A lot of municipal policy is going to come to a head at July’s Committee of the Whole meeting. From demolition by neglect to light pollution to lobbying, there’s a lot to cover in what is appropriately the mid-season finale of the 2024 year at council, and that includes the biggest issue of all, the housing crisis. So for the last time before summer vacation, this is what’s on the committee agenda this month…
NOTE #1: Delegates will be able to appear at this meeting in-person or via tele-presense but you do have to register with the clerks office before 10 am on Friday June 28. You can also submit written delegations and correspondences for agenda items.
NOTE #2: In addition to meeting in-person, this meeting will also be live-streamed on the City of Guelph’s website here.
NOTE #3: This meeting takes place on the special day of Wednesday due to the Canada Day long weekend.
Heritage Minimum Standards: Property Standards By-law Amendment – Coming out of the report about what happened with 797 Victoria Road three years ago, staff have prepared a draft bylaw to combat “demolition by neglect” by requiring proper maintenance on heritage attributes and proactively stopping the deterioration and damage to vacant heritage buildings. The bylaw sets the requirements for upkeep, the necessity of using original materials when possible, and repairing before replacing, and it sets a minimal standard for utilities in vacant and/or damaged heritage buildings.
Not for Profit Facility Lease Renewals – The Guelph Youth Music Centre, the Royal City Tennis Club Corporation and the Navy League Guelph Branch all need to renew their leasing contracts with the City of Guelph. Since these agreements are 10 years in length (20 years in the case of the Tennis Club) this falls outside the usual standard delegated authority of staff so it needs committee approval.
Light Pollution By-law Review – It’s getting harder to go anywhere in Guelph without seeing the effect of light pollution when you look up at the night sky, which is why staff are recommending that council give them leave to create a regulation to limit light trespass and to create guidelines that the public can use to reduce light pollution. Presently, bylaw only regulates trespass into a window, but this new bylaw will hope to address the kind of lighting that spills over from one property to another.
Mayoral Direction B3: Strategic Real Estate Partnerships on Underutilized City-Owned Assets – As you may recall, Mayor Cam Guthrie directed staff to look at city-owned land that can be easily made available for the development of affordable housing. The key idea is to build fast and affordable by building on sites that have the capacity for existing services and no technical challenges so there are two options that staff have brought forward in the short term: 1.3 acres of Hugh Guthrie Park, and 1.5 acres of Sleeman Park. There’s no formal direction being recommended for next steps, and staff are also working on finding other options.
Lobbyist Registry By-law – Back in April, council approved the work done so far, but they wanted some more information about including non-profits and community groups on the registry even if they don’t have a business interest in their lobbying efforts. Staff have broadened the definition from business interest to financial interest, but are still recommending that the focus be on registering only those people with a financial interest in their lobbying, if only for the purpose of clarity.
A Motion to Call on the Government of Ontario to Amend the Municipal Elections Act – This two-part motion is courtesy of Councillor Dominique O’Rourke, a request to have the Government of Ontario change the Municipal Elections Act to make it so that street name, number and postal codes don’t have to be listed on publicly available election forms, and that this information be submitted in a separate form for the purposes of verification by election officials in the case of financial donors.
Guelph Politico 