At the July 15 meeting of Kingston City Council Mayor Mark Gerretsen and Councillor Sandy Berg will seek the support of Council for an amendment to the Queen’s University noise exemption application. The proposed amendment asks for the exemption to expire June 2015 rather than December 2015 to call on Queen’s to complete the noise study and noise mitigation actions as quickly as possible.
“There has been a lot of discussion on this temporary noise exemption application for Richardson Stadium and West Campus submitted by Queen’s University,” said Mayor Mark Gerretsen. “However, there is also some misinformation on what exactly the City is being asked to consider. The staff report coming before Council on July 15 recommends granting temporary exemption and the process for long-term measures to mitigate noise. This addresses resident concerns while allowing for sports and activities to continue on the West Campus fields with limited noise occurrences strictly enforced by the City of Kingston by-law department.”
The recommendation from City staff is for a temporary exemption until December 31, 2015 to allow Queen’s to conduct a noise study of West Campus Fields and propose noise mitigation actions by the end of December 2014. This recommendation, in keeping with City by-law, will allow activities to continue on West Campus while addressing the complaints received from Kingston residents.
“While I appreciate the time needed to complete the noise study and implement any suggested measures, I believe six months is sufficient for implementation rather than a year. For this reason we are seeking support for the amendment to alter the expiry date to June 2015,” said Mayor Mark Gerretsen.
“We are proud of our long-standing relationship with Queen’s University and we fully support recreation and athletic programs across our community, including our post-secondary institutions,” said Councillor Sandy Berg. “This amendment is a good compromise that will allow sports to continue while also addressing resident concerns in a timely fashion.”
To read the full report and staff recommendation please visit the City of Kingston website.
Photo and Release source: City of Kingston
