Civic Briefs: Waterloo Edition

Planning Overdrive – Faster Permits, Uptown Towers, and a North-End Green Light

Today on Civic Briefs: Waterloo Edition, we’re covering planning moves that set the tone for housing and growth. Host Casey Page unpacks Council’s second-draft Community Planning Permit System, deferred-site clean-up on the Official Plan, two Uptown redevelopment pitches, and a formal approval for Mattamy’s Conservation Drive subdivision—with some surgical tweaks to setbacks and balconies. 🗓️ Meeting date: July 14, 2025

Rental Rules, Real Talk – Renovictions, STRs, and a Dog Park

This week on Civic Briefs: Waterloo Edition, we’re covering rental rules and tenant protections. Host Casey Page unpacks the decisions, debates, and delegate voices that shaped your city—from licensing short-term rental platforms and expanding bedroom caps, to drafting a renoviction by-law framework and launching the ARU Grant Program. 🗓️ Meeting date: June 23, 2025

St. Columba on Pause – King & Columbia Moves Ahead

This week on Civic Briefs: Waterloo Edition, we’re covering the arts-space debate at St. Columba, the development-charge refresh, Uptown land moves, and a mid-rise approval at King & Columbia. Host Casey Page unpacks the decisions, debates, and delegate voices that shaped your city—from a deferral on a three-year arts lease to green-lighting 35 new homes near transit. 🗓️ Meeting date: June 16, 2025

354 King and the Carnegie Comeback – High-Rise Hopes and Heritage Revival

This week on Civic Briefs: Waterloo Edition, we’re covering housing density and heritage preservation. Host Casey Page unpacks council’s approval of a 24-storey tower near King and Columbia, plus a major step toward transforming the vacant Carnegie Library into a home for the city museum. 🗓️ Meeting date: June 9, 2025

Tariffs, Treaties, and Tree Replacements – A City Grapples with Big Systems and Local Impacts

This week on Civic Briefs: Waterloo Edition, we unpack a packed May 26, 2025 council meeting—from an urgent call for Indigenous consultation to a 10-point plan responding to U.S. tariffs. Plus: a modernized Noise By-law, updated Age-Friendly Action Plan. 🗓️ Meeting date: May 26, 2025