Raise the Hammer Newsfeed - Articles

Enthusiasm, Concern about 220 Dundurn South Redevelopment

2013-06-18T12:00:00-05:00

At a public meeting last night, developer Denis Vranich revealed his plans for the new development at 220 Dundurn Street South.

220 Dundurn Street South (RTH file photo)

Ward 1 councillor Brian McHattie kicked the evening off by introducing Vranich and two city planners who fielded a range of questions from the 40-50 people assembled.

The artist renderings depicted an upscale, well-appointed rental building meant to cater to single professionals and downsizing retirees. With features such as a yoga studio, meeting spaces, and likely LEED certification, Vranich's target market is young professionals working at the nearby MacMaster Innovation Park.

After the furor over the initial application, including the proposed extending of the existing building to five stories, and the raising of a single story garage to the same level, Vranich has resized both buildings down to four stories to fit within the 1997 re-zoning by-law.

As such, Vranich will not need a variance for the height, and has withdrawn all but one of his variance requests. The remaining request will be to increase the density by increasing the area of the buildings from the permitted 13,000 square meters to 17,000 square meters, down from the initial request of 27,000.

Vranich insists he needs the increased density to accommodate the increased number of single bedroom and bachelor suites he is looking to build, vs. the three-bedroom units that the density rules would currently support for that footprint.

Young Couples and Professional Singles

To Vranich, one-bedroom and bachelor suites are key to attracting his target market of young couples and professional singles, vs. three bedroom suites which he says would quickly fill up with students 'scraping together the money to live together.'

In Vranich's words, "I don't want to manage a building like that."

Much of the discussion last night surrounded parking, with one resident apparently taking a page out of a 1967 urban planning manual and insisting on more parking for building residents, ostensibly in an effort to reduce the amount of overflow parking on Chatham and Dundurn.

Her ideas proved unpopular compared to the desire for greater landscaped area on the property, which will currently be at 25.1% of the lot, 0.1% higher than required.

Other details proposed include: a high-tech underground garbage system that Vranich promises will all but eliminate odors and unsightliness; a bicycle parking area; a future dog-run that will be open to all area residents; and, if a technical variance is granted, permeable paving in the parking lot.

Concerns About Loss of Privacy

The one detail that was not well received is the 18 m high building that will be erected eight feet from the backyards of residents on the north side of Charlton. One resident counted 40 windows in the drawings that would then be overlooking their properties.

After a discussion of the minimal effort being made to mitigate the loss of privacy (a first floor visual barrier, and blinds), and tongue-in-cheek threats of nude yoga in one resident's back yard, it became clear that neither the city nor the developer were prepared to accommodate the concerns of these residents.

The planner who was present even went so far as to imply that because a four-storey building had been in the zoning for that property since 1997, it was a case of caveat emptor for those who had moved onto the street since then.

Enthusiastic Attendees

On the whole, many attendees were enthusiastic about the development itself, with architect and Tactical Urbanist Emma Cubbitt being the first of the evening to stand up and speak in favour of the proposal.

Other positive comments soon followed, and from all appearances, the long-standing blight on Dundurn is going to receive a very desirable make-over.

Final questions revolved around street level commercial space, which planners explained is outside of the zoning for the building.

Vranich has asked for mention to be made during the approval process of his desire for street level commercial, so that in the future, should he wish to apply to the city for rezoning to permit it, he will not be permitted to do so.

Lingering Concerns

All of this aside, anecdotal comments both as the meeting wound down, and since then on social media have focused on Vranich's less-than-stellar record of behaviour, both personally and professionally.

275 King Street Hess under renovations (RTH file photo)

Many people mentioned his property at King and Hess, which was allowed to deteriorate to near dereliction before he began development on it last year, and his criminal convictions for sexual assault and prostitution related offences.

While many are excited about Vranich's proposals for 220 Dundurn, they are wary of his reputation.

Reinforcing this, last night's meeting came on the heels of a mea culpa of sorts from McHattie by email in response to the undesirability of the new condominium at 427 Aberdeen. The email read in part:

Many of you have expressed concern about the condominium development at 427 Aberdeen (Dundurn and Aberdeen). I have also been concerned that the developer did not finish the building in the manner we expected, despite the guidance provided by a citizen-driven community liaison committee early on.

As a result, neighbors are understandably concerned with what may unfold at 220 Dundurn.

At this point, the discussion goes back to the committee of adjustment on Thursday for approvals, after which Vranich insists he will be moving 'very quickly' to secure a building permit.

Councillor McHattie will also be striking a Community Liason Committee to provide final input into the plans, and feedback during the construction on issues such as noise abatement, dust control and lighting.

Applications to this committee will be accepted from residents beyond immediate neighbors, and interested parties are asked to wait for Ward 1 office manager Dale Brown's email to the Kirkendall email list for details on how to apply.

It's Oh So Quiet

2013-06-14T12:00:00-05:00

The City has closed Beckett Drive for three months to strip down the many-times-patched escarpment access and rebuild it from scratch.

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The access will be closed for the next three months. Large signs and barriers block the access on Queen Street at Aberdeen and on Garth Street at Fennell Avenue.

Queen Street south of Aberdeen is closed for the summer

Before the closure, City staff and commuters worried about what would happen to the approximately 21,000 cars that drove the access on an average day.

The good news, as anyone who understands how networks work could have told you, is that people quickly figured it out. Through some combination of shifting routes, shifting trip times and shifting trip destinations, all of the traffic has been accommodated.

According to Public Works spokesperson Kelly Anderson, the city isn't formally tracking traffic volumes but staff "have been out observing traffic conditions as a result of the closure. The only congestion appears to be on the West 5th access, as predicted." She concluded, "the impacts have essentially stabilized."

This squares with anecdotal comments from commuters who generally have generally reported at most a day or two of confusion followed by the discovery of alternate arrangements that work.

Of course, some streets have seen increased traffic. I've received a report from a resident on Herkimer that traffic volumes are up east of Queen as commuters navigate to the Jolley Cut and the West 5th.

Piles of rubble on Beckett Drive

Other streets have seen traffic volumes decline. I expected Aberdeen Avenue between Queen and Longwood would be quieter without the through traffic going between West Hamilton and the West Mountain.

What I didn't expect was that traffic volumes on Aberdeen would essentially collapse. I assumed there would be a noticeable reduction, but most of the traffic on Aberdeen has simply disappeared.

I had no idea just how much of the traffic running through Kirkendall on Aberdeen is cut-through traffic, passing through the neighbourhood from somewhere else to somewhere else. I certainly didn't think it was most of the total.

Aberdeen Avenue, late afternoon on a weekday, looking desolate

Another thing I didn't expect: I assumed it would be a bit quieter with the access closed, but I had no idea how more profoundly calm and peaceful the whole neighbourhood would become. It's almost spooky.

Living in the city, you quickly tune out the steady roar of automoible traffic that surrounds you. I had long since stopped noticing the steady wash of noise coming from both Aberdeen and Beckett until it ceased.

Because the drone of through traffic is gone, dogs in neighbouring yards can actually hear each other again. This has led to more back-and-forth canine communication chains, Twilight Bark style:

It's not surprising, then, that so many people in Kirkendall have expressed the wish that the access never re-opens to automobile traffic.

Tempted as I am by that prospect, I recognize that people need to be able to get around, and that our newfound neighbourhood tranquility comes at the cost of some inconvenience to others.

However, what this experience has already brought home to me in a deeply personal way is this: traffic is even more harmful than you think.

The harms that come from automobile traffic are well understood: stress, higher blood pressure, causes heart and lung disease, increased LDL cholesterol, and possibly even damage to cognitive ability.

We also know that through traffic is more dangerous to pedestrians than local traffic. As a study by McMaster University geography professor Niko Yiannakoulias recently demonstrated, neighbourhoods with more through traffic have higher rates of child injury in collisions.

At a deeper level, when you build a city for driving, more people will drive longer distances more often. The inverse is also true: when you build a city for walking, cycling and transit, more people will walk, cycle and take transit more often.

So we must add the opportunity cost of displaced walking and cycling trips to the bill: missed exercise, missed fresh air, missed stress relief - and missed peace and quiet.

In the short term, people can and do shift their transportation patterns in response to the choices available to them. As Swedish transport planner Jonas Eliasson demonstrated in a TED talk on congestion:

Travel patterns are much less stable than you think. Each day people make new decisions, and people change and the world changes around them, and each day, all of these decisions are sort of nudged ever so slightly away from rush hour car driving.

In the longer term, a city built around active transportation, the mixing of different uses (so destinations are closer together) and a de-emphasis on vehicle lane capacity as the solution to every problem is a city in which people start to make different choices not only about how to get from point A to point B but also about where to live, where to work, and how to structure their daily life.

The three-month closure of Beckett Drive is an opportunity for us to give that proposition some serious thought.

Beckett Drive, quiet at last

A Complete Streets Policy for Hamilton

2013-06-13T12:00:00-05:00

Changes to make Hamilton streets safer and more complete are happening in many ways: HYPERLINK local advocacy with ward councillors, participation [PDF] in city consultations, online campaigns, letters to media, deputations at city council, appeals to the Ontario Municipal Board, and citizen-led demonstration projects. All these individual and group actions are having tangible effects.

But there's also some frustration among many residents that change only happens when there are complaints or campaigns. Safe streets should be the default, not the exception. The current approach seems to be missing whole parts of the city, especially where residents are not as vocal or don't know the best campaign strategies.

This is more often the case in low income than high income neighbourhoods. A more systematic and city-wide approach is needed to ensure that the city doesn't deepen disparities between neighbourhoods.

A city-wide approach will help to increase equity across Hamilton since residents in lower income neighbourhoods are more likely to be pedestrians, cyclists and transit users.

Complete Streets Policy

One solution used in many cities is a Complete Streets policy, now adopted [PDF] in almost 500 communities in the US. In Canada. Waterloo was the first to adopt a Complete Streets Policy and there are policies in the works in Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto among many others.

Hamilton's City Council recently adopted a new transit strategy, called Rapid Ready: Enhancing Mobility Choices in Hamilton [PDF], which includes as a next step the development of a Complete Streets Policy for the city because staff realize that promoting more walking and cycling in the city will also help the transit system.

A Complete Streets policy creates the framework for the ultimate goal of broad city-wide changes in the allocation of road budgets, construction priorities and overall modernization of culture within Public Works departments. Complete Streets are designed to be "safe, convenient and comfortable for every user, regardless of transportation mode, physical ability or age."

A Complete Streets policy "ensures that transportation planners and engineers consistently design and operate the entire street network for all road users, not only motorists."

Complete Streets Policy in Hamilton

The Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton has been working with community partners Hamilton to develop a robust Complete Streets policy draft that the city could use as a model to adopt as a made-in-Hamilton Complete Streets policy.

In an effort to open the discussion on this policy a broader group of residents, there will be a public event on Wednesday, June 26 from 6:30 to 9:30 PM at the Freeway Coffee House, 333 King Street East. Childcare will be available for those who register in advance.

This event will be an opportunity to comment on the draft policy and find out more about how to get involved in the campaign. Key strategy issues such as how to ensure broad public support for a robust complete streets policy that will change streets in all parts of Hamilton, how two-way street conversion goals should be integrated into a complete streets policy will also be discussed.

I encourage Raise the Hammer readers to attend and help to make this policy a reality. Together, we can make our city better.

Devil in the Details of 220 Dundurn South Redevelopment

2013-06-12T12:00:00-05:00

Plans are in place for a renewal of the long-time Kirkendall eyesore at 220 Dundurn Street South, but part of the proposal has adjacent residents upset.

220 Dundurn Street South (RTH file photo)

With a reduction in the amount of lot required for the number of units from 294,000 sq. ft. to 143,000 sq. ft. and a reduction of the required size of each parking spot from 2.6 m wide to 2.4 m wide, the zoning variance application seems highly desirable.

Add in a reduced parking ratio from 1.25 spaces per unit to 1.15, and this appears to be a development that would fit neatly into this highly walkable neighbourhood.

But for residents on Charlton, the devil is in the details.

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Clearly stated in the variance application [PDF] is the request for approval to add three stories to the main two-story structure, for a total of five stories.

A five-storey building would not be out of place on Dundurn, with a condo at Aberdeen and Dundurn, and an apartment at Stanley and Dundurn already exceeding that.

However, no mention is made in the text of the variance application of the building of an additional five-storey building in the location of a current one-storey, half-demolished garage. This detail only appears on the site plan.

This one-storey garage is currently located less than two meters from the property lines of the adjacent houses on Charlton Street. If the new structure follows the same footprint, there would be a 22 m high wall overlooking their backyards, an arm's width from their back fences. This has the adjacent neighbours understandably up in arms.

Apparently, early indications were that the new structure would mirror the existing height, although whether that was the height of the existing garage or the main structure is unclear.

The attempt to introduce a five-storey structure so close to the Charlton properties appears to have caught everybody off-guard, and has resulted in a public meeting being called on Monday, June 17 at 7 pm at Stanley Avenue Baptist Church.

Contrast this somewhat murky process with the approval process for the property that will soon be constructed on Blanshard - also known as the alley beside Bar on Locke. Initial plans for this structure were met with concern by property owners on Poulette.

After several revisions, which included setting back the upper stories of the property to prevent shadows on their backyards, residents felt their concerns had been heard, and the project received the community's endorsement.

According to a resident who attended the Committee of Adjustment meeting on Thursday, June 6 for 220 Dundurn, developer Dennis Vranich allegedly said he was not concerned with neighbours' objections because he could "do whatever [he] wants". That kind of attitude is not likely to allay residents' concerns.

Councillor Brian McHattie has done an outstanding job in the past few years of shepherding complicated development projects through in Ward 1, mainly because he was blessed with developers who were willing to listen to local concerns and respond accordingly.

The hope is that this will continue as the situation unfolds with 220 Dundurn. We'll know on the 17th.

Pedestrian Use Triples After Crosswalk Installed

2013-06-10T12:00:00-05:00

In May 2011, when there was a sign at the intersection of Aberdeen Avenue and Kent Street instructing pedestrians to cross at Locke or Queen Street (a 400 metre round-trip), traffic engineers from the City counted the number of pedestrians crossing there during the seven hours from 7:00 AM - 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM and 2:30 PM - 5:30 PM.

Because there were only 40 pedestrians on average crossing during those times, the department concluded that there were not enough pedestrians to justify installing a crosswalk.

The community organized a campaign to get a crosswalk anyway, and after a petition and draft motion were presented to the public works committee with hundreds of signatures, the crosswalk was approved. It was installed last summer and activated in September.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article comparing the May 2011 pedestrian counts with counts of the number of times the cross button was pressed in the end of January, 2013. Even though it was still winter, the cross button was pressed 49 times on an average weekday during the same seven-hour study times.

The City does not have a standard multiplier as to how many pedestrians are represented by a given button push (or call) at a crosswalk. Observationally, I can state that most pedestrians at that corner cross in groups of two or more. The most common case is a parent crossing with one or two children on the way to or from school.

If we take a conservative approach and assume an average of two people crossing per button push, that means an average of 98 people crossing on a weekday during the study times - a nearly two-and-a-half-times increase in pedestrians over the 40 in May 2011.

Newer Data, Stronger Case

As impressive as that is, it compares pre-crosswalk data from May with post-crosswalk data from the end of January, when fewer people walk in general. Now the City has graciously provided the button-push data for May 18 - June 5, 2013, and button use is even higher.

Pedestrian Calls (7hr) (IPS Study Times)
Weekday	Total Calls	# of Log Days	Average Calls per Day
Monday	163	3	54
Tuesday	203	3	68
Wednesday	220	3	73
Thursday	141	2	71
Friday	133	2	66
Average			66

The average number of weekday button pushes during the seven-hour study times is 66, or a 3.3 times increase in pedestrians over May 2011 if we conservatively assume an average of two pedestrians per button push.

Again, this demonstrates the well-understood principle that if you make it easier to do something, people will do more of it; and if you make it harder to do something, people will do less of it.

For decades, the City of Hamilton has been trying to make it easier to drive, mainly at the expense of walking and cycling and transit. The predictable result has been a city in which most people drive to most destinations.

The more we re-balance our street network to make it easier for people to walk or cycle instead of driving, the more people will walk and cycle. It's that simple.

We need to stop designing our streets to accommodate the status quo we already observe. Instead, we need to design our streets to achieve the transformational goals we have set.

The future arrives by increments, shaped by every decision we make in the meantime. We have to stop planning for what we have and start planning for what we want to have.

Here are the full 24-hour, seven-day results for the same period:

Pedestrian Calls (24hr)
Weekday	Total Calls	# of Log Days	Average Calls per Day
Sunday	172	3	57
Monday	287	3	96
Tuesday	316	3	105
Wednesday	363	3	121
Thursday	242	2	121
Friday	213	2	107
Saturday	205	3	68
Average			96

MacNab Conversion an Opportunity for Better Walkability

2013-06-10T12:00:00-05:00

There are lots of good discussion and momentum happening right now around town, and I've been really keen on the Cannon ideas that are gaining steam.

RTH published an article last Friday about the City taking more interest in crosswalks, and I got thinking about the upcoming two-way conversion on MacNab Street between Cannon and Burlington.

I was at the market on the weekend and walked on MacNab and Vine up to Cannon. The pedestrian traffic coming to and from the other side of Cannon was remarkable: entire families and their kids on bikes, elderly folks, lots of walkers and so on.

I observed the sidewalks and the crosswalks and noticed that it wouldn't take much to turn MacNab and Vine into really attractive streets to walk.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that much like Cannon, the sidewalks on MacNab are wide enough to plant trees without interfering with the pedestrian flow. Here is a current view:

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Notice the extra-wide sidewalks? King Street in Westdale has the same design and recently did this to them:

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Notice the regularly-spaced trees on the portion of sidewalk closest to the curb? This leaves pedestrian flow on the typically-wide sidewalk.

MacNab could easily do this from York to Cannon. What a difference it would make to add a great tree canopy to that street!

The other thing I noticed was the crosswalks. I'd like to see an all-way stop sign at Vine/Park and Vine/MacNab. We should also get public works to install the bold zebra crosswalks at both of these crosswalks, along with Cannon/MacNab and Cannon/James.

The RTH piece I started with above shows the new zebra crossings in Westdale at Sterling and Forsyth, right by the entrance to McMaster.

Zebra crossings at Sterling and Forsyth (Image Credit: City of Hamilton)

And of course we all know about the new zebra crossings at Herkimer and Locke:

Zebra crossings at Herkimer and Locke (Image Credit: Jason Leach)

There should be no problem convincing the Public Works department of the need for this crosswalk treatment on these blocks:

The pedestrian traffic definitely warrants it. Making the streets more accommodating will ony increase that traffic.
So far, the only new crosswalks painted have been in affluent west end neighbourhoods. The perception exists that the City is not giving equitable treatment to more vulnerable neighbourhoods.

Of course, the intersection of James and Cannon is a no-brainer for zebra crossings. There are huge pedestrian volumes there, where walkable James Street North interacts with a dangerous freeway.

Cannon and James (Image Credit: Mike Goodwin)

A stable, vibrant residential neighbourhood north of Cannon uses Park and MacNab to come downtown everyday. Adding in zebra crosswalks and planting trees on these few blocks just north of the market would show a lot to folks who are passionate about urban revitalization.

The city said it cost them $6,000 to do the zebra crosswalks and bumpouts on Locke. With curb parking on both sides of MacNab, I think we should get the same treatment at Vine and Cannon intersections.

For only $12,000, surely we can do this, and sooner than later.

Even the tree planting idea isn't overly expensive. Rip up a square every so often and open it up for new trees like in Westdale. I guarantee you would see even more pedestrian and cycling activity heading north and south on MacNab with these changes along with it being two-way.

City Bolsters Crosswalks at Multiple Locations

2013-06-07T12:00:00-05:00

Here's a roundup of some work city crews did this week on bolstering crosswalks at several locations around Hamilton.

Knockdown Sticks at Herkimer and Locke

The City recently painted bumpouts and zebra crossings at the corner of Herkimer and Locke. According to Kelly Anderson, spokesperson for the Public Works department, the next step is to install "knockdown sticks", or flexible bollards, along the bumpout lines.

[Knockdown sticks] are retro reflective silver on a white stick and are about three feet high. They can be knocked down by a vehicle or by hand and will stand back up by themselves.

The total cost to paint the crossings and bumpouts and install the knockdown sticks is approximately $6,000. If the City determines that this is a successful strategy to make intersections safer and more accommodating for pedestrians, this is a very affordable method to apply to other intersections.

It should be noted that the City already has painted bumpouts marked by bollards in on Sterling Street Westdale. The following photo is from the City's Cycling web page.

Painted bumpouts with bollards on Sterling Street (Image Credit: City of Hamilton)

This raises the question: how many more times does the City need to pilot bumpouts and bollards before determining that this is a good policy to adopt more widely?

Block Crosswalk at Sterling and Forsyth

Also in Westdale, the City is "experimenting" with a block crosswalk at Sterling Street and Forsyth Avenue North, just outside the Sterling Street entrance to McMaster University.

In partnership with McMaster, the City has painted zebra crossings at the intersection to make the crosswalk more visible to pedestrians, drivers and cyclists alike. The City was gracious enough to take a photo of the intersection and send it to us.

Zebra crossings at Sterling and Forsyth (Image Credit: City of Hamilton)

The work on that intersection was completed earlier this week. It would be great to see zebra stripes applied to crosswalks more generally.

Cumberland Crosswalks Repainted

Also this week, Public Works re-painted several crosswalks on Cumberland Avenue in the Hamilton's St. Clair neighbourhood. According to Anderson, the lines were re-painted as part of the City's annual maintenance program.

Newly painted crosswalks at Cumberland and Norway (Image Credit: Jason Leach)

Newly painted crosswalks at Cumberland and Prospect (Image Credit: Jason Leach)

Not all the crosswalks have been repainted, however. The crosswalk at Cumberland and Sherman is still faded.

Faded crosswalk markings at Cumberland and Sherman (Image Credit: Jason Leach)

City Changing Stance on Ghost Crosswalks?

It is not yet entirely clear whether the Traffic Department has rethought the stance, held since at least 2002, that an intersection without a signalized pedestrian crosswalk provides no protection to pedestrians under the Highway Traffic Act and should therefore be discouraged.

As a result of this policy, the department has allowed painted crosswalks at unsignalized intersections across the City to fade into 'ghost crosswalks' that make it unclear to pedestrians and motorists alike whether pedestrians have the right of way.

However, the Act clearly defines a "crosswalk" as any intersection of two streets, regardless of whether it is marked, stop-signed or signalized or even has curbs. It also defines a "crosswalk" as a portion of a roadway marked as a pedestrian crossing "by signs or by lines or other markings on the surface".

For this reason, it is particularly interesting to note that the City has also repainted the crosswalks at Maplewood and Maplewood, where there is not a stop sign.

Painted crosswalks with yellow crosswalk sign at Springer and Maplewood (Image Credit: Jason Leach)

According to the Traffic department's previous policy on crosswalks, they would have refused to repaint it since there are neither stop signs nor signals to control the intersection.

with files from Jason Leach

Documentary Video Explains Dundas EcoPark

2013-06-07T12:00:00-05:00

A new 42 minute documentary, produced by Wade Genders and Glen Provoist and directed by Dr. Brian Baetz in McMaster University's faculty of engineering, explains the concept of the Dundas EcoPark and outlines the opportunities and challenges.

The Dundas EcoPark proposal is to secure privately-owned land to create a 2,000 hectare (4,950 acre) contiguous protected conservation area surrounding Cootes Paradise. Most of the land is already publicly owned, but fundraising is underway to purchase the remaining land.

Dundas EcoPark, bordered in black. Green areas are already publicly owned. Pink areas are privately owned. (Image Credit: Dundas EcoPark)

The campaign also seek to re-naturalize land along the north shore of the Desjardins Canal, an area that includes the Ben Veldhuis Greenhouse property and nearby city-owned marshlands. Valdhuis put Dundas on the map as a a worldwide supplier of cacti and the impetus for the Dundas Cactus Festival.

The Hamilton Conservation Authority recently purchased 21 hectares (52 acres) of land along York Road and is looking to secure a little less than $300,000 in additional funding to pay for the purchase by the end of 2013.

The goal is a park that includes protected natural habitats for the rich diversity of species living around Cootes, hiking trails, boardwalk and visitor centre, and historic preservation of a major part of Hamilton's industrial heritage.

The documenetary video is narrated by environmental advocate Julia Kollek and features thoughtful interviews with a number of advocates for the EcoPark, including: Jen Baker, Head-of-the-Lake Land Trust Program Coordinator of the Hamilton Naturalists' Club; Warren Beacham of Hamilton Naturalists' Club; Tom Beckett, founding chair of the Hamilton Conservation Authority; John Bryden, historian and former area MP; Mark Chamberlain, president of Trivaris; Terry Cooke, CEO of the Hamilton Community Foundation; Bob Crockford, chair of Valley City Manufacturing; Dr. Patrick Deane, president of McMaster University; Dr David Galbraith, President of Royal Botanical Gardens; Dundas artist Cathy Gibbon; Dr. Lynda Lukasik, executive director of Environment Hamilton; Jeff Mahoney of the Hamilton Spectator; Ward 1 Councillor Brian McHattie; Stan Nowak, president of the Dundas Valley Historical Society; Theresa Picone of Picone's in Dundas; Ward 13 (Dundas) councillor Russ Powers; Dr. Jim Quinn from McMaster University's department of biology; Hamilton writer John Terpstra; Dr. Conrad Sichler, MD of Sweet Medicine Integrative Health Centre in Burlington; Dr. David Smith from University of Toronto Mississauga's department of anthropology; Ben Vanderbrug, former general manager of the Hamilton Conservation Authority; and architect Fred Vermeulen.

As Vandberbrug summarized the campaign:

You have to be able to look beyond your own life years, I guess, and your own lifespan, and say: this is so important for the city and for our children and grandchildren, and if we don't act now, and if I just sit back and let it happen or not happen, then I'm sort of guilt of not making this city what it can be.

You can donate to the campaign to help finance the land acquisition and restoration work.