The city’s legal battles with one of North America’s largest residential developers over the fate of an historic and collapsing south end barn are likely to increase.
On Tuesday evening, city council declared its intent to designate 2187 Gordon St. for protection under the Ontario Heritage Act (OHA) – a move owner Mattamy Homes says it’s likely to object to.
That process will now unfold as the developer asks the court to overturn a recent city committee decision to uphold an order directing that the barn be repaired and maintained as required by the city’s property standards bylaw.
It’s the most recent in a series of similar orders given to but not fully acted upon by the developer regarding the barn in recent years.
“This is a no-brainer,” Coun. Leanne Caron said of declaring the stone barn built around 1850 and a 1907-built farmhouse as protected heritage assets. “We have to move forward on strong heritage policies. I feel strongly we have to set an example here.”
The property is currently listed on the city’s municipal heritage registry. It’s located on the west side of Gordon Street, between Gosling Gardens and Maltby Road.
Combined, staff say the barn – the last of its kind in the city – and a farmhouse at 2187 Gordon St. meet six of nine provincial criteria for designation consideration; only two are required.
During a meeting earlier this month, Heritage Guelph urged council to move forward with OHA designation of the site.
“We will be consulting with our counsel, but an objection is likely,” Mattamy Homes spokesperson Brent Carrey told GuelphToday via email. “Simply moving forward with a designation under the OHA is not a solution for this property. There is also an outstanding appeal of the property standards order.”
Should council move forward with designation, it can be appealed to the Ontario Land Tribunal to confirm or override.
“We’ve got a developer who doesn’t appreciate the need to steward this property,” Mike Marcolongo, who lives across the road, told council Tuesday. “I think the importance of a designation is, as a municipality, as a community we’re saying to this developer ‘you’re from out of town, maybe you don’t understand the culture here. This is important to us.’”
OHA designation would require city approval before alterations, renovations or additions can be done that may impact the property’s heritage attributes, including landscape and natural features.
Mattamy’s appeal of the city’s work order stemmed from the belief it would cost $400,000 to repair the barn and $25,000 to demolish it and dispose of the materials, in addition to concerns about the potential safety of repair workers.
