CENTRE WELLINGTON – Changes to provincial legislation are likely to leave more than 900 listed heritage properties without protection from demolition.
A Centre Wellington report said the township’s municipal heritage register right now includes 1,052 properties: 121 designated properties and 931 listed properties.
As of now, owners of properties listed on a heritage register are required to give 60 days notice to council of their intention to demolish or remove a building or structure, giving the municipality time to consider beginning the designation process which offers stronger protections.
This is set to change due to Bill 23.
Any building listed but not designated on the heritage register before Jan. 1, 2025 will be removed from it and can't be added to it again for another five years. In the case of Centre Wellington, this would be 931 properties which includes many older houses across the township, the entire north side of St. Andrew Street between Tower Street and St. David Street in Downtown Fergus, and much of Metcalfe Street in Downtown Elora among countless other properties.
“This severely undermines the work that staff and Heritage Centre Wellington have been doing over many years to identify and protect as many heritage properties as possible,” a Centre Wellington report stated.
Given these limitations, the report said, municipalities are looking to designate as many properties as possible but this is a challenging task under the requirements of the Ontario Heritage Act which includes: research, evaluation, report preparation, notices, bylaw and registration.
“The provincial average to date for municipalities across Ontario has been two designations per year,” the report stated.
The township may have a plan to do more than the average should council approve it.
The report said staff are of the opinion that a temporary full-time heritage intern would assist in completing this more efficiently. Staff estimated anywhere from 10 to 12 designations can be brought forward for council’s consideration by the fall if the intern is hired and could be higher if more efficiencies can be found.
This position is estimated to cost $15,000 for a four month contract term. Twelve new designations would cost between $18,000 and $20,000 in administrative fees. Both are recommended to be funded through the heritage reserve fund.
Council will consider this at a meeting on Monday.
The full report can be found here and a map of designated and listed heritage properties in Centre Wellington can be found here.
