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This is a reminder that despite my post from eleven months ago (Get Out Your Picnic Blankets) Canada Day is NOT coming back to Victoria Park this year. Instead, Tourism Charlottetown and its Canada Day corporate sponsors are refocusing on fun, family-friendly activities from June 27th to July 1st. The City and Tourism Charlottetown agreed to this arrangement after a solid commitment from Lee Gauthier to get back to the festival’s roots of celebrating our country.

The Festival of Lights concert series does not begin until July 3rd. This means the concert stage and all the peripherals that go with it will not be erected until after Canada day. Should make for lots of room for everyone and an unimpeded view of the fireworks. [UPDATE July 1st - Contrary to what I was told months ago, the FoL main stage and fencing are already setup. I thought these were to be erected tomorrow.]

See you there!

From the Festival of Lights website:

June 27-July 1: Family Fun Days
Historic Charlottetown Waterfront will be transformed into fun for the whole family with all the Festival favourites returning: Atlantic Superstore Petting Zoo, Peakes Quay Strongman Competition, Children’s Village presented by Northumberland Ferries, buskers and a 10 hour FREE Concert for Canada presented by Century 21 Colonial Realty on July 1st. The Canada Day finale will be the largest musical fireworks extravaganza in Atlantic Canada, proudly sponsored by WestJet. NEW activities on the waterfront for the Atlantic Superstore Festival of Lights are: Rick Hansen Wheels In Motion, SportyKids Fitness, activities with the 2009 Canada Games Host Society, a Confederation Centre of the Arts Young Company performance, and Always on Stage live music entertainment, and more. All these activities are FREE for families to enjoy.

I submitted the following comment on Tim Banks’ blog. The comment is still awaiting moderation so I thought I better post it here also, for the record:

Tim… thanks for the kind words. There’s just one thing I’d like to clarify. When I ran for council I made a firm commitment to my employer that company time is company time. I wouldn’t want my boss to think I’m taking liberties, or my colleagues to get the impression I’m treated any differently. I am generally regarded as the councillor who is most difficult to schedule for meetings because I need to live up to that commitment I made. I can count on one hand the numbers of times that I’ve attended to city duties outside of my lunch hour, or before 4:30 [update: okay, maybe I'd need two hands]. I’ve occasionally used vacation time where necessary to avoid mixing company time with city time.
No comment on the rest of your post!
Thanks again,
Rob

Larry Beasley designs cities. Modern Vancouver is his baby and he is very well respected in his field. Last Monday night, almost two hundred people attended a lecture by Mr. Beasley at McDougall Hall on the UPEI campus. He was invited by the Friends of the Farm as a way to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Charlottetown Experimental Farm.

I was happy to see so many City staff people there, but also representatives of the business community, developers, and regular citizens. I think we all gained a better understanding and respect for the importance of good urban planning; how it affects our quality of life and drives economic development.

I recorded the lecture using my phone, and although the audio quality is perfectly acceptable and Mr. Beasley’s words speak powerfully enough themselves, the real advantage of actually being there was his photo essay that seemed to sync perfectly and effortlessly with his speech. Visuals of spectacular urban vistas, public spaces and residential developments — mostly from Vancouver but mixed with his own excellent perspectives on Charlottetown — flashed across the screen and seemed to be impossibly timed to emphasize his points.

You can download my recording here (mp3, 40 mb), or read Mr. Beasley’s lecture here (pdf).

Here are just a few memorable and relevant quotes, among many:

“Every city has to have a design. A city without a design does not know where it is going, does not know how to grow.”

“You cannot leave the design of these building to chance, or you can get some pretty unpleasant results. So we carefully regulate the designs…”

“Schools are actually being closed… these kind of counter-intuitive decisions are happening, that do not help you achieve a re-populated city”

“There are simply not enough young singles, or older empty nesters to create a vibrant city … and families are flooding back downtown [Vancouver] in record numbers … And there is a spinoff benefit that we discovered: If you design a city that works well for children, it seems to work well for everyone else.”

What was…

what is…

h/t Ruk

and what will be… The Grand Holman Hotel.

Click here for full view of south elevation.

Back in December, developer Paul Madden’s proposal for an 85,000 sq. ft. condominium and spa complex on the waterfront was rejected, mainly because the building exceeded the 36,000 sq. ft. allowed for in the Waterfront Comprehensive Development Area. Mr. Madden persevered with a cooperative approach and a lot of patience. After several design revisions Planning Board accepted the design below and Council approved it at last week’s monthly public meeting. This view is looking east from Lobster on the Wharf.

Here are alternate views from the Seaport wharf, and from the water. And here the site plan.

A front page story in the Guardian today requires a correction. Although I only read the online version, which was updated this morning after I spoke to the reporter, I can only assume the print edition repeats the same mistake: that the City will be paying police officers for off duty work performed for third-party clients. This work is known as Paid Duty, or Extra Duty. The story strongly implied that the cost of this work would be a new expense and that taxpayers would be subsidizing security for private businesses.

Not true. Members of the Charlottetown Police Service will continue to perform Extra Duty, but clients will be invoiced for the service and payment will be through the Police’s regular payroll. User pays — not the taxpayer. Big difference.

Continuing with the recent bird theme, today I received an inquiry from a resident about keeping egg-laying hens in the City. This is the second time in four months someone has asked me about this. A bit of quick research shows this is becoming a popular trend. A few examples:

• Urban Chickens addendum: Allowing Vancouverites to Raise Chickens Fact Sheet
• Waterloo Hen Association by-law proposal
• Urban Hen Movement

Currently, our by-laws severely limit the raising of any livestock within the City, but the trend away from factory farming and toward locally grown food is giving the laying hen hope for a better future as a food-producing urban pet.  What do you think? Would something like this “fly” here? Or would it be dead as a Dodo?

Best viewed with sound. It’s difficult to see because of the quality of the video, but many of the trees in the background and the surrounding area are also full of crows. Loud, squawking, pooping crows.

Yesterday was a big day for the Charlottetown Police Service. With the release of the comprehensive review by Verheul & Associates, we now begin the task of implementing the recommendations contained in the report. There was certainly enough criticism to go around in the report, and much of it was not unexpected.

This review was unlike anything the CPS has undergone before. Many people have referenced a process that took place about sixteen years ago, but that was a limited, internal review and probably resulted in very little real change.

Yesterday, I answered the question of low morale by pointing out that morale in any organization is a function of employee engagement and professional fulfillment, among other things. The rank and file of the CPS was fully engaged in the development of this report and its recommendations. The reaction from the police union to the report has been positive so far, and I hope we’re already on our way to rebuilding morale.

My own approach is not to assign blame and point fingers, but move forward to solve the problems that were identified. The culture and practices of the CPS have evolved over many decades to address the needs of a city that no longer exists. The department was simply not organized in a way that effective leadership was possible in today’s policing environment.

My committee will be focused almost exclusively on implementing the report’s recommendations over the foreseeable future. The goal is to break the small town mould of the pre-amalgamation CPS, and develop a professional, accountable and motivated force for the larger, more complex community we have become.

The report is available on the City’s website, but it was announced at the press conference yesterday that it would only be posted there for thirty days. I don’t know who made that decision or why, because it makes no sense to me. It’s a public document now and I have posted it online where it will be available, well, forever.

I’m happy to see UPSE president Shelley Ward questioning the wisdom of moving two provincial government departments out of the capital city. Clearly the union membership is not pleased. I also spoke out against this move when it was announced. It’s bad for Charlottetown; it will disrupt the lives of many involved; and will only create a new commuter class of employees who travel to and fro across the island everyday while providing little economic impact for the target communities.

My last act as chair of the city’s Youth Advisory Board was to create a new website. Charlottetown Teen Zone is intended to be a place for teens to connect with local youth groups and find information about youth related events around town. Many of the local youth groups are being offered posting privileges to the website to announce their news and get their events on the Event Calendar.

Last year I was able to secure a small budget to hire a Youth Development Coordinator. We did not actually fill the position until late last year but the website is now in Megan Gauthier’s hands and she is runnng with it, among other initiatives. There’s also a Facebook page but I can’t seem to find it right now. If you have an event you would like posted to the site, use the contact page on the website to get in touch.

UPDATE (January 26): The name was corrected today.

‘This investment by Homburg has reignited the issue.’— Coun. Jeff Lantz

Having a brother who was formerly in politics, I get called ‘Jeff’ quite often. But this is the first news story to mix us up.

There is one other correction to this story. Paying cash in-lieu of physical parking spaces is not an exception to the bylaw as reported. It is an option built right into the Zoning & Development bylaw.

4.47 CASH-IN-LIEU OF PARKING SPACES

.1 Council May require or accept Cash-in-lieu of Parking Spaces in any situation where a
Development Permit has been applied for and adequate or required off-street Parking cannot be
provided or, in the opinion of Council, having considered a recommendation from the Planning
Board, is unfeasible.

Related thoughts here.

Councillor says city must act on vacant downtown properties
EDITORIAL STAFF
The Guardian
23/01/09

Coun. Rob Lantz says the City of Charlottetown needs to act on the number of vacant properties in the downtown core.
The city approved a height variance request from Homburg Invest Inc. on Thursday, which paves the way for a proposed $45-million, three-phase development to go ahead.
Homburg is moving ahead with plans to construct an eight-storey office building on Fitzroy Street, a 10-storey hotel on Grafton Street and major renovations to the interior and exterior of Confederation Court Mall.
Lantz said if Homburg is going to show that much faith in downtown Charlottetown the city corporation should help mitigate the risk by making sure the core is firing on all cylinders.
“That can’t happen when a significant number of important buildings are left empty and in such a state of disrepair that they can’t even be leased, even if the owner was prepared to lease them,’’ Lantz said.
“We need to engage the owner of these properties, along with the two other levels of government and the business community, and find a way to get these spaces back in the market, whatever that takes.’’
Homburg has launched a $5-million lawsuit against Nemir Tweel Corp. Ltd., Christopher Tweel and two companies identified only as 2950243 Canada Inc. and 100946 P.E.I. Inc., all which own a number of properties in the downtown, alleging the properties are rundown and affect the developer’s current business (Confederation Court Mall) and what they are currently planning to do.
“If the owners are unwilling to make the necessary investments, perhaps
they should sell instead of sitting on these properties. They’re too important to sit empty.’’

Rob Paterson has a thoughtful post about the reliance of municipalities on property taxes and the precarious position that creates for both the municipality and the taxpayer. This is going to be a very difficult budget year for the City of Charlottetown. It always was going to be difficult, but the Provinces unilateral decision to shift to a tax grant system has created even more uncertainty and handicapped the City even further.

There is no moratorium. I was asked to consider the idea, and I agreed to take it to my committee, but that is a routine courtesy that I extend to any councillor, not a commitment to impose a moratorium. I personally don’t think it’s necessary.

We will certainly be careful to scrutinize any future requests so we have some confidence that a drive-thru can accommodate the expected volume of traffic, but I would also remind the public not to line up in a public right-of-way. I will ask the Chief of Police to enforce this if necessary.

This isn’t a new problem, and to my knowledge there’s never been a serious incident as a result. However, I do recognize the concerns, and I want to deal with them. There is no question the line ups are creating a traffic impediment, but we can’t collectively punish every business that has, or wants, a drive-thru because of the popularity of a handful of Tim Horton’s.

I will be meeting with the Police & Bylaw Enforcement Committee later this month for the first time since becoming chair. We will decide on a course of action then. I still think a cooperative approach will result in the best overall solution.