City Planning
Recycling Consultation – Information Flyer Lacking in Detail
Jun 24th
This weekend the City of Saskatoon will finally begin the first phase of its much discussed, and much delayed, recycling consultation with City residents.
Residents have been waiting since November 2007 for the City to get on with the process of implementing a curbside program after the unanimous adoption of the Waste and Recycling Plan. In that plan, the options for recycling were narrowed down to either a co-mingled or a user-sort city-wide curbside recycling program.
While plans for the next phase of recycling have been ready to go out to the public since the Fall of 2008. However, the move to bring Saskatoon up-to-speed with every other Canadian city (except Regina) the implementation of the Waste and Recycling Plan was delayed and diverted into the secondary consultation process being rolled out this summer. Surprisingly, there was little opposition or discussion by City Council throughout this process.
The Recycling Consultation was originally slated to begin earlier this month with a series of public open houses (June 8 and June 9). Combined with the open houses was a series of informational leaflets and a media blitz to inform and educate residents on the proposed options. However, these were delayed and then canceled after City More >
We Get Press Clippings – Star Phoenix Letter
Jun 15th
Today the Star Phoenix kindly published a letter-to-the-editor that I submitted last Friday. The crux of the letter focuses on the recently completed Transportation Demand Management study received by City Council last evening, and the news media’s focus on one of the hundred or so recommendations.
In my letter I attempt to bring context to the recommendation that parking rates should be increased in the downtown core. Here is the letter as printed in the Star Phoenix:
For the record, here is the letter as submitted:
A LITTLE CONTEXT PLEASE! City Council will be receiving a consultant’s report that details how to better manage our transportation system, including walking, cycling, parking, and bus service.
Within that report are over 100 recommendations that, if implemented as a whole, will assist the City in providing a better system to its residents.
The report recommends hiking rates in prime locations to encourage higher turnover, while another recommendation suggests providing increased parking at lower rates on the edges of downtown. Finally yet another recommendation instructs the City to ensure that walking, cycling, and buses are easily accessible for that short travel into the heart of downtown.
If implemented together, these recommendations will result in increased parking downtown, more shoppers More >
Chief Whitecap Park Master Plan (finally) Comes to Council
Jun 14th
After two years of consultation and stakeholder meetings, the City Administration will finally be bringing the Master Plan for Chief Whitecap Park to Council for final approval.
In a city deficient in off-leash areas for dogs (with most parks on the outer-edges of the City), Chief Whitecap Park (CWP) has been a mecca for dog owners for the past 6 odd years. Located just south of the City Limits along the South Saskatchewan River the road leading the the CWPs north entrance is packed with cars, people, and their dogs every weekend and, to a lesser extent, during the weekdays. The sprawling park is also heavily used by bird watchers, mountain bikers, hikers, runners, nature lovers, horseback riders, and others alike.
Formed in response to the City’s plan to develop CWP, the Recreational Off-Leash Owners (ROLO) formed a few years ago and now boasts a membership level of hundreds. ROLO was able to secure a spot at the stakeholders table during development of the CWP Master Plan, though not without their own controversy, were able to ensure that approximately 80% of the park remained accessible to off-leash dogs, including access to the River – a favourite spot of overheated dogs, owners, and non-dog owning More >
Altering Car Culture Not Easy – But Necessary
Jun 10th
Earlier this week a report was submitted to the P&O Committee of City Council and will appear at the regular City Council Meeting on Monday (June 14). The basis of the report was to present a $60,000 study conducted on the current state of Saskatoon’s transportation system and recommendations on how to improve it over the coming years and decades.
As Gerry Klein points out, the one portion of the recommendations that received some ink was the suggestion that parking rates downtown be raised, the Star Phoenix article can be found here and some good discussion can be weeded out amongst the comment section of a local blog here.
What has been lost in the higher parking rate recommendation is it’s intent. Coincidentally, what I believe the intent was is nicely summed up in a short video that I posted here on Friday.
The argument goes, increased parking rates lead to a higher turnover in cars (longer stays cost $$$, an incentive to not stay long), which increases the absolute number of people accessing the area and decreases traffic because there are less people driving around looking for a parking spot. Given that argument, raising parking rates in the downtown core (between 23rd and More >
News And Notes: August Edition
Aug 24th
Posted by Sean Shaw in City Council
1 comment
It appears that my new job has nearly zapped my ability to keep this blog upto-date over the past weeks. In my defense it has been a relatively slow summer. So, I figured now would be a good time to dump a few municipal tidbits on whatever readers I have left:
1. Possible Municipal By-Election:
Ward 5 Councillor, and Sask Party Candidate for Saskatoon-Northwest, could possibly find himself contesting a Provincial By-election this fall. Word has it that the Sask Party would very much like to see current Saskatoon-Northwest MLA Serge LeClerc vacant his seat as early as this Fall. Such a series of events may be a long shot, as the recently turned Independent MLA has been granted a medical leave of absence from his elected duties, boarded up his offices, and is residing in Ontario, seemingly content to draw on his MLA salary until the General Election in November 2011. However, should Mr. LeClerc be “convinced” to retire, Councillor Wyant stands a good chance of retaining the seat for the Sask Party in a by-election. Wyant has already indicated that he would resign his Council seat if elected to the Legislature. If this were to happen before October 2011, the More >