Commercial Facade Improvement Program for BIAs – Funding assistance to improve your storefront!

20 Feb

The City offers grants to eligible commercial property owners for the improvements to commercial building façades. This could include replacing or repairing windows, doors, lighting, awnings, brickwork, signage, or making building entrances wheelchair accessible.

The 2012 Commercial Façade Improvement Program application will be available here March 1, 2012. For more information about this program, attend an open house Thursday, April 12, 2012 from 6 to 8 p.m., at Toronto City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, 2nd floor, Committee Room #3.

Proposal for 2012 season of Pedestrian Sundays

10 Feb

PEDESTRIAN SUNDAYS IN KENSINGTON MARKET - PROPOSAL FOR 2012 SEASON

Based on feedback received through an online survey, via community meetings in October & November of 2011, and discussions with area stakeholders, the Kensington Market BIA proposes the following schedule of festival & non-festival events for 2012.

Definitions:

  • A Pedestrian Sunday Festival is the same format as in the previous 8 years of events.

1. No cars on the streets from 12-7pm
2. Sidewalk & On-street sales of food/art/goods
3. Programmed arts/music/multicultural entertainment in designated areas
4. Full market closure

  • A Pedestrian Sunday is the new format that prioritizes pedestrians throughout the market.

1. Parked cars can remain on closed streets from 12-6pm (exit-only)
2. Sidewalk sales/promotions
3. Noise by-law restrictions in effect
4. Reduced closure (Augusta remains open Dundas to Denison Sq.)

IMPORTANT: Timely accommodation can be made as needed for local residents or business owners who require vehicular access during a Pedestrian Sunday (non festival).  A handcart delivery service will also be available for all locals & customers requiring assistance with heavier items. The Pedestrian Sunday coordinator will always be on-call and on-site during festival & non-festival closures – call 416 826 2964.

Proposal:
Pedestrian Sunday Festivals: 12-7pm May 27th, July 29th, and September 30th
Pedestrian Sundays: 12-6pm June 3,10, 17, 24 July 1, 8, 15, 22 Aug. 5, 12, 19, 25 Sept. 2, 9, 16, 23.

 

Why Pedestrian Sundays?

  • Kensington Market is busier than ever, the narrow sidewalks overflow on weekends, and changing consumer trends have put added pressure on some of Kensington’s merchants.
  • Although the enormously successful Pedestrian Sunday Festivals bring thousands of visitors to the area and have helped to revitalize the neighbourhood, Pedestrian Sundays aim to further promote and ingrain the market as a unique and thriving shopping destination with something for everyone.
  • Open-air pedestrian marketplaces have an almost universal appeal – the proposed Sunday afternoon pedestrian zones will help Kensington’s independent business community to prosper.

Why fewer Pedestrian Sunday Festivals?

  • Feedback received via the survey and consultations indicated that although most recognized the overall value of these events to the market, some residents and merchants found the noisy & crowded festival atmosphere to be overwhelming at times. 
  • The BIA also recognized that since many merchants do very good business on festival days, they should not shift entirely to un-programmed pedestrian zones. 
  • This proposal reflects a compromise that will help to reduce the volume of noisy crowds, and spread the opportunity to enjoy Kensington’s unique pedestrian-priority marketplace over the whole summer, with celebratory festivals at the start, middle and end of the season.

How:

Pedestrian Sundays:

  • These un-programmed pedestrian priority zones will be created through use of the seasonally permanent infrastructure that is being installed by the City’s Public Realm Office in cooperation with the BIA.
  • Vehicles belonging to residents and merchants will be allowed to remain parked within the pedestrian priority zone and can exit-only between 12 and 6pm.
  • The Coordinator will be responsible for closing and reopening gates at 12pm and 6pm.
  • The Coordinator will be on-site to assist with any vehicular access needs or issues that arise, to ensure that noise bylaws are not broken, and ensure that neither buskers, nor illegal vendors block roadways or sidewalks.

Pedestrian Sunday Festivals:

  • Festival days will be created through rented barricades & signage in addition to the seasonally permanent road closure infrastructure.
  • All vehicles will be required to leave the pedestrian zone by 12pm, and remaining vehicles will be relocated to the Bellevue Green P parking lot via tow-truck.
  • The Coordinator, seasonal staff, and volunteers will be on-site to manage festivals, and open and close barricades/gates at 12pm and 7pm.
  • The Coordinator will work with local merchants, artists and performers to create an entertainment schedule that prioritizes acoustic music, and diminishes sound conflicts.

Questions & feedback regarding this proposal can be submitted until March 1st via email or telephone.
Email to: councillor_vaughan@toronto.ca & coordinator@kensingtonmarketbia.ca
Phone: 416 392 4044 (Councillor Vaughan) & 416 826 2964 (BIA Coordinator, Yvonne Bambrick)

—————————

Please find attached a pdf copy of this proposal, along with consultation survey & dotmocracy* results.

* The meeting at which the dotmocracy exercise was conducted, took place on a day with torrential downpour which affected attendance – only 34 people were in attendance. Colour Code: Blue = Merchants, Green = Residents, Red = Visitors (only merchants & residents participated in the dotmocracy exercise.)

PSK 2012 Proposal – Community Notice Feb_12

PSK 2012 Surveybasic_11292011

Question 1 – Frequency of Pedestrian Priority Zones

Question 2 – Frequency of Regular PSKensington Festivals

Question 3 – How to handle live music levels

BIA Meeting Reminder: February 13th @10am – Agenda

8 Feb

Location: Centre for Social Innovation,
215 Spadina Ave. Suite 400 ‘Think Tank’
Date:       Monday February 13th, 2012
Time:       10am – 12:30pm

AGENDA:

  1. Call to Order by Chair
  2. Approval of Consent Agenda
  3. Declaration of Conflict of Interest
  4. Treasurer’s Report
  5. Patio bylaws
  6. Meeting Date Review
  7. Marketing: Fish Eye proposal review, Merchant Directory Design
  8. Garden Car
  9. Updates: Tree Stump Stools Selection Committee, Nearby development (Bathurst/Nassau & Scadding Court), PSK 2012
  10. Review of Roberts Rules of Order
  11. Other business
  12. Adjournment

 

 

@Kensington_BIA – we’re on Twitter!

23 Jan

You can now follow the BIA on Twitter via our official account – @Kensington_BIA. (Kensington_BIA)

We’ll tweet updates about area news, links to news clippings featuring our members and the Kensington Market neighbourhood (we’re in the news quite a bit actually!), and we’ll RT (re-tweet) updates from local merchants that also use this form of social media.

So, if you’re on Twitter, give us a follow!

 

(Please note: the twitter account ‘KensingtonBIA’ is maintained by someone who is not affiliated with the Kensington Market Business Improvement Area.  Our requests to stop using this misleading account name, and falsely representing our BIA, have been unsuccessful)

Market News: Snow Clearing & Lighting Improvements!

23 Jan

SNOW CLEARING 

While reviewing projects & goals for 2012, the Kensington Market BIA board identified snowy sidewalk intersections and blocked drains/pooling as a persistent market-wide issue during the winter months.  An amount was set-aside in this year’s budget to help better manage this issue, and remove the burden from local merchants. We are pleased to report that our 3-month supplementary snow-clearing contract has just begun.

As needed between January 15th and April 15th, our private contractor will undertake the following snow clearing to keep problem areas clear for pedestrians throughout Kensington Market:

1. Clearing of snow from all asphalt areas;

-  Where the sidewalks meet the road at each main intersection in Kensington Market.
o    Augusta at College
o    Augusta at Oxford
o    Augusta at Nassau
o    Augusta at Baldwin
o    Augusta at Denison Sq.
o    Augusta at Wales
o    Augusta at Dundas
o    Kensington at Baldwin
o    Kensington at St. Andrews
o    Kensington at Dundas

-   Clearing the drains nearest to each of these intersections.
-   Clearing the pedestrian laneway between the SE corner of the Green P Parking lot on Bellevue, to Augusta Ave.

As per city bylaws, merchants and residents are encouraged to continue to do their part in keeping sidewalks clear of ice and snow following foul winter weather.

 

PEDESTRIAN SCALE LIGHTING

For many years, locals have complained about the lack of adequate lighting throughout the market – an issue of particular concern during the fall & winter when there are fewer daylight hours.  The BIA recognized this as a top priority and allocated a portion of our budget to address lighting improvements as a Capital Cost-shared project with the City.

We are pleased to announce that Stage one of our application for capital cost-shared Pedestrian Scale Lighting improvements was approved as part of the January 17 budget process at City Hall.

The city has agreed to undertake this 50/50 capital cost sharing project with the BIA for the stage one component of our 65 clamp-on pedestrian lights project that involves the completion of design and engineering drawings in 2012.  The strategy is to have our BIA’s technical drawings for the project completed and approved so that the BIA office can request Stage two funding (the City’s share) for the supply and installation of the lighting in 2013.

Please note that the clamp-on lights will be affixed to existing Toronto Hydro poles at a height that will provide more light at street level.  The BIA was careful to select a fixture that has ‘0% uplight’ – the light will be focused towards the street in order to avoid additional light pollution for residents.

More details about this project will be posted here as they become available.

BIA Meeting Reminder: January 10th @ 10am – Agenda

5 Jan

Location: Centre for Social Innovation,
215 Spadina Ave. Suite 400 ‘Alterna Boardroom’
Date:       Tuesday January 10th, 2012
Time:       10am – 12pm
AGENDA:

1.    Call to Order by Chair

2.    Approval of Consent Agenda

3.    Declaration of Conflict of Interest

4.    Treasurer’s Report

5.    PS Kensington 2012 – draft proposal review

6.    Lighting – light standard review

7.    Snow clearing budget review (re-allocation of surplus to Marketing)

8.    Marketing: BIA App QR code presentation, Merchant Guide Design/print, Logo design, Shopping Bags

9.    Updates: Tree Stump Stools, Nearby development

10.  Meeting date review

11.  Review of Roberts Rules of Order

12.  Other business

13.  Adjournment

 

Call for Submissions: Kensington Market Mural Crew

8 Dec

Call for submissions

The Kensington Market BIA has allocated some funds to work with local merchants to increase the number of murals installed in the area.  We are looking to connect talented locals artists with merchants for these mural projects.

Please submit 3 to 5 images of various past works, along with a link to your portfolio and relevant contact information.

Submissions should be sent via email to Yvonne Bambrick <coordinator@kensingtonmarketbia.ca> by February 5th, 2012

BIA Meeting Reminder: December 13th @ 10am – Agenda

8 Dec

Location: Centre for Social Innovation, 215 Spadina Ave. Suite 400 ‘Alterna Boardroom’
Date:       Tuesday December 13th, 2011
Time:       10am – 12pm
AGENDA:

1.    Call to Order by Chair

2.    Approval of Consent Agenda

3.    Approval of October Minutes

4.    Declaration of Conflict of Interest

5.    Treasurer’s Report

6.    PS Kensington 2012 – draft proposal review

7.    Lighting – review of fixtures

8.    Snow clearing quote review

9.    Updates: Tree Stump Stools, Heritage Study, Merchant Guide, Nearby development proposals

10.  Other business

11.  Adjournment

IMPORTANT: New Accessibility Standards in effect January 2012

6 Dec

By January 1st, 2012, The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (“AODA”) will become law in Ontario.  http://www.aoda.ca/

All Kensington Market BIA businesses are required by law to comply with this Act.

If your company/organization/business provides goods or services and has a minimum of one employee in Ontario, then it must comply with AODA’s Customer Service Standard, by January 1st, 2012. The Customer Service Standard requires all companies/organizations/businesses to develop and implement accessible customer service policies, practices and procedures that apply to persons with disabilities.


Accessibility Standard for Customer Service - Accessibility Requirements

Becoming accessible:

Accessible customer service is not about ramps or automatic door openers. It’s about understanding that people with disabilities may have different needs.
The ‘Getting Started guide’ will help you:

• understand the standard and what you need to do

• create your plan on accessible customer service

• train your staff.

The Accessibility Standard for Customer Service applies to all people or organizations in Ontario that:

• Provide goods or services, and

• Have one or more employees.

It affects these sectors:

• Private

• Non-profit

• Public

To provide accessible customer service, organizations need to:

Step 1: Create and put in place an plan that:

• Considers a person’s disability when communicating with them

• Allows assistive devices in your workplace, like wheelchairs, walkers and oxygen tanks

• Allows service animals

• Welcomes support persons

• Lets customers know when accessible services aren’t available

• Invites customers to provide feedback

 

Step 2: Train staff

…

Questions?

For more detailed information, you can request a copy of the ‘Getting started guide’, and also read the Employer Handbook.

Visit http://www.ontario.ca/AccessON.

Or contact:

Toll-free: 1-866-515-2025

TTY: 416-325-3408 / Toll-free: 1-800-268-7095

Fax: 416-325-3407


Removal of Seasonal On-street Bike Parking Corral

22 Nov

This final notice was received today from City cycling staff.

—————

Public Notice

236 Augusta Avenue Seasonal Bicycle Parking Pilot Project

Notice of Removal:

Bike Corral is seasonal and is now closed pending removal.

Any bicycles found locked to racks will be confiscated and can be reclaimed at the Union Station Bicycle Station, 25 York St, 416-389-0365.


 

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