A city for everyone - City of Kitchener development services review update

It is essential that development services stakeholders are working towards common goals and understand how their contributions support what we are trying to achieve within the city – especially since there are a number of disciplines involved in the delivery of development services who may represent functions with competing interests at times. With this in mind, the first objective of the development services review is to establish a shared vision for economic growth, city building, sustainability, and development interests.

We realized early on that establishing a shared vision was not about re-writing our existing policies but rather articulating how we will work together within our policy framework to build a great city. We were asked to take the necessary time to “get it right”, so we created an engagement plan over a 5-month period and engaged broadly with staff, Council, the Mayor, the broader Kitchener community, and the development community in discussions around where we want the community to be as a result of our collective contributions in development services, and how we will work together to get there. We are sincerely appreciative of the rich feedback that you shared with us. The process was dynamic, iterative and informative, and we’re confident that the following vision/mission gets to the heart of the kind of community that our stakeholders want to create in Kitchener:

A city for everyone

Working together • Growing thoughtfully • Building community

For more information on how this shared vision was established, please read the summary and recommendation report in the document library.The vision is being presented to Committee on May 13^th and Council on May 27^th for final approval. Beginning in June 2019, selected development services processes (site plan and public engagement) will be reviewed and future process improvement recommendations will be aligned to, and reviewed against, the shared vision.

We are thrilled that you have been part of our journey in establishing a shared vision and we look forward to working together to grow thoughtfully, build community; ultimately; creating a city for everyone!