Cannabis retail stores, update on 2100 Brant St, establishing Waterfront and Transit citizen advisory committees, speed on New St, and more on Committee of the Whole agenda Dec. 10
Burlington's new city council will be discussing opting in or out of cannabis retail stores, deciding on establishing waterfront and transit citizen advisory committees, hearing an update on 2100 Brant St development, and more at Committee of the Whole next week.Highlights, links to agendas and reports and how you can participate are below:
Committee of the Whole, Dec. 10:1pm and 6:30pmRm 247, City Hall
Agenda and reports: COW Dec. 10Speak to committee: Register as a Delegation
Highlights:
Cannabis retail stores - opt in or out (Discussed at 6:30pm)
Provincial Bill 36 would allow private retail stores to sell cannabis in Ontario, opening April 1, 2019. Municipalities must decide by Jan. 22 2019 whether to opt in or out of allowing retail stores. Other aspects of the Bill:
- Exempts retail cannabis stores from municipal business licensing and land use planning which means the province determines location criteria and licensing rules. The city’s role is a commenting agency on locations.
- Names the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) as regulator of Ontario’s private retail model. The AGCO will be licensing and enforcing regulations regarding retail cannabis stores. They will receive applications for licenses beginning Dec. 17.
- Aligns smoking cannabis with the Smoke Free Ontario Act which would allow smoking cannabis in the same places as smoking cigarettes. Municipalities would be able to enact by-laws to regulate and further restrict where smoking cannabis can take place. The Smoke Free Ontario Act is enforced through Halton Region’s Health Department. Further restrictions on smoking beyond the Act would be enforced locally by municipal by-law officers.
- Stores will be able to operate between 9am and 11pm, and sell only cannabis products, accessories and shopping bags.
- Distance of cannabis retail stores from schools has been set at 150m.
- The province has allocated $40 million for municipalities to assist with the implementation costs associated with the legalization of recreational cannabis, divided as follows:
- $15 million will be divided up among all municipalities on a per household basis in January 2019. The minimum amount that any municipality will receive is $5,000.
- $15 million will be distributed among municipalities with an additional $5,000 for municipalities who have opted out, and the balance divided among municipalities who opt in.
- $10 million will be allocated exclusively to municipalities that have not opted-out.
- The city recently received a letter from the Ministry of Finance regarding the Ontario Cannabis Legalization Implementation Fund. The city’s first payment through this fund is $93,063 and will be received in January. Further, if Ontario’s portion of the federal excise duty is more than $100 million in the first two years, then the province will provide 50% to municipalities that have not opted-out.
- Federal regulations prohibit advertising cannabis in mass media, because youth have access to this media; municipalities should consider prohibiting cannabis advertising on our own properties (eg. Buses, benches)
To help gather the community’s input, a town hall, hosted by Mayor Marianne Meed Ward will take place on Wednesday, Dec. 12 at Burlington Performing Arts Centre from 7 to 8:30 p.m.The city has also launched an online survey at www.getinvolvedburlington.ca open to Burlington residents until Thursday, Dec. 13. To complete the brief survey, residents must first register to be a member of Get Involved Burlington.My Take: I support opting in to retail stores to provide easy access to this legal product for our residents; reduce the black market trade in this product by giving residents a legal option for purchase; gain some provincial revenue for enforcement or other matters which will not be available if we opt out now, and opt in later. If we believe residents should be able to access this product, there is little advantage to waiting, but will be a potential cost. I consider retail cannabis as no different than purchasing alcohol in stores, including grocery stores. However, we do want to hear from the community your views, and any concerns so we can do our best to mitigate them, should all of council vote to opt in. Please join us at the town hall, or take the survey.
Update on 2100 Brant St
The previous city council voted Nov. 12 to approve a settlement agreement with the developer for Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw amendments to facilitate development at 2100 Brant St. My motion to refer this item to the new council failed.Lawyers for the development will be requesting that the Prehearing Conference scheduled for Dec. 18, 10am, Room 247 City Hall, be converted into a Settlement Hearing. Details of the amendments and the request to convert the hearing are here:
A group of residents is planning to attend the December 18th prehearing, and seek status in the proceedings for the purpose of seeking a scaled back proposal for 2100 Brant St.I have asked staff to update the new council on this matter.
Maintain New St at 60km (Discussed at 6:30pm)
Staff are recommending that New St stay at 60km, from Burloak Drive to Guelph Line.Committee had directed staff last June to consider and report back on reducing speed to 50km as a result of resident concerns. Currently, New St is 60 km/h with reduced speed limits of 40 km/h during school times in front of St. Raphael’s Catholic Elementary School and Ascension Catholic Elementary School. A Community Safety Zone exists for a 4.5 km section of New Street between Rossmore Boulevard and Wedgewood Drive.Staff also studied speeding on the road and found that the 85th percentile speed (the speed driven by 85% of drivers) is below or very close to the posted speed limit.My Take: The data seems compelling that a speed reduction is not warranted, however, I will hear from residents before making a decision.
Speed limit reductions
Staff has reviewed 11 streets at the request of residents to determine if a reduced 40km/h speed limit is warranted. The following roadways meet the criteria and will be reduced:Table 1 – Warranted 40 km/h Speed Limits
- Oaklands Park Court, LaSalle Park Road to West Limit
- Tassie Road, Thomas Alton Boulevard to Hopkins Drive
- Keystone Crescent, Thomas Alton Boulevard to Hopkins Drive
- Ashlar Crescent, Thomas Alton Boulevard to Hopkins Drive
- Kurtz Road, Thomas Alton Boulevard to Hopkins Drive
- Foundation Gate, Thomas Alton Boulevard to Irena Avenue
- Irena Avenue, Foundation Gate to Doug Wright Drive
- Hopkins Drive, Thomas Alton Boulevard to Doug Wright Drive
- Gillingham Drive, Malcolm Crescent to Arnold Crescent
- Arnold Crescent, Gillingham Drive to Malcolm Crescent
- Kirkburn Drive, Malcolm Crescent to Cavendish Drive
- Abbotsbury Street, Kirkburn Drive to Kirkburn Drive
- Queen Mary Avenue, St. Matthew’s Avenue to West limit
- St. Matthew’s Avenue, Plains Road East to North limit
- Clearview Avenue, Plains Road East to North limit
- Blue Forest Hill, Pinedale Avenue to Bridle Wood
- Idlewood Crescent, Bridle Wood to Bridle Wood
- Bridle Wood, Blue Forest Hill to Pinedale Avenue
- Cottonwood Drive, Appleby Line to Tuck Drive
- Patricia Drive, Plains Road West to Unsworth Avenue
- Gorton Avenue, Plains Road West to Patricia Drive
- Woodview Road, Rexway Drive toFairview Street
- Stephanie Street, Scarlett Crescent to Longmoor Drive
- Chrisdon Road, Jordon Avenue to Cleaver Avenue
- Sandy Lane, Chrisdon Road to Cleaver Avenue
Staff has also determined that the New Street flashing 40km/h school zone from Timber Lane to Meadowhill Road needs to be extended to the east. The area will be flashing 40km at the following times:
- 7:35am – 9:20am
- 12:05pm – 1:15pm
- 2:35pm – 4:15pm
Cost for additional signage for all projects is $4000 paid from existing capital funds.My Take: I support the speed limit reductions, as these areas meet our criteria.
Council appointments to boards, committees
A significant portion of our role on council is serving on committees and boards, both internal and external to the city. As mayor, I make recommendations for appointments, subject to council vote. There are 63 boards and committees in total, including standing committees of city and regional council, providing an equal share of 9 appointments for each council member, with the exception of one who has 8.View the recommended appointments here: AppointmentsI am also recommending establishing both a Waterfront and a Transit Citizen’s Advisory Committee, as well as making the Millennial committee a permanent one (subject to a name change to be more inclusive of all youth), for the following reasons:
- Burlington is a waterfront city, with no formal citizen’s voice advising council. The previous Waterfront Access and Protection Advisory Committee was disbanded. With four wards directly touching our waterfront (1, 2, 4, 5,) and residents across Burlington using and enjoying our waterfront, a citizen’s advisory voice is needed.
- We have over 2 million rides annually on our transit system but no dedicated citizen’s advisory voice to council on transit. Establishing a stand alone committee on transit honours the importance of transit in the community expressed during the election campaign and before, and honours the direct request for a stand-alone transit advisory committee from Burlington For Accessible Sustainable Transit and others.
- A formal advisory committee ensures a youth voice on issues in our community that is city-based and not subject to changes in the mayor’s office.
I have also proposed that council direct staff to conduct an overall review of citizen advisory committees, including consultation with the public and committee members, and report back to council with recommendations and options for any changes to improve effectiveness by Q2 2019.
Additional COW Agenda Items:
- Quarterly financial status as at September 30, 2018 (F-40-18)
- Temporary Borrowing By-Law (F-41-18)
- 2019 Interim Tax Levy By-Law (F-43-18)