ontario Cap and Trade Program. Indeed, roughly half of the revenues from Cap and Trade Program could be allocated to adaptation programs to protect Ontario’s 84
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infrastructure and its citizens from the inevitable effects of climate change. The other half could be invested in GHG mitigation programs.
Ontario municipalities would be expected to match provincial funding. Note that under the current situation, municipalities are essentially responsible for 100% of climate adaptation costs.
The new Federal government should be requested to contribute an amount equal to the Province’s share.
The insurance industry could also be approached at the right time to also contribute an appropriate share. For the insurance companies, prevention should be less costly than payouts.
Ultimately, a 3:1 leverage proposition should be attractive to the four major contributors. (See Financial Projections in Table 1)
5. Eligible Applicants and Participants
This Fund should be directed exclusively to municipal investments in: • Municipal, utility and conservation authority infrastructure (such as roads, bridges, culverts, stormwater management systems, water supply and wastewater treatment, electrical service, dams, weirs etc.); • Municipal or conservation authority programs to help affected citizens prevent or manage the impacts of changing climate (health programs, food security, cooling centres, improved building standards and upgrades, natural environment protection etc.).
The Fund should be mostly for capital investments but maintenance and program design and operating costs should also be eligible (with certain restrictions).
In order to promote cost-effective investments, a prerequisite for application to the fund should be the completion and adoption (by municipal council) of a comprehensive Community Climate Adaptation Plan which identifies climate trends, the resulting risks, adaptive measures and programs to implement the appropriate actions. The government should set out the model for an acceptable Adaptation Plan as a requirement for application to the Climate Resilience Fund. The funding sought by applicants should relate to the high priority programs and actions identified in their Adaptation Plans and should be matched by municipal//utility funds.
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6. Timing and Size of the Fund
The Ontario Climate Resilience Fund could be announced in the fall of 2015 as a major element of the Ontario Climate Action Plan.
Further details could be revealed in the 2016 Ontario Budget together with the linkage to the Cap and Trade Program as the major source of funding.
The Fund should be launched on January 1, 2017 with an initial Provincial contribution of $500 million. The Provincial contribution should be ramped up each year by about $200 Million.
By 2020 the Fund should reach its designed maximum Provincial contribution of $1 billion/year and remain flat at that level until 2025.
The rationale, operations, effectiveness and size of the fund should be thoroughly evaluated in 2024 with possible revision and renewal in 2025 and 5-year increments thereafter.
7. Positioning In order to maximize the chances of success (increased resilience to extreme weather in Ontario), it will be necessary to position the Fund as: • a “Made in Ontario” initiative in response to the growing recognition of the “climate deficit” in the province; • a significant element of the Provincial Climate Action Plan; • funded by provincial revenues from the sale of allowances under the Cap and Trade Program; • a cost-shared program with the municipalities; • a program calling for an equal federal contribution from the new Federal Government; • a program that will request a significant annual contribution from the insurance industry; • A fund dedicated exclusively to climate resilience investments by municipalities in Ontario; • A fund requiring up-front analys • is and planning by municipalities in order to optimize the results of the investments.
See Financial Projections in Table 1.
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Table 1: Financial Projections Proposal for an Ontario Climate Resilience Fund
Municipal Insurance Provincial Federal Year Matching Industry Total Fund Contribution Contribution Funds Contribution
2017 $500M $500M $500M $500M $2.0B
2018 $700M $700M $700M $700M $2.8B
2019 $900M $900M $900M $900M $3.6B
2020 $1B $1B $1B $1B $4.0B
2021 and $1B $1B $1B $1B $4.0B beyond
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Page 218 of 257 New and Unfinished Business - Planning and Development Committee Item Department Due Source Description Resolution Meeting Date Number Responsible Date MD - 0414 Planning Planning Report, Item PL 3. That Council direct staff to conduct a 14 May 2012 Planning 28 Committee 31-12 - Re: Zoning zoning study to determine the appropriate Nov Amendment Application - future uses for lands at the northwest corner 2016 1725432 Ontario Ltd. - Z- of Taunton and Garrard Roads and that the 08-11 - 4070 Garrard Commissioner of Planning report back to Road Council with the study process and timeline.
See also MD 2696
MD - 0529 Planning Planning Report, Item PL That Planning Report, Item PL 56-12, Re: 24 Sep 2012 Planning 16 Committee 56-12 Re: Proposed Proposed Designation of the Camp X Jan Designation of the Camp Building - 4680 Thickson Road North, be 2017 X Building - 4680 Thickson referred back to staff for a report on timelines Road North and on how the Town of Whitby will move forward with a business plan.
See also MD 2539
MD - 0766 Planning Planning Report, PL 44-13 That the Accessibility Coordinator report back 08 Apr 2013 Planning 07 Committee Re: Design of Public to Council with the recommended Nov Spaces, Ontario amendments. 2016 Regulation 413/12 See also MD 2869
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NUB - Planning and Development Committee Item Department Due Source Description Resolution Meeting Date Number Responsible Date MD - 1813 Planning Planning and That Council direct Staff to explore a heritage 02 Sep 2014 Planning 24 Committee Development Department conservation easement and Provincial Apr Report, PL 65-14 Re: Heritage Plaque for the property, through the 2017 Designation of the Land Ontario Heritage Trust, and report back to the Registry Office (ca. 1872 - Planning and Development Committee and 73), located at 400 Centre Council with its findings. Street South, as being of Historic and Architectural Value and Interest under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. C. O.18 MD - 1970 Planning Planning and 4. That Council approve the application to 26 Jan 2015 Planning 31 Committee Development Department amend Zoning By-law No. 1784, (Z-11-11), Oct Report, PL 7-15 [7:40 subject to the comments, and conditions 2016 p.m.] Re: G & L Group contained in Section 8, of Planning Report Ltd., Devil’s Den Golf Item PL 7-15 and the approval of Amendment Course, 745 Winchester No. 99 to the Whitby Official Plan;and subject Road West and 5515 to the review and reporting back of the Coronation Road (OPA- following items prior to the by-law being 2011-W/01, Z-11-11, brought forward to Council: Durham OPA-2011-009) the well interference procedures; that golf balls from the existing driving range and the proposed golf course be contained within the sites; and, that CLOCA be requested to review the timing of the water monitoring programs to ensure that the monitoring is being
Page 220 of257 completed during a time that would identify the greatest pesticide impact.
Agenda Item#
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NUB - Planning and Development Committee Item Department Due Source Description Resolution Meeting Date Number Responsible Date MD - 2258 Planning Heritage Registry and 1. That staff report back to the Planning 15 Jun 2015 Planning 24 Committee Heritage Impact and Development Committee on Apr Assessments options for providing information to 2017 Council and homeowners on the Town's Heritage Registry and heritage impact assessments within the parameters of the Town's Official Plan with examples from other municipalities in how these matters are handled; 2. That staff apply a priority mechanism and identify which matters require immediate attention; and, 3. That this matter be added to the New and Unfinished Business List for the Planning and Development Committee.
MD - 2359 Planning Accessible Parking in Councillor Coe raised the issue of accessible 08 Sep 2015 Planning 17 Committee Downtown Whitby parking in Downtown Whitby and requested Oct that the Commissioners of Planning and 2016 Public Works determine what actions can be taken to address this issue. MD - 2392 Planning Public Art in the Councillor Roy requested that staff review 28 Sep 2015 Planning 31 Committee Community current policies on public art in the Dec community, in particular on construction 2016 hoarding, and what the Town could to to promote public art in community spaces and Page 221 of257 that the matter be added to the New and Unfinished Business List for Planning and Development Committee. Agenda Item#
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NUB - Planning and Development Committee Item Department Due Source Description Resolution Meeting Date Number Responsible Date MD - 2539 Planning Camp X Cottage Building That staff report back to the Planning and 30 Nov 2015 Planning 16 Committee Development Committee regarding the future Jan of the Camp X Cottage Building including the 2017 possibility of partnering with the City of Oshawa, LACAC Heritage Whitby and the Ontario Regiment Museum to establish a Camp X Museum.
See also MD 0529
MD - 2696 Planning Planning and 2.That the land use designations for the 16 Feb 2016 Planning 28 Committee Development Department study area outlined in Attachment #9 in Nov Report, PL 13-16 Re: Report PL 13-16 be considered through 2016 Taunton and Garrard the Whitby Official Plan Review; Zoning Study (Z-19-13) 3. That the Taunton and Garrard Zoning Study be tabled pending the completion of the Official Plan Review; and, 4. That the findings of Report PL 13-16 be used in the review and consideration of development applications for properties within the study area in the interim, until the Official Plan Review and/or the Taunton and Garrard Zoning Study is completed. 5. That staff be directed to undertake a public workshop, as soon as possible, with surrounding residents and land owners prior to the Official Plan Review.
See also MD 0414 Page 222 of257 MD - 2713 Planning Employment Opportunities That staff be directed to undertake a review 22 Feb 2016 Planning 06 Committee for 407 and 412 Lands and report that outlines a process that can Feb give focus to future land uses and 2017 employment opportunities along 407 and Agenda Item# 412.
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NUB - Planning and Development Committee Item Department Due Source Description Resolution Meeting Date Number Responsible Date MD - 2718 Planning Planning and 1. That Planning Report PL 13-16 be 29 Feb 2016 Planning 28 Committee Development Department received for information; and, Nov Report, PL 13-16 Re: 5. That staff be directed to undertake a public 2016 Taunton and Garrard workshop, as soon as possible, with Zoning Study (Z-19-13) surrounding residents and land owners prior to the Official Plan Review.
That items 2, 3 and 4 be referred back to staff to investigate concerns with regard to the timing of the Official Plan review.
For information - original items 2, 3 and 4 from staff recommendation: That the land use designations for the study area outlined in Attachment #9 in Report PL 13-16 be considered through the Whitby Official Plan Review; That the Taunton and Garrard Zoning Study be tabled pending the completion of the Official Plan Review; That the findings of Report PL 13-16 be used in the review and consideration of development applications for properties within the study area in the interim, until the Official Plan Review and/or the Taunton and Garrard Zoning Study is completed.
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NUB - Planning and Development Committee Item Department Due Source Description Resolution Meeting Date Number Responsible Date MD - 2743 Planning Planning and Development 2. That Council direct the Planning and 07 Mar 2016 Planning 17 Committee Department Report, PL Development Department to undertake community Oct 27-16 Re: Framework for consultation and stakeholder engagement on 2016 a Downtown Whitby the proposed framework of the Downtown Whitby Strategy for Action Strategy for Action accompanied by the Downtown Whitby Visuals in this report and report back with the findings including a final plan for Council’s adoption; and, 3.That the Sustainability, Heritage, Downtowns and Community Development Division establish an interdepartmental action team to collaboratively work on the initiatives in the Downtown Whitby Strategy for Action.
See also MD 2789
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NUB - Planning and Development Committee Item Department Due Source Description Resolution Meeting Date Number Responsible Date MD - 2789 Planning Planning and Development 1. That Council receive Planning and 29 Mar 2016 Planning 17 Committee Department Report, PL Development Report PL 27-16 Oct 27-16 Re: Framework for as information; 2016 a Downtown Whitby 2. That Council direct the Planning and Strategy for Action Development Department to undertake community consultation and stakeholder engagement on the proposed framework of the Downtown Whitby Strategy for Action accompanied by the Downtown Whitby Visuals in this report and report back with the findings including a final plan for Council’s adoption; 3. That the Sustainability, Heritage, Downtowns and Community Development Division establish an interdepartmental action team to collaboratively work on the initiatives in the Downtown Whitby Strategy for Action; 4. That the planning horizon for the Downtown Whitby Strategy for Action be 3 years instead of 5; and, 5. That finalizing the historic Downtown Community Improvement Plan, and suite of incentives within the Community Improvement Plan, be identified as the urgent priority to be completed in 6 months. Page 225 of257
See also MD 2743
Agenda Item#
Updated: October 11, 2016 page 7 of 9
NUB - Planning and Development Committee Item Department Due Source Description Resolution Meeting Date Number Responsible Date MD - 2869 Planning Design of Public Spaces That R. Petrie follow up with the Accessibility 04 Apr 2016 CAO 07 Committee Coordinator and provide a status update. Nov 2016 See also MD 0766
MD - 3046 Planning Planning and Development That Planning and Development Department 13 Jun 2016 Planning 17 Committee Department Report, PL Report, PL 63-16 regarding Street Name Oct 63-16 Re: Street Name Change due to Highway 407 and 412 2016 Change Due to Highway (formerly West Durham Link) Construction be 407 and 412 (formerly referred to staff to investigate maintaining the West Durham Link) existing street names and any associated Construction impact with continued use of street names on emergency services. MD - 3115 Planning Planning and Development 1. That Planning and Development 27 Jun 2016 Planning 28 Committee Department Report, PL Committee receive report PL 70-16 Nov 70-16 Re: Zoning By-law 2016 Amendment Application, for information; and, Cindy Suppan (Cindy’s 2. That staff be directed to report Alterations), 228 Brock Street North (Z-09-15) back to Council through the Official Plan review process on the requirement for laneways/easements as part of comprehensive block development, including alternatives to the laneway/easement requirement. Page 226 of257 Agenda Item#
Updated: October 11, 2016 page 8 of 9
NUB - Planning and Development Committee Item Department Due Source Description Resolution Meeting Date Number Responsible Date MD - 3180 Planning Planning and 4.That staff identify a "Priority Area" within 19 Sep 2016 Planning 12 Committee Development Department the CIP centred around the historic Jun Report, PL 88-16 Re: downtown for public consultation as part of 2017 Status of Review on the the CIP Area Boundaries Review to take Downtown Whitby place Q4 2016 and Q1 2017; Community Improvement 5. That staff report back as part of the final Plan CIP recommendations, to be brought forward for Council consideration in Q2 2017, on incentives, including separate packages for: 1. the Priority Area; and 2. the balance of the existing CIP including the proposed CIP expansion area.
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Accessibility Advisory Committee Minutes September 13, 2016 -7:00 pm Committee Room One Whitby Municipal Building
Present: Jeffrey Beaton, Vice-Chair Naji Hassan Denise Laframboise Amanda Murray Allyson Partridge-Rios Richard Turner Councillor Leahy
Also Present: Michele Cotton, Staff Liaison, Accessibility Coordinator Jonathan Gilston, Committee Coordinator
Regrets: Sharon Johnston James Lawrie The meeting began at 7:01 p.m.
1. Disclosures of Interest
1.1 There were no disclosures of interest.
2. Approval of Previous Minutes
2.1 Minutes - June 7, 2016
Moved By Naji Hassan
That the Accessibility Advisory Committee minutes of June 7, 2016 be approved.
Carried
3. Presentations/Deputations
3.1 There were no presentations or deputations.
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4. General Business and Reports
4.1 Enabling Accessibility Grant Applications Michele Cotton advised that the Town applied for Federal funding through the Enabling Accessibility Fund to improve and acquire accessible features for the Town's offices, including accessible equipment for front-line staff. She further advised that a response from the Federal government is expected in October 2016.
4.2 Accessibility Plan 2016-2018 Michele Cotton distributed copies of the Accessibility Plan 2016-2018 to the Committee and provided an overview of the Plan, including: • history of the Plan; • the Plan's objectives and identified steps to meet accessibility standards in the Town; and • a summary of the improved accessible features, equipment, services, processes and policies completed, and scheduled to be completed, by the Town. Discussion ensued regarding: • the seniors bus and its current status outside the Province's accessible legislation due to its passenger capacity; • the accessibility standards for public spaces and the Town's trail and sidewalk sizes; • the need for sidewalks to be on both sides of any Town road; • the impact and strength of the Plan within the corporation; and • the Service Delivery Review's potential impact on the Plan's timelines.
Moved By Richard Turner
That the Accessibility Advisory Committee endorse the Accessibility Plan 2016-2018, as drafted.
Carried
It was the consensus of the Committee to hear Item 6, Council Update, at this time.
4.3 Federal Accessibility Legislation Consultation Michele Cotton provided information regarding the Federal
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Accessibility Legislation consultation, including: • its objective to determine whether accessible legislation is required at the Federal level; • the consultation period's length, which is scheduled to conclude in February 2017; • the survey's online availability for the public to provide input; and • the impact of accessible Federal legislation on key services, such as airline transportation and gas stations. Discussion ensued regarding who would be responsible for monitoring accessibility compliance if Federal legislation was passed. Michele Cotton advised that she was drafting a report for Council detailing the Federal Accessibility Legislation and would provide it for the Committee's review once complete.
4.4 Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC) Forum - Regional Headquarters Michele Cotton provided information regarding the Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee Forum scheduled for September 20, 2016, including: • the availability of the Forum's agenda; • the scheduled presentations; • the scheduled accessibility awards; and • the initiatives requested from participating committees to present at the Forum. Discussion ensued regarding potential initiatives to submit to the Forum, including the removal of mid-intersection pedestrian islands in the Town. Michele Cotton advised that she would draft the presentation for the Committee.
4.5 Update on Diversity Forum - Partnership with Ethno-Cultural and Diversity Advisory Committee (EDAC) Allyson Partridge-Rios provided an update regarding the Diversity Forum scheduled for November 30, 2016, including the composition of the Forum's panellists. She noted that the EDAC representatives recommended her as one of the Forum's panellists, with James Lawrie as the moderator.
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4.6 Subcommittee Updates / Work Plan Updates Discussion ensued regarding scheduling a built environment subcommittee meeting. Michele Cotton provided an update regarding the customer service and communications subcommittee projects, including the status of the Committee's banners and promotional materials. Discussion ensued regarding the Committee's participation at the Heritage Day event scheduled for October 1, 2016. It was the consensus of the Committee to not participate at the 2016 Heritage Day event. Discussion ensued regarding scheduling a customer service and communications subcommittee meeting.
4.7 Age-Friendly Update Michele Cotton provided an update regarding the Town's Age Friendly initiative, including: • the completion of the consultation period; and • the working committee's review to determine priorities and recommendations following the consultations. Michele Cotton advised that the Age Friendly working committee was interested in partnering with the Committee to discuss and review their initiatives.
5. Correspondence
5.1 There was no correspondence.
6. Council Update
6.1 Councillor Leahy provided an update regarding: • the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Annual Conference in August 2016 and his attendance at a lunch and learn with the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario; • the status of the West Whitby development; and • Council's debate of ranked balloting and online voting for the 2018 municipal elections during the September 12, 2016 Operations Committee meeting.
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It was the consensus of the Committee to hear Item 4.3, Federal Accessibility Legislation Consultation, at this time.
7. Other Business
7.1 Michele Cotton provided information regarding the Whitby Public Library's Lecture Series scheduled for September 16, 23 and 30 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Whitby Central Library.
7.2 Richard Turner requested for updates regarding installing accessibility features in the Town's dog parks, the Rotary Park pavilions, and at Heydenshore Pavilion.
Michele Cotton advised that she would follow-up with Town staff regarding the status of incorporating these accessibility features.
8. Next Meeting
8.1 Tuesday October 4, 2016 - 7:00 p.m. Committee Room 1, Whitby Municipal Building
9. Adjournment
9.1 Motion to Adjourn
Moved By Richard Turner
That the meeting adjourn.
Carried
The meeting ended at 8:38 p.m.
J. Gilston, Committee Coordinator Jeffrey Beaton, Vice-Chair
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Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee Minutes September 15, 2016 – 8:00 AM Meeting Room 1B, 405 Dundas Street West Whitby Central Library
Present: Grace Cardona Yvonne Chornobay Kimberly Copetti, Chair Deanna Hollister Andrea Kennedy Paul Rolland Ian Ross Chris van der Vliet Lynn Winterstein, Vice-Chair Councillor Roy
Also Present: Maria McDonnell, Staff Liaison, Manager, Sustainability, Heritage, Downtown and Community Development Christy Chrus, Staff Liaison, Principal Planner Jonathan Gilston, Committee Coordinator
Regrets: Bob Baker Tracy Hanson Rick McDonnell James Wineck The meeting began at 8:08 a.m.
1. Disclosures of Interest
1.1 There were no disclosures of interest.
2. Approval of Previous Minutes
2.1 Minutes - June 16, 2016
Recommendation:
Moved By Lynn Winterstein
That the Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee minutes of June 16, 2016 be approved.
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Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee Minutes September 15, 2016 - 8:00 AM
Carried
3. Presentations/Deputations
3.1 There were no presentations or deputations.
4. General Business and Reports
4.1 Community Improvement Plan Update - September 6, 2016 Report Christy Chrus provided an update regarding the Town's Community Improvement Plan, including: the Plan's submission to the Planning and Development Committee meeting on September 6, 2016; the report's recommendation to expand the Plan's area eastward to Garden Street; the identified priority area for the Façade Grant program and increasing the available funds within the program; other potential programs that could be introduced in the Plan's area, such as a tax grant, brown field assistance program, and signage grants; and the Plan's referral to the next scheduled Council meeting on September 19, 2016. Discussion ensued regarding the proposed signage program and whether guidelines could be introduced to include heritage signs and allow businesses to choose their sign's design.
4.2 Downtown Whitby Action Plan Christy Chrus provided an update regarding the Downtown Whitby Action Plan, including: the consultations and surveys conducted over the summer to gather feedback from the public; Town staff's review of the comment's received and prioritizing the Plan's action items based on the feedback; and the upcoming review of the Plan by the Town's senior management team. Maria McDonnell advised of other projects currently being advanced for Downtown Whitby, including retaining services to improve Celebration Square and applying for funding through the Province of Ontario's Places to Grow Implementation Fund to revitalize the Downtown area.
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Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee Minutes September 15, 2016 - 8:00 AM
4.3 Communications Sub-Committee - Newsletter and Façade Grant Presentations Andrea Kennedy advised that the Fall edition of the Committee's newsletter was printed and ready for distribution. She presented the newsletter to the Committee and highlighted its articles, such as the Brock Street Brewery development. Discussion ensued regarding the accessible format of the Committee's newsletter and whether other printed promotional material within the Town are required to be accessible. Paul Rolland provided information regarding the plaque presentations to participants of the Facade Grant Program in August 2016. He also provided examples of businesses within the Downtown area that revitalized the interiors, such as Geekspeak and Frantastic Events. Discussion ensued regarding featuring Geekspeak and other businesses in Downtown Whitby in the Committee's next newsletter to showcase their revitalized interiors.
4.4 Durham Region Police Service Draft 2017-2019 Business Plan Christy Chrus presented the Durham Region Police Service Draft 2017- 2019 Business Plan to the Committee. Discussion ensued regarding: the increased number of responses by the police relating to mental health issues, such as suicide calls; whether there were references in the Plan to address safety concerns in Downtown Whitby; and the noticeable decrease of evening mischief in Downtown Whitby over the summer.
Recommendation:
Moved By Lynn Winterstein
That the Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee endorse the Durham Region Police Service Draft 2017-2019 Business Plan, as drafted.
Carried
4.5 Heritage Day / Culture Days Weekend - September 30, October 1 & 2,
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Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee Minutes September 15, 2016 - 8:00 AM
2016 Discussion ensued regarding: volunteers for Heritage Day and Culture Days Weekend scheduled for September 30 to October 2, 2016; the release of Wade Szilagyi's virtual reality tour app, Blippar; and creating a survey and issuing prizes at the Committee's booth.
4.6 Downtown Whitby Business Improvement Area (BIA) Formation Committee Update Chris van der Vliet provided an update regarding the BIA Formation Committee, including: the survey distributed to Downtown Whitby businesses in 2015 to gather feedback regarding a potential BIA in the area, and the monthly BIA Formation Committee meetings that followed; the favourable responses from business owners pertaining to the formation of a BIA; and the BIA Formation Committee's presentation to the Planning and Development Committee meeting scheduled for September 26, 2016 regarding the formation of a BIA in Downtown Whitby. Discussion ensued regarding: comparing Downtown Whitby's potential BIA with BIA's in other municipalities; the level of engagement and support for a BIA from business owners in Downtown Whitby; and the size of the proposed Downtown Whitby BIA and the potential for it to grow.
4.7 Experience Our Downtowns Magazine Fall Edition Christy Chrus provided copies of the Experience Our Downtowns magazine Fall edition to the Committee and showcased the magazine's content, such as the Pokemon GO initiatives in Downtown Whitby and Brooklin. She advised that the Town's Social Media Coordinator would be tweeting one article every week to promote the magazine. Discussion ensued regarding: the duplicated advertisements and article coverage between the Committee's newsletter and the magazine and determining ways to ensure it does not happen in the future; measuring the magazine's impact on businesses based on its advertising; and the popularity of the magazine with the public.
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Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee Minutes September 15, 2016 - 8:00 AM
4.8 Public Works Department Update Christy Chrus, on behalf of Alison Albrecht, provided an update regarding the Discount Rate for Leased Parking in Municipal Lots and Interim Payment in Lieu (PIL) report recommended to Council following the Operations Committee meeting on September 12, 2016. Discussion ensued regarding the effect of Highway 412 opening on Highway 12 truck traffic and whether it could be measured. Christy Chrus advised that she would investigate whether the traffic in Downtown Whitby was measured.
4.9 Community and Marketing Services Department Update Lynn Winterstein requested that if Town staff responsible for providing an update from the Community and Marketing Services Department are unavailable to attend the meeting, that they provide something in writing for the Committee to review. Discussion ensued regarding the Old Fire Hall site and when details could be released to the public.
4.10 Whitby Public Library Update Ian Ross provided a Whitby Public Library update regarding: the impact of the current exchange rate for purchasing ebooks; the grant availability from the Province of Ontario and the Library's need for more funding to support their initiatives; the positive scores for the Library in the Town's recent Service Delivery Review; how the Library compared to other municipalities in terms of budget spending; the challenges of maintaining the Library's internet service; providing offsite services to facilities, community groups, and buildings in the municipality, such as White Oaks; the Library's new partnerships, such as hosting Durham College's Lecture Series; the Library's participation in the Red Scarf Project to raise awareness of AIDS; the progress of the Library's economic impact study; the challenges of Library staff to adapt to new technology and educate the public on how to use their devices; and the foreseen need for a new library branch to meet the needs of the growing community.
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Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee Minutes September 15, 2016 - 8:00 AM
Discussion ensued regarding: whether the Library was allowed to raise money from private industries; comparing library funding with school board funding; including the Library's need for internet access in the Town's broadband strategy for the Downtown area; examples of other municipal strategies for incorporating businesses in a broadband network, such as Port Perry; and the high expectations from the public in order for the Library to continue to provide services.
4.11 Whitby Chamber of Commerce Update Andrea Kennedy advised that Tracy Hanson has accepted a role at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, and that the Whitby Chamber of Commerce Board has begun to notify the business community of the leadership change. Andrea Kennedy provided a Whitby Chamber of Commerce update regarding the Durham Region Business Summit scheduled for October 19, 2016, and the Peter Perry Awards later in Fall 2016. Discussion ensued regarding nominating a Downtown Whitby business for a Peter Perry Award and the requirements to be nominated.
4.12 LACAC Heritage Whitby Update There was no LACAC Heritage Whitby Update.
4.13 Olde Whitby Neighbourhood Association (OWNA) Maria McDonnell presented a handout on behalf of Bob Baker to the Committee that outlined a few points of discussion, including: the status of the Werden's Plan Heritage Conservation District (HCD) and the recent delay in the consultation process; noted commercial businesses in Downtown Whitby that may not be zoned properly; and requesting the Town to provide its Downtown residents with communications regarding the status of various projects in Werden's Plan. Discussion ensued regarding: the presentation to Council pertaining to the creation of the Werden's Plan HCD tentatively scheduled in January 2017; the public availability of zoning information for properties within
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Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee Minutes September 15, 2016 - 8:00 AM
the Town; and the public's ability to report contraventions to zoning by-laws for any property in the Town.
5. Correspondence
5.1 There was no correspondence.
6. Council Update
6.1 Councillor Roy provided an update regarding: the status of the Service Delivery Review and the 18 priorities identified in the report that could be implemented; Council's election reform debate during September 12, 2016 Operations Committee meeting; the additional Regional Councillor seat for Whitby; the status of Cullen Park and the log cabin; and the status of the Old Fire Hall and forthcoming news of the new development.
7. Other Business
7.1 Lynn Winterstein provided information regarding a Global News segment about Off the Cleaver, an organic butcher in Whitby, that aired on September 14, 2016.
7.2 Lynn Winterstein requested for verbal updates regarding free WiFi for Downtown Whitby businesses at the next scheduled Committee meeting on October 20, 2016.
Kim Copetti advised that she would request updates from Peter LeBel, Commissioner of Community and Marketing Services, regarding free WiFi in Downtown Whitby.
Christy Chrus advised that she would invite Dan Munns, Manager of Information Services, to speak with the Committee regarding WiFi implementation in Downtown Whitby.
7.3 Kim Copetti acknowledged the hard work of the Town's Planning Department staff for their efforts to revitalize Downtown Whitby.
8. Next Meeting
8.1 Thursday October 20, 2016 - 8:00 a.m.
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Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee Minutes September 15, 2016 - 8:00 AM
Meeting Room 1B, Whitby Central Library 405 Dundas Street West
9. Adjournment
9.1 Motion to Adjourn
Recommendation:
Moved By Andrea Kennedy
That the meeting adjourn.
Carried
The meeting ended at 10:05 a.m.
J. Gilston, Committee Coordinator Kim Copetti, Committee Chair
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Doors Open Whitby Advisory Committee Minutes September 20, 2016 - 2:00 pm Board Room, 8 Vipond Road Brooklin Community Centre and Library
Present: Kirstyn Allam Sue Green Joyce Marshall Rick McDonnell, Vice-Chair Pamela McPherson Sue Pitchforth, Chair Councillor Mulcahy
Also Present: Stephanie Bakalar, Social Media Coordinator Sarah Ferencz, Library Archivist Emily Smith, Community Branch Librarian Olex Wlasenko, Station Gallery Representative Stephen Ashton, Staff Liaison, Planner II, Downtown Development Jonathan Gilston, Committee Coordinator
Regrets: Heather Kearney Jennifer Maddigan Pavel Zeman The meeting began at 2:04 p.m.
1. Disclosures of Interest
1.1 There were no disclosures of interest.
2. Approval of Previous Minutes
2.1 Minutes - May 17, 2016
Recommendation:
Moved By Joyce Marshall
That the Doors Open Whitby Advisory Committee minutes of May 17,
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2016 be approved.
Carried
3. Presentations/Deputations
3.1 There were no presentations or deputations.
4. General Business and Reports
4.1 Review of Social Media/Website Analytics - 2017 Strategy Stephanie Bakalar appeared before the Committee and presented handouts detailing the social media analytics from the 2016 Doors Open event. She gave an overview of each of the statistics, including: • the positive numbers for advertising on Twitter, including impressions and retweets; and • the event's media engagement, such as its photos, that drew social media users to click on the posts. Discussion ensued regarding: • redirecting users to the event's website for more information; • the webpage template created for all Town events; • the potential for the Committee to improve the event's reach on social media in 2017 to draw more attendants from outside of Whitby; and • the cost of improving reach on social media.
4.2 2017 Doors Open Sites - Site Selection Subcommittee Discussion ensued regarding planning the 2017 Doors Open event, including: • the upcoming designation of the Spencer School House and the possibility of holding a plaque ceremony during the event; • maintaining a core list of buildings to use each year for Doors open, including Camp X, Trafalgar Castle, Station Gallery and the Lynde House; • inviting the Whitby Brass Band to provide music at the Centennial Building; • potential private homes to include on the Doors Open tour in both Downtown Whitby and Brooklin; • incorporating a book signing of Sharon Ammen's book, May Irwin: Singing, Shouting, and the Shadow of Minstrelsy, in the tour; • inviting Lynn Philip Hodgson to present Camp X artifacts during
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the tour; • the buildings confirmed to be on the tour, such as the Charles H. Best Diabetes Centre and the Brooklin Community Centre and Library; • whether it was possible to cluster sites in Brooklin, similar to what was done during the 2016 Doors Open event in Downtown Whitby; • the need for more private homes in Brooklin to provide the benefit of clustering; • ensuring the 2017 tour sites are accessible; • whether a walking tour could be incorporated in Brooklin; • tying food production into the potential farming and agriculture theme; • the Town's ability to provide insurance for private residences during the event; • potentially inviting the Luna Dance Company and Renaissance Hotel to participate in the event; • the possibility of moving the 2018 Doors Open event to coincide with Culture Days, as it was done in Oshawa and Ajax, to improve attendance numbers and site clustering; • potentially inviting the Paranormal Seekers to investigate the Charles H. Best Diabetes Centre during the Doors Open tour; • incorporating a reenactment of historical citizens in the Groveside Cemetery by a local theatre company and locating a sponsor to fund the group's participation; • determining potential additions to the Committee's 2017 budget in order to incorporate new features; • showcasing other locations and features in Whitby for the tour, such as the Bell boxes, Grass Park benches, and the Macedonian Village; • incorporating a pop-tent at the Brooklin Community Centre and Library for the Station Gallery's activities; • researching Brooklin and Ashburn residents of historical importance to showcase during the tour; • the possibility of including the private residences in Trafalgar Castle on the tour; • potentially showcasing the Nip and Tuck railway on the tour; and • determining a deadline for site selections. Sue Pitchforth advised that she would investigate whether the Paranormal Seekers and Lynn Philip Hogdson would be interested in participating the 2017 Doors Open tour. Sarah Ferencz advised that she would: • investigate whether the theatre group could participate in the 2017 Doors Open tour at the Groveside Cemetery;
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• research the history of the Macedonian Village for potential items or themes to showcase; and • research Brooklin and Ashburn residents of historical importance to showcase during the tour. Stephen Ashton advised that he would gather heritage photos for the properties tentatively listed for the 2017 tour and investigate whether Trafalgar Castle's private residences could be included in the tour.
4.3 2017 Activities - Themes Discussion ensued regarding the potential themes for the 2017 Doors Open event, including architecture, Women in Whitby, and celebrating agriculture. Sue Pitchforth advised that the Our Homes Magazine will be showcasing the 2017 Doors Open event tour next year.
5. Correspondence
5.1 There was no correspondence.
6. Council Update
6.1 Councillor Mulcahy inquired whether the Spencer Community Centre designation and plaque ceremony could be incorporated into the 2017 Doors Open event.
Discussion ensued regarding: • incorporating the Spencer Community Centre in the tour and requesting the assistance of the Spencer Community Centre Board to organize old fashioned games and activities for the location; and • unveiling the old bell in the Spencer Community Centre's tower during the tour.
7. Other Business
7.1 There was no other business.
8. Next Meeting
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8.1 Tuesday October 18, 2016 - 2:00 p.m. Meeting Room 2, Whitby Central Library 405 Dundas Street West
9. Adjournment
9.1 Motion to Adjourn
Moved By Pamela McPherson
That the meeting adjourn.
Carried
The meeting ended at 3:31 p.m.
J. Gilston, Committee Coordinator S. Pitchforth, Committee Chair
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Brooklin Downtown Development Steering Committee Minutes September 22, 2016 – 8:00 AM Board Room, 8 Vipond Road Brooklin Community Centre & Library
Present: Daniel Acre, Chair Erin Anderson Rick Batty Lorri Busch Ryan Doble, Vice-Chair Marissa Graham Marilyn Hill Ann Kearns Councillor Mulcahy
Also Present: Peter LeBel, Commissioner of Community and Marketing Services Dhaval Pandya, Transportation Project Engineer Christy Chrus, Staff Liaison, Principal Planner Chris Bantock, Acting Legislative Coordinator
Regrets: Sameena Asghar Ken Foreman Paul Jones Rick McDonnell The meeting began at 8:03 a.m.
1. Disclosures of Interest
1.1 There were no disclosures of interest.
2. Approval of Previous Minutes
2.1 Minutes - June 23, 2016
Recommendation:
Moved By Ryan Doble
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That the Brooklin Downtown Development Steering Committee minutes of June 23, 2016 be approved.
Carried
3. Presentations/Deputations
3.1 There were no presentations or deputations.
4. General Business and Reports
4.1 Brooklin Downtown Development Steering Committee Newsletter Distribution & Feedback from Businesses Discussion ensued with respect to: • feedback not yet received for the newsletters handed out following the previous Committee meeting; and; • the issuing of façade grants.
4.2 General Support for Local Businesses Discussion Discussion ensued with respect to: • the boundaries of the business district; • increased participation from the new businesses in the business community; • participation of businesses in the Harvest Festival and the possibility of surveying the impacts from the event on local business; • gaining control of Highway 12 for the Harvest Festival; and, • changes to the entrance into Brooklin at Thickson Road.
4.3 Harvest Festival & Talking Historic Plaques Quiz - September 10, 2016 Erin Anderson advised that a booth was set up at the Festival to provide information on the app available for download that would allow people to take the survey. Discussion ensued with respect to modifying the format of the booth to make information more accessible.
4.4 Experience Our Downtowns Magazine Fall Edition
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Christy Chrus provided information regarding the new magazine. She stated that the articles now feature things happening in the community and the Mayor had an article at the beginning talking about current projects in the Town. Peter LeBel stated that the Town wants to know how to connect better with the target customers of the Committee and that thought should be given to how the Committee can make use of the Town's communications.
4.5 Durham Region Police Service (DRPS) Draft 2017-2019 Business Plan Christy Chrus advised that the Durham Region Police Service Draft 2017-2019 Business Plan has been sent to the Mayor for feedback and was circulated to committees. She stated that the need to be proactive and bridging cultural barriers were trends highlighted in the plan. Goals and objectives were also listed to improve DRPS services. Discussion ensued with respect to: • the Plan providing a high level overview for the purpose of communication to the public rather than detailed measurable objectives; • a detailed strategic plan including measurements being available to the public; and, • communications with DRPS regarding key issues that the Committee wishes to see in order to strengthen the downtown Brooklin community.
Recommendation:
Moved By Ryan Doble
That the Brooklin Downtown Development Steering Committee has reviewed the Business Plan and are in agreement with it in principle.
Carried
4.6 72-76 Baldwin Street & 15 Price Street - Zoning By-law Amendment Application and Site Plan Christy Chrus provided planning maps for review. Ms. Chrus advised that part of the property is within the greenbelt and that the amendment is looking to remove the holding symbol on the property.
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She also stated that the property is within the heritage conservation district and the developer has been working well with LACAC Heritage Whitby. Discussion ensued with respect to the appearance of the development and the possibility of the Committee receiving a rendering with the planned building and current buildings in order to gauge consistency.
Recommendation:
Moved By Marissa Graham
Further to the review of the Zoning By-law Amendment Application and Site Plan for 72-76 Baldwin Street & 15 Price Street, the Brooklin Downtown Development Steering Committee recommends the following be included as their comments for the proposed development: • That the Brooklin Downtown Development Steering Committee does not see consistency in the proposed development with respect to the keeping of the brick front, peaked roof, and heritage theme seen throughout the rest of the Town.
Carried
4.7 Public Works Department Update Dhaval Pandya provided an overview of the recent Public Works Reports that were recently presented to Council.
4.8 Community and Marketing Services Department / Economic Development Department Update Peter LeBel provided an update with respect to: • funding and construction of a multi-purpose trail through the Active Transportation Plan; • the assessment of all lighting in parks through the Asset Management Plan; • Council authorization of the Ontario 150 fund applications; • interest in the employment lands along the Thickson corridor; • the Le Nordik Spa project moving forward on 300 Taunton Road West; and, • the Central Park project.
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4.9 Downtown Brooklin Business Association Update There was no Downtown Brooklin Business Association Update.
4.10 Whitby Chamber of Commerce Update Ann Kearns advised that there would be some changes in leadership at the Chambers in the near future.
4.11 LACAC Heritage Whitby Update There was no LACAC Heritage Whitby update.
4.12 Group 74 Update Lorri Busch provided information with respect to: • the success of Harvest Festival; and, • the planning of the Santa Snowman Workshop and the confirmation of selected charities.
4.13 Brooklin Horticultural Society Update There was no Brooklin Horticultural Society update.
4.14 Whitby Public Library Update Erin Anderson provided information regarding the new Whitby Public Library newsletter. She advised that the newsletter will communicate information about library branches to the public. Erin Anderson provided further information with respect to: • the Library's participation in the Culture Days Initiative; • partnering with the Rotary Club of Whitby Sunrise for the purpose of conducting a push for change event for youth homelessness; and, • the establishment of a pop-up library location to reach the community outside of library walls. Discussion ensued with respect to the implementation of a book exchange in partnership with the Town.
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4.15 Brooklin Spring Fair Board Update Marilyn Hill stated that the Fair this year was successful and attendance was higher than usual. A lot of positive feedback was received on changes made and the Board has already started planning for next year.
5. Correspondence
5.1 There was no correspondence.
6. Council Update
6.1 Councillor Mulcahy advised of the $25,000 donation made by Council through the Mayors golf tournament to launch the Blue Umbrella Campaign for World Alzheimer's Day. Councillor Mulcahy further stated that Whitby will be the first in Durham Region to establish this campaign.
7. Other Business
7.1 Christy Chrus advised that the veteran banners will be going up in the beginning of October. She further stated that she was informed by Whitby Hydro that the banners being placed on downtown polls are too close to wires and Town staff are not trained to put up banners within a 3m distance of these wires. As a result, the Town will be looking to contract out banner raising to workers who specialize in working near electrical wires.
8. Next Meeting
8.1 Thursday October 27, 2016 - 8:00 a.m. Boardroom, Brooklin Community Centre and Library 8 Vipond Road
9. Adjournment
9.1 Motion to adjourn
Recommendation:
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Moved By Rick Batty
That the meeting adjourn.
Carried
The meeting adjourned at 9:25 a.m.
C. Bantock, Acting Legislative Coordinator Daniel Acre, Committee Chair
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Accessibility Advisory Committee Minutes October 4, 2016 -7:00 pm Committee Room One Whitby Municipal Building
Present: Jeffrey Beaton, Vice-Chair Naji Hassan Denise Laframboise James Lawrie, Chair Amanda Murray Allyson Partridge-Rios Richard Turner Councillor Leahy
Also Present: Michele Cotton, Staff Liaison, Accessibility Coordinator Jonathan Gilston, Committee Coordinator
Regrets: Sharon Johnston
1. Disclosures of Interest
1.1 There were no disclosures of interest.
2. Approval of Previous Minutes
2.1 Minutes - September 13, 2016
Recommendation:
Moved By Councillor Leahy
That the Accessibility Advisory Committee minutes of September 13, 2016 be approved.
Carried
3. Presentations/Deputations
3.1 There were no presentations or deputations.
4. General Business and Reports
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4.1 Accessibility Plan 2016-2018 Report Update Michele Cotton advised that the Accessibility Plan 2016-2018 Report was approved by the Planning and Development Committee meeting on September 26, 2016 and would be forwarded to the next scheduled Council meeting on October 11, 2016 for final approval.
4.2 Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC) Forum - Regional Headquarters Update Jeffrey Beaton provided a summary of the Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee Forum on September 20, 2016, including: the topics discussed during the Forum; the presence of Tracy MacCharles, the Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) responsible for accessibility in the Province; the three project initiatives presented by the municipalities of Brock, Ajax and Clarington; and the Town's proposal at the Forum to campaign against the Region of Durham's use of mid-intersection pedestrian islands, commonly referred to as porkchops, on Regional roads. Michele Cotton advised of her attempts to meet with the engineers at the Region of Durham to discuss the proper installation of tactile plates in Durham Region. Discussion ensued regarding MPP Tracy MacCharles and the specific issues she covered during the Forum.
4.3 Update on Diversity Forum - Partnership with Ethno-Cultural and Diversity Advisory Committee (EDAC) Allyson Partridge-Rios confirmed the speakers from Durham College and Donald A. Wilson Secondary School for the Diversity Forum scheduled on November 30, 2016 at Whitby Central Library. Michele Cotton advised of the organizing committee's intention to invite a representative from the Durham Region Employment Network (DREN) to the Forum. Discussion ensued regarding the status of the Forum's agenda and whether there would be any rehearsals before the session. James Lawrie confirmed his participation as the Forum's moderator.
4.4 Subcommittee Updates / Work Plan Updates Jeffrey Beaton provided an update regarding the built environment
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subcommittee's meeting and their review of the proposed plans for three parks in the Town, including the park's benches, pathways and layout. He advised that the subcommittee provided comments regarding the parks to Michele Cotton, which would be submitted to the Chief Administrative Officer for review. Discussion ensued regarding: the Committee's concerns pertaining to their lack of involvement to review plans before they go out for tender; and scheduling a customer service and communications subcommittee meeting.
5. Correspondence
5.1 Phone Conversation dated September 15, 2016 regarding service refusal at Brookin restaurant due to service animal Michele Cotton provided information regarding a phone call she received from an individual who was denied service at George's Fish and Chips in Brooklin for bringing in their service animal and was requested to leave. She further noted that the restaurant owners also removed their accessible parking spots in front of their property, and she communicated with both the Region of Durham's Public Health Department and the Town's By-law Services Department regarding the restaurant and the lack of accessible parking spaces. Discussion ensued regarding the avenues available for persons with disabilities who are denied services because of their disability to report their incidents, such as the media, the Region's Public Health Department, and the Human Rights Tribunal.
5.2 Correspondence dated September 15, 2016 regarding curb corners on Victoria Street West and Gordon Street Michele Cotton provided information regarding the positive feedback received pertaining to the street curbs in front of the Ability Centre on Victoria Street West and Gordon Street.
5.3 Correspondence dated September 15, 2016 regarding Multi-Sports Camp Michele Cotton provided information regarding the positive feedback received for the Town's Multi-Sports Camp and the Inclusion Counsellors that ensure children with disabilities are able to participate. Discussion ensued regarding the proposed budget increase for
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accessible services in the Town and improving communications with the public regarding accessible playgrounds and camps.
6. Council Update
6.1 Councillor Leahy provided an update regarding: the submission of the Accessible Plan 2016-2018 Report to the Planning and Development Committee meeting on September 26, 2016 and recognizing the Committee members who were present to support the Plan; the new development on Thickson Road and Rossland Road East; the status of the 2017 budget process; the financial pressures the Town is currently facing and the potential tax increase in the future; and the ranked ballot discussion during the September 12, 2016 Operations Committee meeting.
Discussion ensued regarding the redistribution of representatives on Regional Council and the benefits and drawbacks to ranked ballots.
7. Other Business 8. Next Meeting
8.1 Tuesday November 1, 2016 - 7:00 p.m. Committee Room 1, Whitby Municipal Building
9. Adjournment
9.1 Motion to Adjourn
Moved By Richard Turner
That the meeting adjourn.
Carried
The meeting ended at 7:43 p.m.
J. Gilston, Committee Coordinator James Lawrie, Committee Chair
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