KARA has long been in favour of phasing development to control and slow down urban sprawl.

As part of Vaughan's new Official Plan, KARA advocated having secondary plans for some of the lands in and around the Kleinburg Nashville area developed only after current green space developments and other intensification efforts are well underway. Our belief is that much of the required new population targets can be accommodated in existing, approved developments, or through intensification efforts along major corridors. Our posi-tion is that only when those efforts fail to meet the Provincial and Regional intensification targets, should new lands be opened up for development. The phasing in the official plan was also contingent on a Natural Heritage Study which is not yet complete.

KARA learned in June that a motion to significantly reduce the phasing requirements for the New Community Areas in the New Vaughan Official Plan was being considered at City Council on June 26, 2012. A majority vote that day with Regional Councillor Schulte a vocal opponent of the change, resulted in Council rewriting their own previous plan and to now require only two of the comprehensive secondary plans to be completed instead of the five they had earlier agreed upon.

Approval of the 2010 Official Plan was very disappointing for a great many citizens in Vaughan. Extending the Urban Boundary was deemed, by many, to be unnecessary. Meeting the Province’s num-bers did not require an extension of the previous boundary. Development in identified ‘intensification areas’, and land already zoned for development, should have been well underway before any boundary extension was considered.

The notion of “Phasing in” was planned, we thought, to slow down the urban sprawl process – a chance to take a second look at the far too rapid growth in Vaughan. The loss of valuable agricultural land and increasing traffic problems surely enforced the need for careful “phasing in” of new communities.

KARA made a submission to Council seeking deferral of the re-cent June 26th motion to review detailed documents and presenta-tions made by the Region. We asked the City of Vaughan to “slow down”, listen to concerned citizens, and not to amend the 2010 Official Plan at this time.

Our request was ignored and Council approved the mo-tion. We are extremely disap-pointed that this motion has passed and has made a mockery out of the concept of “Phasing in”.

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On July 21st, Ontario's Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, Deb Matthews, along with Vaughan MPP Greg Sorbara, announced the approval of a hospital for Vaughan. The Minister indicated the project has been included to the Province of Ontario's medium-term capital plan, and that the tender for the hospital will be issued no later than the 2014/2015 fiscal year, once the Stage 2 and Stage 3 planning is complete. The hospital will be located on lands bounded by Highway 400, MajorMackenzie Drive, and Jane Street, purchased by the City for hospital and hospital-related purposes.

You may recall that KARA supported the municipal funding for the new hospital plans through the Vaughan Health Campus of Care’s (VHCC) presentations to Vaughan Council, and also requested broad community consultation on the services to be provided to local residents.

This new hospital approved for Vaughan, to be operated by York Central Hospital, will ensure that people and families living in the growing community have access to high quality health care, closer to home. Planning is underway for the new Vaughan hospital that will offer patients state of the art emergency services, new modern surgical services, inpatient and intensive care beds with 80% single patient rooms for superior infection control. Details are still being worked out on what services will be placed at each site. (Your opinion counts!) KARA has been assured that further consultation with residents will occur through the next planning phases of the hospital. Please send your comments to kara@kara-inc.ca .

Click here to see the Presentation made by York Central hostipal officials at the 2012 KARA AGM

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The event provided KARA members with insights on local projects and issues such as:

• The Pierre Berton Discov-ery Centre
  
• The Islington Avenue Streetscape Master Plan
  
• Updates on key Regional and Provincial Roads
  
• Kleinburg/Nashville Water transition to “City water”
  
• Development, Transportation and Traffic Update
  
• Local Development Projects
  
• Vaughan Hospital plans
  

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Nashville Road Truck Ban Extended to 2015!!!

At The Region of York Transportation Services Committee meeting on March 2nd, there were two topics on the agenda relating to Nashville Road. The first was an update on the temporary truck prohibition. The second was an update on the transfer of ownership of Nashville Road to the city. KARA representatives met with our new local and regional councilors prior to the meeting to ensure support was there for extending the truck ban. A KARA representative also presented a letter at the meeting requesting a permanent ban on trucks and transfer of ownership to the city as soon as possible. We believe that the truck ban on Nashville road has been of significant benefit to the area and that truck traffic data collected during the truck prohibition may have been skewed by construction activity on the former Kleinburg golf course.

We are very pleased to announce that a recommendation has been made to extend the truck ban until 2015. Local businesses and trucks working on local projects will still be allowed on Nashville Road. KARA would like to thank our local and Regional Councilors for their support on this issue, Mr. Paul Mantella as an ongoing champion for the truck ban in Nashville, and TACC Construction for their support of our request.

Unfortunately, the decision to transfer ownership of the road to the city has been deferred indefinitely. The Region would like to see the impacts of the 427 extension, as well as significant improvements to Major Mackenzie, before considering this again.

KARA will continue to push to have the upgrade to Major Mackenzie proceed as soon as possible and to ensure that the truck ban is never lifted. It appears that only when the upgrades are done will there be a chance to transfer ownership of Nashville Road and have a permanent ban on trucks implemented.

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What's new on the Nashville Heights Block


The developers and planners for the Nashville Heights development, also known as Block 61 west, met with the KARA Board on January 20th to present the latest proposal for the block plan. This block is bounded by Huntington Road on the west, Major Mackenzie on the south, CP Rail on the east, and the back-lots of existing properties on Nashville Road on the North.

The 427 extension will terminate in the south-west corner of the block and there is potential for a GO Station in the south-east corner. Higher densities will be kept to the south with increased lot sizes to the north and east. The design meets the province's Places to Grow requirements of 50 people + jobs/hectare. The proposal is for 2500 to 3000 units in total. 1820 units are low to medium density residential shown in the block plan. The remainder will be mixed and commercial use.

An extensive network of pedestrian and cycling trails is included in the plan as are centralized piazzas and mixed use areas to help reduce reliance on the automobile.

KARA will be commenting on the plan at a Committee of the Whole Public Hearing Feb 1st, 2011 at 7 p.m. at City Hall. Our comments include:

• Request for designated parklands to meet the most stringent guidelines from the city
  
  
• Request the city work with CP and developers on both sides of the tracks to find a viable way to link the two communities (at a minimum for pedestrian traffic) across the tracks
  
  
• Push for upgrades to Major Mackenzie prior to development
  
  
• Changes should be made to Huntington and Nashville Road to discourage commuter traffic from using Nashville Road
  
  
• Request the city to acquire land in the area for parks and recreation centre
  
  
• Concerns regarding aesthetics, parking and garbage collection where laneways are used
  
  
• Request architectural controls and high quality materials to ensure an appealing, beautiful community
  
  

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Kleinburg Mainstreet Revitalization Study Launched

The City’s consultants “Urban Marketing Collaborative” have embarked on an exciting project to revitalize Kleinburg’s main street. This study is an economic review which will hopefully complement the recently completed Kleinburg Streetscape Study by LANDinc, whose final report is forthcoming to City Council later this year.

UMC is a division of J.C. Williams Group, and are experts in downtown revitalization and retail development with successful projects all over North America including St. John’s, Nfld; Hamilton, Ontario; Downcity Providence, Rhode Island; Hudson, Quebec and Downtown Crossing, Boston.

The main objective is to “create long-term revitalization of the Kleinburg Mainstreet and Commercial Core Area as a tourist destination and as a local and neighbourhood shopping area” states UMC in their study proposal. The study has two purposes: to first research and evaluate the current and future retail market opportunities and secondly to review and give recommendations on a variety of retail commercial strategies.

UMC is taking a holistic approach with this project, and will be working collaboratively with Kleinburg BIA, KARA and local residents, Heritage Vaughan, the City of Vaughan and other community partners to bring about a successful outcome. In fact, key partner initial interviews have already been completed with BIA and KARA.

Working to a tight timetable, the consultants are aiming to collect data and research through completing personal interviews, business interviews, and consumer surveys with a goal of holding business and community workshops in October. Out of the workshops and final meetings will evolve an action plan and report which will ultimately be submitted to the City.

As residents of Kleinburg and Nashville, and indeed as consumers, your input into this study process will be critical in creating a vital community village.

If you would like to submit a comment about what you think should be done to revitalize Kleinburg’s Mainstreet, please send it along to John Archer, Consultant, Urban Marketing Collaborative, jarcher@jcwg.com or to kara@kara-inc.ca and we’ll forward your comments!

KARA will keep you updated in further editions of The Spirit on the public workshop date.

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Pierre Berton Discovery Center in Kleinburg Village Core?
(click here for what KARA's Board had to say on behalf of members)

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KARA’s ‘Top 10’ Wishes for our New City Council

We warmly welcome our new Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua, our Regional Councillors Rosati, DiBiase and Schulte, and our local Ward Councillors Carella, Iafrate, Racco, Shefman and DeFrancesca. KARA looks forward to working synergistically with this new City Council to bring about positive change in Kleinburg, Nashville and area, and in all of Vaughan!

• 1. Collaboration: KARA encourages the new Council to work together collaboratively towards the City’s success. We wish for healthy, respectful, and impassioned debate of important municipal and regional issues.
  
  
• 2. Pro-active Communication: We desire regular and effective communications outreach to all residents from our City and City Council members on City-led and Region-led initiatives, activities, services, and proposals before City and Regional Councils. If KARA, a relatively small volunteer organization with a very small budget can publish and distribute a newsletter to all residents every month, why can’t the City or City Council or Region and Regional Council?
  
  
• 3. Citizen Engagement: We urge the City to continue its welcome practice of encouraging genuine citizen engagement and outreach for all major City initiatives. We would like the Region to engage residents more.
  
  
• 4. More Time for community notice and review of Committee of the Whole agenda items. The City has made some progress to increase the time between when reports are posted on the City’s website, and when they are voted on at Committee of the Whole. However, we still believe that a mandatory 30 day review period for significant planning and budget items, is essential for appropriate and meaningful community input and review.
  
  
• 5. Fight for the Public Good: KARA’s wish is that every elected member of Council will make decisions in the public’s interest for the greatest public good, and strive to balance the interests of stakeholders to help create a better City for all.
  
  
• 6. Listen: We encourage Council members to really listen to your communities. Engage your community and its groups in a regular two-way discussion through face to face meetings, forums, committees, town halls, webinars, facebook or twitter.
  
  
• 7. Mediation : We promote the idea that Council and the City seek out-of-court solutions to conflict resolution such as mediation whenever possible to reduce associated legal and human costs of litigation.
  
  
• 8. Think Good, Better, Best: There’s a saying ‘Good, better, best – never let it rest, until the good is better and the better best. It’s a good motto for the City’s continuous improvement.
  
  
• 9. Vaughan at the Region: We recommend that our City representatives at Regional Government ensure that our residents are regularly informed, involved, and engaged in matters of Regional jurisdiction—such as roads, water and sewage servicing, planning, community health, police and social services.
  
  
• 10. Move Forward: That Council move forward to build a thriving community of connected, caring people, not just the bricks and mortar of City-building. This means creating a livable and sustainable City with beautiful and enriching community places and spaces, lush parks and green spaces, designing roads that enhance and work for our communities, enhancing heritage, helping families live healthy and happy lives through a wide variety of health, social and recreational services, and encouraging financial security through job creation, local investment and entrepreneurship.
  
  

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KARA Wins 2 Awards for Protecting Greenspace in Kleinburg

1. Ontario Association of Landscape Architects CERTIFICATE OF MERIT FOR SERVICE TO THE ENVIRONMENT

2. For “Protecting Tomorrow Today”

The Ontario Parks Association (OPA) recently honoured KARA at their annual conference held on January 11th, 2010 in Toronto, with their “Protecting Tomorrow Today” award. This award recognizes a group or community and their contribution towards OPA’s mandate “Protecting Tomorrow Today”.

Second Award for Kleinburg New Forest! (L-R) President Ken Schwenger, Landscape Architect and nominator Mark Inglis, and Vice-President Bob Klein

In his speech to the large gathering of OPA members, Ontario Parks Association Past President Vic Hergott gave the following address before he presented the award to KARA. The award was accepted by our Association President Ken Schwenger, and Vice-President, Bob Klein. “The Spirit” has excerpted Mr. Hergott’s speech below for its readers:

“Sometimes financial goals can be mated with environmental desires. Through 20 years of continuous efforts of the Kleinburg and Area Ratepayers’ Association, the vision of a 40 acre forest has been created by the community, for the community and defining the community. It is now a wildlife refuge where once herbicides maintained an annual crop of corn. It is a passive recreation resource that has been under siege for twenty years, threatening to be developed for housing, a fire hall, parking lot and a dog park. It stands as an educational resource that partners KARA with Toronto Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and the City of Vaughan.

KARA was intent to ensure the sanctity of their vision. By offering monetary awards of thousands of dollars, KARA partnered with the University of Guelph Landscape Architecture department to provide the land as a competition and learning site. Through a public forum a design was selected as the guiding master plan. For ten years thereafter, annual and sometimes biannual community planting days were organized, funded by Binder Twine Festival proceeds. Hundreds of volunteers were assembled for events that ran rain or shine. They were events that created memories for the youth of the community. Now adults, those children return to their roots to discover a treed legacy that they helped to create. Today is Yesterday’s Tomorrow!

Other community groups can learn from the actions of KARA to protect what is dear to the community and important to the environment. Their work is not complete. The latest threat to the evolution of the 40 acres into a forest has rekindled the fires of KARA. In 2008, KARA presented the legacy of Kleinburg New Forest to City of Vaughan Council to reinforce their commitment to this community space.

KARA has learned that urban pressures will continue to menace the community’s desires for a greenbelt that distinguishes the Village of Kleinburg from other communities of the City of Vaughan. New planting and maintenance events will continue to be planned. The notoriety of events will further the education of those who imagine this open space as something other than the Vision of Kleinburg New Forest.

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