Summary: Several changes are…

Summary:

Several changes are proposed to the Ontario Heritage Act (OHA) and its regulations, including Ontario Regulation 9/06 Criteria for Determining Cultural Heritage Value or Interest, as part of the More Homes Built Faster Act (2022). These changes will significantly impact the Town of Halton Hills’ heritage program as well as the ongoing work related to the Cultural Heritage Master Plan, which is currently in its second draft and anticipated to be brought before Council in Q2 of 2023.

The most significant changes to the Act impact the Town’s Heritage Register, which was built over four phases with extensive public consultation. Multiple amendments are proposed within Section 27 of the OHA which speaks to the Register and Municipal Heritage Committee. The proposed OHA amendments also include legislative changes for Heritage Conservation Districts, amendments relating to Ministerial decision-making for Crown owned or occupied heritage properties, designation processes, amendments and repeals to by-laws designating Heritage Conservation Districts.

Key Comments:

Crown-owned/Crown-occupied Heritage Properties

• Amendments to the OHA would permit the Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism to review, confirm or revise the determination of cultural heritage value for a property for provincially owned heritage properties as identified by a Ministry or prescribed public body. The Lieutenant Governor in Council may provide that the Crown, Ministry, or prescribed public body may not be required to comply with Heritage Standards and Guidelines should the exemption allow the advancement of other priorities including, but not limited to, transit, housing, health and long-term care, and other infrastructure.
o Staff do not have significant concerns with this proposal. The proposed amendments regarding Crown owned and occupied provincial heritage properties should not significantly impact the Town of Halton Hills’ Heritage Register and the Town’s ability to conserve cultural heritage resources. Should a project emerge that involves a provincially-owned property in this scenario, staff would work with key stakeholders to achieve key project priorities.

Municipal Heritage Register

• Amendments to the OHA would require that all information included in a municipal heritage register be made accessible on the municipality’s website.
o Staff do not have significant concerns with this proposal. This proposed amendment will require staff to expand current information available through the Town’s website to the public. Staff will be required to ensure that the information for each listed property is up-to-date and meets accessibility standards under the AODA.
o The Town’s Heritage Register page is populated automatically by linking to the Town’s GIS databases. While the online Heritage Register identifies some information about each property, staff will be required to include additional metadata to the GIS for listed and designated properties, ensuring that the information identified in individual property listing reports is included in what the public can directly access.
o If passed, proclamation of this amendment would be delayed by 6 months to allow municipalities time to make necessary changes to their website.
• All future properties listed on a municipal heritage register must meet criteria for determining whether property is of cultural heritage value as prescribed by regulation, which is not yet provided.
o Staff do not have significant concerns with this proposal. The Town consistently used Ontario Regulation 9/06 criteria as a preliminary screening mechanism when determining whether a property warranted inclusion on the Heritage Register through its formal Heritage Register building process between 2007 and 2018. The Town has been pro-active in this approach and ahead of the proposed legislation. Additionally, any property that has been added to the Heritage Register following the Town’s formal Heritage Register process has been preliminary evaluated and confirmed to meet at least one of the three prescribed criteria. This process will remain unchanged moving forward for the Town.
• Owners of properties added to a heritage register at any time would be able to serve a notice of objection on a municipality. The proposed amendments identify the objection process for property owners and require Council to provide the owner a notice of its decision once made within 90 days.
o Staff have significant concerns with this proposal. To create its Heritage Register, the Town undertook a four-phase, public-facing Heritage Register process between 2007 and 2018. This comprehensive, Town-wide review identified properties throughout the municipality and established whether they met one or more of the criteria as established by Ontario Regulation 9/06 (O.Reg 9/06). At the time, this level of evaluation was not yet required by the legislation, nor was public consultation or the ability for property owners to submit their concerns regarding a listing. In this regard, the Town was far ahead of the legislation at the time, as only with amendments to the Ontario Heritage Act through Bill 109 in 2021 were municipalities required to notify property owners and allow an appeal process of Council’s decision. Opening up the objection process to all properties currently on the Heritage Register negates the comprehensive process the Town has undertaken.
• Circumstances are identified that would necessitate the removal of a listed property from the heritage register, including circumstances involving a Notice of Intention to Designate being withdrawn, a by-law not being passed, or a repealed bylaw, and properties listed on the heritage register before or after the MHBFA that are not subject to a Notice of Intention to Designate within two years of the MHBFA coming into force. Additionally, the council of a municipality would not be required to consult with its heritage committee should properties be removed from the heritage register in the above-noted circumstances.
o Staff have significant concerns with this proposal. The proposed amendments through Bill 23 would allow property owners to object to any property added to the Heritage Register at any time. This will require staff to undertake research and evaluation to determine whether the property met O.Reg 9/06 criteria for designation under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. Historically, the Town has been reasonable and collaborative with property owners in addressing concerns relating to a property on the Heritage Register, removing properties when it was demonstrated through a heritage evaluation process that they did not retain significant cultural heritage value or where there were other structural concerns with an engineer’s report.
o This legislative change has the potential to have adverse impacts on the Town’s cultural heritage resources. As currently legislated, listing a property on the Heritage Register provides a 60-day notice period for demolition applications, but also provides staff the opportunity to provide recommendations to property owners for minor alterations through building permits, incentivize excellence in heritage conservation through municipal funding programs such as the Community Improvement Program, and work with stakeholders through development applications to incentivize heritage conservation while achieving other planning priorities.
o The proposed amendment would limit the Town’s ability to prioritize the over 700 listed properties on the Heritage Register within a two-year period and would prevent future staff involvement in any discussions of a potentially significant cultural heritage resource unless designated.
• A municipality will be prohibited from listing a property on the heritage register for a period of five years following its removal in circumstances identified through the OHA amendments.
o Staff have significant concerns with this proposal. Prohibiting the re-listing of properties on the Heritage Register following their removal in accordance with Subsections 27(14-16) will be significantly impactful to the Town’s Heritage Register. The Town’s four-phase Heritage Register Process and subsequent individual additions of properties to the Heritage Register has resulted in a comprehensive list of those properties which do contribute, or are believed to contribute, to the cultural heritage value and character of the Town. Hundreds of properties will be impacted through this legislation, allowing a period of five years following their removal from the Heritage Register in which countless valuable cultural heritage resources will likely be lost.
o The Town developed its Heritage Register through a multi-year, public process, allowing for property owner input and concerns through each stage of the project. As previously noted, the Town has also been collaborative with property owners seeking removal of their properties from the Heritage Register due to issues of cultural heritage value, structural stability, or life safety. A five-year moratorium on re-listing a property prevents the Town from providing advice and recommendations through building permit processes, working with property owners through development applications to achieve heritage conservation objectives while meeting other priorities, and limits any consideration of a property’s value when faced with a demolition application.

Individual Property Designation

• A municipality would be prohibited from issuing a Notice of Intention to Designate any property unless it was included on the Heritage Register as of the date of a prescribed event as defined in the legislation.
o Staff do not have significant concerns with this proposal. The proposed amendment will prohibit the designation of any property following a prescribed event unless the property was included first on the Heritage Register. As the Town’s four-phase Heritage Register process was quite comprehensive, it is unlikely that a property with significant cultural heritage value has not yet been identified by the Town through this process.
• A regulatory amendment is proposed to require properties to meet two or more criteria for determining cultural heritage value or interest as identified in Ontario Regulation 9/06 Criteria for determining cultural heritage value or interest. This would apply only to properties where a Notice of Intention to Designate is issued after the regulatory amendment comes into force.
o Staff have some concerns with this proposal. Future research and evaluation reports will identify where properties meet at least two of the three prescribed criteria for designation under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. Staff will recommend those properties for designation that meet two or more criteria to Council, which has been typical practice for those properties historically designated under the OHA in the Town. However, this proposal could exclude some potentially significant cultural heritage resources which only meet one of the three criteria (i.e. highly significant historical and associative value) which could limit the Town’s ability to conserve these resources through designation.

Heritage Conservation Districts

• Municipalities will be required to meet criteria for determining whether heritage conservation districts are of cultural heritage value or interest, in addition to having an official plan that includes provisions relating to the establishment of heritage conservation districts.
o Staff do not have significant concerns with this proposal. Should the legislation come into effect, future Heritage Conservation Districts (HCDs) would be required to meet criteria established as part of a future legislation.
• Amendments to the OHA will allow the amendment or repeal of by-laws for heritage conservation districts with processes as described, however these processes are not defined.
o Staff do not have significant concerns with this proposal. The Syndicate Housing Heritage Conservation District (HCD) was established in 2005 and includes 10 properties. While existing legislation would require the repeal of an existing designation by-law and establishment of a new designation by-law, the proposed regulation would allow changes without the potential for appeals of the by-law to the Ontario Land Tribunal.