Heritage Designation Project
Overview:
In November 2022, the Government of Ontario passed Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act. The bill included several changes to the Ontario Heritage Act, including a two-year time limit for properties to remain on municipal non-designated listed properties.
Listed properties are properties that have been identified as having cultural heritage value but have not yet been designated. In Prince Edward County, this change means that the existing listed properties will be removed as of December 31, 2024.
View the Non-Designated Listed Properties.
To undertake this work, Council has established the Heritage Designation Working Group through the Built & Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee to review the existing listed properties for potential designation
Working Group Members:
- Ward 9 South Marysburgh Councillor John Hirsch
- Michael Miller
- Lorri Busch
- Ernest Margetson
- Graeme Phillips
- Janice Gibbins
- Ken Dewar
- Liz Driver
- Maria DiMauro
Process:
Throughout 2023 and 2024, the Heritage Designation Working Group, with County staff, will research and evaluate the listed properties for potential designation under the Ontario Heritage Act.
Recommendations of the Heritage Designation Working Group will be reviewed at Built & Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee meetings and ratified at Council meetings. For each property, Council will decide whether or not to proceed with designation.
Property owners of these listed properties will be contacted throughout the evaluation and designation process.
What heritage designation means:
Designation ensures that heritage properties are managed for future generations and that important buildings and landscapes in the County are protected. Designation is not meant to prevent change, but to help manage it to protect the County’s character and uniqueness of place. Heritage designation helps reduce waste by re-using and conserving existing structures and employs local crafts and tradespeople who maintain these important sites.
Each individual heritage property has a designation by-law that identifies the property’s heritage features. In most cases, these features are limited to the exterior of the building. Owners of heritage properties need a heritage permit before making changes to these heritage features.
Benefits of heritage designation:
The benefits of designation under the Ontario Heritage Act (OHA) include:
- Recognizing heritage value – We value the historical, architectural, cultural and natural heritage of our communities. In order to tangibly recognize this value, properties are designated and a register of designated properties is kept by the County.
- Preserving heritage characteristics – Designation helps to preserve the property so that it may be appreciated and enjoyed by future generations.
- Gaining local, provincial and national recognition of the heritage property – Every designated property is registered with the Ontario Ministry of Culture and is entered into the Ontario Heritage Properties Database which is fully accessible by the public. In addition, every designated property is eligible for inclusion in the Government of Canada’s Canadian Register of Historic Places.
- Accessing financial assistance – Only designated heritage properties will be able to access government programs of financial assistance for preservation and restoration purposes.
As a designated heritage property owner, you will:
- Be part of a thriving heritage community in the County with over 90 individually designated properties and over 100 properties protected through the Picton Heritage Conservation District.
- Have access to access to the County’s Heritage Property Grant Program, a matching grant program that helps cover the cost of eligible restoration and repair projects for designated heritage properties.
- Help conserve the cultural heritage of your neighbourhood for future generations.
- Receive a plaque to display on the designated heritage building or property.
Get Involved
The Heritage Designation Working Group would like to gather feedback and information from property owners of each property listed on the non-designated heritage inventory. The Feedback form is not currently active.
The County will be holding a public information session as the Heritage Designation Working Group undertakes the review of the listed properties. The public information session will provide information on the project and be an opportunity to ask questions and gather feedback from property owners.
Date, time and location for the public information session will be posted to this page once it is scheduled.
Recommendations of the Heritage Designation Working Group will be reviewed at Built & Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee meetings and ratified at Council meetings. For each property, Council will decide whether or not to proceed with designation.
Visit the County’s Council & Committee Meetings page on ways to participate.
FAQ
The Ontario Heritage Act requires every municipality in the province keep a publicly-accessible list of heritage properties. This list is called a “heritage register” and includes all properties designated under Part IV (individual designation) and Part V (district designation) of the OHA. Municipality also include non-designated properties on their heritage registry. This process is commonly known as “listing.”
Listing differs from designation in the following ways:
- Designated properties have a heritage designation by-law registered on title.
- Designated properties require a permit prior to work that may alter their appearance.
- Council can control the demolition of a designated heritage property. Listed properties are only subject to a 60-day notice of demolition.
Including listed properties on a heritage register provides a municipality with a means to identify and monitor all properties of potential heritage value – not just those that have already been designated under the OHA.
In the County, listed properties include houses, commercial buildings, farms, public buildings, and industrial buildings. These are properties that all demonstrate potential for heritage value or interest. This determination is made by evaluating the property using an official set of criteria known as Ontario Regulation 9/06. All decisions to list a property must be endorsed by the Built & Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee and approved by Council.
The primary implication of being listed on the heritage register relates to the ability to demolish buildings or structures. Under Ontario’s Building Code Act, owners of listed properties are required to give the Council of the municipality at least 60 days’ notice of their intention to demolish or remove a building or structure. This timeframe provides the municipality with the time necessary to determine whether the property is deserving of designation under the OHA.
When a property is listed, it does not necessarily mean that it will be subsequently “designated.”
If you do not want your property to be designated, you may provide your objection by completing the Property Owner Feedback Form.
Council, in consultation with the Built & Cultural Heritage Committee, will consider the objection.