Heritage Burlington Advisory Committee Meeting

Minutes

Meeting #:
Date:
Time:
-
Location:
Room 305, Level 3, City Hall
426 Brant Street, Burlington, Ontario

Howard Bohan (Chair), Michele Camacho, Sharon Portelli, Pauline Laing, Don Thorpe and Rick Wilson

Councillor Rory Nisan, Thomas Douglas (Heritage Planner) and Jo-Anne Rudy (Clerk)

Elena Dyagileva/Kavanagh, Sille Nygaard Mikkelsen, David Barker, Diane Miller and Heather Stevens

  • Thomas advised that City staff are currently working with Regional staff to resolve some areas of non-conformity in the Adopted Official Plan (OP). Council directed that a scoped review of the Adopted OP be undertaken and the terms of reference for this will be discussed at the May 21/19 Planning & Development Committee meeting. A public engagement strategy will be developed in June.
  • Mobility hubs area-specific planning study is on hold.
  • Council enacted an Interim Control By-law (ICBL) in March 2019 which freezes development in the downtown and Burlington GO area for one year. The ICBL allows the City to study the role of the downtown bus terminal and Burlington GO.  This study will inform the scoped OP review.
  • Thomas advised that he has accepted a 16 month job rotation in the Policy Section of the Planning Department and noted that he will continue to attend meetings until his replacement is hired.
  • Thomas advised that Amendment 1 to the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe was approved.  The Province has introduced Bill 108 which reverses many of the changes made last year by Bill 139 and changes multiple Acts. Comments are due back to the Province on June 1/19 so staff will be presenting a report to Council on May 27/19. Some of the changes to the Heritage Act include:
    • new "prescribed principles" - Council must consider these before designating properties.
    • less municipal oversight over provincially-leased heritage properties.
    • new process for listing non-designated properties on Register - city must notify owner after listing their property and provide reasons for listing.
    • new "prescribed events" - after a prescribed event happens, Council has 90 days to decide whether to state an intention to designate a property.
    • changes to process for enacting/amending/repealing a designation - time limit for Council to designate a property after stating an intention to do so.
    • appeals - designations and heritage permits now appealed to LPAT, not Conservation Review Board. Council decisions can be overturned.
    • changes to heritage permit process - new time limit for City to deem an application complete.
    • new definition of "Alter" - removal of a protected attribute from a property is now treated like demolition of the building/structure, not alteration.
    • still to come (separate from Act amendments) - new regulations to define "prescribed principles" and "prescribed events" and new guidance document for Cultural Heritage Landscapes.
  • Thomas advised that he asked a number of local heritage consultants to provide quotes on what it would cost to run a training workshop for Heritage Burlington.  To date, two quotes have been received.
    Action - Thomas to send proposals to members to review and decision can be made at next meeting.
  • Thomas advised that the owner of 2419-2421 Lakeshore Road has inquired about whether their property may be worthy of designation. The property is not listed on the Register but it is a "B" property on the Inventory and was last evaluated by LACAC volunteers in 1997.
  • Howard suggested that committee review the information from the Inventory records and asked that a couple of members go to the property and use the draft evaluation guidelines and report back at the June meeting.
  • Thomas advised that staff hired a consultant in 2016/17 to study a group of properties that were constructed between 1928-1935. None of the properties are designated or listed on the Register and most of these properties were never identified on the Inventory prepared by LACAC which focused on properties built before 1930. This study was considered by staff to be a step toward investigating the potential of more recent generations of properties. Thomas noted that staff visited the properties from the public-right-of-way in spring 2019.
  • Howard suggested that members choose half a dozen properties on the list and test out the evaluation process. Evaluations can be sent to staff who will review and compile stats.
  • Rick stated the importance of communicating with homeowners and letting them know that members will be looking at their properties.
    Action - Thomas to work with Howard on communication plan prior to asking members to evaluate properties.
  • Sharon provided an overview of the Communications Strategy and Plan and highlighted the following:
    • Website is hosted on a platform that is outdated and cannot be updated therefore content is inaccurate in various areas. Site map shows duplicate information and is difficult to navigate. Is not mobile or tablet friendly which impacts use by all generations.
    • Although a detailed analysis is yet to be completed, an overview suggests that the current HB social media approach is focused on garnering followers rather than providing content that supports the committee's mandate.
    • Although a detailed analysis is yet to be completed, an overview suggests that there needs to be a Communications Policy with a unified approach to ensure that all resources align with the committee's mandate.
  • Sharon presented the following recommendations:
    • Phase 1- Develop and Implement new website (May - Sept 2019)
    • Phase 2 - Broader Communications Strategy (Oct 2019 - May 2020)
  • Sharon advised that next steps include issuing a Quick Quote for the website and noted that committee will get to review the site plan at the appropriate time.
    Motion - Heritage Burlington supports the recommendation to proceed with a new website proposal. CARRIED
  • Howard distributed the status of the 2012 New Approach recommendations and asked members to review and provide comments to him by the next meeting.
  • Howard advised that a representative is needed from the committee to sit on the Heritage Month Committee with the possibility of taking over the Chair role.  Don Thorpe volunteered to do this.
    Action - Jo-Anne to send Don minutes from last meeting and to advise of future meeting date.
  • Howard advised that he received an email from Diane Gaudaur who is researching Port Nelson Park and would like to suggest the following:
    • that an archaeological assessment be undertaken on the lands;
    • that the lands be designated under the Ontario Heritage Act;
    • that any capital project be undertaken with sensitivity due to the historic nature of the site; and
    • that the park be Provincially plaqued to identify the history and purpose of the area, dating back to 1800's.
  • Committee commented that archaeological assessments can be very costly and are usually done in different phases which can take a long time.
  • Howard suggested and the committee agreed to have Diane delegate at the June meeting.
  • Rick advised that David Williams, a Canadian astronaut, will be speaking at the Art Gallery on May 28.
  • Thomas distributed copies of the Downtown Public Art Walking Tour and advised that it is also available online and accessible on your mobile device. There is the possibility of doing a heritage tour in a similar manner.