Little Jamaica’s status on table again
Area is one step closer to becoming a heritage conservation district
A new motion is being put forward to Toronto city council this week to take on Little Jamaica as a heritage conservation district understudy. It marks the first time that the city will consider the area becoming a HCD.
Coun. Josh Matlow (Ward 12) is behind the motion and told the Star it came about because he felt “there needs to be some form of a reset.”
Matlow says a recent public conversation held by the city of Toronto on March 4, during which city staff stated Little Jamaica was not a good fit for a heritage conservation district and instead proposed making it a “cultural district” for which there was no given definition, did not “earn public confidence.” He said it was important to him to put the discussion of a potential conservation district designation “back on the table.”
“If (an initiative) doesn’t have the community support, and if it doesn’t have the confidence of the community, it won’t be successful. That’s why I think it was such a shame that the first meeting was not done well,” said Matlow, who along with community members, felt that there was barely an opportunity to hear their concerns at the meeting and that their request were “taken off the table.”
Romain Baker, co-founder of Black Urbanism Toronto, says that he doesn’t see any reason as to why the motion wouldn’t move forward considering heritage preservation was already mentioned in Matlow’s original motion, which he put forward in September 2020.
“This is making sure that it’s intentional, not just for, you know, people who are conducting the work but also for (Little Jamaica’s) community to understand the scope of what can be a part of this and our role,” Baker said.
Baker says he’s looking forward to the city conducting proper consultation that really gathers the community’s input and captures the “Black experience, Black history, and things that we would, as a community, consider worthy of preservation under a heritage conservation district.”
Matlow’s motion calls on council to direct the planning department to prioritize a survey of the cultural heritage resources of Little Jamaica and examine the character and appearance of the area and make recommendations for an individual property, group of properties or a cultural heritage landscape to be protected under the Ontario Heritage Act.
Little Jamaica has been in urgent need of protection and preserving after years of the Eglinton crosstown LRT construction, the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic and gentrification destroying the neighbourhood which has been a staple in Toronto since the ’70s.
At the March 4 public meeting, Toronto’s senior manager of heritage preservation services, Mary MacDonald said that Little Jamaica was “not a good fit” to become an HCD.
“To take (heritage conservation) right off the table before the consultation even begins, is not what I asked for in September,” said Matlow.