Kincardine to reconsider approval of Queen Street Promenade

Kincardine council will be revisiting its decision to approve the Queen Street Promenade at the meeting Monday night (April 19).

March 15, council gave the green light to an expanded event, allowing downtown Kincardine to be closed to vehicular traffic, from Durham Market North to Durham Street, every weekend through the summer, from June 25 to Sept. 5.

The closure of the downtown would run the same as last summer, from 5 p.m. Friday, to 9 p.m. Sunday.

At that meeting, councillor Dave Cuyler objected to the approval, citing concerns with the public survey that was completed because it gave no option for respondents to say they were in favour or against the event.

“As far as I’m concerned, it was a biased survey,” he said. “We don’t have to close the street to satisfy a few people.”

In presenting the survey results, chief administrative officer Sharon Chambers said there was no “yes” or “no” option because the purpose of the survey was not to conduct a referendum. Council had already approved the event, in principle, last fall.

Council agreed at that meeting, to proceed with the Queen Street Promenade, provided staff could address concerns from the accessibility advisory committee, and some other concerns about the event.

Cuyler voted against that decision. He suggested the street closure be only Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., but that received no support.

Then, in committee-of-the-whole, April 7, Cuyler brought forward a motion to rescind that decision and put in place a different proposal. Queen Street and Harbour Street would remain open, except for regular special events throughout the summer, and vendors would set up at Victoria Park or at the beach, with proper permits issued.

Cuyler also brought forward, from the consent agenda, a letter from Dan Showalter whose family owns and operates the Inn at the Harbour, located on Harbour Street, Kincardine.

In his letter, Showalter states that this is a challenging time for his family with business down significantly.

“Council’s approval, in principle, of again closing Queen Street this summer, is a huge concern as it totally cuts off street access to our hotel on our busiest days in our busiest season,” he states. “We pay the municipality for signage that directs our guests down Durham Street to Queen Street and the to Harbour Street. Any GPS will do the same. Our guests have to be able to drive to our lobby to unload. I question whether the municipality can legally do this?”

He then offered some points to consider:
 

• The closing of access to Harbour Street at Queen Street, causes a dramatic increase in wrong-way drivers on Harbour Street, risking accidents.
• How do fire trucks and ambulances access businesses on Harbour and Queen Streets?
• The survey was designed to produce one result – alternate options and ideas were never submitted.
• Last summer saw little Friday activity and zero Sunday night activity. With all the apparent support, why is the BIA (Kincardine Business Improvement Area) E-mailing merchants, begging them to extend their hours?
• Our business brings people to the downtown to eat and shop. Why would the BIA want to frustrate our efforts?
• Why are we favouring out-of-town street peddlers over taxpaying businesses?

“I think the local brewery got it right,” states Showalter, “Extend your outdoor space to include the parking area, and get visibility and benefit of the drive-by traffic every day of the week.”

Unfortunately, because Cuyler had voted against the original motion March 15, he was unable to bring it back for reconsideration, said acting clerk Jennifer Lawrie.

However, deputy mayor Randy Roppel said he would bring Cuyler’s motion forward for reconsideration.

Councillor Bill Stewart suggested council wait until the council meeting Monday night (April 12) to discuss this because councillor Maureen Couture was away, and she is the liaison with the BIA. “Part of that March 15 motion was for staff to get back to us about mitigating concerns from the accessibility advisory committee.”

Chambers said Cuyler’s motion contained a lot of information to process, so staff would not be able to bring back a report for two weeks' time. Meanwhile, she noted that downtown businesses want a decision on this sooner than later so they can plan for the summer.

Councillor Dorne Fitzsimmons said he was willing to second Cuyler’s motion in order to get it on the floor.

“If it flies tonight, fine,” he said. “I have a lot of problems with the whole frigging issue. Let’s get it on the floor or defer it for a couple of weeks. But whatever the vote is tonight, I don’t want to hear anything else about it.

“This frustrates me to no end. We have had concerns about the survey and about the event. We have a letter in the consent agenda (from Showalter) that this promenade is affecting his business. We need a path forward.”

Committee-of-the-whole agreed to defer the motion for two weeks, at which time staff will provide a report about how to mitigate concerns with the downtown street closure.

At the March 15 meeting, Chambers outlined that the survey was launched Feb. 11, and closed Feb. 20. It was conducted via Kincardine Talks, the municipality’s on-line community engagement platform which has the capability of generating reports to compile survey results and comments.

The purpose of the survey, she said, was to gauge overall public support and identify successes and areas of concern that could be mitigated in 2021. Of the total respondents, 527 were full-time residents of the municipality, 77 were from outside the municipality, 19 were seasonal residents, and 18 were part-time residents.

To read the entire survey results, click here.