Council Highlights from the June 12, 2023 meeting

Clarington buys sidewalk snow-clearing equipment

Council awarded the contract to purchase five new tractors for arterial sidewalk winter maintenance.
Before finalizing the purchase, Public Works staff visited two local municipalities with similar machines in their fleet to evaluate the equipment. After the evaluation, staff agreed that the tractors would accommodate Clarington’s needs.
Major winter storms can limit safe access to sidewalks. Traditionally, sidewalks along larger urban roads (aka. arterial roads) in Clarington were cleared by contracted services or by businesses and residents with frontage. The 2023 budget included a motion to acquire the necessary resources to begin clearing arterial sidewalks during the 2023-24 winter season.

The purchase of five new sidewalk tractors for winter maintenance, for $908,934, will allow the Municipality to have better control over the work and provide a higher level of service to support active transportation on main sidewalks during the winter months.

Clarington declares intimate partner violence an epidemic

Clarington Council voted to declare intimate partner violence an epidemic, supporting the Region of Durham, which declared intimate partner violence an epidemic and is calling on the Ontario Government to do the same.
The Violence Prevention Coordination Council of Durham, representing 35 local agencies, including Bethesda House, Bowmanville’s women’s shelter, reported a significant increase in demand for assistance from local support providers. In the 2021-22 fiscal year, Durham Victim Services supported 4,438 victims of intimate partner violence, up 32 per cent over four years and supported 916 victims of sexual violence, up 277 per cent over four years.

Council asked staff to investigate which recommendations the Municipality of Clarington could implement from the Renfrew County Inquest into intimate partner violence (which looked at the circumstances surrounding the death of three Renfrew County women murdered by a former partner and recommended systematic changes that could reduce the likelihood of it happening again). Council also endorsed the Region of Durham integrating intimate partner violence into the Region’s Community Safety and Well-Being Plan.

Council requests testing for Newtonville Road

Clarington Council is asking the Region of Durham to hire a third-party consultant for soil and water testing to determine if the Newtonville Road pilot project has adversely affected the environment and human health.

Durham Region ran a pilot project using recycled material to reconstruct a portion of Newtonville Road last summer. At the time, the items used in the road reconstruction raised some concerns with residents. However, the project was deemed safe and was completed in the fall of 2022. It was recently recognized with the Project of the Year Award in Transportation by the Ontario Public Works Association.

Clarington Council supports and encourages reuse of materials that cannot be recycled. However, before celebrating the success of the Newtonville Road pilot project, soil and water testing would demonstrate whether this reuse of recycled material is safe for the environment.

Rezoning approved for 10-storey Courtice building

Council approved the Official Plan Amendment and the Zoning By-law Amendment to permit a 10-storey building and 44 townhouses at 1465 Highway 2 in Courtice.

The proposed 10-storey building would have 140 residential units, plus the site will add 200 square metres of commercial floor space in a place easily accessible by residents of these developments and others nearby.

The proposal also includes indoor and outdoor common amenity spaces and an outdoor patio on the west commercial unit to enhance the public realm along Highway 2.

The lands needed to be zoned from General Commercial Exception Zone to a Residential Mixed Use Exception Zone to enable the proposed development. The new zoning will better align with the approved vision for the Courtice Main Street area.

The next Council Meeting is on June 26, 2023.