Council overview package for August 12, 2024

Email icon Back to Search

full bike rack

Aerial photo of downtown area next to a river

City Council approved the following items during its meeting on Monday, August 12, 2024:

Council agenda

Official Plan amendment: 1180 Armour Rd.

Council approved a site-specific amendment to the Official Plan to allow the construction of an apartment building at 1180 Armour Rd. with parking oriented toward the street.

The property is located at the northeast corner of the intersection of Armour Road and Cunningham Boulevard.

The R.5-330 zoning district will facilitate the development of the seven-storey, 76-unit apartment building as considered by the Ontario Land Tribunal.

On June 10, 2024, Council adopted a resolution directing staff to process a site-specific Official Plan Amendment to remedy any conflict between the policies of the new Official Plan and the concept plan that was considered by the Ontario Land Tribunal in 2022.

The proposed development was the subject of Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendment applications that were deemed complete on June 21, 2019. A public meeting under the Planning Act was held by General Committee on July 6, 2020. At the Council meeting on July 27, 2020, Council deferred making a decision until such time that an independent traffic study was completed. The applicant appealed the lack of decision to the Ontario Land Tribunal and the Tribunal issued its decision to approve the amendments on April 20, 2022, prior to the Ministry approval of the City’s new Official Plan.

Under the new Official Plan, the subject property is designated Minor Mixed-Use Corridor. The Minor Mixed-Use Corridor designation includes urban design policy that does not support the current concept, however this policy was not in effect during the review of the OPA and ZBA applications, nor during the Tribunal process.

Zoning by-law amendment: 838 Lock St.

Council approved a zoning by-law amendment to facilitate the use of 838 Lock St. for up to three dwelling units, to update the list of permitted uses, to increase the maximum allowable commercial floor area, and to adjust the building setback and parking coverage regulations to reflect the current development of the property.

The property is on the east side of Lock Street, south of the intersection of Lock Street and Lansdowne Street West, across the street from the Peterborough Memorial Centre. The property has an area of approximately 644 square metres and is occupied by an existing building and four parking spaces. This small mixed-use property currently supports three dwellings, two of which are not permitted by the present zoning.

The current zoning for the property, which was put in place in the 1980s, permits a barber shop, a beauty shop, a dwelling unit and a retail establishment for the sale of fishing equipment, archery equipment and accessories.

The applicant is proposing to amend the current zoning designation to increase the number of permitted dwelling units from one to three, which will have the effect of legalizing two additional dwelling units, from a zoning perspective, previously established on the property.

No new buildings, structures or gross floor area are proposed as part of the application.

Zoning by-law amendment: 245 Spillsbury Dr.

Council approved a zoning by-law amendment to facilitate building a 26-unit stacked townhouse development at 245 Spillsbury Dr.

The property is on the north side of Spillsbury Drive between Airport Road and Clancy Crescent. The property is currently vacant land within an existing built-out subdivision. The property is surrounded by residential lands on the north, east and south, and vacant agricultural land on the west side of Airport Road.

The current zoning designation on the property allows for a range of commercial uses in addition to residential. The current owner applied to change the zoning to solely residential in 2021.

The applicant has submitted a refined concept site plan that shows two, three-storey buildings facing Airport Road and Spillsbury Drive and would result in 26 new residential units.

Pending approval of the Zoning By-law amendment, the applicant would then proceed to the Site Plan process beginning with the request for pre-consultation. The pre-consultation step for Site Plan Approval will outline the technical studies and drawings required for a complete site plan application.

Zoning by-law amendment: 780 Argyle St.

Council approved a zoning by-law amendment to add a school and a day nursery to the list of permitted uses for 780 Argyle St.

The property is on the east side of Argyle Street between George Street North and Dumble Avenue. The property contains two existing institutional buildings and is currently home to The Village on Argyle and a student residence for Trent University.

The property was previously home to Master’s College and Seminary, which recently moved out of the building at the end of July.

Trent University is taking over the residential portion of the building vacated by Master’s College and Seminary, and it is proposed that Rowan Tree Children’s School will operate a school and daycare use in the classroom space on the second floor of the building.

The property is currently zoned UC – University and College District, permitting university and college facilities and accessory uses.

The applicant proposes to rezone the subject property to add a school and day nursery to the list of permitted uses. The application does not propose new buildings or structures, nor an increase to the existing gross floor area at this time.

2025 Budget: Preliminary estimates and projections

Council approved providing direction that the all-inclusive rate increase to the Draft 2025 Budget not exceed a 5% increase, after being presented with an information report on early information and assumptions about the 2025 budget impacts, which will be refined as the budget process continues and more information becomes available.

On June 11 and 27, 2024, staff made presentations to General Committee about the 2025 preliminary budget information of each department. The purpose of these presentations was to inform members of Council about the issues the City is facing for the 2025 budget and the impacts these issues will have on the All-Inclusive Rate increase and property tax requirement. At the end of those presentations, Council decided to revisit the presentations and a 2025 draft budget guideline in the August cycle.

The preliminary estimates at this stage of the 2025 draft budget process reflect that to maintain the Status Quo levels of service in 2025 would require an increase to the All-Inclusive Rate of 8.44%. To fund the identified Incremental Items would require an additional increase of 1.84%, for a total increase of 10.28%.

These items are based on early information and assumptions about the 2025 budget requirements and impacts which will be refined as the budget process continues and more information becomes available.

Under the Strong Mayor Powers legislation, staff receive direction about the budget from the Mayor. At this time, the Mayor advises that he is contemplating not exercising his delegated authority in this context and would prefer Council reach a consensus about a guideline increase for the 2025 budget. Should Council determine a guideline for the 2025 draft budget, the recommendation would be made to the Mayor, requesting that he take it into consideration in providing direction to staff about the preparation of the budget.

With the many significant and competing demands on the 2025 budget, it is important that the Levels of Service remain the focus as the key means to reduce the property tax requirement and the 2025 budget.

The Draft 2025 Budget as developed by City staff is expected to be presented to Council at its meeting on November 4, 2024, which will be followed by three public meetings to hear feedback from residents before Council deliberates on the Draft 2025 Budget during two meetings on November 18 and 19. The Mayor’s 2025 Budget is expected to be adopted on December 9, 2024.

The 2025 Budget process started in March 2024. The City has held two consultation meetings, one with a presentation followed by an opportunity to speak with budget team members and another that was an informal drop-in meeting for conversations with the budget team. A budget survey was open from March 28 to April 26, which generated 220 responses. An overview of the budget survey responses has been posted on the City’s online consultation platform at connectptbo.ca/2025Budget.

Next steps in the 2025 Budget process

Draft 2025 Budget presented to City Council – November 4, 2024

Budget consultation meeting – November 7, 2024

Budget consultation drop-in opportunity – November 12, 2024

City Council meeting to hear public delegations on the Draft 2025 Budget – November 12, 2024

General Committee meeting, City Council 2025 Budget deliberations – November 18-19, 2024

Anticipated date for adoption of Mayor’s 2025 Budget – December 9, 2024

Peterborough Transit By-law

Council approved a new Peterborough Transit By-law to replace the current public bus transportation by-law that was last updated in 1978.

The new by-law will align with the current needs of the City’s Transportation system to offer accessible public transportation in a safe and consistent manner for both Staff and the general public and authorize the operation of the City’s Transportation system beyond the City’s geographic borders.

The existing by-law from 1978 refers to the schedule each day of the week exclusive of Sunday at half hour frequency between 6:15 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. and does not authorize transit outside of the City’s geographic boundaries. The schedules set out in the existing Bylaw have not been followed in decades. The existing By-law is overly prescriptive with specific routes set out therein rather than enabling changes based on the development of the City over time. The existing By-law also references the fare structure and authorization to the City Administrator to authorize unscheduled charters. It would be more appropriate to delete and replace the existing By-law with a modern By-law rather than to amend it.

This new By-law will provide the following:

  • Provide Peterborough Transit the authorization to operate Inter-City Transit. The proposed new Peterborough Transit By-law would provide the requisite clear authority to operate transit outside the City of Peterborough in accordance with s.69(7) of the Municipal Act, 2001. The Ministry of Transportation previously required municipalities to apply to be able to provide service outside of City boundaries. This requirement was removed in 2021, allowing municipalities to provide this service so long as Peterborough Transit is otherwise in compliance with applicable local law.
  • Allow the Commissioner and Director, to make such decisions, subject to Council direction, relating to Peterborough Transit’s operations that best serve the needs of the City in delivering an effective transit service. This includes the establishment and implementation of rules of conduct, and schedules. In addition, the new By-law would be written to grant the Municipal Operations Commissioner or Transit Director authority to make changes to routes as required.
  • Peterborough Transit will have exclusive rights for operating a paid busing service within the City’s boundaries. It would not apply to Inter-City bus carriers (e.g. GO Transit, a division of Metrolinx), buses used to transport pupils, including buses owned or operated by or for a school board, private school, or charitable organization.

Council added the following stipulations during its discussion of the item:

  • Delegated authority is not extended for inter-municipal transit. Any cross-border or inter-municipal transit operations must go to Council for approval;
  • Any inter-municipal or cross-border transit services must, at minimum, be on a full cost recovery basis; and
  • Inter-municipal transit to a City of Peterborough owned property will be considered as unique and still require Council approval.

-30-