Tag: Downtown Guelph

This Week at Council: Permits and Designations Downtown

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In the first regularly scheduled council meeting of the year 2026, downtown was the centre of attention. Again. In this planning meeting council got its first look at the Community Planning Permit System for the core, and they took their last look at the plan and guidelines for the Heritage Conservation District downtown. Along with that, there was a slight diversion to the south end and a major downtown project was approved. Here’s the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: Permits and Designations Downtown” →

RECAP: City Council Meeting for January 20, 2026

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Back for the first official meeting of council for the year, and there’s lots of planning to do! You can click here for the amended agenda from City Hall, and you can click here for the Politico preview. For the complete blow-by-blow of today’s council meeting, you can follow along during the meeting on Blue Sky or recap the complete thread after the meeting below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “RECAP: City Council Meeting for January 20, 2026” →

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the January 20, 2026 Meeting?

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The first official council meeting of 2026 is a planning meeting, and most of it is focused on downtown! Back for final approval is the plan for running the core as a heritage district, and since we’re talking about the past, we will also talk about the area’s future with a new plan to streamline development. But that’s not all, there will be a decision about a major downtown development project, and even some decisions about a south end project. Here’s the preview… Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the January 20, 2026 Meeting?” →

This Week at Council: Squares, Downloading, and Bike Lanes End 2025

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It was the last council meeting of the year, and it’s been a wild ride, but there were at least a couple of surprises left for civic policy nerds before Christmas Break. Yes, as expected, council discussed the final, final design for St. George’s Square as council sought the ever nebulous “wow” factor. In addition to that there was some push back from council about changes to conservation authorities and a twist ending for fans of bike lanes. For the last time in 2025, here’s the recap… Continue reading “This Week at Council: Squares, Downloading, and Bike Lanes End 2025” →

RECAP: City Council Meeting for December 16, 2025

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Let us wrap up a very busy, and a very difficult 2025 in the council chambers. You can click here for the amended agenda from City Hall, and you can click here for the Politico preview. For the complete blow-by-blow of today’s council meeting, you can follow along with the thread below, or you can watch the whole meeting for yourself by watching it on the City’s website here. Continue reading “RECAP: City Council Meeting for December 16, 2025” →

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 16, 2025 Meeting?

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Merry Christmas! City council’s present to you is a new vision for St. George’s Square assuming that they want to pursue it. That’s one of the items in what looks to be a fairly straightforward final meeting of the year, which will feature any final thoughts about the items from Committee of the Whole, a busy (and mysterious) closed meeting agenda,  and some new appointments to the advisory committees. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 16, 2025 Meeting?” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #Repeat – The Good Old Guelph (feat. Stephen Robinson & Jack Mallon)

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Guelph loves its cultural heritage! As we count down to the 200th anniversary of the city in 2027, we’re seeing more and more of a focus on our local history, but there’s something else happening in 2027… the elimination of the heritage registry. Any property listed, but not designated, on January 1, 2027 will be deleted. The stakes, and the workload, have never been this high! Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #Repeat – The Good Old Guelph (feat. Stephen Robinson & Jack Mallon)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #479 – Summer in the City (feat. Mike Ashkewe)

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As we all now ease into summer vacation mode – even if we’re still working at our many labours – we’re taking stock of this busy year so far. We’ve made it though two elections and some long nights at council with at least a couple of more long nights to come before city council takes August off. (Or will they, given that there’s been a special August meeting the last few years?) So where do we currently stand with the first six months of 2025 behind us? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #479 – Summer in the City (feat. Mike Ashkewe)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #471 – The Year at Council So Far Part 1 (January-April)

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This week Guelph city council is taking a holiday break, and perhaps understandably, because it has been a very busy year in the chambers so far. The first four months of the year brought a lot of change, a lot of drama, and some pretty big decisions that tested the fiscal and political capacity of a rapidly growing Ontario city. Now, we will pause and take stock of just how far we’ve come so far… Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #471 – The Year at Council So Far Part 1 (January-April)” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #446 – The Good Old Guelph (feat. Stephen Robinson & Jack Mallon)

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There has been a lot of heritage news this year, and especially in the last couple of weeks. This should not be surprising because heritage staff in all municipalities have been in a mad scramble these last few years to designate as much heritage as possible before the end of this year due to Bill 23. That changed back in the spring, so it’s probably a good time now to catch our breathe and look at the work done so far, and all the work that is to come. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #446 – The Good Old Guelph (feat. Stephen Robinson & Jack Mallon)” →