View Assessment Galt City Centre

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View AssessmentGalt City Centre

• June 4th, 2004
• By Christy Fiddler

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Project Objective
View Assessment Galt City Centre

• This project seeks to analyze views within Galt
  City Centre to ensure that future development and
  infill projects do not disrupt view corridors
  within the core area.

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Project Objective
View Assessment Galt City Centre

• May 11th - Met with City of Cambridge and
  Community University Research Alliance (CURA) to
  discuss project development and related ideas.
• Month of May - Completed Literature Review on
  view sheds, heritage conservation principles and
  historic preservation planning.

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Project Objective
View Assessment Galt City Centre

• May 31st - Completed case study search of other
  municipalities that have or are currently
  conducting a view shed analysis within their city
  limits.
• Cities that I have researched include
• Calgary, Halifax, Kingston, Melbourne, Ottawa,
  San Francisco, Seattle, St. Johns, Toronto,
  Vancouver, Victoria, Washington, Winnipeg,

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Project Objective
View Assessment Galt City Centre

• June 1st - Found prototypes - City of Vancouver
  City of St. Johns - which could be used as a
  guideline to this research process.
• June 2nd - Met with City of Cambridge and CURA to
  relay Vancouver and St. Johns Case Study
  findings. Approval granted.
• June 15th - Meeting with City of Cambridge and
  CURA - site reconnaissance
• June 16th - Meeting with Thomas Seebohm to
  discuss project outline and objectives.

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Project Objective
View Assessment Galt City Centre

• Month of June - Develop Stakeholder Process
  Involve CARAC, MHAC, BIA, City Staff, UW School
  of Architecture/ Planning, Residents of Galt
  (i.e. work towards communicating this project to
  these groups via emails, letters, personal
  communication etc.)
• Month of June - Examine previous projects, plans
  and studies conducted by the City of Cambridge
  and relate their findings to the view assessment
  project.

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Project Objective
View Assessment Galt City Centre

• Month of June - Work on scheduling the first set
  of walking tours of the selected sites and view
  corridors within Galt City Centre (3 tours in
  total). Also work on developing a handout sheet
  for participants so that they can provide their
  own personal comments and input on the selected
  sites.

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Project Objective
View Assessment Galt City Centre

• Beginning of July - Prepare for walking tours -
  sign up participants, organize scheduling, answer
  questions etc.
• Mid-July - Conduct walking tours of
  pre-selected sites (Week of July 19th - 23rd).
• End of July - Categorize / organize participants
  responses from walking tours. Meet with City
  of Cambridge and CURA to relay results.

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Project Objective
View Assessment Galt City Centre

• Beginning of August - Prepare / schedule open
  house meeting to present findings to walking
  tour participants and other interested parties.
• Mid-August - Hold open house meeting to relay
  findings to community. Gather input from
  community to include in final report.
• August - Prepare final report for the City of
  Cambridge including methodology of project,
  project description, findings/results and future
  directions

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Work Program View Assessment of Galt City Centre

• June July August
• 2 9 16 23 30
  7 14 21 28 4
  11 18 25

Meet with City of Cambridge CURA to discuss
prototype for project
Book and prepare for Open House Meeting
Prepare for Walking Tours (i.e. scheduling,
organizing etc.)
Site Reconnaissance and Meeting with Thomas
Seebohm
Conduct Walking Tours
Hold Open House Meeting
Organize and Analyze responses from Walking Tours
present to City of Cambridge and CURA
Stakeholder Process, Review Past Studies,
Scheduling of Walking Tours Develop Handout for
Walking Tours
Prepare Final Report for the City of Cambridge
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City of Vancouver - Skyline Study
View Assessment Galt City Centre

• A primary goal of the project was to improve
  Vancouvers skyline so it is more visually
  appealing to tourists and residents alike.
• A secondary goal of the project was to protect
  views of the north shore mountain range from a
  variety of locations within the city.

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City of Vancouver - Skyline Study
View Assessment Galt City Centre

• Current height limits have been put into practice
  downtown so as to protect the current public
  views of the north shore Mountains. (See next
  slide)
• However the report presents five different case
  scenarios for the preferred profile of the
  Downtown Vancouver skyline.

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City of Vancouver - Skyline Study
View Assessment Galt City Centre

• The public along with City staff evaluated the
  five prototypical skylines, considering a variety
  of factors (i.e. relationship to natural setting,
  visual interest etc.)
• A recommended skyline was outlined in the report
  which took into consideration both public and
  private perspectives. (See next slide)

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City of Vancouver - Skyline Study
View Assessment Galt City Centre

• This report has great visual images and digital
  maps outlining specific view corridors and
  building height limitations that can be
  incorporated into the view assessment study for
  Galt City Centre. (See next slide)

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City of St. Johns - Public Views Study
View Assessment Galt City Centre

• City of St. Johns hired a consultant to put
  together a report titled St. Johns Areas,
  Heritage Areas and Public Views (2003).
• This report outlines the methodology used to
  undertake this study which can also be used as a
  basis for the View Assessment Study of Galt City
  Centre.

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City of St. Johns - Public Views Study
View Assessment Galt City Centre

• Inventory of past studies within the City of St.
  Johns to understand the importance of their own
  visual resources (i.e. landmarks)
• Compiled a list of visual resources including
  landmarks, districts and routes in which the view
  should be preserved.
• Additional field work was conducted identifying
  any gaps in the research.

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City of St. Johns - Public Views Study
View Assessment Galt City Centre

• Viewpoints and views were photographed.

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City of St. Johns - Public Views Study
View Assessment Galt City Centre

• Maps were developed using GIS software. View
  planes were constructed of different views. On
  the maps, the current zoning was superimposed
  over top of each view plane so as to identify
  views that may be compromised. (See next
  slide)

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City of St. Johns - Public Views Study
View Assessment Galt City Centre

• In addition to view planes, street-end views were
  also analyzed and mapped. (See next slide)
• Results were then presented to City Staff and
  other Stakeholders.

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City of St. Johns - Public Views Study
View Assessment Galt City Centre

• Other case studies within municipalities were
  analyzed (i.e. Guelph, Ottawa, Vancouver).
• Various protection measures are described.
• Recommendations are provided.

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References
View Assessment Galt City Centre

• City of Vancouver (1997) Downtown Vancouver
  Skyline Study
• http//www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/commsvcs/currentpl
  anning/skylinestudy/index.htm
• City of St. John (2003) St. Johns Heritage
  Areas, Heritage Buildings and Public Views
• http//www.stjohns.ca/cityservices/planning/pdfs/h
  eritagefinal.pdf