Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee Meeting Agenda January 19, :00 AM Meeting Room 1B, 405 Dundas Street West Whitby Central Library

Transcription

1 Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee Meeting Agenda January 19, :00 AM Meeting Room 1B, 405 Dundas Street West Whitby Central Library Page 1. Appointment of Chair and Vice-Chair 2. Disclosures of Interest 3. Approval of Previous Minutes 3.1 Minutes - November 17, Recommendation: That the Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee minutes of November 17, 2016 be approved. 4. Presentations/Deputations 5. General Business and Reports Draft Annual Report 5.2 Former Land Registry Building - OPA & Zoning By-Law Application 5.3 Downtown Whitby Community Improvement Plan - Introduction Meeting Recap 5.4 Downtown Whitby Action Plan 5.5 Celebration Square 8-80 Cities Update 5.6 Communications Sub-Committee 5.7 Downtown Whitby BIA Formation Committee Update 5.8 Public Works Department Update 5.9 Community and Marketing Services Department Update 5.10 Whitby Public Library Update 5.11 Whitby Chamber of Commerce Update 5.12 LACAC Heritage Whitby Update 5.13 Olde Whitby Neighbourhood Association (OWNA) Page 1 of 9

2 Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee Agenda January 19, :00 AM Page 6. Correspondence 7. Council Update 8. Other Business 9. Next Meeting 9.1 Thursday February 16, :00 a.m. Meeting Room 1B, Whitby Central Library 405 Dundas Street West 10. Adjournment Page 2 of 9

3 November 17, :00 AM Meeting Room 1B, 405 Dundas Street West Whitby Central Library Present: Also Present: Kimberly Copetti, Chair Deanna Hollister Andrea Kennedy Rick McDonnell Tim Pritchard Paul Rolland Ian Ross Chris van der Vliet James Wineck Lynn Winterstein, Vice-Chair Peter LeBel, Commissioner of Community and Marketing Services Maria McDonnell, Staff Liaison, Manager, Sustainability, Heritage, Downtown and Community Development Alison Albrecht, Supervisor of Parking Services Christy Chrus, Staff Liaison, Principal Planner Jonathan Gilston, Committee Coordinator Regrets: Bob Baker Grace Cardona Yvonne Chornobay Councillor Roy The meeting began at 8:04 a.m. 1. Disclosures of Interest 1.1 There were no disclosures of interest. 2. Approval of Previous Minutes 2.1 Minutes - October 20, 2016 Recommendation: Moved By Deanna Hollister Page 3 of 9

4 That the Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee minutes of October 20, 2016 be approved. Carried 3. Presentations/Deputations 3.1 Matthew Mackenzie, Chair, Whitby Chamber of Commerce Advocacy Committee, and Dan White, Tax Audit Solutions Re: Whitby Chamber of Commerce's Open for Business Strategy and Red Tape Reduction Matthew Mackenzie, Chair, Whitby Chamber of Commerce Advocacy Committee, and Dan White, Tax Audit Solutions, appeared before the Committee to present information regarding the Whitby Chamber of Commerce's Open for Business Strategy and red tape reduction initiative, including: a background of the initiative and the Advocacy Committee's mandate to advocate for businesses in the Town; the research conducted for the initiative and usage of the City of Calgary as an example of red tape reduction in municipal government; the Advocacy Committee's meeting with the Mayor and former Chief Administrative Officer to discuss the initiative, and the subsequent commitment from the Town to create a task force and develop a pilot project for red tape reduction; the nature of red tape, how it delays progress, and the reasoning to reduce it; the cost savings achieved in the City of Calgary following their red tape reduction initiative; examples of projects that were conducted through the initiative in the City of Calgary; the availability of technology to reduce costs in municipal processes, such as the development application process; and the Advocacy Committee's hope that the Downtown Whitby Development Steering Committee would support the initiative. Discussion ensued regarding: the Advocacy Committee's next steps with the Town; the scope of the initiative and whether the focus is primarily on development application processes; the correlation between the initiative and the IT Strategy noted in the Service Delivery Review (SDR) report to ensure digital processes are efficiently and effectively delivered within the Corporation; Page 4 of 9

5 the Advocacy Committee's intent to create a Terms of Reference for the initiative with the Town to identify the initiative's mandate and goals; the initiative's goal to reduce the workload of municipal staff and not advocating staff level reductions; the perceived benefit of the initiative to allow Town staff to focus on other priorities and projects in the municipality; the Advocacy Committee's focus on residential examples and whether it was successful in commercial and industrial development applications; Dan White's software, OGEEMO, developed by his company, Tax Audit Solutions, that could be used by the Town and its various applications to a number of municipal processes; the available resources and efforts completed by the Whitby Chamber of Commerce that would reduce the initial costs to the initiative; the need for the Advocacy Committee to map out a process before it is automated or developed into a software application; the identified benefit of the proposed software that would eliminate municipal administration silos and allow all departments to review applications at once with real-time updates; the differences between the City of Calgary, a single-tier municipality, and the Town of Whitby, a lower-tier municipality, and the required approval from the Region of Durham for various processes; whether the Whitby Chamber of Commerce would work with local Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade to advocate the initiative; and the possibility for the Advocacy Committee to present their red tape reduction initiative at a Council meeting in the future. Recommendation: Moved By Lynn Winterstein That the material presented by Matthew Mackenzie and Dan White be received as information. Carried 4. General Business and Reports 4.1 Downtown Whitby Community Improvement Plan Page 5 of 9

6 Christy Chrus provided a handout regarding the Downtown Whitby Community Improvement Plan (CIP) for the Committee's information, and provided details regarding the Public Meeting scheduled for December 6, 2016 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. to provide the public details regarding the CIP. She advised that questions regarding the CIP can be sent to her via , and that she would forward digital copies of the CIP handout to the Whitby Chamber of Commerce, the Whitby Public Library and the Downtown Whitby BIA Formation Committee for their information. 4.2 Downtown Whitby Action Plan Christy Chrus provided copies of the revised and final version of the Downtown Whitby Action Plan approved by Council on October 31, She noted the changes within the Plan and advised of the upcoming review of the gateway features in Downtown Whitby. 4.3 Whitby Annual Christmas Tree Lighting - December 2, 2016 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Christy Chrus provided information regarding the Whitby Annual Christmas Tree Lighting scheduled on December 2, 2016 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Discussion ensued regarding the new, contemporary 25-foot Christmas tree purchased by the Town. 4.4 Celebration Square 8-80 Cities Update Maria McDonnell provided information regarding the launch of 8-80 Cities event, Colour the Square, scheduled on December 2, 2016 at Celebration Square, Iroquois Park and the corner of Brock Street and Dundas Street. She advised that staff from 8-80 Cities would be conducting a survey at all locations and that an online survey would be available in the near future Annual Report Discussion ensued regarding the Committee's 2016 Annual Report and providing a draft for the next scheduled Committee meeting on January 19, Communications Sub-Committee Paul Rolland advised that distribution of the Committee's newsletter in Page 6 of 9

7 Downtown Whitby was complete. 4.7 Downtown Whitby Business Improvement Area (BIA) Formation Committee Update Chris van der Vliet provided an update regarding the submission of Downtown Whitby BIA Formation Committee's official request to form a BIA to the Town Clerk and the draft memorandum of understanding with the Town that would be submitted to the Planning and Development Committee meeting scheduled for November 28, She advised that the Office of the Town Clerk would be mailing letters to inform Downtown Whitby business owners of the BIA formation during the first week of January Public Works Department Update Alison Albrecht provided an update regarding: the reduction of single parking meters along the north side of Dundas Street, to be replaced by double meters; and the need for business owners in Downtown Whitby to acquire road occupancy permits or parking permits from the Town for contractor work. Lynn Winterstein inquired whether the boulevard trees along Dundas Street would be protected during the landscaping currently underway. Maria McDonnell advised that the trees designated to be maintained would be protected. 4.9 Community and Marketing Services Department Update Peter LeBel provided a handout regarding the identified tech companies in Downtown Whitby, and advised of the Town's intention to create a tech ecosystem in Whitby and become a hub of innovation that mirrors the tech ecosystems in Waterloo, Toronto, Markham and Richmond Hill. He noted the residential development and office space required in Downtown Whitby to support and attract new tech companies, and Council's endorsement to support the initiative. Peter LeBel provided an update regarding: the status of the Old Fire Hall site development and importance of the site to develop the tech ecosystem in Downtown Whitby; the status of the R.A. Sennett building and the timeline for occupancy; a report pertaining to the Land Registry Office interior demolition and recommended contractor to be submitted to the Operations Page 7 of 9

8 Committee meeting scheduled for December 5, 2016; the status of the Centennial Building renovations; the status of the renovations to the Lynde House Museum's parking lot; the distribution of the Whitby Perspective and the front-page article highlighting the tech companies in Downtown Whitby. Discussion ensued regarding: the status of Brock Street Brewery's building permit; the status of the Cullen Gardens development; and the status of the strip mall on 303 Brock Street South and whether the owner of the No Frills building was interested in redeveloping the site or considering tenancy Whitby Public Library Update Ian Ross provided an update regarding the report submitted to the Whitby Public Library Board highlighting the Library's successes in 2016 and details of the Library's Strategic Plan. Ian Ross advised that the Library is available to help promote and support businesses in Downtown Whitby Whitby Chamber of Commerce Update Discussion ensued regarding the Peter Perry and Business Achievement Awards scheduled for November 17, 2016 at the Deer Creek Golf and Banquet Facility, and the Chamber's process to secure a new CEO LACAC Heritage Whitby Update Rick McDonnell provided copies of the Fall edition of LACAC Heritage Whitby's newsletter and highlighted some of its articles, including the front-page article detailing the Spencer School and its upcoming designation. Discussion ensued regarding the duplex on 208 and 210 Henry Street and its status as a heritage property Olde Whitby Neighbourhood Association (OWNA) 5. Correspondence There was no OWNA update. Page 8 of 9

9 5.1 There was no correspondence. 6. Council Update 6.1 Councillor Roy was not in attendance. Therefore, there was no Council update. 7. Other Business 7.1 Christy Chrus provided information regarding the Public Notice for the Land Registry Office zoning by-law amendment and the report to the Planning and Development Committee meeting on November 28, Christy Chrus provided information regarding the Open House sessions for the Official Plan review scheduled for December 1, 2016 at the Whitby Municipal Building from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. and 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. 8. Next Meeting 8.1 Thursday January 19, :00 a.m. Meeting Room 1B, Whitby Central Library 405 Dundas Street West 9. Adjournment 9.1 Motion to Adjourn Recommendation: Moved By Lynn Winterstein That the meeting adjourn. Carried The meeting ended at 9:23 a.m. J. Gilston, Committee Coordinator Kim Copetti, Committee Chair Page 9 of 9