Project update: What you've shared and new engagement opportunities

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to sign up for updates or ask a question on Get Involved Kingston. Since opening the project page last week, more than 2,100 people visited the page, 198 people signed up to receive updates by email and 148 questions has been asked. To help raise awareness of the proposal and engagement opportunities, we’ve sent news releases to local media and email subscribers and are talking about the project on social media. The City’s social media community is very engaged, with nearly 200 comments on our Facebook post about the proposed stadium..

What you’ve shared so far

We’ve collected all the questions on Get Involved Kinston and organized them into emerging themes, along with the number of times that a question or comment was raised, as well as an update or response from the project team. Comments from social media are excluded from this engagement summary.

Parking and Traffic (28 mentions)

From participants: Concerns about the lack of parking space and the impact on local traffic and how the increased traffic will be managed in the residential area.
From the project team: We have started work on the transportation study and are relying on the expertise of an independent third-party consultant to help us with this part of the project. The outcome of the transportation study will be ready in March.

Impact on Existing Facilities and Events (25 mentions):

From participants: Questions about the impact on the Farmers Market, Fall Fair, and other community events that currently use the Memorial Centre grounds and concerns about the future of the dog park and whether it will remain on-site or be relocated.
From the project team: during the week of Jan. 27, we will begin focused conversations with organizations that would be affected by the stadium, including event organizers, rental partners and community organizations. Their input will be collected and shared back to the community and Council. We are also reviewing past community plans, contracts and agreements to ensure we are fulfilling existing commitments to community associations and event organizers, including the Kingston Agricultural Society and Memorial Centre Farmer’s Market.

Alternative Locations (21 mentions):

From participants: Suggestions for other potential sites for the stadium, such as the Novelis (previous Alcan) site or areas closer to the highway.
From the project team: as directed by Council, we’re focusing on the Memorial Centre site as a location for the stadium. Council has asked us to look at alternate options/locations for the annual Agricultural Fair, which we will report back to Council with.

Community Use and Accessibility (19 mentions):

From participants: Concerns about the cost for community groups to access the stadium and how the facility will remain accessible to the community and not just for professional sports.
From the project team: it is expected the professional and semi-professional soccer teams would each play 14 to 16 times per year. The rest of the time, the facility would be available for community use. This would include sports activities, as well as use of the stadium amenities, like storage, stands and washroom amenities. At this stage in the proposal, we do not have a list of costs that would be associated with renting the stadium.

Noise and Light Pollution (15 mentions):

From participants: Questions about acceptable levels of noise and light pollution during events and how they will be mitigated.
From the project team: studies on noise and light will be provided to the City by the proponent, with the understanding that municipal bylaws would need to be followed, including any bylaw exemption requests.

Financial Viability and Risks (17 mentions):

From participants: Concerns about the financial stability of the project and what will happen if the project is not successful and questions about the funding source and the potential financial burden on the city and taxpayers.
From the project team: due diligence on the business plan and the proponent’s funding structure are underway, and we are relying on the expertise of an independent third-party consultant to undertake this work. We will be able to report back in March to Council on the results of this work.

Environmental Impact (14 mentions):

From participants: Concerns about the loss of green space and the impact on local wildlife as well as about the removal of trees and other environmental considerations.
From the project team: parkland and tree inventories tell us the Williamsville community has the lowest concentration of greenspace. New park development projects in Williamsville are already planned to help green the community. We’re not at the stage in the stadium project where detailed landscape plans are developed. All of these factors will be taken into consideration when we report back to Council in March.

Support for a multi-sport stadium (10 mentions):

From participants: Comments about increase in revenue and tourism, favourable neighbourhood walkability and transit and excitement to buy tickets for events at the facility.
From the project team: staff are guided by Council priorities, including the pillar of Drive Inclusive Economic Growth. The Integrated Destination Strategy also provides direction to staff to investigate opportunities to grow sport tourism.

Engagement next steps

Survey: On Jan. 28, broad community consultation will open through a survey on Get Involved Kingston. We’ll be asking how people use the site and how changes with a multi-sport stadium would affect them. The survey will close on Feb. 28.

Focused conversations: we’re meeting with organizations this week to learn more about how they specifically use the site and explore any opportunities and ideas they have about the project.

In-person drop ins or pop-ups: In early February, we will plan an engagement session before we report back to Council on March 18. Although we are in the early planning stages of this engagement, we plan to share information on what we’ve learned about the technical components of the projects (like traffic, parking and planning) as well as a summary of engagement results to date. Community members will have an opportunity to share additional input with City staff and ask us questions about the proposed stadium. A formal town hall style with microphones and roundtable Q&As are not planned.

Project next steps

The project team is working to compile the necessary information and technical reports Council will need to make a decision at its March 18 meeting. There is a tremendous amount of information we’re collecting, including servicing and environmental impacts, business case documentation, parking and transportation studies, planning and zoning bylaw documents, previous master plans and strategies and historical agreements with community partners. If the proposal supported by Council, the next step would have the project move on to the Planning stage, which has its own prescribed and legislated process for receiving feedback and further approval by Planning Committee and Council.

Stay connected by signing up for project updates, including the dates of future engagement opportunities and links to the Council report when it is posted in March.