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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>the bottom line I take from these stories is that
there seems to be the polar opposites of a citizen having a lot of
power (one opposer stopping a community garden -what a shame) and then lots of
citizens opposing a development seemingly <EM>not</EM> having much power. I
guess in all situations we have to speak up when we feel strongly for or
against something, and its anyone's guess how it might turn out. Also it would
seem lobbying (eg. by email) before a decision comes to a Council may influence
its outcome. It sounds like in this Costco case, the deal was ~90%
complete without any public knowledge/oppostunity for input - I think they
already bought the land, so situations like that make it very hard for people to
reverse. This is a problem in Waterloo now- development proposals used to have
to go through Council -now they only go through staff, and then <EM>maybe</EM>
to Council-so apartment buildings and mulit-plexes are popping up everywhere now
-King St. north of Univ. is like an apt. tunnel now. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Lori S.</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=gcmichalenko@uwaterloo.ca
href="mailto:gcmichalenko@uwaterloo.ca">Gregory C. Michalenko</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=shbryant@uwaterloo.ca
href="mailto:shbryant@uwaterloo.ca">Susan Bryant</A> ; <A
title=jjackson@web.ca href="mailto:jjackson@web.ca">John Jackson</A> ; <A
title=deswid@gmail.com href="mailto:deswid@gmail.com">Deb Swidrovich</A> ; <A
title=eleanor7000@gmail.com href="mailto:eleanor7000@gmail.com">Eleanor
Grant</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Cc:</B> <A title=all@gren.ca
href="mailto:all@gren.ca">GREN</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, April 09, 2014 10:28
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [All] Waterloo Council
Delays Costco to AddressCommunity Concerns!</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; DIRECTION: ltr; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Dear
Fellow Grenlings,
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>I too am very disappointed at the outcome of the Costco meeting.
The text below is pretty long, but please read through it.</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>I think we are victims of what I call the email-trumps-all syndrome.
</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Several years ago a group attempted to have the City of Waterloo legalize
having a few hens in your back yard. I appeared to speak in favour
because I previously lived in Zurich Switzerland where many people kept a few
chickens and there were no problems. Also, there used to be a chicken
coop in my own back yard in downtown Waterloo. Several delegations
appeared and spoke in favour. Councillors then voted and it was a tie.
Mayor Halloram, the tie-breaker in such situations, then announced "I
received some emails opposing chickens so I'm voting against it." She
could have instead identified the unresolved points of contention (e.g., odour
fears) and asked for more time to get a definitive answer on them.</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>I'm on the Community Garden Council. A neighbourhood group got
together to form a new garden and found a good site, in the corner of a small,
little used park. We asked them to inform all the adjoining neighbours
about their plans. They managed to contact 20 out of 24 homes and all
were in favour, many very enthusiastic. An application was submitted to
the head of Kitchener parks and he turned it down because he had received one
single, solitary email against it. The poor gardeners were absolutely
crushed. The unknown dissenter's reason was never divulged to the group
so that they could respond.</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>About a year later I was asked to provide one of two case
studies <SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> for an all-day workshop
sponsored by Waterloo Region Public Health </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">on how to make proposals </SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">to municipal governments to promote new
policies</SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">(I'd earlier prepared a 25 page
study regarding implementation of community garden enabling
policies) </SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">. 150 people
attended; the other case study was programs to prevent suicide. In my
presentation I cautioned the participants that there was always a danger than
a well-researched proposal could be derailed by something unexpected, and
mentioned the outcome of the chicken proposal, emphasizing that the mayor
should have enabled responsive decision making rather than being preemptive.
At the break Karen Scian charged over to me, stuck her face about a foot
away from mine, and lost it completely. She yelled and stormed about how
I had insulted the mayor (who I later learned was her very close buddy.)
It was extremely disturbing and </SPAN>embarrassing. I was
pretty shaken.</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>We got hit by the same thing last night. </DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>I wondered from the outset why Councillor Henry was chairing and not
Halloram. I was impressed by the variety of excellent, well-researched
presentations, all of them critical, that highlighted a host of problems.
(Kevin, Deb, Eleanor, Jane, among others, were wonderful). In my
presentation I tried to highlight (perhaps not very well) how about 15 years
ago the Region held an open house at New Hamburg regarding the choice of a new
landfill site (3 of the 5 candidate sites were near New hamburg, selected
through an environmental assessment and some related professional studies).
The open house was well prepared and when the microphone was opened to
the public, two unanticipated things emerged. One concerned a very crucial
oversight in the studies, that essentially killed one site. A second was
a conceptual breakthrough by a young resident: "We're talking about just
building a new landfill. Yet some neighbourhoods in KW now have a pilot
project with blue boxes for recycling and everyone loves it and participates.
Shouldn't we be doing that in the whole Region rather than just
landfilling?" It was a bombshell suggestion. Others now spoke up
on comprehensive waste management. The Region withdrew its simplistic
plan and that's how we got the waste management site developed, coincidentally
just across from Costco. I suggested that a good public consultation on
the Costco proposal could produce similar benefits.</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>After the delegations had spoken Karen Scian spoke first, mentioned that
she had got loads of emails, that they mostly either wanted the Costco or were
concerned about traffic, and brought out her ready-made motion to approve
Costco but have another traffic study tied to a public consultation. She
obviously had that motion in her pocket already. She took no
consideration of the ideas and concerns coming from the delegations in front
of her about other issues. One of the presentations, from Catherine
McAllister, even came from an official council-created advisory
committee, and they completely ignored her. And what really pissed me
off was to hear the councillors make such unctuous noises about how proud they
were about the citizens of <FONT size=2>Waterloo that they would come out
and spend 4 hours at Council, and then blatantly ignore everything they had
said and foreclose on a meaningful public </FONT>occultation.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Email had won again -- messages, how many, from whom, and
providing what arguments, we didn't get to know. There's a chance they
were from an organized lobby in favour of Costco. Council has
discredited itself. Kudos to Whaley for being the only one to take a
principled stand.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>It's nice that there is a chance to talk about traffic - but
that's not good enough. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>- Greg. At the moment I wish I was a grizzly
bear. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 16px">
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<DIV style="DIRECTION: ltr" id=divRpF432722><FONT color=#000000 size=2
face=Tahoma><B>From:</B> All [all-bounces@gren.ca] on behalf of Susan Bryant
[shbryant@uwaterloo.ca]<BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, April 08, 2014 9:34
PM<BR><B>To:</B> John Jackson; Deb Swidrovich; Eleanor Grant<BR><B>Cc:</B>
GREN<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: [All] Waterloo Council Delays Costco to Address
Community Concerns!<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
<DIV>Is there a different, much more sensible location for the Costco that
many people, I understand, want? If there is, maybe that should be the battle.
From my distant view in Woolwich, it strikes me that Costco around here
somewhere likely can’t be stopped, but perhaps the negatives mitigated by a
different spot.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Just a question from someone who knows way less about the issue than most
of you. I’d like it gone, but if Costco must come... is there a location? I’m
in favor of fighting losing battles when necessary, but as I age, I’m
getting picky about which ones. If there’s no other ok Costco location, I’ll
sign on happily to the desperate cause against it altogether. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Any possibilities? </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Many, many thanks to all of you who have done the work. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Susan B. </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt tahoma">
<DIV><FONT size=3 face=Calibri></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5">
<DIV><B>From:</B> <A title=jjackson@web.ca href="mailto:jjackson@web.ca"
target=_blank>John Jackson</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, April 08, 2014 8:23 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=deswid@gmail.com href="mailto:deswid@gmail.com"
target=_blank>Deb Swidrovich</A> ; <A title=eleanor7000@gmail.com
href="mailto:eleanor7000@gmail.com" target=_blank>Eleanor Grant</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Cc:</B> <A title=all@gren.ca href="mailto:all@gren.ca"
target=_blank>GREN</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [All] Waterloo Council Delays Costco to Address
Community Concerns!</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none"><FONT
face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt">And I
add to Deb’s concerns that the decision on whether – actually on when - to
proceed will not be made by council, but by a civil servant. Council is now
off the hook. This is not the way that an important community decision should
be made.<BR><BR>John <BR><BR><BR>On 14-04-08 7:40 PM, "Deb Swidrovich" <<A
href="UrlBlockedError.aspx" target=_blank>wlmailhtml:deswid@gmail.com</A>>
wrote:<BR><BR></SPAN></FONT>
<BLOCKQUOTE><FONT size=2><FONT face=Arial><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">As I
see it, City of Waterloo councillors tried to appease everyone:<BR><BR>-
last night's approval of the zone change essentially is an approval of a
Costco at that location (because of the way the big box store designation
was written into the City's official plan; it was almost hand written for
Costco) which they likely thought would keep the Costco people from running
to the OMB<BR>- this allows the Rice Group (owners of the property) to move
ahead with the land augmentation (SWM ponds, etc.) (a condition of the land
swap that was heard before this Costco application) thinking it would keep
them at bay<BR>- it addresses some of our concerns that we brought forward
about the need for an integrated traffic analysis, public consultation, etc.
so that we don't run to the OMB<BR>- it makes it easier for councillors
during their campaigns who can tell their constituents that they approved
Costco (for those who want it); but they've put everything on hold until the
traffic analysis and road improvements are done (for those who are concerned
about traffic or don't want to see it at that location), and that Costco may
go away if the studies take too long (for those who don't want it at
all)<BR>- the politicking has already begun with the Region blaming
the City for the traffic problems and the City blaming the Region (Karen
Scian, City councillor who presented the motion will be running against Sean
Strickland and Jane Mitchell this term). There's already a discussion
on CTV about the cost, who will pay, and whether the Regional roads can be
upgraded before 2020.<BR><BR>I would have preferred:<BR>- a deferral<BR>-
had they not approved the zoning we might have had a chance to remove the
big box store designation from the Official Plan based on traffic issues;
now it is embedded in the Plan<BR>- I have the same concerns as Eleanor that
we will not have representation on the task force under the Commissioner of
Integrated Planning and Public Works, or have much influence in the final
say other than responding to another report from staff that could recommend
that Costco or another big box store be approved at that location (Kevin is
aware of this as well)<BR><BR>I am still concerned that:<BR>- we will have
gridlock<BR>- the Laurel Creek ESL will not be protected<BR>- that the
Wilmot Line will suffer<BR><BR>We do have another kick at the can which is
what we have to work with now. Time will tell. <BR><BR>We will
continue to push to be included.<BR><BR><BR>Deb
Swidrovich<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR></SPAN></FONT></FONT><FONT
face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><BR><BR>On Tue, Apr 8, 2014 at 5:25 PM, Eleanor
Grant <<A href="UrlBlockedError.aspx"
target=_blank>wlmailhtml:eleanor7000@gmail.com</A>>
wrote:<BR></SPAN></FONT>
<BLOCKQUOTE><FONT face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><BR>Kevin - friend - if you could take off those
rose-coloured glasses for a minute:)<BR><BR>Costco is APPROVED. Only
Mark Whaley voted against that. Nothing else can go on that land
now. The pressure to speed up the study will be enormous.<BR><BR>Who
is this Commissioner of Integrated Planning and Public Works? Can
s/he be trusted not to approve a transportation report that's as big a
joke as the one presented last night by staffer Joel Kotter (that you were
shaking your head all the way through)? It's the Commissioner that
has to be satisfied, not the people.<BR><BR>There don't exist any
transportation solutions that could accommodate the thing. If the
study did its job it would conclude that. But it won't. We'll
end up with a half-baked outcome that DOESN'T protect Wilmot Line and the
ESLs, and DOESN'T keep Erb's Rd an open way between city and
township. A lot of disastrous outcomes ..... <BR><BR>Talk
Thurs.<BR><BR>Eleanor<BR><BR>On Apr 8, 2014 4:53 PM, "Kevin Thomason"
<<A href="UrlBlockedError.aspx"
target=_blank>wlmailhtml:kevinthomason@mac.com</A>>
wrote:<BR></SPAN></FONT>
<BLOCKQUOTE><FONT face="Calibri, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Wow! I'm thrilled to let you know that at
last night's Council meeting, Waterloo City Councillors listened to our
community and voted to delay the proposed West side Waterloo Costco
development to undertake a detailed study of traffic issues (vehicle,
cycling, and pedestrian), involve the community in proper public
engagement, and implement the required transportation infrastructure
before allowing Costco to proceed.<BR><BR>Congratulations and thank you
to everyone (including a significant number of GREN folks) throughout
our community who spoke up and expressed concerns about this proposed
high-volume, big-box development. Fourteen delegations from
Waterloo, Wilmot, and Kitchener did a great job presenting a myriad of
issues to City Council. Costco Vice-President Jeff Ishida tried to
address several areas of concern however, it was clear that many
unanswered questions remained.<BR><BR>It was amazing how delegations
presented a broad spectrum of community concerns including traffic,
financial, environmental, landfill, EMS, and cultural issues during the
four hour long meeting. Community members made it clear that
Waterloo would not succeed in the future if our city faced serious
congestion and gridlock daily, neighbourhoods were compromised, and rare
environmentally sensitive lands that have been protected through decades
of efforts were overwhelmed by traffic.<BR><BR>City Staff and
consultants did their best to defend Costco's development plans and
their recommendations to proceed immediately, however even after hours
of discussion there were too many unanswered questions, too many vague
responses, and too many outstanding issues - including considerable
concerns about the lack of public engagement on this large development
proposal that stood to negatively affect so many people.<BR><BR>The
standing room-only crowd filling the Council Chambers heard the Mayor
and nearly every City Councillor speak about their serious concerns with
this proposed Costco and the predicted impacts to the West side.
In the end, Councillors voted against their own City Staff
recommendation and sent a clear message that only after outstanding
issues are addressed, and solutions have been found, completed, and are
fully in place, would the Costco development be permitted to
proceed.<BR><BR><B>The Approved Motion<BR><BR></B>Specifically, the
complete holding provision motion introduced by Councillor Karen Scian,
places the entire Costco store, gas bar and surrounding development on
hold until:<BR>a) An integrated multi-modal traffic analysis (including
existing and planned development) has been completed and accepted to the
satisfaction of the Commissioner of Integrated Planning and Public
works;<BR>b) Public open houses and engagement has been held regarding
the integrated traffic plan; and,<BR>c) That the necessary
transportation improvements have been completed.<BR><BR>The funding and
study is to begin in 2014, will involve co-ordination between local and
regional governments, and is expected to ensure the protection of
vulnerable neighbourhoods and environmental areas.<BR><BR><B>Community
Engagement<BR><BR></B>It has been incredible to see how quickly and
strongly our community rallied in recent days upon learning the full
details about Costco's proposal and the ensuing issues - particularly
the severe traffic congestion forecast over such a large
area. While most people in Waterloo would like to see a
Costco warehouse store in our city, the proposed Erb St. W. location
listed in the City Official Plan has proved to be an incredibly
constrained and challenging site. Few could fathom that such a
massive Costco drawing an estimated 5,500 cars/day would be built on
only a two lane road with no other accesses or road infrastructure for
up to four years in such an already congested area.<BR><BR>Councillor
Scian reported receiving more than 350 e-mails in the past week alone on
this development proposal. Neighbourhood associations, community
groups, and citizens met with Staff and Councillors to try to understand
forecasted impacts, and last week on very short notice Costco Executives
and consultants flew from Virginia and Ottawa to meet with
representatives from area neighbourhood associations to better
understand our concerns. Costco has a global reputation for being
a responsible corporate citizen and an excellent employer. So far
our experience with their team reflects this excellence. I am
optimistic that Costco and its developers/consultants will work with our
community, City Staff, and Councillors to find the needed solutions and
best path forward.<BR><BR><B>Thank You and Next Steps<BR><BR></B>Thank
you to everyone, every group, neighbourhood association, and
organization that took the time to learn about this development
proposal, it's forecasted impacts, and spoke up with concerns. Our
city leaders have responded and we now have a unique opportunity to
pause and reflect on the current state of the West side of Waterloo. We
have a chance to envision the future and develop a plan that will create
the community that we want. <BR><BR>We need to be innovative,
creative and visionary. With a limited land supply remaining we
must carefully consider the future - what we want the Westside to
become, how we want to travel, how much congestion is acceptable, and
what our legacy will be for future generations.<BR><BR>At this point it
is too early to say how long it will take to develop and implement this
plan to address the community's concerns. It will likely take
several months to complete the integrated plan and perhaps several years
before all the solutions and infrastructure can be put into place before
Costco and the surrounding developments can proceed.<BR><BR>Please share
any thoughts or ideas on how we can develop a world-class plan for the
West side. Congratulations again, to everyone who sent letters,
attended meetings, talked with neighbours, and worked so hard to help
ensure the best possible future for our
community.<BR><BR>Kevin.<BR><BR>-------------------------------------<BR><BR>Kevin
Thomason<BR><BR>1115 Cedar Grove Road<BR>Waterloo, Ontario Canada
N2J 3Z4<BR><BR>Phone: (519) 888-0519 <tel:%28519%29%20888-0519>
<BR>Mobile Phone: (519) 240-1648 <tel:%28519%29%20240-1648>
<BR>Twitter: @kthomason<BR>E-mail: <A href="UrlBlockedError.aspx"
target=_blank>wlmailhtml:kevinthomason@mac.com</A><BR><BR>-----------------------------------------<BR><BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>All
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<BR>John Jackson<BR>17 Major Street<BR>Kitchener, Ontario N2H
4R1<BR>519-744-7503<BR><BR></SPAN></FONT>
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