Edmonton Construction 11 (November 2011)

[kcantor]

Originally Posted by 240glt

^ why should the winos be displaced ? they were there first

Besides, one of the things that make the Strat great is the fact that it's not full of a bunch of yuppie D-bags & snotty U kids... the sketch element mixed in with all the rest of the colourful characters make the place what it is

on the other hand, that also made the cromdale what it was - even before it closed - and that wasn't great. the same could be said for the cecil. i'm not proposing a conversion of the entire city to "yuppie d-bags and snotty u kids" but there are lots of examples of where we could use less and not more of the "sketch element mixed in with all the rest of the colourful characters" making the places what they are. just because they are "what they are" doesn't of itself make them desirable.

[240glt]

^ you've got the most to gain from having that area cleaned up, so I'll take your post with a grain of salt... vested interests & all...

Even though.. The Milla presents a problem because it enables some of the problems in the area, and its located in an area highly concentrated with vulnerable residents. The Cromdale is a little different scenario, as it was mainly outside influences causing the problems within the area. But when we're talking about pushing out the Milla, are we also talking about relocating all those service agencies that serve that population ? That's what I am curious to know..

[SHOFEAR]

Originally Posted by 240glt

Besides, one of the things that make the Strat great is the fact that it's not full of a bunch of yuppie D-bags & snotty U kids... the sketch element mixed in with all the rest of the colourful characters make the place what it is

Oh I agree, completely. I've probably been to the Milla and Grand more times than anybody on this board so I like to think that I have a pretty good idea about this.... The homeless or borderline homeless that frequent the Strat and Commie and usually just a bunch of old men that hang out in small groups, while the Mila attracts a much younger group that, i'm sure most would agree, are far more intimidating. Right or wrong, thats my assesment.


That being said, I've never had a problem in any bar like this. Usually end up getting in a conversation with some of the regulars and having a good time. It's all the people who have been kicked out and are loitering...those are the ones that you need to watch out for.

[Hallsy's Toupee]

Construction hoarding in Edmonton’s downtown is a disaster
By Mack D. Male

[CMD UW]

^Great write up and he drives home a good point....the City needs to re-evaluate their policies as it pertains to construction hoarding.

[Hallsy's Toupee]

http://www.olivercommunity.com/molson_call_to_action

We recently had a very disappointing conversation with Scott Mackie, Manager of the City's Current Planning Branch. It appears as though the city administration is going to recommend that the rezoning of the Molson/Crosstown site gets approved by Council. We are very dismayed by this decision and it raises significant concerns about how the decision making mechanism within the City administration works given the overwhelming response of local citizens and even professionals within the city's own planning department.

Fortunately the final decision on the rezoning rests with City Council so you still have time to make a difference. Writing to the Councillors who will be making the decision is critically important as they can stop this rezoning from being passed.

Share your voice by writing to:

Our area councillor, Jane Batty; [email protected].

All other Councillors

The planner on the file, Travis Pawlyk; [email protected]

The head of Current Planning, Scott Mackie: [email protected]

Tell them Oliver and Edmonton deserve better

In addition to your letters, your presence at the Council hearing currently scheduled for August 26th can make a big difference.

[Coldrsx]

Originally Posted by CMD UW

^Great write up and he drives home a good point....the City needs to re-evaluate their policies as it pertains to construction hoarding.

Will respond in full tomo, but I should correct Mack that Graham has been welcoming for further discussion and the super quite willing to assist where able.

[Coldrsx]

Great post by Mack, but I should clarify that Graham has been good to work with, at least their Super that is. He was more than willing to meet with DECL, 104st Business Committee and the City Market to discuss their hoarding/site/trees. We held this meeting in May and came out of it with a real concern that this is more an internal City issue. Graham applied for what they did and were approved as is, so that's what they put up.

Following this meeting DECL set up a meeting with Sustainable Development and Transportation to further discuss our concerns and inquire into the process, the application, the review, the approvals and any conditions. It was clear that there simply is NOT enough consideration for or communication to the immediate neighbours of these situations. So long as they meet safety code and do not 'disrupt' transportation right of ways significantly, they are essentially approved.

We asked for them to review their process, perhaps add conditions at the DP or BP stage to include a notice to a 60m radius with a contact name and require elevations and a site plan.

Mack's blog piece is excellent in terms of content and education on what is required here versus other jurisdictions.

Simply put, we need to have a much better process.

I encourage you all to write in to SD and Transportation along with Councillors should hoarding become an issue... perhaps it already is.

I should add that in the 104st Fox situation, the City required the contractor to retain all of the trees unless they reapplied for an amended agreement. This included protection which was not in place until a few weeks into the construction. When asked, Graham was unaware whether protection and retention was required or not... but it was clearly indicated in their agreement. Sadly, it seems as though the developer did not pass this information along.

I should also note that Graham keeps an exceptionally clean site, as does Ultima, kudos to them for that.

[rapid_business]

Originally Posted by Hallsy's Toupee

http://www.olivercommunity.com/molson_call_to_action

A very important post. I urge you all to write in letters (emails) regarding this.

[240glt]

Dealing with city admin can be trying at the best of times.

Mr. Mackie was very unhelpful at the MNO workshops.

[Mycroft]

We recently had a very disappointing conversation with Scott Mackie, Manager of the City's Current Planning Branch. It appears as though the city administration is going to recommend that the rezoning of the Molson/Crosstown site gets approved by Council. We are very dismayed by this decision and it raises significant concerns about how the decision making mechanism within the City administration works given the overwhelming response of local citizens and even professionals within the city's own planning department.

Maybe I need more coffee, but it seems to me that a rezoning is necessary for any development to take place apart from heavy industrial uses under the present IH zone. I find it hard to believe that Mr. Mackie would get on the horn with the community to tell them that the current proposal is going to be the basis for a Direct Control Provision given all of the terrible reviews it has brought from the public and city staffers. I've even heard that prospective smaller tenants are not buying in due to the lack of suitable urban-format retail spaces

Of course I wasn't privy to this phone conversation, and I wholly support the push for something better (now is the time to push!), but let's not grab our pitch forks yet

[hilman]

PCL has fenced off their parking lot and older building on the NEC of the property and are currently demolishing it for I assume a new addition. The recently completed addition looks pretty good, hopefully the new addition looks similar.

[Coldrsx]

^oh it wil

New Corporate Office.

[Airboy]

The hording around a number of projects in Fort Mac are covered with images of the project. It looks quite good. I agree with Maqs comments. I was impressed with the good neighbour policy on construction sites in London.

Here is an Image from Mac Island in Fort Mac. You will notice the screening in the lower right. The whole public side is covered with this screen. It’s quite impressive.



And around the city centre projects.

[Xelebes]

Originally Posted by hilman

PCL has fenced off their parking lot and older building on the NEC of the property and are currently demolishing it for I assume a new addition. The recently completed addition looks pretty good, hopefully the new addition looks similar.

Northeast Corner? Do you mean the south end of the property? Not aware of any space in the northeast corner that has not been filled in.

We are talking about the 99th street and 51st avenue property here, right?

[rapid_business]

Yup. NE corner where the 1 story building and little surface lot are.

[Coldrsx]

There was an existing single storey with accessory parking, parking has been retained.

[Mercucio]

Originally Posted by 240glt

Mr. Mackie was very unhelpful at the MNO workshops.

Can you expand on this?

[240glt]

Lets just say that the general feeling was that his job was to appease developers, not affected stakeholders

[hilman]

Originally Posted by Xelebes

Northeast Corner? Do you mean the south end of the property? Not aware of any space in the northeast corner that has not been filled in.

We are talking about the 99th street and 51st avenue property here, right?

Definitely the NE corner as I drive by it everyday to get to work. The one story building has been gutted and looks like it will be demolished/knocked down very soon as there are no windows, doors, etc.