Cambridge mayor, councillor back ACO request for heritage designation extension
Time is running out to designate properties on the Cambridge heritage register.
But a proposed deadline change by Architectural Conservancy Ontario (ACO) in a letter to Premier Doug Ford could give municipalities a reprieve in the push to get registered heritage properties designated before they are struck from the list.
In an amendment to the Ontario Heritage Act in 2022, the government deemed any property listed on a municipal register on Dec. 31, 2022, would be removed from the register on Jan. 1, 2025, unless city council has given notice of an intent to designate.
Properties taken off the list can’t be put back on for five years.
With that in mind, ACO has requested the province extend the deadline to Jan. 1, 2030.
“ACO believes that property owners should not be forced to choose between designation and nothing at all to recognize the heritage significance of their property,” stated Diane Chin, ACO president, in the letter.
“However, this is the choice your government has forced on them. At the very least, owners and municipalities should be given more time to make this choice and given reasonable notice of this extension.”
Chin noted there are about 36,000 listed heritage properties in Ontario, spread across more than 100 municipalities.
Cambridge has 660 properties listed, said Coun. Corey Kimpson, who is the city liaison on the city’s Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee, and the approaching deadline was discussed in August 2023 with Michael Ford, minister of citizenship and multiculturalism, at the Association of Ontario Municipalities conference.
In fact, Mayor Jan Liggett said the city requested during the meeting Ford extend the deadline to Jan. 1, 2028, but she now agrees with ACO’s proposed date.
Kimpson said the extension would be ideal as designation is time consuming, requiring a lot of research. Previously, for a property to be considered for designation, only one of nine heritage criteria had to be met. That was bumped up to two. Emergency designations are also no longer allowed for unlisted and unprotected properties.
“The City of Cambridge is an amalgamation of four historic settlement areas with an abundance of cultural heritage resources that are quite varied due to the unique historic and cultural development of each area,” Kimpson said, adding Cambridge has Part IV designations in place as conservation districts, with three more district designations underway.
“This leaves several properties listed in the register at risk. In addition, there are a number of underrepresented listed properties that also warrant designation, the timelines all hampered again by the loss of records due to the 1974 flood.”
Kimpson added it is important to protect heritage as the city is increasing density in built-up areas.
“We have seen other communities successfully balance significant growth and protect heritage and know it can be done. Taking time now to assess and designate properties where appropriate could also help to improve the development process in the future,” she said.
Liggett said given staffing and capacity, the city would likely only be able to designate approximately 10 to 20 of the listed properties before the current provincial removal deadline. Coupled with the two Heritage Conservation Districts being worked on in Galt and Hespeler, encapsulating 52 properties, there would still be just under 600 properties removed from the list “without protection from demolition or unalterable modifications.”
“It is my hope that the provincial government will take this into consideration and agree to the extension of the deadline,” Liggett said.