By Pepper Parr
June 11th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
Heritage has become a bigger issue for the current city council than anything the Gazette has seen in the past.
There was a situation recently where owners of a house on Lotus Street found that their house was going to be designated despite some significant differences of opinion on just how important a building it is from a heritage perspective.
We will cover that story in detail in a forthcoming article
By the end of the study, Burlington City Council will be presented with information to decide if any of the properties or landscapes assessed in the study should be specially recognized, heritage designated or be subject to any conservation regulations or policies. Council will also be asked to decide if the 26 properties added to the heritage register at the July 12, 2022 City Council meeting and the September 20, 2022 Council Meeting should continue to be listed on the heritage register or removed.
John O’Riley is the lead staff member on matters related to heritage. He reports that there are now six study areas, set out below, and eight individual properties that are being studied.
The tan coloured properties are the subject a close study.
One of the six study areas.
Another of the six study areas.
On Monday, June 19th, the City is hosting an evening consultation meeting at 7PM at Burlington City Hall with property owners in the following study areas:
• Foot of Brant Street;
• Village Square; and
• Downtown East.
Three of the eight properties that will get a detailed study are shown in tan.
On Wednesday, June 21st, the City is hosting an evening consultation meeting at 7PM at Burlington City Hall with property owners in the following study areas:
• Locust Street; and
• Burlington Avenue and Lakeshore Road.
The meetings are an important step in terms of letting people know what the city has in mind. Up until this point property owners didn’t know very much about what the city had in mind.
The debate will be interesting. There are those that are strong proponents of property right however they may not be able to carry the vote.
