City Reschedules Planning Meeting Agenda into Four Bite-Size Pieces

As you may have heard, this week’s planning meeting of city council was called off on account of a bad Webex connection. But what about all those very important matters that city council had to discuss? Well, all the work that needed finishing at that meeting has now been spread out between the next four meetings of city council, and they are spread out as follows… Continue reading “City Reschedules Planning Meeting Agenda into Four Bite-Size Pieces”

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for June 13, 2022

It’s a very busy planning meeting for this June. 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 on Twitter, or follow the tweets below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for June 13, 2022”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the June 13 Meeting?

It’s the second-to-last formal planning meeting for this term, so naturally, there’s a lot of work to get done. At June’s planning meeting, we get two new, and pretty major proposals. We also get decision reports on two other major projects, both bound to be controversial. And finally, one lucky homeowner in a protected heritage area will be able to proceed with their construction project! Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the June 13 Meeting?”

RECAP: Heritage Guelph Kicks Off Comments on Reformatory Heritage Area

At a meeting of Heritage Guelph on Monday, the members of the committee got a chance to talk to the consultant reviewing the Heritage Conservation District merits of the Ontario Reformatory lands. In the course of the workshop, we learned where we are in the process, what is happening next, and how Guelph area residents can help out with their own ideas and information. Check out the recap of the meeting below. Continue reading “RECAP: Heritage Guelph Kicks Off Comments on Reformatory Heritage Area”

GUELPH POLITICAST #302 – A Heritage Moment

One of the first episodes of the Politicast this year was a conversation with Councillor Leanne Caron about heritage issues in the City. It would kick- off a year with a lot of heritage issues on making the front page, from discussion about inadequate communications to the controversy around the demolition of 797 Victoria Road North. So the year ends how it began, with a discussion about Guelph’s heritage issues. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #302 – A Heritage Moment”

This Month at Council PART 1: Emergency Meetings, and Demolition Fallout

This October recap of the events of city council actually started in September. Unexpectedly, an emergency meeting was called on September 30 to talk about events that occurred at the September 27 regular council meeting. Maybe you heard about it. The events of those meetings cast a shadow over a lot of council business for the rest of the month, and that includes the Committee of the Whole and planning meetings covered here. Continue reading “This Month at Council PART 1: Emergency Meetings, and Demolition Fallout”

Heritage Guelph Hears About How 797 Victoria Notice was “Absolutely a Miss” on Staff’s Part

The latest venue for the controversy over the emergency demolition of 797 Victoria Road North is the one that it skipped to begin with. At the Heritage Guelph meeting on Tuesday, members of the committee got to ask staff questions about what the heck happened, and how everyone can avoid letting it happen again. Basically, there was no intended slight, but the risk to life made staff “miss” all other considerations. Continue reading “Heritage Guelph Hears About How 797 Victoria Notice was “Absolutely a Miss” on Staff’s Part”

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for September 30, 2021

Surprise! It’s an emergency council meeting for a Thursday evening. Coming out of a contentious motion on Monday day, the emergency demolition of a heritage farmhouse on Victoria Road North, new information needed to be presented to council, with a vote to reconsider Monday’s motion to follow. Did council reconsider, and what was this mysterious new information? Let’s recap the live(ish) tweets. Continue reading “LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for September 30, 2021”

GUELPH POLITICAST #255 – An End to Demolition By Neglect

The last council meeting of 2020 dealt heavily with the protection of heritage, including one particular case of the Old Crawley farmhouse. Perhaps the fall of the Preston Springs Hotel in Cambridge over the holidays portends a similar fate for valuable heritage buildings in Guelph, but one thing is certain: If we care about our heritage buildings and features, time is running out to save them. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #255 – An End to Demolition By Neglect”

Heritage Guelph Rejects Cultural Heritage Action Plan at Meeting

In their meeting Tuesday night, the committee that oversees heritage issues in Guelph unanimously rejected an endorsement of the City of Guelph’s Cultural Heritage Action Plan (CHAP) and requested that City staff do more consultation work before moving forward. Heritage Guelph outlined a number of issues with the plan as it currently stands, and had a number of suggestions for improvement. Continue reading “Heritage Guelph Rejects Cultural Heritage Action Plan at Meeting”