City Square Parkside Condominium | ? | 9-17 storey | Complete

[flar]

I don't know how serious the parkland deficiency is. There are nice trails along the escarpment, the HAAA Grounds, the park in Durand, a couple parks in Corktown, several other parks in Kirkendall, more sports facilities at Victoria Park. I know they're not technically in Durand, but they're within a short walk and they all seem underused given the population living in that area.

[adam]

The last Durand Neighbourhood Assoc. public meeting spent almost 100% of the time discussing the parkland deficiency.

[flar]

What are they looking for in Durand exactly? What kind of uses would the parkland provide? There is a park in Durand already, how is it used?

[FairHamilton]

Originally Posted by adam

The last Durand Neighbourhood Assoc. public meeting spent almost 100% of the time discussing the parkland deficiency.

The same Neighbourhood Association that wanted the city to purchase 2 century homes in order to tear them down to add minimal parkland (i.e. grass)?

When they wanted to do this last summer I rode my bike over to the park on a couple of sunny Sunday afternoons to view the 'lay of the land', and on both occasions the park had very few users. Unscientific yes, but I think telling.

[SteelTown]

Letter from Dundurn Edge Developments regarding Parkland Dedication.....

http://www.myhamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyre...b03Item611.pdf

[SteelTown]

Dundurn Neighbourhood Association throwing their support to Dundurn Edge Developments.....

http://www.myhamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyre...b03Item612.pdf

[FairHamilton]

Both documents have merit.

The ultimate goal of all parties (city, developer, & neighbourhood association) should be to develop a property that has been in limbo since 2002. Hopefully, they can all get to a win-win-win solution. It will be difficult, but not impossible.

[realcity]

Originally Posted by FairHamilton

The same Neighbourhood Association that wanted the city to purchase 2 century homes in order to tear them down to add minimal parkland (i.e. grass)?

When they wanted to do this last summer I rode my bike over to the park on a couple of sunny Sunday afternoons to view the 'lay of the land', and on both occasions the park had very few users. Unscientific yes, but I think telling.

It's true. they want to live in an urban dense neighbourhood but want acres of unused park space. It's only for their stupid dogs.

Green space if not planned properly is as bad as sprawl.

[adam]

The DNA want further development of existing parkland as far as I can tell. The only other parkland they have pursued is the abandoned St. Mark's church site. It is tiny but would service a very large population.
The HAAA grounds in the neighbouring Kirkendall neighbourhood has a track, basketball court, level field that is always kept trimmed and there are many more people who frequent the park. If the Durand park was maintained more regularly by the city and had better amenities it would also attract more patrons.

[bornagainbiking]

To compare these two parks is not fair by any means.
HAAA is rented out and is used for regular semi pro football, there is public school that uses it daily, it is a major dog walking area with a morning and evening daily group, it has a large playground within 100 metres of a coffee shop. It is a major shortcut from Duke street at Queen to Locke, there is a rec centre there, there is a tennis club there. there is a store and pizza shop there. it is used every sunday morning for senior mens soccer (afterwards they hide behind the school for a few cold ones), girls soccer and in the winter there is a rink, there is also a building to store equipment. The school has parking in an area where this is a problem and the polie park in the lot at night centrally located to respond to the area, the dog catcher frequents here for all the dogs. Locke street is thriving. There is a basketball court that is used for ball hockey too. This court is used when out of town football teams come to town. The games have a small concession and a PA system. There are paved walkways with plenty of benches to sit on. This park is in the center of many apartment dwellers.
And Durand has grass, with limited playground equipment. there is nothing nearby. and NO real parking.
So that is why HAAA is better maintained.
I know I used to volunteer to shovel the snow off the rink. Observed the park daily for 4 yrs.
We need more of these multi use parks like at Corktown.

[highwater]

Originally Posted by realcity

Green space if not planned properly is as bad as sprawl.

Amen to that.

James Kunstler has some piquant words on the term 'green space' itself. He calls it a meaningless abstraction. I would go one step further and say the space itself is a meaningless abstraction unless it's doing something other than just sitting there being green.

[realcity]

^ make one humungus green space that's useful and forget about the dinky waste of space greenspaces. Oh yeah we have that already it's Gage Park.

[adam]

Don't call it green space, call it public space. Its vital for any healthy community. We don't need 1 big space for the whole city, we need many of them to help define neighbourhoods. The city should fund more than just a grassy space. These public spaces need trees, amenities like park benches, swing sets, skating rinks, public washrooms, stages for summer concerts, etc. I know its asking a lot, but I think its worth it.

[realcity]

I agree partly, if the parks are designed

they won't put trees, at least not enough trees planted close together. Police Services asks the City to plant them far enough apart so that they can just drive by and see if any teenagers are smoking pot or hanging out in the so-called public space.

That's why McQueston Park on the mountain is a distaster, sun scortched in the summer and a freezing wind tunnel in the winter. They don't build proper parks anymore.

[SteelTown]

I live near Newland Park and the city redid that park last year. I think they did a great job. It lights up at night and they built a track around the park so you can either jog or walk in circle.

[SteelTown]

City poised to lower fees for highrise developers

April 08, 2009
Nicole Macintyre
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/545009

The city is prepared to give highrise developers a break on parkland fees for the next two years to encourage construction during the recession.

The temporary measure will save builders thousands of dollars on every new unit if they submit their building permit applications before the end of 2010. Council could also consider an extension of the program.

The planning committee endorsed the stimulus package yesterday, despite hearing from a developer who warned it's not enough to encourage investment.

"Hamilton is not competitive," said Carlo Di Gioacchino of Dundurn Capital Partners. "You just have to look around; there are no cranes in this city."

The development company wants to build a 148-unit condo at the old Thistle Club site in the Durand neighbourhood. But Di Gioacchino said the city's parkland fees, which would be close to $800,000 for the condo, mean the project can't proceed.

The city has been reviewing its parkland fees, which are used to create new parks, for several months. Planning staff acknowledge the fees are high for large developments and may discourage projects.

They recommended a fee reduction for townhouses and high-density projects, which will save from $1,000 to $4,500 per unit. The new fees will take effect in 2011.

Until then, the city will offer a greatly reduced rate of only 5 per cent of the land value. For a project of 120 units, that will be a savings of $3,700 per unit.

Di Gioacchino said the initiative won't help him because he doesn't expect to be ready to submit his building permit application until spring 2011 due to market conditions.

He requested the reduced rate for his project until it can go ahead. Staff opposed the request, arguing it would be illegal bonusing.

Staff also cautioned against a permanent break for all high-density projects, noting it would cost the city $250,000 a year in lost parkland revenue.

The issue will be debated again at city council next week.

Councillor Brian McHattie said it's a difficult issue because the city needs money for parks but won't get anything if it discourages development.

"We might be cutting off our nose to spite our face."

The planning committee referred back a proposal to drop the parkland fee for new schools, as the local boards requested. Councillors want to consider the issue as part of the overall debate about old school properties and parkland.

The city is still considering an increase to its development fees.

[SteelTown]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

City poised to lower fees for highrise developers

They recommended a fee reduction for townhouses and high-density projects, which will save from $1,000 to $4,500 per unit. The new fees will take effect in 2011.

Until then, the city will offer a greatly reduced rate of only 5 per cent of the land value. For a project of 120 units, that will be a savings of $3,700 per unit.

Di Gioacchino said the initiative won't help him because he doesn't expect to be ready to submit his building permit application until spring 2011 due to market conditions.

It appears councillors will support a motion to extend the fee reductions for another 6 months to help the redevelopment of the old Thistle Club site.

[matt602]

Interesting and somewhat unexpected.

[SteelTown]

..............

That in order to provide an economic stimulus to high density residential development, at or greater than 120 units per hectare, the Parkland Dedication Rate be reduced from 0.5 ha/300 units  to 5% of the land area, conditional on a Building Permit being issued in 2009 or 2010 and until June 30, 2011.

[adam]

Now add the stipulation that the parkland development or improvement must be within walking distance of the development.

If the parkland development would benefit the new residential development I am sure that builders would swallow it a lot easier.