City to speak with property owners who wanted more notice

Council members agree to add 37 downtown properties to city’s heritage register

City councillors approved a plan Monday night to add 37 downtown properties to the heritage register — and they also directed staff to speak with a few owners whose properties are on the registry who didn’t feel they got enough prior notice.

Council voted earlier this month to add 411 properties to the heritage registry; owners who want to raze any of the buildings will have to wait 60 days to get a demolition permit.

That vote took place before some owners even received notice in the mail that their properties were being considered for the register, and Coun. Dean Pappas said those who were unhappy about it need to have conversations with staff.

“We need to engage these people in meaningful conversation,” he said.

“Because it was rushed through, people didn’t feel consulted or part of the process.”

Pappas also proposed that staff report back to council in April on how a property owner could potentially have his or her property removed from the heritage registry.

“We support heritage — but we support public engagement,” he said.

“We’re not going to force anybody (to have their property on the register).”

Councillors approved the plan on Monday; now it needs to be ratified at a forthcoming council meeting.

Four owners whose properties are on the heritage registry can expect to hear from staff.

Pappas wanted those who own 346 Aylmer St. and 493 Bethune St. to be contacted, while Coun. Don Vassiliadis wanted the owners of 437 Sheridan St. to hear from the city and Coun. Lesley Parnell wanted the same for the owner of 714 Cumberland Ave.

The idea behind the heritage

registry is to give city council a chance to weigh in and potentially protect a heritage building from the wrecking ball.

It’s not the same as a heritage designation, which means a building can’t be torn down.

The heritage registry already has more than 524 properties in Peterborough, states a new city staff report. Of those properties, 411 were added to the register at a council meeting on Jan. 28.

Included among those 411 buildings are many residential homes, as well as the Peterborough Lift Lock and the 1960s-era buildings at Trent University.

The 37 properties downtown had been suggested for the registry by the city’s heritage committee in 2017, but council had voted to hold off adding them.

That was because council wanted to wait to see how the new Official Plan — which was early in the development stages, at that time — might offer guidelines to heritage preservation in the downtown.

But the new city staff report points out that the Official Plan won’t be adopted until this fall — and in the meantime, some citizens have told council they’re concerned it will leave those 37 downtown buildings unprotected for too long.

Included among those 37 are properties such as the County Court House, Victoria Park, the Peterborough Armoury, Quaker Oats and the Commerce Building.