Downtown reconstruction work is set to be sped up and beautification efforts enhanced to the collective tune of more than $17.1 million in currently unbudgeted funds.
City council’s committee of the whole approved a series of staff recommendations on Wednesday that, if formally adopted as part of future city budgets, would see reconstruction efforts along Wyndham Street through the core done in a concentrated fashion over two years rather than phased over four to five years, among other things.
“I'm really excited about this project,” said Ward 1 councillor Carly Klassen, explaining she grew up in the downtown area and the little girl inside her is “nerding out” over the plan. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for us to come together and create something special.”
“There's a huge economic factor here, not just on the business side of the for housing as well,” said Mayor Cam Guthrie, referring to the need for upgraded underground servicing to support downtown growth.
Though the staff recommendations were unanimously supported by council’s committee of the whole on Wednesday, the initiative additions are far from approved. Not only does the motion need to be formally ratified by council, which will be considered later this month, but the additions must survive city budget discussions expected to take place in October and November.
If they do, the previously-downsized plan to rejuvenate the downtown core would be somewhat reinvigorated. The plan calls for an increased tree canopy, public seating, removable bollards, cycling infrastructure, smoothed curbs and more.
Council is also in support of an expedited timeline, meaning the Wyndham Street (between Woolwich Street and St. George’s Square) work would be done during 2026 and 2027 rather than spaced out in phases during a four to five-year period.
“Our downtown is a gem and it’s recognized as that outside of Guelph,” said Ward 5’s Cathy Downer, adding she believes it will look “quite spectacular.”
As the expedited work and enhancements aren’t currently included in the city budget, and the mayor ordered staff to craft a budget with no more than a four per cent property tax increase (currently forecast at 9.79 per cent), treasurer Tara Baker explained other capital projects will need to be deferred in order to create financial space for this.
However, it’s not been decided what those deferred projects will be.
Coun. Dan Gibson expressed unease with that scenario.
“I’m really hesitant to approve these items without understanding what those deferrals look like,” he said, noting his main concern was the ongoing reconstruction of York Road. “I don’t want to be seen voting for deferrals today not knowing what they are, only to find out in a few months that York Road gets pushed another 10 years.”
The mayor’s direction is to prioritize growth-related capital projects, Baker noted in response, adding there won’t be an impact on York Road.
Prior to the committee-approved project enhancements, the forecasted cost of reconstruction is $105.93 million. With the enhancements, that tally now sits at $123 million.
In a separate motion the committee endorsed the idea of creating a “community toilet scheme” in conjunction with the Downtown Guelph Business Association, that portable washrooms continue to be used until permanent facilities are built and that a self-cleaning washroom be installed at St. George’s Square.
The staff recommendation called for that washroom to be roughed in, but support for a motion from Klassen will see it built outright as part of the infrastructure renewal project. No price tag was attributed to that work.
Also subject to budget approval, the committee supported $1.02 million in new spending to implement an altered approach to waste collection in the downtown core, with 20 clusters of three communal underground containers and 50 three-stream sorting stations.
Most downtown residents and others rely on street-level waste containers for disposal.
In addition, the committee agreed to launch a study area that could lead to the creation of a designated heritage cultural district (HCD) encompassing the historic downtown core and beyond.
“I’m certainly looking forward to this,” offered Ward 5’s Leanne Caron. “Seeing it come forward is really exciting.”
If an HCD is ultimately designated, it would establish objectives, policies and guidelines aimed at conserving the area’s heritage value for future generations.
“It is another layer of, I don’t want to call it anything other than just bureaucracy, to development,” said Gibson. “I do see development and developers perhaps being a little bit more reluctant to try and do projects within a heritage district.”
Much of the HCD study area is already covered by individual heritage designations and listings on the municipal heritage registry, responded Krista Walkey, the city’s general manager of planning and development.
“Downtown is already complex with heritage elements,” she said. “We do recognize that development is going to occur downtown. We do want to take advantage of the large infrastructure spending we’ve just been talking about.”
