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Cambridgite
Feb 22, 2008, 3:43 AM
The City of Kitchener has decided to zone a number of key corridors as "mixed-use corridors". In design, these would look similar to the existing downtown areas, being pedestrian scale, mixed-use (duh), and having a direct relationship to the street. They would serve as focal points and local retail areas for the adjacent inner-city neighborhoods. Most of them (except for Belmont and Lancaster) radiate out of the downtown core.

The selected corridors include:

- Belmont Ave
- King Street West
- King Street East
- Lancaster Street
- Queen Street South
- Victoria Street South
- Victoria Street North

The following report is a design brief. It's a big document, but check out the first page for a brief outline of the plan as well as the map which shows exactly where the mixed-use corridors are planned.

http://www.kitchener.ca/pdf/mixed_use_design_brief_final_sm.pdf

kitchener-lrt
Feb 22, 2008, 4:30 AM
How old's this report? :P

Cambridgite
Feb 22, 2008, 4:41 AM
How old's this report? :P

2007, I believe.

waterloowarrior
Feb 22, 2008, 12:31 PM
2005
http://www.kitchener.ca/living_kitchener/mix_use.html

WaterlooInvestor
Sep 8, 2008, 10:02 PM
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smably
Jun 5, 2009, 8:30 PM
Plans for King Street West (http://www.kitchener.ca/living_kitchener/mix_use.html) have been posted, and comments are due by July 3.

The map looks pretty good. The southeast side of King would mostly be zoned MU-3 (high-intensity mixed use) and the northwest side would be a combination of MU-3 and MU-2 (medium-intensity mixed use).

mpd618
Jun 5, 2009, 9:02 PM
Plans for King Street West (http://www.kitchener.ca/living_kitchener/mix_use.html) have been posted, and a public meeting is being held on July 3:

Look again -- the meeting was held on June 3, and comments are due by July 3. Did anyone go?

metropolis
Jun 6, 2009, 3:59 AM
What is with the huge gap in the Beer Store plaza zoning by the tracks? This is a site with huge potential and the gap efs it up! :koko:

mpd618
Jun 6, 2009, 4:31 AM
Perhaps Kitchener doesn't want to screw up the almost inevitable inter-modal transit station there?

DHLawrence
Jun 6, 2009, 4:38 AM
Best excuse I can think of. I'd prefer they rebuild on the plaza across the road, but the Beer Store triangle could work, especially if they use the Collins and Aikman property on the other side of the tracks.

waterloowarrior
Sep 11, 2009, 8:49 PM
Report to DTS on King West Mixed Use Corridor (http://www.kitchener.ca/Files/Item/item17194_dts-09-132_reduced.pdf)

kitchener-lrt
Sep 12, 2009, 5:12 AM
^I didn't have time to look over this, but is it good news for downtown/ King St?

taylortbb
Sep 12, 2009, 6:05 AM
^I didn't have time to look over this, but is it good news for downtown/ King St?

I'd say so. They'd rezoning it mixed used with a mix of medium and high density zones. The high density zone has no limits on building height. It relieves a lot of the parking requirements, reduces building setback, encourages transit-oriented development, prohibits auto-focused uses.

jcollins
Sep 12, 2009, 11:33 PM
I'd say so. They'd rezoning it mixed used with a mix of medium and high density zones. The high density zone has no limits on building height. It relieves a lot of the parking requirements, reduces building setback, encourages transit-oriented development, prohibits auto-focused uses.

Which is fantastic. Hopefully this can lead to some new start ups. Ideally some more residential.

jcollins
Oct 22, 2009, 11:23 AM
City plans to create seven areas that are vibrant, pedestrian friendly and transit supported

October 21, 2009
By Terry Pender, Record staff

KITCHENER — In an effort to create a vibrant urban neighbourhood city officials have redrawn the land use map for an important stretch of King Street West.

The area from the railway tracks to Union Street is among seven chosen for a new attempt at city building. In the parlance of City Hall planners this stretch of King Street West is a Mixed Use Corridor.

“It’s really like an evolution of these urban areas that we see as important,” Alain Pinard, the city’s interim director of planning, says.

King Street West is the first of those seven areas to have the properties in the corridor rezoned to support development that is pedestrian oriented and transit friendly.

“Mixed Use Corridors are areas that are typically more urban,” Pinard says.

“Buildings are set closer to the front of the lots, parking is either reduced or behind the buildings,” Pinard says of the corridors.

Certain land uses will not be allowed, including—car washes, commercial parking lots or anything to do with vehicle sales, storage, rental and repair. Gas stations are out, health clinics, restaurants and live-work spaces are in.

The region’s proposed light rail transit line will run through here. There is a large hospital, two schools, a grocery store and large office building in this corridor.

There are old residential neighbourhoods off King Street with back lanes, big trees and brick homes. The Iron Horse Trail is nearby.

Currently there is a strip mall, two drive-thru fast food outlets and several parking lots abutting this part of King Street West. These land uses will not be allowed in the future. The ones that currently exist are designated by planners as legal nonconforming.

That means over time it is expected those land uses will eventually be changed to comply with the new zoning laws.

By allowing more intense land use the owners have an economic incentive to use their land differently, Pinard says.

“We have no illusions, it is going to take time,” Pinard says. “We figure some will have a quick turn around and some will take a long time, a couple of decades would not surprise me for some of these properties.”

The whole idea is to create a more compact urban form, promote intensification of land uses, keep buildings close to the street and four to eight floors high, and achieve a sense of place and identity with high quality buildings and landscapes.

“This zoning is good for making everything fit together,” Pinard says.

“These areas would have a broad mix of uses, uses that provide services and amenities to the adjacent areas,” Pinard says.

Preferred land uses include mixed use buildings, particularly specialized retail and convenience retail, live-work units, compact housing, offices, restaurants and other personal services.

“Over time it is envisioned that the Mixed Use Corridors will intensify with transit supported uses which are well integrated with surrounding neighbourhoods and provide a high quality public realm designed for people,” says a city document on designing buildings for the corridors.

One of the biggest challenges to creating a vibrant, urban streetscape in this area is the large parking lot bounded by King, Union, Park and John streets.

The city will continue to allow surface parking there. Any future parking garage must have an attractive design and support mixed, active uses on other parts of the block.

“This allows for a transition of the site,” Pinard says, “which protects their interests, but also from our point of view provides motivation for intensification on the site.”

Next year the city hopes to redraw the land-use maps for four other Mixed Use Corridors—King Street East, Victoria Street North and South and Queen Street South.

The new zoning maps for the Mixed Use Corridors in Belmont Village and Lancaster Street West will be done in 2011 or later.

tpender@therecord.com


Great News. I like the expectations that the city has set out. I'm also a big fan of the incentives for property owners to convert their land. I'd like to see these incentives stretch to business owners to get them to relocate downtown.

Also, it's great that the city has come out and identified the Sunlife parking lot that we all love so much!

mpd618
Oct 22, 2009, 3:44 PM
Big thumbs up from me.

kitchener-lrt
Oct 22, 2009, 7:44 PM
Big thumbs up from me.

Ditto, although I'd like to see King St. East higher up on the priority list.

waterloowarrior
Oct 23, 2009, 5:46 PM
report on the next priorities for corridors
http://www.kitchener.ca/Files/Item/item17473_dts-09-148.pdf