All Members:
Further to our Conference Registration Packages, please find below a brief bio on our guest speakers and topics/workshops:
10:00 – 10:45 a.m.
Encouraging Brownfield Redevelopment in Guelph – Tim Donegani
Urban Design that Accommodates Changes Over Time – David de Groot
Tim will describe how brownfields are regulated in Ontario and identify some of the barriers and benefits to redeveloping contaminated and underutilized sites. This begins to outline a case for public investments in private brownfield sites. He will describe Guelph’s approach to providing financial incentives for Brownfield redevelopment and the program’s successes and lessons learned using Guelph examples.
Like other communities in southern Ontario, not only is Guelph growing but the way Guelph is growing is changing. More mixed use and higher density development is beginning to occur in the City’s Downtown, corridors, edges and nodes. Good urban design is a critical link in ensuring this growth is being proactively and thoughtfully directed. Good urban design is also fundamental to the building of attractive and valued environments that are memorable, flexible and can evolve to accommodate changes over time. With a focus on Guelph, David’s presentation will address how urban design can deliver this change on the ground by addressing all scales: from the high-level City Building scale to how it feels to walk down a street.
Tim Donegani, MCIP, RPP – Tim has worked as a Policy Planner in Guelph Since 2010. His primary areas of responsibilities include the Brownfield Redevelopment Program, Planning for Affordable Housing, Growth Management and Integrating Energy Planning into Land Use planning. He managed the development of a new Brownfield Redevelopment Community Improvement Plan, completed in 2013. In 2015 his role changed to development review, but he continues to manage the Brownfield file.
David de Groot, MCIP, RPP – Senior Urban Designer for the City of Guelph. David has been the Senior Urban Designer for the City of Guelph since 2010. As a member of the Policy Planning & Urban Design team, David is responsible for overseeing the urban design program for the City. David has over 7 years of professional planning experience including a range of urban design and development projects. Recently, he was the project manager for the Council-adopted Downtown Secondary Plan. David has a degree in Urban Design Studies from the University of Toronto and is a member of the Ontario Professional Planners Institute and Canadian Institute of Planners.
11:00 – 11:45 a.m.
The Metalworks Development – Pamela Kraft
Pamela will be discussing Fusion Homes exciting development known as The Metalworks in Guelph. A new urban village where the past and future meet, complete with high-rise condo suites, townhomes and the best in local culture located in downtown Guelph at 5 Arthur Street South.
Pamela Kraft, MCIP, RPP – Pamela is Vice President of Planning & Development at Fusion Homes with over thirty years of experience with planning and development, in both the private and public sector. Pamela began her career as a City Planner for the City of Mississauga and held an impressive array of positions in the private sector, such as the Real Estate Coordinator at Armbro Construction, Regional Property Manager with Lafarge Construction Materials and Manager for Real Estate Development for ECL properties. More recently, Pamela served as the Managing Director for Planning and Development at Kilmer Brownfield Equity Fund where she was closely involved in the acquisition, sale, preliminary planning, and public affairs of the 5 Arthur Street South project, now known as the Metalworks.
Afternoon Workshops
People, Places & Design – A Healthy Community (Main Room) – Rob Voigt and James Horan
A charrette based workshop that will be based on healthy communities with examples provided by the speakers. The participants will be asked to apply certain principles of healthy communities and urban design with hands-on participation and discussion throughout the charrette. The goal is to provide the participants with effective strategies for becoming the change agents and creativity catalysts that our communities need.
Robert Voigt, MCIP, RPP – Rob is a Registered Professional Planner, Artist and Blogger; practicing for two decades, with experience in numerous governmental and private organizations in Canada and the US. Specializing in citizen engagement; healthy community design; streamlining planning processes; economic development, and, growth management. He brings asset based community development and design thinking approaches to planning and management; problem solving methodologies founded in observation, storytelling, visual thinking, and incremental projects.
James Horan, MCIP, RPP – James is a member of the OPPI Community Design Working Group and is a Senior Planner (development) with the City of Cambridge. He has a graduate degree in Urban Design Studies and is Registered Professional Planner. Urban design is one of James’ key passions in planning with a focus on improving the built environment (space between buildings) for people. When James is not working or volunteering, he enjoys cycling, playing sports (golfing, ultimate frisbee, curling and snowboarding) and spending time with family and friends.
Creative Urban Design (Breakout Room) – Nicholas Chu
Cable Propelled Transit (CPT), more commonly known as aerial gondolas and cable cars, is one of the fastest growing public transport technologies in the world. In recent years, major metropolitan cities around the world, including London, Caracas, Hong Kong, Portland, La Paz, Medellin, and Rio de Janeiro have installed these systems as part of their urban transport networks. Among a number of benefits, some of the technology’s main benefits lies in its quick installation times, low implementation costs and flexibility. It is estimated that more than 100 urban cable transit systems are now in the various stages of planning, design and construction. Despite its growth and popularity, CPT often remains a puzzling and mysterious topic for planners. Through this workshop, it will provide you with an overview of the technology to help you better understand how cable transit is beneficial for cities and why. At the end of the session, we hope that you develop the critical thinking skills needed to properly discuss and analyze how cable transit can solve your city’s unique mobility challenges.
Nicholas Chu, MCIP, RPP – Nicholas Chu is a researcher and analyst with Creative Urban Projects Inc. (CUP). Nick has worked extensively on urban planning projects and feasibility studies in Canada and abroad. Throughout his young academic and professional career, Nick has featured prominently in projects both with the private and public sectors. He is one of the few planners in the world with an intimate understanding of cable transit technologies and is a regular contributor to CUP’s Gondola Project website. Nick is frequently invited to transportation planning conferences around the world to speak on the matter of cable transit systems in urban environments. Nick is an honours graduate from the University of Waterloo’s School of Planning Program, specializing in Land Development Planning.
Downtown Tours – 5 Arthur Street & 40 Wellington Street, Guelph
Delegates that take the tours will see firsthand the Metalworks Development at 5 Arthur Street in Guelph, as developed by Fusion Homes and discussed earlier in the day by Pamela Kraft, Vice President, Fusion Homes. 40 Wellington Street, Guelph is a joint venture that brings to life a dormant brownfield site where Rockwell International once made tools and electronics. City council in the summer of 2012 approved rezoning to allow a cluster of retail and office space adjacent to Royal City Park.