Supporting Council Priorities over Politics and Parking Lots
There’s been a lot said, including by me, about a December 6, 2023 report put forward by City staff to use already zoned City lands to build affordable housing in Stoney Creek.
Those staff recommendations, to build 67 units of affordable housing on two portions (57 spaces) of a larger parking lot (162 spaces) in Ward 5, were met by a rare 8-8 tie vote when they got to Council. That’s not a good outcome and no clear majority to provide staff with the direction they asked for.
So the Mayor stepped in, used her strong mayor powers, and broke the tie. Good for her. After all, this was one of our unanimously voted upon term of Council priorities.
And while the formal debate on these 2 parking lots is officially over, the politics of it all remains unresolved. It threatens to divide a mostly united Council and the three Councillors for Stoney Creek (Jeff Beattie, Brad Clark, and Matt Francis) have now penned a public statement, without any specifics, suggesting they’ve started a process to develop a “Made in Stoney Creek” approach to affordable housing with City staff.
That Stoney Creek specific language concerns me. This is a citywide issue, not one contained to any individual neighbourhood or community. Council did not approve a program for affordable housing initiated by recommendations from Councillors, but intentionally established a citywide, independent, and staff led Housing Secretariat and Housing Sustainability and Investment Roadmap. Council should stick to the plans it unanimously voted to support.
To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with voting down recommendations from City staff, once they get to the Council floor, but it’s important to let staff do the work necessary to come up with their recommendations independently and without undue influence from members of Council in advance of a vote (it’s even written into our Code of Conduct).
I’m also pretty concerned by this sentence from their public statement (bolding is mine, italics are theirs) -
It is our collective hope that by collaborating as a team, with the support of Stoney Creekers from all parts of our community - including voices from Wards 5, 9 & 10 - we can develop our own plan to meet the challenges at hand and avoid having a plan developed elsewhere being imposed upon us again.
Imposed by who? City staff are the ones who wrote the report with the recommendations, not other members of Council. Are they suggesting City staff are somehow only doing work “elsewhere” (wherever that is) and not also in Stoney Creek? It all sounds very “I’m still mad about amalgamation” to me. Maybe they’re talking about the Mayor, but I’m pretty sure she was born and raised in Stoney Creek. Who knows.
Sadly, dredging up the ghost of amalgamation was a theme repeated over the last 4 months when this was first introduced by City staff, including suggestions from Ward 6 Councillor Tom Jackson that this was all somehow a “downtown centric” plan that couldn’t work in the suburbs (or in “his Ward”). He seems to have forgotten that Ward 5, just like Ward 6, is not part of the suburbs. In fact, the “area rating” debacle of amalgamation clearly defined Wards 1 through 8 as the “old City of Hamilton” and Wards 9 through 10 as “the suburbs”.
It just doesn’t make any sense. So what’s this all about then?
In my view, it’s about a group of Councillors trying to hold on to an old style of politics that positions each of them, as Councillor Alex Wilson said, as “Mayors of their Ward”. It seems they want final veto power on decisions, big and small, even if those decisions have citywide impacts. It’s a huge step back for a Council that promised to do things differently.
This point was part of a long lecture from Ward 9 Councillor Brad Clark, who said that we must “respect” the tradition of deferring to the Ward Councillor on issues in “their Ward”. He said the quiet part out loud, exposing decades of parochial Ward level politics that prioritized veto power and horse trading over genuine engagement and deliberation.
I’m glad we’re moving on but this discussion and debate has exposed some deeply concerning issues at the heart of local politics.
While I hope all of this doesn’t lead to the Mayor having to use her strong mayor powers again, if that’s what it takes, I welcome her leadership, especially on affordable housing.
Our city is facing several overlapping crises, including the lack of affordable housing, and it’s our responsibility as elected officials to listen to the experts, come up with compromises, and make the tough decisions together.
Ward 2 Development Map is Up and Ready to Use
The Ward 2 Team and I have been working diligently over the last year with City staff in the Planning Department to find ways to keep residents as up to date as possible on development applications (a hot topic in Ward 2).
According to the data collected by the City and shared as part of our 2022-23 Impact Report, $615.9m in building permits were recently approved in Ward 2. That’s 24% of the entire value of building permits citywide. That’s a lot of heavy lifting for the smallest Ward in the city (only 5.23 km² or 1,293 acres).
One of the best ways to keep residents up to date on what’s happening with development is through our new Ward 2 Development Map, now up on our website and available for everyone in Ward 2 to use as a resource.
We previewed the map at our recent Town Hall on Housing and Development, where we gave a basic overview of the entire development process and answered dozens of questions from Ward 2 residents.
Developing this map was a labour of love that took place over a 7 year period. It first started at the neighbourhood level when I was the Chair of the Planning and Development Sub-Committee of the Corktown Neighbourhood Association and later through my work with volunteers at the Downtown Sparrow.
It’s always been a dream of mine to see it come to fruition more officially, with up to date official data, as part of the work of the Ward 2 office and I’m proud of the collaboration between the Ward 2 Team and City staff that has made it a reality.
The map contains applications of various kinds and provides information on nearly 100 different development plans in Ward 2. The broad categories that the map contains include -
Formal Consultations - A somewhat high level discussion about a development + an introduction to the Councillor around community engagement
Zoning and Official Plan Amendments - Highly technical language used to scope things like height, density, floor plate, parking, and other broad considerations
Ontario Land Tribunal Appeals - Developers can appeal a decision by the City with respect to approvals including Zoning and Official Plan Amendments; Hearings are often scheduled for multiple days, require the preparation of evidence, and have unpredictable outcomes (they often favour developers, so it’s risky for the City to force a hearing to occur)
Site Plans and Reviews - Things get much more specific and this is when most studies are completed by the developer and submitted to the City for review; Construction Management Plans; No Council approval or public input at this stage but the Ward Councillor is provided with updates
Sites Under Construction - These sites have gone through all of the previous steps and are now in the process of being built and getting ready to be completely sold or rented and occupied
The map also includes Condominium Incorporations and Conversions and Sites Built or Occupied for those residents interested in this additional information.
Another part of that work has been working directly with Neighbourhood and Community Associations to connect them to Planning Department staff when applications have been filed. This way, these associations can contact a developer or City planner immediately to inquire about their plans and set up opportunities for engagement.
I look forward to any feedback you have about the map and we’ll continue work to improve it, make it more user friendly, and provide the information to residents they’re looking for when it comes to development in their neighbourhoods.
If you have questions, comments, or feedback about the map please reach out at Ward2@hamilton.ca.
Former St. Mark’s Church to Reopen with New Name
After many years of community advocacy and work from City staff, we’re finally getting close to opening the former St. Mark’s Church in Ward 2 as a new community space and event venue.
The former church was first built in the Durand neighbourhood in 1877 and was the subject of discussion about its future use in Russell Elman’s 2001 book Durand - A Neighbourhood Reclaimed. It closed in 1989 and its reuse has been planned ever since.
This new community space will fill a vital role and a missing link for the Durand neighbourhood. Not only will it provide some much needed greenspace in Hamilton’s densest neighbourhood, it will act as a focal point for local community events, including town halls run by the Ward 2 Team.
As I’ve said on many occasions publicly, downtown Hamilton lacks good, fully accessible, event venues. This will help.
The facility was entirely retrofitted, including some new construction, and is planned to see gardens and tree plantings in the coming months before it opens later this year. And when it opens it will have a new name. City staff received feedback from residents through Engage Hamilton with many suggestions about what to rename the former church and will be bringing a report to Council in the near future with their recommendation. The goal of the survey was not to choose the most popular answer but to get feedback to help form a recommendation.
Some have asked why the church needs to be renamed at all. The short answer is that it was deconsecrated many years ago and is no longer a religious institution. It’s also not as inclusive to continue to use a religious name for this new community space when the intention is to make it available for use by everyone in Ward 2.
On March 14, I joined City staff, some who have been working on this for more than 13 years, and members from the McNally family, who generously donated funds to help complete the project, for a preliminary tour of the new space.
To put it mildly, it’s stunning. Not only have the original features been maintained including doors and arches, lighting, original wooden planks for the stage, and stained glass windows, but there are plans to ensure that it’s state of the art when it comes to holding events.
City staff are going to connect building features to an app used by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) to help people navigate the space safely and will be installing much needed modern audio, video, and other equipment so that event organizers can make the most of the space.
At present, City staff are working with contractors and others to review any deficiencies on site (quality assurance), dealing with any incomplete finishes, and preparing it for public use.
As part of this preparation, the new space will be featured as one of 51 sites for this year’s Doors Open Hamilton. The site will be open as part of Doors Open Hamilton from 10:00am to 4:00pm on both Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5.
There will also be an event later this year to honour not only the new facility but to thank everyone who contributed to helping this project come to fruition including folks in the local Durand neighbourhood, the Durand Neighbourhood Association, City staff, donors like the McNally family, and past and present elected officials. I’ll post more information about the date of that opening event, here and on my social media accounts, as soon as I have it.
Upcoming Meetings and Events
This section itemizes important upcoming Committee and Council meetings and community and City events. You can submit a request to delegate or send in correspondence to the office of the City Clerk at clerk@hamilton.ca. You can also tune in live to watch public meetings. To read Committee and Council Agendas and Meeting Notices, please subscribe to “Council & Committee” updates directly through the City’s website.
Ward 2 Community Grants - Q2 2024 - Applications open
Mayor’s Iftar - Tuesday, April 2 - City Hall - 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Sikh Heritage Month - Saturday, April 6 - City Hall - 1:00pm to 4:00pm
Neighbourhood Association Council - Tuesday, April 9 - City Hall 192 / 193 - 7:00pm to 9:00pm
BNA - Wednesday, April 10 - Beasley Community Centre - 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Cleanliness and Security in the Downtown Task Force Sub-Committee - Thursday, April 11 - City Hall 192 / 193
Hamilton Youth Town Hall - Saturday, April 13 - City Hall - 1:00pm to 4:00pm
Heritage Council - Tuesday, April 16 - City Hall 264 - 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Spring City Wide Community Cleanup - Saturday, April 20 - Sites across Hamilton - 9:00am to 1:00pm
Beautiful Scars - Community Night (Pay What You Will) - Tuesday, April 23 - Theatre Aquarius - 7:30pm to 9:30pm
Doors Open Hamilton - Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5 - Sites across Hamilton - 10:00am to 4:00pm