Category Project Updates   Show all

• YG220K engagement events announced

  On Oct. 22, a Combined Open House and Public Information Centre for the new Official Plan (OP) and the Water & Wastewater Master Plans and Pollution Prevention & Control Plan (WWMP) projects is planned. This session will also share updates on the Integrated Mobility Plan (IMP), ahead of a dedicated Public Information Centre in November.

  This is a great opportunity for you to provide feedback on the City’s long-term vision for land-use policies, transportation planning and water and wastewater infrastructure.

  At this meeting, we’ll share highlights of the first draft of the OP, provide an update on the Integrated Mobility Plan, including progress to date, and discuss how these plans will guide Kingston’s development and transportation network for the coming years. We’ll also be sharing how the new Water & Wastewater Master Plans and Pollution Prevention & Control Plan project will align with the OP and IMP and create additional capacity to support the city’s growth. Your feedback is crucial as we move forward with the next steps in the planning process.

  There are other engagement opportunities in the fall, in addition to the Open House on Oct. 22. Details are below and more information will be shared as it is confirmed.

  Oct. 20 – Rural open house for the First Draft of the Official Plan

  • The Official Plan project team will share information, answer questions and collect feedback on the First Draft of the Official Plan for rural residents and businesses.
  • The focus of this meeting will be on policies supporting vibrancy of the rural area. In-person from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunnyside Hall, Cataraqui Arena, 1030 Sunnyside Road

  Oct. 22 – Combined project open house and public information centre

  • The project team will share information, answer questions and collect feedback on the new Official Plan, new Integrated Mobility Plan and the new Water & Wastewater Master Plans and Pollution Prevention & Control Plan projects.
  • In-person from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Ambassador Ballroom, DoubleTree, 1550 Princess St.

  Oct. 23 – Community Meeting for First Draft of the Official Plan

  • A Community Meeting will be held at Planning Committee, dedicated to sharing details, answering questions and gathering feedback on the First Draft of the new Official Plan.
  • Hybrid (in-person or online) from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
  • In person - Council Chambers, City Hall, 216 Ontario St.
  • Online (virtual) - To register to attend virtually, email Christine O’Connor, Committee Clerk, at cloconnor@cityofkingston.ca

  Nov. 12 – Integrated Mobility Plan Open House and public information centre

  • In-person at Memorial Hall, City Hall, 216 Ontario St.
  • Details to be confirmed.

  Nov. 17 – Integrated Mobility Plan Open House and public information centre

  • Online (virtual).
  • Details to be confirmed.

  These events will be an invaluable opportunity for community members to engage with the City on these important long-range planning documents. They are opportunities to learn more and refine our work to better reflect the vision for Kingston. We hope you will be able to make it and thank you for your ongoing interest in this project.

  Learn more about each plan:

  Official Plan (OP): For more information about the first draft of the OP, please visit the YG220K project webpage. There is a video introduction to the OP, a copy of the First Draft plan (which you can add comments to) and interactive maps that are an important part of the First Draft.

  Integrated Mobility Plan (IMP): Visit the YG220K project webpage for updates and to learn more. An additional Open House (Public Information Centre) focused on the IMP will take place on November 12, followed by a Virtual Presentation and Q&A on November 17. Details on how to participate will be posted in late October.

  Water & Wastewater Master Plans and Pollution Prevention & Control Plan project (WWMP): For more information about the WWMP, please visit the project webpage.

  Please reach out to NewOfficialPlan@CityofKingston.ca with any questions.

  Thank you,

  • YG220K Project Team

• First draft of the new Official Plan

  Today the City of Kingston published the first draft of a new Official Plan for public review. It’s available to read now, and community members can submit feedback and comments until the end of November.

  “This is the most important planning policy document a City can have. It will become the City’s rule book guiding all future development decisions and has the power to transform how the city grows” said Laura Flaherty, Project Manager with Planning Services. “The plan needs to reflect how the community wants to grow and create the policies to support that vision.”

  A City must have an Official Plan under Provincial law.

  “This first draft of Kingston’s new Official Plan is more than a policy document. It is a reflection of our shared values and long-term vision. Public feedback is essential to ensure this Plan is truly made in Kingston, by Kingstonians, for Kingstonians, past, present, and future” said Paige Agnew, the Commissioner of Growth and Development Services. “By reviewing and responding to this working draft, community members are helping to shape how Kingston will grow and evolve until 2051. We’re not just asking for input, we’re building a dialogue that will inform the policies guiding everything from housing and infrastructure to the environment, heritage and transportation.”

  Official Plans are long-range planning documents. The last time the City of Kingston wrote a new Official Plan was 2010. Back then lower Princess Street was being rebuilt, the Isabel Bader Performing Arts Centre had just been constructed, and the Olympic Torch passed through town on its way to Vancouver. Since then, much has changed including that Official Plan, through amendments and a review, as have the needs of the community.

  We now find ourselves faced with intersecting challenges including housing, climate, and affordability crises that the current Official Plan does not adequately address. New growth estimates and analysis show that Kingston is expected to grow to as many as 220,000 people by 2051. Creating a new Official Plan is our most powerful tool to address these big issues head-on and we’ve taken an unprecedented approach to coordinate the timing of this project with our new Integrated Mobility Plan project and the Water and Wastewater Master Plan, which will better position us to achieve all of our strategic priorities through well-coordinated land use policies and transportation and infrastructure planning.

  This Official Plan will support housing growth, new employment and commercial opportunities, protect the natural environment and ecosystems, help us mitigate and adapt to climate change, and ensure that municipal services and infrastructure can support the growing community.

  “Once built, urban landscapes are slow to change and leave a lasting legacy for many generations” said Flaherty. “This plan is not just for residents of today; it is our biggest chance to make sure Kingston grows into a livable city for future generations.”

  By their nature Official Plans are often complex, legal documents. This draft tries to make it easier to understand by simplifying how polices are described, defining them first then connecting them to maps. As much as possible plain language has been used to make it easier to read. The introduction section provides critical and helpful information to understand the rest of the plan.

  “This is a new kind of process that is centred around consultation through draft documents. We’re sharing our ideas as a working draft so that everyone can see how policies are interconnected, how priorities interact and align with mapping, and help us refine them. Every piece of feedback helps us connect the dots between planning policy, the community’s vision and our most important strategic objectives as a city” said Sukriti Agarwal, Manager of Policy Planning. “We’ve tried to make this draft more accessible, shorter, easier to read, and supported by interactive maps. But to create the best possible final document, we need people to read, challenge and contribute to this first working draft.”

  Public Engagement

  Since last summer the City has engaged on the Official Plan and it’s supporting studies. With the launch of this first draft we would like to hear from you. Between now the end of November the draft will be open for comment on Get Involved Kingston we welcome your feedback and comments on the content of the plan and the writing of the plan itself.

  We will also be hosting public engagement opportunities in the fall. Details are being finalized and will be announced once confirmed.

  Once this stage of public engagement is completed, the feedback will be compiled and a second draft will be written. The second draft will be released early next year and will incorporate what we heard during community consultation on the first draft, as well as, what we will learn from yet-to-be completed technical reports like the Natural Heritage Study and the Forest Management Strategy.

  About YG220K

  The Official Plan is part of the City’s long term planning work currently underway called YG220K. The name references the city's airport code and regional identifier, YGK, and 220K, short for 220,000, which is the population Kingston is expected to hit by 2051.

  YG220K encompasses not only the Official Plan, but also the Integrated Mobility Plan, which will guide how the City’s transportation system will develop into the future.

  While separate plans, the Official Plan and Integrated Mobility Plan are being completed concurrently because together they will shape how the City grows and moves over the next 25 years. To learn more visit the project webpage and subscribe for updates.

  Read the first draft of Kingston’s new Official Plan

  Thank you for taking the time to review the first draft of the City of Kingston’s new Official Plan. We’re excited to share it with you.

  Before you dive in we have a short video that will walk you through what the Official Plan is and provide a summary of the themes and how to read the document.

  • Read and review the First Draft Official Plan.
  • View the plan maps.

  If you require an alternate format please email GetInvolvedKingston@CityofKingston.ca or call 613-546-0000.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

• Watch Now: The Big Ideas

  Join Matt Kussin and Laura Flaherty for an in-depth overview of YG220K. This presentation, adapted from the presentation shared at the April 24 public engagement session, dives into the City's first-ever aligned approach to the Official Plan and Integrated Mobility Plan, projecting growth to 220,000 people by 2051. Check out the Related Documents section for the presentation boards and 'zine that were available to people who joined the session in person.

• YG220K Information Session: April 24

  We are excited to host our first in-person public information session! Join us later in April for an update on the Official Plan and Integrated Mobility Plan projects. This will be an opportunity for you to hear an update on the project’s progress so far and contribute input or ask questions.

  Date: April 24
  Time: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m
  Location: Memorial Hall, second floor of City Hall 216 Ontario St.
  Format: Introduction and overview followed by facilitated activities

  If you can’t make it to this information session, there will be additional opportunities to participate as work on these plans progresses. Details from the session will also be shared on the YG220K project page, and we’ll send out an update to project followers once those details have been posted.

  We hope to see you on April 24.

  - YG220K Project Team

• YG220K Survey Extended

  This is a quick update to let you know that we have extended the YG220K Visioning Survey by just over a week – it will now close at 4 p.m. on March 17. We have had a fantastic response from the community so far with more than 300 surveys completed and would like to allow a little more time for more public feedback to come in.

  Thank you very much to everyone who has completed a survey already, we appreciate the contributions. If you have family or friends who haven’t yet filled it out, please let them know about the extension. If they require an alternate format, please email GetInvolvedKingston@CityofKingston.ca or reach out through our customer service options and we can assist.

  We will be sending out an update later this month regarding next steps in the Official Plan and Integrated Mobility Plan public engagement process. Stay tuned!

  - YG220K Project Team

• Visioning survey launches

  We know you’ve been patiently waiting for this, it’s survey time! Today we launched the visioning survey for the Official Plan and Integrated Mobility Plan.

  It’s important that we hear from the community broadly at this crucial point in the project and kindly ask for about 20 minutes – possibly a bit longer depending on your responses – of your time and energy. Your feedback will be used to help shape the two plans we’re working on, the Official Plan and the Integrated Mobility Plan, and ultimately contribute to how we grow and move into the future.

  We want to hear from you—and from as many voices as possible. Help us spread the word! The more people who participate, the better we can reflect the diverse ambitions of our community. Please share this survey with family, friends, colleagues and anyone who might be interested.

  Once this survey is complete, we’ll report back on what we heard and outline the next steps in the process as the YG220K planning continues.

  Access the survey

  Thank you for your time and energy so far. We truly appreciate your contributions!

  - YG220K Project Team

• Fall 2024 Update

  

  With the end of 2024 near it’s a great time to provide an update on the progress of the City’s new Official Plan and Integrated Mobility Plan. There’s been a lot that’s happened since June and a lot yet to happen.

  Summer Engagement Highlights

  We launched ‘YG220K’ in June with the application process for the Community Advisory Group and making appearances at several key community events. Between June and September, we connected with the Kingston community at six pop-up events, including the Princess Street Promenade, the Cataraqui Centre, Kingston PRIDE and the Memorial Centre Farmer’s Market, where we had the chance to see this year’s zucchini races and if you haven’t seen that before, you should!

  
  

  The YG220K booth at Kingston Pride in June.

  During these events, we spoke with hundreds of people across a wide spectrum of Kingston life and experience. We encouraged Kingstonians to apply for the Community Advisory Group and conducted an interactive activity that invited participants to envision themselves as a City Planner and let us know what they prioritize.

  We also hosted a back-to-school colouring contest, providing activity sheets to local schools. The sheets sparked discussions around the dinner table, and students who completed them had a chance to win a prize pack, including Grand Theatre tickets.

  Community Advisory Group Launches

  After receiving more than 200 applications over the summer, the Community Advisory Group Members were selected through an adapted civic lottery process. In September the Community Advisory Group held their first meeting where participants were introduced to the project and Kingston’s context. This included learning about the ways Kingston is projected to grow and the history of land use and transportation planning in Kingston. The session also included an interactive group activity where participants imagined what Kingston might look like in 25 years, helping to shape the policy needed to get there.

  
  

  Tim Park, Director of Planning Services, speaks to the CAG.

  
  

  Integrated Mobility Plan Gets Moving

  In late October the Notice of Commencement was published for the Integrated Mobility Plan project. This is part of the Environmental Assessment process and formally begins the project. In early November, we facilitated small group workshops where participants created journey maps to understand their personal lived experiences travelling around Kingston.

  The City also launched Kingston Moves, our household travel survey. While not directly part of this project, the data from that survey will be used to help inform the work on the Integrated Mobility Plan. The survey is being conducted by an external research firm (R.A. Malatest & Associates Ltd.) who has mailed out unique survey codes to randomized addresses in Kingston. If you happened to receive one, please take the time to fill it out – it goes a long way in helping the City plan for the future!

  What’s Happening Now and What’s Next?

  Writing of the draft Official Plan has started. This is an effort to begin foundation building based on feedback from the City’s strategic plan and informed by the visioning work over the summer. This is still in the very early stages and a lot of work is still to come.

  Workshops were also held with Indigenous community members after the YG220K team reached out through community contacts. These online workshops are a space to hear Indigenous insight about the Official Plan and Integrated Mobility Plan.

  Coming Soon: Survey Time!

  It’s almost SURVEY TIME! That’s right, in January 2025 we will be releasing a survey that asks for some specific feedback on topics important to the development of both the Official Plan and the Integrated Mobility Plan. We’ll send out another update when that survey is live. So please keep your eyes peeled for that, we’re very excited to start this part of the process.

  
  

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  Thank you again for your interest and your time, this update was not brief but there’s a lot of ground to cover. If you have questions please reach out to newofficialplan@cityofkingston.ca and mobilityplan@cityofkingston.ca.

  We’ll be in touch soon,

  YG220K Project Team