Response from McMaster re: Parking Lot M

McMaster University

Office of the Provost

Vice-President (Academic)

Ext. 24301

provost@mcmaster.ca

May 10, 2011

Mr. Randy Kay

Restore Cootes

P.O. Box 19

1280 Main Street West

Hamilton ON L8R 1Y3

Dear Mr. Kay,

Thank you for your letter of March 31, 2011, addressed, inter alia, to University Planning Committee. I am responding as Chair of the University Planning Committee.

We share your interest in retaining and enhancing the beauty of Cootes Paradise and our surrounding environment. Your reference from our Campus Master Plan is evidence of our commitment, as is our alternative modes of transportation through increased biking facilities and car sharing. Our Office of Sustainability is actively engaged in improving our environment and engages students and faculty in support of our goals. Their annual report can be found at http://www.mcmaster.ca/sustainability/documents/Annual%20Report%202010.pdf

Unfortunately, the demand for vehicular transportation continues and the need for parking remains. We do, therefore, need to restore the parking Lot M. In doing so, we have changed the design of the lot to ensure compliance with our 30 m buffer zone policy and extended it beyond the previous lot-design. We have reduced the number of parking spots and as you recognize, we will be using permeable paving to reconstruct the lot. With the assistance of an investment by the City of Hamilton, we will be able to restore this lot to an environmentally responsible standard that will showcase innovation.

Thank you for your interest in our campus. I will share your correspondence with the University Planning Committee and my colleagues in administration.

Yours Sincerely,

Ilene Busch-Vishniac

Provost and Vice President (Academic)

Comments

Binkley's Pond, gone for parking

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Where did the water go? Art action in Lot M Parking

West Campus Eco-Art Project A walking activity and site activation on McMaster’s West Campus. West Campus Eco-Art Project is a project that incorporates creative walking activities and an artistic site activation connected with the West Campus Redesign Initiative at McMaster University. The initiative provides opportunities for connecting with nature through an on-line informational video, walking excursions and creative activities that deepen knowledge and experience with place in all its complexities (social history, citizen science, ecology and diversity). Focusing on the Coldwater creek valley on McMaster’s West Campus, participants will learn about the history and unique features of the area and will be invited to then engage with the site through observation, sketching and stencil-making. Stencils will be used to paint text and image on the parking lot asphalt to delineate a blue line that marks an historic water route. The project is supported by the McMaster Museum of Art (

McMaster's Parking Problem: Next Level

I'm sharing a recent article published in the Dundas Star News about McMaster's plan to build a - get this - $17-million dollar parking structure. Seventeen million. Yes, $17,000,000.00 That's a lot of money to provide temporary shelter for vehicles of people who choose to drive to campus. We will be following this closely. Here's the article. Cootes Drive six-storey McMaster University parking garage under review Variances or amendment to zoning bylaw expected to permit parking structure Craig Campbell, Dundas Star News, Friday, March 5, 2021 Zoning bylaw variances, or amendments, could be required for a planned six-storey, 567-space McMaster University parking garage west of Cootes Drive, and north of Thorndale Crescent. University spokesperson Michelle Donavon said the $17-million structure on parking lot K at Westaway Road will help ongoing efforts to re-naturalize parts of the west campus, by moving some surface parking into the structure. “These plans will increa

RESTORE COOTES

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