A new level of protection is on the way for designated heritage buildings throughout the city.
Meeting on Tuesday evening, city council approved a bylaw setting minimum maintenance standards for properties designated under the Ontario Heritage Act (OHA), to take effect on July 31.
That’s about 460 properties in all, city staff said, including roughly 300 individual designations and another 160 properties included in the Brooklyn and College Hill Heritage Conservation District in the Old University neighbourhood.
The proposal, among other things, calls on the owners of designated heritage properties to “maintain, preserve and protect the heritage attributes so as to maintain the heritage character, visual and structural heritage integrity of the property.”
This is on top of the minimum standards for maintenance and occupancy of property in the city.
Owners of OHA-designated properties are be tasked with maintaining the property “and the components of the property that hold up, support or protect the heritage attributes in a manner that will ensure the protection and preservation of the heritage attributes.”
There are also provisions in the bylaw that look at repair standards, replacement standards for heritage attributes.
The bylaw flows from a series of 14 “solutions” identified in the aftermath of a situation that saw a heritage home owned by the Grand River Conservation Authority dismantled in 2021 due to safety concerns.
As for vacant and damaged heritage properties, the bylaw calls on owners to protect property from fire, storm, neglect, intentional damage or damage done by other causes.
It states the owners must secure openings to a building with boarding that “completely covers the opening and is properly fitted in a watertight manner within the side jambs, the head jamb and the exterior bottom sill of the door or window opening.”
The property itself would also need to be secured in a way that prevents animals and unauthorized people from entering.
