Heritage Burlington Advisory Committee Meeting

Minutes

Meeting #:
Date:	Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Time:	7:00 P.m. - 9:00 P.m.
Location:	Room 247, Level 2, City Hall

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1.

Members Present:

Howard Bohan (Vice Chair), Jeff Sutcliffe, Jim O'Neill, Pauline Laing, Elena Dyagileva, Maggie Steiss, Michele Camacho, Sharon Portelli, Torey Hunt and John Vice

2.

Others Present:

Councillor Marianne Meed Ward, Thomas Douglas (Heritage Planner) and Jo-Anne Rudy (Clerk)

3.

Regrets:

Kate White, Rick Wilson, Albert Faccenda and Sille Nygaard Mikkelsen

4.

Declarations of Interest:

None

5.

Approval of Minutes:

5.1

Approve minutes from meeting held on February 12, 2018

On motion, the minutes from the meeting held on February 12, 2018 were approved as presented.

6.

Delegation(s):

None

7.

Regular Items:

7.1

Heritage planner update

a.

3077 Lakeshore Road

• Thomas advised that the City has received a heritage permit application for 3077 Lakeshore Road to permit the construction of a new rear deck attached to the heritage building, recognize completed landscaping works and to permit a land division that would separate part of the rear yard to be sold to the next door neighbour at 3065 Lakeshore (if approved by the Committee of Adjustment).  Thomas noted that staff have discussed with the owners the need for a heritage permit for works such as the completed deck removal that could have an impact on the protected attributes of the designated heritage property.  The owner has confirmed that the existing covered rear porch will remain so there will be no alterations to the roof of the heritage building.  Thomas stated that staff have no objections to the proposal.
  Motion - Heritage Burlington supports the application for a heritage permit for 3077 Lakeshore Road to permit the proposed construction of a new rear deck attached to the heritage building, to recognize completed landscaping works and to permit a proposed land division.

b.

409 Brant Street

• Thomas provided an overview of the application which requests an amendment to the Official Plan and Zoning By-law to permit a 24-storey mixed-used building with ground floor commercial, 227 residential units and 5 levels of underground parking. The City is referring to the subject lands as 409 Brant Street as it is comprised of multiple addresses.
• Thomas noted that heritage evaluations for 401 Brant (Kelly's Bake Shop) and 444 John Street (Albert Schmidt Jeweller) have been completed by the ARA and the applicant's consultant and both find that theses two properties have heritage value. The proposed development would include the facades of these two heritage buildings.
• Committee had a lengthy discussion and expressed concern about the facades of the two heritage buildings being lost in such a large development; the character of the downtown as a whole being lost; and questioned whether this design complements the heritage that currently exists downtown.  A suggestion was made that perhaps the cement wall between Kelly's and Schmidt's could be opened up to create some retail space in order to have some continuity of ambience. 
• Howard asked members to email their comments to him by March 19 and he would submit a letter on behalf of the committee to the Planning Department.
  Motion - Direct the Vice Chair to submit written comments to the Heritage Planner conveying Heritage Burlington's concerns with the application to amend the Zoning By-law and Official Plan to permit the proposed mixed-use development at 409 Brant Street.

7.2

Evaluation Criteria

• Howard advised that the draft evaluation criteria follows the characteristics in Provincial legislation and its sub attributes.  Howard stated the importance of using this criteria with the Ontario Heritage Tool Kit and asked that it be accepted and used this summer.
• Suggestions were made to change the name from from criteria to guidelines and that the language of Pass/Fail be tweaked.
  Motion - Accept the draft evaluation guidelines and apply and test it throughout the summer.

7.3

Communications subcommittee update

• Torey distributed a Communications Plan and advised that the subcommittee has decided to focus its efforts on the following initiatives for this year and increase their involvement/support to the Historical Society and Museums of Burlington in an effort to pool resources.  
• Walking Tour Revamp
• Social Media and Media Relations
• Stories/Articles
• Collateral
• Infographic
• Sponsorships/Events 

7.4

2018 workplan

• Howard reviewed and the committee agreed to the following goals for 2018:
• Draft and test a new heritage evaluation process.
• Complete recommendations for a Policy on Fair Compensation.
• Finalize a Plaques and Marker Policy including design specifications.
• Finalized plans for the Heritage Trust Fund.
• Re-evaluate former Inventory properties in the downtown.
• Finalize 2018 Communications Plan.
• Longer Term Goals
• Update the Heritage Grant Program.
• Re-evaluate remaining former Inventory properties.
• Implement the Heritage Trust Fund.

8.

Other Business:

• Howard asked about providing comments on the development across from City Hall (421 Brant Street) and stated that although other potential developments in the downtown may not have heritage buildings, he asked if the committee could provide comments in order to set the tone for the character of heritage in the downtown. 
• Michele commented that the City needs to have a vision for what they want the downtown to look like and asked if it was within the committee's scope to set a heritage vision for the downtown.
• Thomas noted that the committee will have the opportunity to provide comments when the area specific detailed policy writing of the Downtown Hub is being worked on and added that the vision for heritage in the downtown will be included in the new official plan. 
• Howard asked if there was interest from some members to form a subcommittee to look at the heritage landscape of the downtown and asked Michele to draft some terms of reference.  Michele, Maggie, John, Jeff and Elena expressed interest in participating.
  Motion - Establish a sub-committee to look at a downtown heritage vision.

9.

Adjournment:

Vice Chair adjourned the meeting at 9 p.m.