April 10 Open House Executive Summary

City of Kingston staff are seeking your feedback on the draft materials associated with the Land Use Plan, Cultural Heritage Study, Transportation Plan and Servicing Study for the North King’s Town (NKT) Secondary Plan. The project team will consider the comments and feedback received through this consultation in the preparation of the final materials, anticipated to be presented to the Planning Committee later this summer. Feedback may be submitted using the Comment Sheets, or by e-mail until May 2 at 4 p.m. to nktplan@cityofkingston.ca.

View the presentation boards from the open house.

Land Use Plan

Proposed Land Use

The NKT Secondary Plan is contemplating a range of land use designations to reflect and support the existing uses in the area and support the inclusion of additional housing opportunities. It is important to highlight the proposed Urban Village designation, which celebrates the eclectic mix of uses that have evolved within NKT overtime. Residential, commercial and compatible industrial uses are proposed to be permitted within the Urban Village designation to facilitate compact, mixed-use development. A wide range of residential uses would be permitted, with mid-rise buildings (4 to 6 storeys) and high-rise buildings (above 6 storeys) focused within Intensification Areas identified within the Urban Village designation. Most of the planned growth in NKT is proposed to be located within the Urban Village designation along Montreal Street, Rideau Street and Cataraqui Street. As part of this designation, required ground-floor commercial uses have been identified within key nodes of redevelopment to ensure an active pedestrian realm and to provide current and future residents with increased opportunities for access to various commercial uses.

The proposed Main Street Commercial designation is intended to recognize the existing mix of residential and commercial uses along Montreal Street and encourages small-scale, ground-oriented commercial uses. Residential uses will continue to be permitted within this area. This area intends to create flexibility for property owners to establish commercial uses that would help support the surrounding residential community. The draft Cultural Heritage Study identifies this area as traditionally having a much higher concentration of commercial uses, functioning as a main street for the area, hence the name.

Intensification Areas & Building Heights

Beginning in June 2023, staff facilitated a number of engagement opportunities through the project re-initiation which included two Open Houses/Workshops, a Neighbourhood Changes Survey and interviews with members of the development community and interested property owners. The information gathered during these consultations have helped shape the proposed Intensification Areas and the associated Building Heights map. Staff recognize the need for redevelopment opportunities to be located on larger vacant properties and brownfield lands. The maximum building heights for residential development within the Urban Village areas are proposed to be predominantly mid-rise, with high-rise proposed to be limited to key redevelopment nodes (e.g., Montreal Street/ John Counter Boulevard and Montreal Street / Rideau Street / Railway Street). The few Intensification Areas within existing low-rise residential neighbourhoods are generally limited to 4 storeys, which represents a modest increase in height that is intended to be mitigated by zoning regulations such as, but not limited to, increased setbacks, minimum landscaped open space requirements, and driveway locations.

Cultural Heritage

Study Background

An initial draft of the Cultural Heritage Study was presented to members of the public in 2019 for feedback and comment. Since that time, staff have worked with the consulting team to refine the previous approach and the list of available conservation strategies and policy tools to inform the Secondary Plan. Since the initial draft was shared in 2019, there also have been updates to ensure consistency with the current Provincial policy framework. The updated draft Cultural Heritage Study highlights the specific tools that are used for heritage resource conservation. Four of these have been identified as the most readily used tools for heritage conservation for North King’s Town:

  1. Heritage Property Designation
  2. Cultural Heritage Landscape Designation
  3. Heritage Conservation District Designation
  4. Zoning and Minor Variances

Sub-Areas

The initial draft of the Cultural Heritage Study identified 8 Sub-Areas as part of the review framework for the purpose of the NKT Secondary Plan. Since that draft was shared in 2019, there have been some minor changes to the sub-areas, specifically around providing further detail on their unique characteristics and cultural heritage resources. For context, the term “Sub-Area” is being used to describe a number of properties containing buildings, landscapes and areas of archaeological potential that, collectively, have an identifiable material and associative character, or sense of place, and may contain cultural heritage resources. Boundaries for the Sub-Areas have been determined through careful analysis. Criteria for assessing area character, and distinguishing one area from another, include:

  • History
  • Topography
  • Land Uses; and
  • Public meanings and values for place (as expressed in the public consultation process for the secondary plan).

Outer Station Strategy

The most significant change from the initial draft of the Cultural Heritage Study is the proposed approach for the Outer Station property, located at 810 Montreal Street. Updates to the Cultural Heritage Study were made to recognize the importance of the Outer Station to the history of NKT and to the broader community, as was reiterated through the most recent public consultation sessions held in June 2023. The Outer Station property has been identified as an Intensification Area for mixed-use (eastern portion) and employment uses (western portion). For context, the property is currently a brownfield site, which is related to its historical rail use. Given the history of the site, the Cultural Heritage Study has prepared a series of recommendations to ensure the cultural heritage value of the site is conserved and appropriately integrated into any future redevelopment of the lands.

Heritage Properties

There have been a few changes to this map since the initial draft of the Cultural Heritage Study was shared with the public. The main changes revolve around the extension of the Waaban Crossing, removal of properties exterior to the NKT boundary area, and updating the map to reflect any new properties added since the initial mapping was prepared (e.g., the Bailey Broom Factory Part IV designation and heritage easement at 305/323 Rideau St). The draft Cultural Heritage Study has identified the properties recommended for heritage evaluation (in yellow on the Heritage Properties map) as having either tangible or intangible heritage attributes that warrant further consideration for heritage protection by the City of Kingston. These properties currently do not have heritage protection but are recommended for further evaluation and potential designation in the future.

Transportation Plan

A transportation plan is being developed for North King’s Town (NKT) to reflect the vision of a walkable, pedestrian-oriented, and multi-modal network, with minimal emphasis on motor vehicles. The themes of the plan being developed include:

  • Prioritizing pedestrian connections to planned frequent transit service, community destinations, and the waterfront.
  • Aligning planned commercial areas with the prioritization of future pedestrian realm improvements and amenities.
  • Prioritizing the creation of off-road connections in the Old Industrial Area and neighbourhood bikeways in the grid network to the south to support north-south and east-west cycling connections.
  • Aligning frequent transit service with planned intensification and City-wide connections.
  • Supporting and connecting future residential intensification areas, commercial areas, and employment lands.
  • Improving connectivity and continuity of the overall transportation network, including consideration for improving access to the Old Industrial Area.
  • Improving road safety and increasing comfort for pedestrians and cyclists.
  • Prioritizing available future road allowance width along congested corridors for the prioritization of frequent, reliable and competitive transit.
  • Recognizing that trade-offs will be required to achieve the recommendations and priorities, particularly along corridors with constrained right-of-way.

Transportation Plan Updates

Modelling Findings:

Traffic modelling was conducted to forecast where there may be delays or congestion for drivers and transit in the future. The results indicate that New Road #1, a potential future north/south road through the northern part of NKT, could alleviate traffic on certain routes, but may also increase congestion on others.

Pedestrian and Cycling Networks:

Proposed networks focus on filling gaps, reducing barriers, and enhancing connections to transit, intensification areas and commercial destinations. Proposed pedestrian crossings, sidewalk improvements, and designated cycling routes are integral to the plan.

Transit and Road Networks:

Frequent transit corridors are identified, with future considerations for additional routes. Minor road improvements and potential speed limit reductions are proposed to support the transportation plan.

Next steps include refining recommendations, developing concepts, evaluating site access impacts, and identifying recommendation priorities.

Servicing Study

Background

The purpose of the Servicing Study is to review the existing utilities within NKT to assess whether the potential future growth can be accommodated by the water, wastewater, electric and gas networks. The Servicing Study is also intended to determine, at a high level, what infrastructure improvements or investments may be required to accommodate the potential future growth.

The Stormwater Management chapter was developed with different objectives to develop strategies that could be implemented through development applications, such as using Low Impact Development (LID) features to help slow, filter and infiltrate runoff and embracing innovative stormwater technologies.

It is anticipated that the implementation of NKT will require a Holding Overlay within the Zoning By-law related to servicing. Future development applications will be required to submit a servicing report to ensure the availability of serving. The Holding Overlay would need to be removed prior to obtaining building permits. Further, the implementing zoning may also establish maximum density provisions to ensure servicing capacity. In addition, development applications will continue to be required to submit stormwater management reports demonstrating compliance with municipal requirements. These recommendations will be considered when drafting the final secondary plan policies