On the list

Council still learning how to balance rights of property owners and the community’s interest

Is your home on the list? If so your rights as a homeowner are set to be diminished just a bit at the next meeting of council. Or looked at another way—the community just won 60 days to talk you out of, or otherwise prevent you from, demolishing your historic home.

A committee of council approved the fourth installment to the Heritage Inventory Listing of properties of cultural value or interest as part of the Prince Edward County Heritage Properties Register. These are properties not currently designated under the Ontario Heritage Act.

Owners of properties on the list do not require any special permission for renovation, additions or alterations to their buildings, but they must give the municipality 60 days notice of their intention to demolish the building.

Despite the inclusion of their homes on this registry, and the added restriction to their property, none of the property owners have yet been identified of the change of status. Homeowners will only be notified once council endorses the listing addition.

The addition of 25 homes to the listing conjured memories of the brick church on Main Street in Picton. When it learned the church’s owners were seeking to demolish the building, council had, under its regulations, just a few days to intervene. In the end a rogue contractor took matters into his own hands, smashing a massive hole into the side of the church. The public outcry that followed forced council to do more to protect its built cultural heritage.

That resulted in a number of measures including the development of the Heritage Inventory Listing. But as it has moved to protect the County’s cultural heritage, council has struggled to find the right balance between private property rights and the rights of the community to protect its heritage.

Several councillors had difficulty with the notion that a resident’s home had been added to the list and a restriction placed upon it without prior notification.

Planning Commissioner Gerry Murphy explained that once the list was approved by council homeowners would indeed be notified. He also said homeowners could choose to have their homes removed from the list.

But once the listing is approved the homeowner must make a formal request to council to have it removed. Sophiasburgh Councillor Terry Shortt worried this was too great a hurdle for families unfamiliar with the workings of Shire Hall.

“It would be a lot less effort to get a property off the list, prior to council approval,” said Shortt.

Ameliasburgh Councillor Dianne O’Brien said she expects many of the homeowners on the list don’t know it.

“How would they know there are new restrictions governing whether they can demolish their home or not?” asked O’Brien. “How does someone get off a list they don’t even know they are on?”

But others reminded their colleagues that this was the way council had agreed to ensure the municipality had the time to protect another historically significant property.

“This was a council initiative,” reminded Picton Councillor Brian Marisett. “It is a proactive effort to protect our heritage. The only significance of the listing is a 60-day delay of a demolition permit.”

Murphy expanded upon the point.

“It provides us the opportunity to talk to the owner,” said Murphy. “It provides time for the heritage committee to consider designating the property under the Ontario Heritage Act. It provides time to look at alternatives.”

By taking the next step of designating the property, council could effectively thwart any demolition

Picton Councillor Bev Campbell noted that each of the properties added to the four installments of the heritage property listing so far have been included in the Settlers Dream, a compendium of the County’s built heritage.

“I’m not concerned about not notifying people in advance,” said Campbell. “Their properties are in Settler’s Dream. They should know they are historic.”

O’Brien failed to persuade council that it should notify homeowners first.