Final Report - City of Charlottetown

CITY OF CHARLOTTETOWN: COMPREHENSIVE WATERFRONT MASTER PLANFinal Report • December 2012Official Plan ChangesThe official Plan is already rather comprehensive in its general policies for various districts, andits philosophical approaches to sustainability, open space, healthy living, growth management,servicing and infrastructure, etc. There are three areas that will need improvement in order todovetail with the future city LUB, and in particular, the new waterfront zone. These include:1. The document needs to describe better a future vision for the City. Chapter 1, theOverview, hints at a vision and chapter 2, the Foundation for the Future, providesmore insight; however, a clear and concise vision for the future of the city needsto be articulated. This should include the importance of heritage, open space,healthy communities, sustainable development, industrial development, theNew Knowledge Economy and how Charlottetown fits into a regional strategy.Clearly in that vision, the waterfront should be singled out as a key driver forthe city’s future, both from a port industrial perspective and from a ‘must see’activity, living and shopping perspective and from a future urban growth centreperspective. As waterfront values continue to escalate in urban areas, thewaterfront should be reserved for only the highest and best examples of mixeduse urban development. In addition, the urban waterfront trail (which shouldeventually be branded) should be expanded and better linkages provided toother areas of the city to create walkable, active transportation networks.2. The future OP should provide a more comprehensive list of development andconservation principles. In its current format, those principles are inferred anddistributed throughout the various chapters which focus on specific topics.It would provide a more complete overview to the entire OP by listing theseprinciples which underly the foundation of the plan in one complete section.In most cases, these principles belong with the vision. This report is laid out inthat format and should be incorporated into the eventual OP. Chapter 3 of thisreport outlines the vision and principles for the waterfront that can be taken andadapted for the future OP.3. Section 3.5 of the OP describes “Waterfront Development”. This section requires amore comprehensive update and more direct policies.A. Generally speaking the section needs to address the waterfront as:i. a key urban growth centre for downtown Charlottetown and major regionaldestination for locals and tourists alikeii. an important part of an active transportation strategy for the city with the needfor a fully public waters edge and key linkages to other city wide trail systemslike the Confederation Trail, Eastern Gateway and Victoria Park.iii. a place for active groundfloor uses which will activate the waterfront andcreate a must see/experience destination. Single purpose private uses shouldalways be discouraged on the groundfloor if they don’t encourage public activity(.e.g. residential uses, offices, general industrial uses, parking garages, etc.).The groundfloors should always be reserved for commercial uses like retail,restaurants, pubs, visitor centres, galleries, etc. These uses should be encouragedto have an active address on the waterfront.iv. a major gateway from the water and recognizing that many people willexperience the city starting at the waterfront. At these key gateway locations,the city must present itself in the best possible light using the highest qualitydesign standards.v. a year round activity centre with sites and destinations around the waterfrontthat appeal to the widest possible audience from kids, to young families, toseniors, to boaters and non-Canadians.vi. A working port that contributes to the GDP of the City in a significant way andshould be protected.vii. An urban area that is always in transition and needs to accommodate a widevariety of users, sea level rise, potential infill lots.3. Policy Objectives. There are currently 3 policy objectives on page 17 (publicaccess, sensitive redevelopment, preserve viewscapes and open space). Thefollowing additions should be considered:30