Category: Council Post-view

This Week at Council: The Princess Auto Diaries

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

At June’s planning meeting, a lot of ground was covered but there were two primary modes. First, there were a lot of heritage files needing some work, including the latest heritage conservation district and a couple of individual designations that were unexpectely controversial. And then there was the Princess Auto file, an interesting confluence of confusing planning rules that nearly scuttled the future Guelph location of that chain. Here’s the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: The Princess Auto Diaries” →

This Week at Council: The Waiting *Was* the Hardest Part

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

At the June Committee of the Whole meeting we spent almost as much time waiting for the meeting to begin as we spent in the meeting. There was some important stuff on the agenda, but it seems that it was pretty straightforward; employee engagement, the review of Community Benefit Agreements, and more on Corporate Asset Management were all topics needing discussion and decision, so how did it all turn out? Continue reading “This Week at Council: The Waiting *Was* the Hardest Part” →

This Week at Council: Shelter Debate, Climate Action, and Code of Conduct Amendments

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

Getting back to work after a week off for the Victoria Day holiday, council dived into some controversy. Promised since the beginning of the month, council dug into the question of where to put a daytime, or perhaps where not to put it. There was also some additional discussion about the renewed Code of Conduct and the Community Climate Action Plan, but for all the details check out this recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: Shelter Debate, Climate Action, and Code of Conduct Amendments” →

This Week at Council: Signs and Apartments, and Two Tied Votes

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

This month’s planning meeting of city council had three phases. First was the one new development application, which came with some very old arguments against it. Then there was a vote about re-approving a heritage designation, which was swiftly followed by a vote to un-designate. And then third, a discussion about administrative changes to the Sign Bylaw that went way too deep. Check out the details in the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: Signs and Apartments, and Two Tied Votes” →

This Week at Council: A Whole in the World

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

Money! Much of this month’s Committee of the Whole meeting was about it, but there was also some new climate change policy, a formal farewell to a city councillor with a new job, and, yes, some controversy. What was supposed to be consent item about seeking permission for a request for proposals for daytime shelter services opened a potential kettle of fish when it comes to council at the end of the month. For now, here’s the recap of May’s CoW meeting! Continue reading “This Week at Council: A Whole in the World” →

This Week at Council: Taxi Questions and More Tree Talk

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

Just when you thought that the debate about the Private Tree Bylaw was over, it’s not! Although there was a lot of discussion about that at Committee of the Whole earlier this month, some haggling about how big a tree needs to be to save it, there was some attempted re-calibration this week. In other news, council discussed a matter that forced them to reckon with the divide between city hall and Guelph’s disabled community. Here’s the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: Taxi Questions and More Tree Talk” →

This Week at Council: Downtown is Getting Higher, While Stone Road is Getting a Plan

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

The planning meeting of council for the month of April involved getting high. Or, to put that another way, it involved re-establishing height limits. The ones downtown. Council considered how high buildings can go in the future, and then they moved their gaze to the south end with a new project on Clair Road, before looking at a new way to make housing happen faster in the area around Stone Road Mall. Let’s get into the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: Downtown is Getting Higher, While Stone Road is Getting a Plan” →

This Week at Council: More Drill Hall Drama, and Seeing Trees

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

Sparing you the April Fool’s joke (at least in the intro), we arrive at the first meeting of April. Naturally, here at the end of the first quarter, we get into some financial matters as financial staff reviewed debt and debentures. And speaking of drains on the spreadsheets, council once again dug into the question of what to do about the Drill Hall, plus there were also some questions about how many trees that council can save. Get all the details in the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: More Drill Hall Drama, and Seeing Trees” →

This Week at Council: More Debate on Public Space, Plus Road Safety

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

There was a lot going on at this meeting, and some of it had nothing to do with what was on the agenda. For instance, one city councillor was absent because they’re now busy chasing a new gig at a different level of government.  In terms of stuff at the meeting, there was a new development around the Public Space Use Bylaw, which caused some controversy despite how little about it was available in the agenda. Hopefully this recap has more detail! Continue reading “This Week at Council: More Debate on Public Space, Plus Road Safety” →

This Week at Council: It Was a Planning and Trading Meeting

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

Delayed a week because city council gets March Break too, we finally come to the March planning meeting+. Why “plus”? Because this month’s meeting wasn’t just about planning matters, but about trades wars, or rather it was about how Guelph is ready to fight one. As for the actual planning part of the planning meeting, housing was the focus as council got an update about those efforts. To learn more, consult this recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: It Was a Planning and Trading Meeting” →