Heritage regulations concern St. John’s council
Councillors encourage property owners to designate, benefit from funding
At the city council meeting in St. John’s Monday night, heritage regulations and building codes weren’t specifically on the agenda, but Coun. Maggie Burton felt she had to bring them up.
Burton said she was concerned by a recent related news article, and wanted to be sure people were clear on the difference between the city’s heritage designation and regulations, versus requirements for properties under the National Building Code of Canada, and life-safety and fire regulations.
She said the city wants to get more homes and other properties designated as heritage properties, to plug owners into available grants to help with their upkeep projects, and even allow re-purposing of a property for preservation.
For example, a heritage home could be approved for commercial use in a residential area, and a heritage designation would be considered in those decisions.
The idea is to keep heritage properties from the wrecking ball.
“There’s only 144 designated heritage homes in St. John’s, heritage structures. And we really want that to increase, and the narrative around what that means really needs to change,” Burton said, emphasizing she considers it a means for the city to help.
“Having your home designated doesn’t mean that you’re going to have any different second storey fire safety requirements, for example. … Please designate your home,” she said.
Heritage designation is different from code requirements.
City heritage regulations are purely tied to the exterior of a property — its appearance. But the National Building Code and the life-safety and fire codes are also about the guts inside, and are prescriptive.
“We don’t want to go back to a time when there are regular fires in the downtown and people are up on the second floors without an accessible exit, for example. It’s a delicate balance, for sure,” Burton said, acknowledging the challenge of having older buildings adhering to code.
Specific frustrations were expressed by the owners of the Masonic Temple, as reflected in a CBC online article, and Burton said she would follow up.
Generally speaking, the associated costs of taking older buildings and making them work under modern code are recognized.
During the regular council meeting, Coun. Sandy Hickman said the city should take another look at how atypical structures such as the Masonic Temple, or the downtown churches, are keeping up with demands.