Commentary

Kirkendall Establishes Development Review Committee

Kirkendall has established a Development Review Committee to keep current on city planning policy, inform residents of developments proposed or underway and address concerns about such development plans.

By Mary Lou Reiman
Published October 16, 2013

The Kirkendall Neighbourhood Association (KNA) in Hamilton includes the area from the west side of Queen Street to Hwy 403 and from the south side of Main Street to the Escarpment. This is an area growing in population, diversity and development.

In an effort to keep up with that development, the KNA established a Development Review Committee (DRC) whose mission is to keep current on city planning legislation and processes, inform residents of developments proposed or underway and address concerns of residents about such development plans.

We believe that citizens must have an effective say in how their neighbourhood is to grow and develop. One of our goals is to strengthen the voice of the residents of the neighbourhood. The DRC committee has been involved in a number of projects and has had success in negotiating compromises between residents, developers and city planning.

Our relationship with city planning has been very positive and it is our hope that this partnership will continue to develop. We work very closely with Ward 1 Councillor Brian McHattie, who has been most helpful in assisting us through the maze of planning and has been very supportive of our goals.

In a period of a city's rapid transformation and development, community engagement is a vital part of providing meaningful and sustainable growth. In Kirkendall, the DRC is giving residents the ability to be a part of the development and revitalization of their neighbourhood. Anyone can join and everyone can provide comments and feedback.

One of the issues we are addressing is our lack of visibility in the neighbourhood. We have a website, which contains information on all ongoing neighbourhood projects and proposals.

We want folks to be able to contact us quickly with their concerns so that we can address them in good time. This includes discussions with developers, community meetings and community liaison committees where residents meet to discuss a particular proposal with planning and developers.

So the intent of this article is twofold. We want to spread the word about the existence and work of the committee and we also hope to attract new members who are interested in this area of community activity. We meet monthly and one can obtain more information by contacting Mary Lou Reiman, chair, at email mlr.reiman@gmail.com or by telephone at 905-308-9678. Perhaps, as a resident, you would like to attend a meeting to see what we are about.

The Development Review Committee is probably unique to our Hamilton neighbourhood and we want to see it continue to grow as an effective tool for community engagement. This is consistent with the Kirkendall Neighbourhood Association's goal of making our neighbourhood a safe, healthy, attractive and environmentally sustainable place to live and encouraging residents to be a vital part of that process.

Mary Lou Reiman is the chair of the [Kirkendall Neighbourhood Association(http://kirkendallhood.ca/) (KNA)'s Development Review Committee.

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By Mal (anonymous) | Posted October 16, 2013 at 14:59:21

A fabulous development!

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