Hon. Lisa MacLeod Minister,…

Hon. Lisa MacLeod
Minister, Heritage Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries
6th Floor, 438 University Avenue
Toronto, ON
M7A 1N3

Dear Minister MacLeod,

The purpose of this letter is to provide comments to the proposed regulations under the Ontario Heritage Act pursuant to Bill 108, which are currently available on the Environmental Registry of Ontario for public commentary.

Heritage staff have reviewed the proposed regulations and are in agreement with other reports as prepared by other municipalities that the proposed implementation date January 1st, 2021 will place significant demand on staff time and resources.

Staff recommends that the proclamation deadline be pushed to July 1st, 2021 to allow municipalities more time to prepare, especially in consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has already created additional stress on the municipality and staff resources.

By allowing additional time to prepare, the municipality will be in a better position to gradually phase in the new legislative requirements. Staff have identified a number of administrative tasks, business practices and planning procedures that will need to be revised or created in order to implement the legislated changes once in effect. These include, but are not limited to:

• Updating and reviewing of all existing, and creation of new heritage applications;
• Updating of cultural heritage brochures, terms of references and guidance materials;
• Increased time dedicated to administrative tasks such as the creation of screening procedures and tools for tracking of timelines associated with Planning Act applications received in the form of Official Plan, Zoning By-law and Plan of Subdivision;
• Creation of new designation by-law templates to meet new minimum designation by-law standards;
• Increased time needed to provide training of regulations and updates to Planning staff, Council members and Heritage Advisory Committee members; and,
• Increased frequency and resources needed to prepare reports and recommendations on request to remove properties listed and designated on the Heritage Register a to Council.

In addition to the concerns expressed above regarding the timing of the proposed regulations coming into force and effect, staff have also identified additional areas of concern as described below:

• The proposed regulation notes that the service of notice of a complete application is one of the “prescribed event” triggers that would activate the 90 day timeline countdown to issue a Notice of Intent to Designate. If the 90 day window is exhausted, there would be no opportunity further in the planning process for a Designation process to take place. This 90 day review period does not give adequate time for staff to conduct the research and review necessary to finalize a Notice of Intent to Designate. Furthermore, the introduction of additional requirements to be included in a Designation by-law and the need to meet the 120 day deadline to complete and pass a Designation By-law will be more complex and difficult to achieve. Staff recommend that this timeline be extended or occur later in the Planning process where staff will have more time to review.

• The release of the revised Ontario Heritage Toolkit series is essential in order to assist with interpretation and understanding of the proposed new regulations. The toolkits would help to provide clarity towards the decision making process and the prescribed exemption and timelines. Staff recommend that there should be a period of public consultation where the draft heritage toolkit documents are released for municipal input and feedback.

As a result of the proposed legislative changes, staff have concerns with the timelines imposed as noted above. Staff will need additional time beyond the 3 month timeline to transition effectively to amend its existing practices and resources to adapt to the new changes. As staff’s attention is currently dedicated and focusing our priorities on addressing matters relating to the COVID-19 situation, the immediate transition to the new regulations on January 1st, 2021 would result in the Township being unable to meet the statutory timelines, which may result in the loss of built heritage resources and overall decrease in current service levels to applicants and residents.

Sincerely,

Colin Pang, MCIP, RPP
Township Planner, Heritage Coordinator and Acting Secretary Treasurer to the Committee of Adjustment