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Where do we go from here? Understanding the Issues and Options Report

On Nov. 15, my team released the Density by Design Issues and Options Report, an overview of the City’s approach for regulating mid-rise and tall buildings with a summary of proposed options. The release of this document was immediately followed by a series of stakeholder meetings, an open house and a special committee briefing on Nov. 21. At stakeholder meetings and the open houses, staff worked with residents to collect input and provide background into the factors at play with this project.

This project is part of a concerted effort to unify Community around a variety of public interest outcomes:

  • Ensure the longevity and sustainability of the City – planning for Kingston tomorrow as well as for today and strategically aligning land-use decisions with our declaration of a Climate Change Emergency.
  • Provide housing to meet our current and future needs – ensuring that all residents have access to a range of housing solutions that are well designed and affordable. 
  • Promote a vital and vibrant downtown – supporting Downtown Kingston’s unique atmosphere and ensuring its vibrancy long-term by developing a plan that enables our downtown to densify.
  • Pursue a City design that focuses on and promotes multi-modal living with the pedestrian experience guiding decisions – providing residents with safe, sustainable transportation options to explore their city.
  • Foster an “open for business” culture and reputation – ensuring that Kingston continues to be a community of choice for residents, employers and visitors.

With these considerations in mind, I’m confident that we can work together to help establish mid-rise and tall building policies that work for Kingston.

Engagement sessions have continued through this week and the project team is working to compile the feedback collected from these sessions. While we heard a great deal of excitement at the prospect of cross-community participation to help plan how our City grows, we also heard that residents wanted more opportunities to explore the Issues and Options Report in greater detail.

At 48 pages, the Issues and Options Report is certainly a complex document. The report discusses 16 different aspects of building design,many of which either build on subject matter expertise and in some cases introduce entirely new design considerations to the City of Kingston.

We want to ensure that all residents have the opportunity to join this important conversation.

As a result of this feedback, the Density by Design project team has decided to extend the commenting period until Jan. 31, 2020, and add additional public engagement opportunities for residents over the coming weeks. We plan to have an updated project schedule prepared shortly and will broadly communicate about upcoming engagement sessions. 

Join the conversation

Public feedback is absolutely critical in helping guide the development of these policies. If you haven’t already, consider joining the conversation by doing the following:

  1. Download and review the Issues and Options Report.
  2. Watch the Nov. 21 Planning Committee briefing.
  3. Join the online discussion by contributing to the Density by Design Q&A at Get Involved Kingston.
  4. Sign up for project updates by emailing the Density by Design project manager, Andrea Gummo.
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<strong>Paige Agnew</strong>
Paige Agnew
Commissioner of Community Services
613-546-4291, ext. 3252

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