Brooklin Study Secondary Plan and Transportation Master Plan Background Report: Summary of Public Engagement During Stage 1 December 2014
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Brooklin Study Secondary Plan and Transportation Master Plan Background Report: Summary of Public Engagement during Stage 1 December 2014 prepared by with for the Town of Whitby Sorensen Gravely Lowes Planning Associates inc. Summary of Public Engagement during Stage 1 Brooklin Study 1 Background ................................................................................................... 2 2 Public Information Centre ............................................................................ 3 3 MetroQuest Survey ....................................................................................... 5 Section 1 - Prioritize your Brooklin .......................................................................... 5 What do you like most about Brooklin today? .......................................................... 5 What things would you like to see improved for Brooklin in the future? .................... 8 Section 2 - Map your Brooklin ................................................................................ 12 Important Places and Features .............................................................................. 12 Transportation Mapped Comments........................................................................ 21 Section 3 – Vision .................................................................................................... 32 In the vision section of the Metroquest survey, three questions were asked: ......... 32 Important factors when planning for Brooklin's future ............................................. 32 Important aspects of a culturally vibrant Brooklin. .................................................. 33 Brooklin in 20 years, what key words or phrases best describe your vision? ......... 33 4 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 35 1 Summary of Public Engagement during Stage 1 Brooklin Study 1 Background The Town of Whitby (Town) is undertaking a comprehensive study, called the Brooklin Study, to prepare a Secondary Plan and Transportation Master Plan to enable the Town to guide and manage growth in the Brooklin area. The purpose of the Secondary Plan is to determine the land use designations for the urban expansion areas north and west of Brooklin, the industrial lands adjacent to the future Highway 407 and the lands in the vicinity of the Conlin Road/Anderson Street intersection, as well as to update the existing Brooklin Community Secondary Plan. Stage 1 involves the preparation of a number of background studies to inform the secondary plan and potential land uses. The Transportation Master Plan will identify current transportation issues and assess future transportation system needs, provide recommendations for new or improved infrastructure (i.e. roads, transit, cycling, walking, etc.), and recommend transportation policies that the Town can use to manage transportation infrastructure in Brooklin. This report, Summary of Public Engagement, is one of the background studies prepared as part of Stage 1 of the Brooklin Study. This report summarises the feedback received to date on the Brooklin Study, including the feedback received at the April 2, 2014 Public Information Centre and the results of an online survey created for the study. 2 Summary of Public Engagement during Stage 1 Brooklin Study 2 Public Information Centre The first Public Information Centre (PIC) was held on April 2nd, 2014 at the Brooklin United Church. The purpose of the PIC was to present the background information collected as part of the Brooklin Study and to solicit feedback from the public in relation to their vision for Brooklin. Two separate PIC events were held on April 2nd; however, the same information was presented at each PIC. The PIC was held in an open house format, followed by an interactive workshop. In total, approximately 100 members of the public attended the PIC events. The open house portion of the PIC was approximately one hour in length and consisted of display boards describing the Brooklin Secondary Plan and the Transportation Master Plan processes. During the open house, members of the consultant teams and Town staff were available to answer questions and/or discuss the study with members of the public. A short presentation was also made by the consultant team, following which, attendees were coordinated into small groups and asked a series of questions pertaining to Brooklin and its future. The following summarizes the general responses received for each of the questions posed during the workshop and includes responses both from the workshop groups as well as from individual comment forms. The detailed comments received are in Appendix A of this report. 1. What are the strengths or positive characteristics of Brooklin that you are most proud of? The most common responses related to the small-town community feel, the heritage character, the walkability of the community, the style of the homes and the access to farms and nature. In addition, community events and amenities within Brooklin, including schools, the community centre, the library, restaurants and the LCBO, as well as the proximity to other areas such as Toronto and Oshawa were brought up as strengths. 2. What are some key challenges that Brooklin is facing today? The most common challenges brought up were lack of amenities and transportation. Many concerns were raised regarding things the community needs, such as more job opportunities, recreation facilities, public services and the provision of health care locally. A broad range of transportation issues were also raised including insufficient parking, traffic and congestion, hazardous intersections, truck traffic, a need for turning lanes and a need for more walking and cycling opportunities. 3 Summary of Public Engagement during Stage 1 Brooklin Study 3. What key words or phrases would you use to describe a culturally vibrant Brooklin? The participants formulated a lot of ideas about Brooklin’s culture. Many of these ideas related to Brooklin’s strengths as a community and included things such as the events held locally and the availability of an array of community organizations. Specific cultural amenities such as trails, churches, and community facilities were also raised, as was the unique heritage character of Brooklin in terms of its history and architecture. 4. Thinking of Brooklin in 20 years, what key words or phrases would best describe your vision of Brooklin? The most common response was maintaining the small-town community feel. Many of the comments indicated a desire to manage growth and to avoid traffic congestion while providing some of the services and amenities currently missing in the community. 5. What things are missing from Brooklin that would make it a complete community? There were many different opinions of what is missing in Brooklin. The most common of these opinions were recreational and entertainment amenities, employment opportunities and hospital/medical facilities. 4 Summary of Public Engagement during Stage 1 Brooklin Study 3 MetroQuest Survey The Town launched an online survey on April 11th, 2014, to obtain more detailed information regarding the public’s perspective on the strengths and challenges of Brooklin. The responses received from the public as part of the survey will be used to inform both the Secondary Plan and the Transportation Master Plan components of the Brooklin Study. In total, 436 people participated in the survey, which was available online until June 30th, 2014. A summary of the key findings of the survey is discussed below. A copy of each page of the survey can be found in Appendix B and the detailed survey results are provided in Appendix C. Section 1 - Prioritize your Brooklin What do you like most about Brooklin today? Respondents were asked to prioritize what they liked about Brooklin today, ranking them in order. Overall, the majority of respondents ranked “small-town feel” as what they like most about Brooklin today. The survey revealed the following order of the priorities, where 1 is most liked: • Small-town feel = 1, • Downtown Brooklin = 2, • Heritage character = 3, • Brooklin’s neighbourhoods = 4, • Close to nature = 5, • Parks and recreation = 6, • Festivals and events = 7, • Walking / Cycling = 8, • Access to highways = 9, • Shopping areas = 10, • Public Transit = 11. The results were also analyzed by length of time that the survey respondents had lived in Brooklin. Table 1 illustrates the results with the first column showing the overall ranking for all groups and each subsequent column showing the responses by length of time the respondent has lived in Brooklin. The priorities are ranked with the highest at the top of the table and the lowest at the bottom. 5 Summary of Public Engagement during Stage 1 Brooklin Study This analysis shows that while some priorities were consistently highly rated, regardless of the length of time some of people have lived in Brooklin, other factors show more variation. For example, “Small Town Feel” is constantly ranked the highest in almost all groups whereas “Heritage Character” had a higher rating for those who have lived in the community longer. In addition, “Brooklin’s Neighbourhoods” and “Parks and Recreation” were ranked higher with newer residents of Brooklin as opposed to those who have been long-time residents. Table 1: Order of Priorities for “What do you like most about Brooklin today” ranked by length of time lived in Brooklin 6 Summary of Public Engagement Brooklin Study Survey