Schedule 6 of Bill 23…

Schedule 6 of Bill 23 proposes multiple changes to the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.18 including requirements for listed properties to meet more stringent designation criteria within two years/removal of properties from the list, proposes changes to criteria for designation, and allowing municipalities to designate heritage resources, when such resources form part of development proposals, if they are already listed as a potential heritage resource and only within 90 days of a complete application being received for an Official Plan Amendment, zoning by-law amendment or draft plan of subdivision approval.

The Town of Kingsville’s Heritage List includes 38 designated properties and 308 ‘listed’ properties - properties have contributed in some way to the cultural, social and economic development of Kingsville. Listed properties provide no legal protection, only a requirement that owners notify the municipality if they plan to demolish the property 60 days beforehand, instead of 10 days, which does provide opportunity to explore designation, or even opportunities to relocate or reuse listed buildings though it provides no further legal status.

Kingsville supports efforts to make heritage listing and designation processes more efficient. However, having to remove listed properties if not designated within two years will require additional staff resources and capacity to assess heritage values and make recommendations for designation. This will likely cause the heritage registry to be limited only to those properties in the process of seeking designation. With properties not able to be placed back on the list for five years, the list will effectively be dissolved.

It has also not been demonstrated that listing a property is an impediment to housing availability or affordability. For example, Kingsville currently has over 2,000 new units in planning or pre-consultation review stages alone, separate and apart from existing development. It does not appear that heritage protection is a significant deterrent to residential development if at all, and removing homes from registry will not result in additional or affordable housing.

Finally, residents of Kingsville are proud of the town's character, which is an attractant to people and businesses interested in investing in the town. Though not yet outlined, evaluating properties based on new, more stringent, provincially prescribed standards, despite research and local value, will impact the Town's community and economic development.

Kingsville would be happy to participate in further consultations to identify supports that could be provided by the Province to assist the Town in advancing designation of properties.