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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSeptember 18, 2024 Page 1 of 5 Minutes/Meeting Summary Accessibility Advisory Committee September 18, 2024 Hybrid Electronic Meeting Main Committee Room 7:00 pm Attendees: S. Azhar D. Currie B. Ferguson C. Rudberg-Chin M. Shackleton S. Snyders K. Sullivan M. Wilson T. Higgins, Accessibility Coordinator I. Janton, Senior Planner – Site Planning J. Currie, Legislative Coordinator Absent: Councillor M. Brenner Councillor M. Nagy A. Khan A. Topple, Ajax-Pickering Board of Trade Item/ Ref # Details & Discussion & Conclusion (summary of discussion) Action Items/Status (include deadline as appropriate) 1. Review and Approval of Agenda Moved by C. Rudberg-Chin Seconded by M. Shackleton That the Agenda for the September 18, 2024, Meeting of The Accessibility Advisory Committee Meeting be approved. Carried 2. Disclosure of Interest No disclosures of interest were noted. 3. Approval of Minutes Page 2 of 5 Item/ Ref # Details & Discussion & Conclusion (summary of discussion) Action Items/Status (include deadline as appropriate) Moved by M. Wilson Seconded by D. Currie That the Minutes of the June 19, 2024, meeting of the Accessibility Advisory Committee be approved. Carried T. Higgins to provide update on additional accessible parking standards. 4. Presentations/Delegations 4.1 Glenn Brown, Pickering Resident – The Pickering Official Plan and Normalizing Disability Provisions Glen Brown, a Pickering Resident, appeared before the Committee to speak to the normalization of disability provisions in the City of Pickering in relation to the Pickering Official Plan. G. Brown raised concerns regarding accessibility and suggested the City should contribute to the safety and abilities of all, and could consider implementing an automated navigation system through AI or GPS, to help guide impaired individuals. G. Brown noted that most street signs in Pickering are small and often hidden by trees, creating visibility barriers and concluded that accessibility should be provided in architecture and city design as a normal matter, not to be provided as exceptions. A brief discussion ensued between Committee Members regarding support of G. Browns suggestions and noted that the sub-committee’s work on the Accessibility Symposium was in alignment with providing accessibility as a normal matter. 5. New Business 5.1 Site Plans Review A 08/22, SP-2022-03 & CP-2022-04 I Janton provided an overview of the site plans for 2660 Brock Road, 2670 Brock Road, and 2680 Brock Road. A brief discussion ensued between Committee members and Staff regarding: • clarification of what stacked town homes were; • whether ground level units were being built as accessible units; • whether the outdoor playground design would be inclusive, and that Pickering engineering staff could be a good resource; • whether units could be built to accommodate the retrofit of accessibility features in the future; • clarification whether all units were stacked townhomes; Page 3 of 5 Item/ Ref # Details & Discussion & Conclusion (summary of discussion) Action Items/Status (include deadline as appropriate) • investigating previous developments to ensure best practices were being brought forward and previous errors were avoided; • asking the developers how many units they had considered designating as accessible; • whether any units were designated as rental units; and, • inviting the developers to have an open discussion at a future Accessibility Advisory Committee Meeting. 5.2 Sub-Committee Update K. Sullivan provided a brief summary of the meetings held by the Accessibility Advisory Sub-committee over the summer months including a meeting with City of Pickering City Development staff. K. Sullivan noted the opportunity to join the Accelerating Accessibility Coalition (the “Coalition”), and that further discussion would occur, including the possibility of inviting representatives from Vaughan as well as the Coalition to gather a full picture of what joining may entail. Discussion between Committee Members ensued regarding presenting the Accessibility Symposium to developers and that collaboration with the developers would be a key aspect of providing effective accessibility education. T. Higgins and B. Ferguson provided a brief summary of their meeting with C. Whitaker, Manager, Sustainability & Strategic Environmental Initiatives, to discuss sharing of information on how the City engaged the building community in the creation of the Integrated Sustainability Design Standards (ISDS) and the Sustainability Series Workshop. I. Janton noted that planning staff had compiled accessibility checklists from other municipalities to refer to and compare with a draft Pickering checklist and were compiling a consolidated list that could serve Pickering moving forward. 5.3 Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC) Member Training T. Higgins and M. Shackleton provided a brief summary of AccessForward, a provincial Accessibility training platform. Discussion ensued between Committee Members regarding who was required to do Accessibility Training and if it included Council Members. T. Higgins and I. Janton to coordinate an invitation to the Developers to attend a future AAC meeting. T. Higgins to reach out to contacts at the Coalition, the City of Vaughan and Daniels Corporation to coordinate further discussions. T. Higgins to provide information pertaining to Accessibility training provided to Council. Page 4 of 5 Item/ Ref # Details & Discussion & Conclusion (summary of discussion) Action Items/Status (include deadline as appropriate) T. Higgins noted that Accessibility related policies are available on the Accessible Pickering Website that speak to the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) including: • Accessibility Policy [ADM 090] • Accessibility Standards for Customer Service [ADM 090 001] • Hiring Policy [HUR 040] T. Higgins noted that Committee Members’ completion of the Accessibility Training would be included in the AAC Annual Report to Council. 5.4 Electronic Monitoring Systems to Manage Accessible Parking K. Sullivan highlighted three items pertaining to Electronic Monitoring Systems to Manage Accessible Parking including Rapid Deployment Cameras, Sensors Connected to Cloud Databases, and Digital Applications. K. Sullivan noted cost as the primary impediment of implementation. It was concluded that next steps would include providing the collected information to Rob MacKay, Supervisor, Parking Enforcement and inviting R. MacKay to discuss this topic at a future AAC meeting. Discussion ensued between Committee Members regarding linking to provincial databases of registered licence plates and implementing a registration system similar to the Waterfront Parking program. AAC Members to complete AccessForward training modules. T. Higgins to provide Standard Operating Procedures to Committee Members. T. Higgins to provide R. MacKay with Electronic Monitoring Systems information. 6. Correspondence There were no items of correspondence. 7. Other Business T. Higgins informed the Committee that the LEAD summary report was complete and that follow-up actions would be carried forward to the 2026-2030 Accessibility Five Year Plan as appropriate. T. Higgins to send the LEAD summary report to Committee Members. 8. AAC Member Roundtable Updates T. Higgins surveyed the members for updates and Committee Members shared experiences and initiatives pertaining to Accessibility. 9. Next Meeting – October 16, 2024 Page 5 of 5 Item/ Ref # Details & Discussion & Conclusion (summary of discussion) Action Items/Status (include deadline as appropriate) 10. Adjournment Moved by C. Rudberg-Chin Seconded by D. Currie That the meeting be adjourned. Carried Meeting Adjourned: 9:16 pm