St. Vincent’s Development–Zoning Amendment

There is a proposal to convert the former St. Vincent’s High School building into multi-family housing.  The public notice relating to the meeting was published in the Telegraph Journal and is reproduced (in part) below:

The property is currently zoned Major Community Facility (under the recently adopted zoning by-law). This makes sense considering the history as a school and its proximity to a church and hospital. 

However, considering the fact that the city appears to have a surplus of urban high schools (as St. Vincent’s has not been used for this in years), another use may be more appropriate.  The “Urban Centre Residential” zone that is being proposed for the subject, surrounds the area and appears to be a more practical use. 

Having more people in quality housing in this neighbourhood would be positive. Underutilized schools don’t make great neighbours, after all.

Less Parking

The CBC reported on the reduced parking requirements for development in the uptown/south end area, in the proposed zoning by-law (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/city-s-proposed-bylaw-impacts-parking-rural-zones-1.2303655)

I think this will allow developers who want to develop sites in the central peninsula do so more cost effectively – putting in underground parking can be very expensive and really change the cost profile of a development.

One possible flaw in this plan is that reducing the parking needed for uptown development will increase the demand for parking (assuming at least some new residents want to own cars), possibly aggravated by the fact that developments often take place on parking lots, and this could incentivize owners of older buildings to tear them down to create parking lots rather than upgrade and improve them.  This could be balanced out by the fact that land will be more valuable for development, if building apartments gets cheaper because of the reduced cost of development.

I don’t know how planners model all these things work together in making decisions, but overall I think its a good idea that will make south end/uptown development more viable.

November 5, 2013 at St. Marks church is another public meeting on the plan.

Draft - Zoning Maps

The draft zoning map is available at: http://maps.saintjohn.ca/zonesj-en/

The map allows you to compare and contrast the current and proposed zoning.

Also, you can turn off the zoning layers and just look at the high resolution orthophotography from 2012.  There are also some measuring and searching capabilities, similar to GeoNB.

As an example of the quality, here’s what the bandstand looked like from above in 2012:

Councillor sees potential in Main Street

Country 94 news has a short article about a proposal by Councillor John MacKenzie to promote development of Main Street (north) by slowing traffic and making it more appealing to pedestrians and cyclists.

Link: http://country94news.blogspot.ca/search?updated-max=2013-02-18T04:24:00-04:00

Obviously buy in would be needed from developers, but creating a more walkable community is a good idea in my books.

PlaySJ thoughts

Ideas from PlaySJ, the City’s recreation plan are being released.  Country94 reports that consolidation of recreation assets is a key part of the plan.

Consultant Todd MacDonald is referenced as explaining that there are a surplus of ball fields, baseball diamonds and playgrounds.

I, as a non-planner, agree that it makes sense that cutting back on the numbers of facilities would allow more attention to be paid to the remaining recreation assets.

I think it is important to maintain facilities in areas where lower income families live, to make sure that people with limited transportation options still have recreation opportunities.

Big Box issues

Today on CBC’s Q there was an interview about repurposing of Big Box stores.  There was also some talk of how to communities are working to ensure mega-stores can be better repurposed and fit better into communities.

On a related note, the Calgary Herald ran a story about proposed regulations in Calgary that would reduce the area needed for retail parking (by utilizing multi-level parkades) and to create more pedestrian friendly retail clusters.

City Planning staff change

94.1 FM News reports that the head of Saint John’s planning department will be leaving for a new job in Fredericton in the new year.

Hopefully an urban focussed urban planning team leader fills the role and implements the new planning and zoning priorities of Saint John.

The hiring process for filling the top planning job will be a good test for the new council.  Will they hire a high-paid consulting firm to search high and low and hire someone in house? If there is someone in house that is right for the job, is there a way to skip the high-paid HR consultant part of the equation?

Make engagement easier

I’ve watched, for a second time a TED Talk by Dave Meslin called The Antidote to Apathy. In the video Meslin, a community activist, talks about ways to get people in engage in their communities’ politics and planning.

On proposal was to make planning notices more straight forward and readable.  I don’t know if this sort of idea will be integrated into Saint John’s new zoning by-law, but it should be considered.  I know there are plans to make the zoning by-law more readable, and the idea of making the public notices more readable seems to fit with that.

 

http://www.ted.com/talks/dave_meslin_the_antidote_to_apathy.html

Municipal Plan passed–Zoning bylaw next step

So the Municipal Plan has been adopted by the City of Saint John. To ensure the plan is fruitful, an updated zoning bylaw is needed.

Design professional and Planning Advisory Committee member Morgan Lanigan has written a thoughtful piece about this issue for Spacing Atlantic: http://spacingatlantic.ca/2012/01/31/city-and-country-a-tale-of-zoning-regulations/

Uneven Renaissance: Urban Development in Saint John, 1955-1976

I was doing some unrelated research today and came across the Journal of New Brunswick Studies.

You may be interested in reading an article entitled Uneven Renaissance: Urban Development in Saint John, 1955-1976 by Dr. Greg Marquis. 

If you’re interested in the urban planning and public policy decisions that occurred in this era of Saint John history, it’s worth a read.

Front yard gardening

As Saint John is going through its planning process and gardening is growing in popularity (at least in my peer group), I wanted to share this link: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/07/front_yard_vegetable_gardens_different_is_good.php

The article is about some of the reaction to a woman in Michigan who could possibility be sent to jail for supposedly violating city by-laws that could be read to mean you can’t have a vegetable garden in your front yard.

PlanSJ – Meeting June 15, 2011 (6pm at Saint John high)

Waterfront, The Economy and Leading Change

It will be interesting to hear what sort of ideas come out of the Saint John Waterfront Development Corporation’s Waterfront, The Economy and Leading Change conference next week. There is a line up of interesting speakers including urban planners and developers from other areas.

PlanSJ growth strategy accepted

The TJ reports that the PlanSJ growth strategy has been accepted by council.

I imagine that the #PlanSJ hash tag will be popular today on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/saved-search/%23plansj

Wetlands and development

A lot of Saint John is within a “wetland predictive area” and a lot more still is within a buffer that may also require caution when developing.  This is illustrated on GeoNB mapping (go to the map hit the ‘tool box’ icon and scroll down to “wetlands” to check this out).

Across the province a lot of land may be “wetland.” 

The TJ reported yesterday that this might be causing challenges to cities working on development plans.

While municipal and provincial officials work out what this could and should mean for future developments, it seems worthwhile for developers and interested parties to get up to speed on the Department of Environment’s rules for developing in or around wetlands: http://www.gnb.ca/0009/Wetlands/index-e.asp

Saint John Planning Department

Over the last year, the public has had a great opportunity to interact with the planners working for the city through the PlanSJ process. 

I wonder if I’m the only one who noticed how many of the planning staff are young.  This seems like a real asset in forming well founded, future minded plans.

If any planners or HR folk read this, I wonder if you could tell me, is this an industry trend (young planners), or does SJ have a unique opportunity to draw on a contingent of sharp young minds?

Derelict Building Policy

I wanted to start this post with a preamble that probably applies to most comments I make about public policy. Policy should be made based on some sort of Cost-Benefit analysis. While this doesn’t have to be dollars and cents equations, some idea of the pluses and minuses of a project should be considered before a policy is made.  Put simply, just because a policy may have good results doesn’t mean its the best course of action. 

I bring this up because I think that a more aggressive policy on removal or revitalization of derelict buildings is a good thing.  However, with budget constraints in the City, we may not be able to afford every “good thing.”

Right now council is considering its building inspection budget (CBC, TJ articles) while also considering the overall City budget.  I agree that derelict buildings are risky (with fire hazards and presence of ne’er-do-wells being associated with such buildings).

Here are a few examples of new policies in other cities that might be informative to anyone contemplating the issue:

• Winnipeg has a policy that charges owners increasing fees when they do not comply with vacant building standards as well as escalating fees for leaving a building boarded up.
• Hamilton is also considering increasing the regulatory strength the City has in dealing with vacant buildings – looking at a system of fines (as much as $10,000 for first offence according to thespec.com)
• South of the border Hazelton, PA has stepped up enforcement and is placing liens on properties that are violating municipal standards.  The City is also now able to collect fines is the property value does not cover demolition costs if a property is seized by the municipality.

I wish our council and City staff luck in determining the best course of action for Saint John.  Good luck balancing all of worthwhile projects and fitting them in a tight budget.

Living in small homes

Treehugger posted an interesting summary of a larger article about living in small homes.  As new urban housing is designed in Saint John that offers less “private” living space, it is interesting to think about one of the key points gleaned from living in a small home: “the city is your living room.”

The writer for Treehugger said this about living in New York City. Clearly Saint John doesn’t have all of the amenities of a metropolis like that, but it is important to think about how community space and services are used by those living in small homes.

Little Brother

I finished reading a novel by Cory Doctorow called Little Brother.   The book, which is free to read online through Creative Commons, explores an underground movement of young people who use technology to subvert the Department of Homeland Security’s draconian measures, after a large scale terrorist attached in San Francisco. 

I really enjoyed the novel and its subversive themes, but of particular interest to this blogger, was a criticism of some urban planning in SF. 

Here’s a passage that made me smirk, as it reminds me of some arguments that have been fought around the worthiness of Peel Plaza:

“I've always hated Civic Center. It's a collection of huge weddingcake buildings: court houses, museums, and civic buildings like City Hall. The sidewalks are wide, the buildings are white. In the tourist guides to San Francisco, they manage to photograph it so that it looks like Epcot Center, futuristic and austere.

But on the ground, it's grimy and gross. Homeless people sleep on all the benches. The district is empty by 6PM except for drunks and druggies, because with only one kind of building there, there's no legit reason for people to hang around after the sun goes down. It's more like a mall than a neighborhood, and the only businesses there are bailbondsmen and liquor stores, places that cater to the families of crooks on trial and the bums who make it their nighttime home.”

(Chapter 19.  Page 108 on the PDF version)

While urban planning is only discussed in passing in the book (a few other sections discuss the make up of a variety of neighbourhoods in the books’ version of San Francisco), it is a fun read with lots of neat ideas and technology to ponder.

Rockwood Park arguing

Planners have recommended that some development be allowed along the edge of lands citizens have often referred to as Rockwood Park. 

There are citizens who aren’t keen about this that have given their opinions.

I know there are strong minds working on the issue, and I know there are some strong opinions at work too.  Still, these planner and these citizens disagree, and hopefully a positive resolution can be found.

While I personally hope that the rambling woodland in the city’s north end is left to be used by adventurers and exercisers of all ages, I’m not sure its going to work out that way.  Still, with a healthy debate – likely a spirited back and forth (though I doubt city hall has to call in the police like they already have on this issue) – I’m hopeful that a solution that isn’t too garish might emerge.

However, a black cloud over this hopefulness comes from council. 

The mayor has once again decided to battle “rumours” about the park that he brings into the council chamber (link to previous example). This time, Court attacked the straw man argument that the park might be developed with a hotel.

While citizens might not want a hotel built in the park, it is a mistake to think that by not building a mega-structure that citizens will be comforted. It’s not these supposed rumours that have upset opponents.

Edit (Additional Comment):

Another issue the TJ quotes Court as "addressing" is that the buildings that will be built in this area won't have vinyl siding.  I do not think most opponents of the bulldozing of what was once thought to be park land are overly concerned about siding.