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NEWSLETTER

June 2023

Introduction:



The City of St. Catharines has officially launched the Ontario Street Corridor Secondary Plan Study. This study will guide the land use planning framework for the Ontario Street Corridor, as shown on the map. The corridor covers a large swath of land in the city's centre along Ontario Street from Welland Avenue to Queen Elizabeth Way. This offers a unique and exciting community-building opportunity for St. Catharines given the area's location and size.

On May 30, 2022, City Council endorsed the terms of reference for the study, which identified the following components:

• Study area boundary
• Land use planning framework
• Guiding principles and objectives
• Public engagement strategy

The study will take place over the next two years and will include six phases:

• Project start-up
• Information gathering / background analysis
• Community visioning / alternative land use concepts
• Detailed planning analysis/preferred land use concept
• Draft secondary plan
• Final draft secondary plan for approval

More information about the study can be found on the project website at engagestc.ca/ontariostreetstudy

Timeline

Open House - Feb. 7, 2023

On Feb. 7, 2023, the first in-person open house was held at the Holiday Inn at 327 Ontario Street where nearly 200 community members were in attendance. This open house served as a project launch for the study and provided attendees with the opportunity to learn about the study and the scope of the project. City staff presented about the study and multiple display boards were available for attendees to view. The presentation and display boards from this meeting are available on the project website.

All comments and questions raised during the open house will be compiled and considered by the project team. All comments submitted throughout the duration of the study will be reviewed and responded to by the project team through background analysis. All communications will also be summarized in reports submitted to council, including final recommendations for the secondary plan.

Thank you to everyone who attended the meeting. We look forward to the next open house, which will be held during the community visioning phase of the project.

Get Involved

Online Survey

The project team is looking for your input about the study area. How does it serve you? What would you like to see as a result of the study? Please visit the project website to complete a quick survey: Ontario Street Corridor Secondary Plan Study | EngageSTC

Neighbourhood Advisory Committee

The City is looking for interested members of the public to get involved in the study by applying to become part of the Neighbourhood Advisory Committee.

The Neighbourhood Advisory Committee will be established to help guide, review and provide input into study components. The composition of the committee will be localized to the study area and area of influence, and will include the following:

• One to two landowner representatives from the Ontario Street north corridor, being the portion of the study area located north of Carlton Street.
• One to two landowner representatives from the Ontario Street south corridor, being the portion of the study area located south of Pleasant Avenue.
• Three to four residents of the area bounded by Twelve Mile Creek, the QEW, Geneva Street and Welland Avenue, including one representative from each of the Haig and Fitzgerald Neighbourhood Associations.
• Two St. Patrick’s Ward 4 Councillors.

The role of the committee is to provide input on landowner and resident interests in the study area and to engage in the review and evaluation of study components. The Neighbourhood Advisory Committee is expected to meet with the project team on a quarterly or as-needed basis.

For more information on how to apply, please visit the project website: Ontario Street Corridor Secondary Plan Neighbourhood Advisory Committee - St. Catharines (stcatharines.ca)

Next Steps

• The Neighbourhood Advisory Committee will be appointed by Council.
• The project team is in the process of completing the background analysis. Once this phase is completed, a report will be prepared and presented to council. The report will be publicly available and uploaded to the project website.
• Following the background analysis phase, the community visioning / alternative land use concepts phase of the study will begin. Stay tuned for more public engagement opportunities.
• The project team will issue quarterly newsletters with project updates and information on upcoming public engagement events.

Stay up-to-date

For more information about the study, please visit the project website: Ontario Street Corridor Secondary Plan Study | EngageSTC

The project website posts key project documents, such as the council-approved terms of reference for the study and the Feb. 7, 2023, open house materials. The project website will also advertise future community engagement events. You can also contact members of the project team at any time through the project website.

For any other questions, please feel free to contact the project team at OntarioStreetStudy@stcatharines.ca