Blinded by signs

Council prepares to gut its own heritage protection policy

It was a test. A test council appears ready—and willing—to flunk. In 2013, County council adopted the Heritage Conservation District (HCD) plan that had been prepared and developed over the previous two years.

After a 135-year-old Picton landmark was demolished in 2010, County residents demanded that Shire Hall and council find ways to ensure such things didn’t happen again. The result was the HCD plan—a set of rules and guidelines governing the storefronts and architectural features of Picton’s Main Street including Bridge Street from the tip of the bay to Lake Street in the West.

There were many meetings. Many consultations. Many revisions.

And in July 2013, the HCD plan became a municipal bylaw. The following year, Cynthia Nicholls purchased the building next to her Beach Bum store in Picton. She purchased a new sign and fixed it to the front of her building. The problem was that the sign didn’t comply with the County’s sign bylaw, nor did it comply with the newly minted HCD plan.

Beach Bum owner Cynthia Nicholls with the ends of her storefront sign.

Last spring, Nicholls went to council looking to be exempted from these bylaws. After all, she was just moving next door and besides there were other signs on Main Street that didn’t measure up to the HCD standard. Council urged Nicholls to work with the municipality and the Prince Edward Heritage Advisory Committee (PEHAC) to find a compromise.

But what began as a request in the spring evolved into a shrill demand for exemption as the issue drifted in and out of Shire Hall last summer. Again, council urged the storeowner to work with County officials to find a compromise.

There were early signs council was ready to carve up County policy in its first test—to accommodate this retailer. And Nicholls wasn’t interested in compromise.

A year later there is some movement. Nicholls has shorn the ends off the bright yellow plastic sign in order to fit the dimensions prescribed by the sign bylaw, but she steadfastly refuses to consider recommendations made by PEHAC in order to better fit within HCD guidelines—namely a raised border.

“This is an attack on my business,” said Nicholls. “This is about freedom of expression.”

Once Nicholls had framed the argument, and untethered by policy consistency, several councillors lunged in head first.

Ameliasburgh councillor Diane O’Brien understood the question as one of a border. “I won’t support a border,” said O’Brien.

Athol councillor Jamie Forrester, too, zeroed in on the narrow question of the border.

“I am not willing to make her add a border,” said Forrester.

Neither seemed to grasp that they were being asked to eviscerate a County policy—policy approved when both were serving members, policies designed to equip future councils with tools to protect its built heritage.

Forrester wanted to know if County officials had reached out to Nicholls with a compromise.

Works chief Robert McAuley reminded the Athol councillor that while the abbreviated sign was now compliant with the sign bylaw, it still failed the HCD test.

“Moreover, the applicant has no intention of complying with the HCD,” said McAuley.

Picton councillor Treat Hull said that while he was supportive of protecting historical assets, that did not extend to “ephemeral features” such as paint colour.

“There is no value in regulating that,” said Hull, perhaps unaware that this is indeed what the existing HCD policy does.

To be clear, the HCD plan avoids hard prescriptions, preferring to guide changes that will change the buildings appearance. This process is governed by the PEHAC. It is meant to encourage property owners to make choices that are consistent with the County HCD policy.

Hull reads the policy narrowly as a protector of the tangible aspects of a building and its shape.

“We have no business regulating aesthetics,” said Hull.

A simple review of the County Heritage Conservation District website page, however, clearly indicates a wider scope than the councillor has framed.

“The HCD Plan also introduced measures aimed at creating a visually appealing area that will, in turn, help to enhance that distinctive “sense of place.””

And while the councillor may have his own opinion about how far the HCD plan should reach—the policy is settled and it is clear. Furthermore, the adjudicating body is PEHAC, not council.

The issue before council is not about a sign, or Ms. Nicholls—but rather about whether the policies council creates mean anything once they’ve been established.

In any event, the discussion was cut off mid sentence. When the Athol councillor departed the council chamber, County Clerk Kim White informed the remaining Committee of the Whole members that they had lost quorum and the meeting was adjourned without further discussion.