Kitchener City Council held a lengthy meeting focused primarily on two major items: the Pivot Net Zero 2025 Progress Update and the Kitchener 2031 New Official Plan. The Net Zero update included a delegation from Ann Schneider, who said the program requires “$250 million by 2050”—which she described as “approximately $10 million per year for 25 years”—and argued “the corporation of the city of Kitchener does not have the money,” adding that “the majority is coming from provincial and federal funding.” Mayor Berry Vrbanovic defended continuing the work, saying: “We got to keep driving this and not let the naysayers talk us down.”

Most of the meeting was devoted to the Official Plan’s second draft, with more than 20 delegates speaking. Several West Mount residents and representatives asked council to add specific protections, including a single neighbourhood land-use designation, a Cultural Heritage Landscape designation, and an explicit three-storey height limit. Council directed staff to return with changes addressing West Mount issues and other concerns before the final plan comes back on May 25.

Topics Discussed

West Mount Neighborhood Protection

The most contentious issue involved West Mount, a planned neighbourhood where delegates said the draft plan would replace existing low-rise permissions with broader intensification. Kathleen Kresky contrasted the current and proposed mapping: “In the 2014 plan, which is currently in effect, yellow is low-rise residential… In the 2014 map on the right, the yellow is diminished considerably as the light purple is expanded into this low-rise residential area. So what was previously low-rise residential throughout the entire city is gone and now it's 6 to 8 stories and commercial anywhere.”

Greg Shepard told council West Mount’s character is difficult to replace once altered: “The neighborhood itself is a non-renewable resource...once it's gone, it's gone.” Another delegate argued that without enforceable limits, heritage protections would be weak, saying proposed cultural heritage landscape protections were “soft and subjective” and “really ineffective without enforceable height limits.” Kathleen Kresky also asked for accountability through recorded votes: “Finally, we expect recorded votes on anything related to this proposal so that coming into the November election, we can be well informed when casting our votes.”

Net Zero 2.0 Program Concerns

Ann Schneider criticized the Net Zero program’s cost and framing. She said: “Net zero is an ideology that is part of the United Nations Agenda 21 sustainable goals,” and claimed its purpose is “to track, trace, and control everything including human beings through data sharing.” She also questioned how the city would pay for the program, stating “the corporation of the city of Kitchener does not have the money,” and that “the majority is coming from provincial and federal funding.”

Mayor Vrbanovic responded in support of continuing the initiative: “We got to keep driving this and not let the naysayers talk us down.”

Employment Land Redesignations

Delegates also raised concerns about proposed redesignations affecting employment lands, including properties along Shirley Avenue and Bingamin Center Drive. One speaker argued the changes could reduce flexibility and discourage investment: “It's not the right time to make the change to limit the potential investment opportunity. It's the time now to keep that as it is allow investment opportunity.” Another delegate framed the issue as protecting job creation capacity, saying the debate “is not about removing lands from employment and losing jobs. It's about maintaining opportunity and not limiting the opportunity for new jobs.”

Housing Affordability and Intensification Strategy

Several delegates spoke in favour of adding housing capacity citywide. Stephen Zenov argued that increasing supply would reduce costs: “The more we can decrease the cost of housing and rent, the more people will be able to thrive in every other way. By lowering rent, we improve people's material conditions directly.”

Other speakers focused on how intensification would affect established neighbourhoods. One delegate warned that if the plan permits mid-rise heights broadly, it will drive applications: “If your OP says six stories in low-rise neighborhoods, you will be facing many applications for six stories in your neighborhoods,” adding that “the biggest concern…is the overlook and the loss of privacy.”

Vision Zero Safety Program Results

Staff reported that from 2022 through 2024 there were “zero fatalities on city of Kitchener own streets,” calling it “three consecutive years without a fatality…a significant milestone for the Vision Zero program.” Staff also defended the approach to selecting projects, stating: “Based on the progress and results highlighted today, staff continue to recommend the data-driven hotspot program. This approach is equitable, evidence-based, and effective at delivering safety improvements across the entire street network.”

Council also heard that the seasonal traffic calming program is constrained by staffing capacity. Mr. Kronite said: “The program in my opinion is probably at capacity…we're talking upwards of over 100 signs now…at some point we'll have to say…we're at capacity. The program can't grow beyond this simply because of the constraints on the staff team.”

Motions

• Motion to receive the Pivot Net Zero 2025 Progress Update — Carried (information only, no direction to staff)
• Motion to receive the Vision Zero Annual Project Update — Carried
• Motion to receive submissions on the Kitchener 2031 Official Plan second draft — Carried (moved by Vice Chair Councillor Debbie Chapman)
• Motion to adjourn — Carried

Attendees

• Mayor Berry Vrbanovic
• Councillor Margaret Johnston
• Councillor Debbie Chapman (Vice Chair)
• Councillor Ioannidis
• Councillor Deno (Denell)
• Councillor Davyy
• Councillor Snider
• Chair Singh