People living in the heritage district proposed for the Gordon Street area between the river and the university should circle Feb. 21 on their calendar. That’s when a  staff report on the issue comes to a city council committee for a recommendation on whether to give the heritage district the go-ahead. People should also circle Feb. 27, when the full council makes its decision on a matter that will have a significant impact on these residents. Delegations will be heard by city councillors at both of these meetings.
So far, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of interest by residents in this issue. Only 20 people responded to a questionnaire sent to 455 homes located in, or adjacent to, the proposed heritage district. Yet the implications of a heritage district are major.
In 2009, council approved adding 1,900 properties to its official heritage registry. They were added to more than 80 properties in Guelph designated individually under the Ontario Heritage Act. The 1,900 properties were already on an unofficial inventory of heritage structures compiled during the 1990s by Frank Burcher and Peter Stokes, two heritage experts hired by the city. Owners of properties on the city’s official heritage registry must give the city more than the normal amount of notice if they want to demolish a structure. This extra time gives Heritage Guelph, the city’s heritage advisory committee, more time to recommend whether it thinks a demolition permit should be granted or the city should pursue designation under the Ontario Heritage Act, which could prevent demolition.
For properties within a heritage conservation district, though, the city can refuse demolition permits outright. And city hall has a greater say in applications to make significant alterations to a property. There are still a lot of unanswered questions about exactly what sort of changes the city would want to be subject to heritage permits issued by city hall. These questions are supposed to be answered by the city’s heritage consultants in a second stage of the process to create this heritage district – if council gives the go-ahead next month.
Guelph is unusual in Ontario in not having any heritage districts. Kitchener, for example, has a few. The laudable aim is to leave a legacy for future generations to enjoy.
Laudable it may be, but simple it’s not.