Under development pressure, Amherstburg eyes two heritage districts

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Keen on preserving the character of its historic downtown area, Amherstburg wants to hear from residents on plans to create two heritage conservation districts in the town’s urban core.  

Following passage of the Ford government’s Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, in 2022 — implemented as part of the province’s push to build 1.5 million homes by 2031 — Ontario’s municipalities are under growing pressure to accommodate applications for development, said deputy mayor Chris Gibb.  

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“The province is really pushing for densification,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons we’re looking at this heritage district, because we’re starting to see a lot of homes in our heritage area are at the point that is attractive to developers.  

“This will help us control the look and the feel of what gets built in the heritage district so that we can protect the look and feel of our downtown heritage core,” said Gibb.  

The first area under consideration for heritage designation is roughly bordered by Richmond and North streets to the north and Simcoe Street and an area just south of Park Street. The second area includes land to the west of Dalhousie Street south of Pickering Drive.  

The town has set up a website, talktheburg.ca, which contains a map outlining the two proposed areas. Residents can plug in their addresses to see whether their land lies within the proposed heritage areas.  

Amherstburg is focusing on heritage areas because provincial changes “made it much more difficult for us to protect our heritage buildings,” said Gibb, who sits on the town’s heritage committee. Designed to “reduce red tape and remove barriers that are slowing down construction,” Bill 23 includes an amendment to the Ontario Heritage Act that opens up to potential development properties that are not officially designated for protection.

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“We’ve got a lot of unique buildings downtown that were developed as the town expanded out from the original fort,” said Gibb. “Some of those buildings are over 200 years old.”  

Identifying heritage districts will help the town “keep the look and the feel of the neighbourhood so that as development comes we can sort of influence the ability to keep the unique character of these neighbourhoods,” Gibbs said. 

Owners of buildings covered by the heritage conservation district would have to seek approval of the town’s heritage committee before making changes to their buildings that would affect their heritage features.  

For lands being eyed for development that contain buildings within the heritage districts, including buildings that are proposed to be replaced by larger housing projects, “we would attempt to make sure that what they build to replace those homes continues to reflect or enhance the look and the feel of the neighbourhood that’s already been established,” said Gibb.  

“The whole perspective is to change it from looking at the individual building to the entire neighbourhood.”  

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The town held an open house Monday night to explain the heritage process to residents and the online survey was launched on talktheburg.ca to gather residents’ input. The survey remains open until May 14.

Attributes for consideration under the heritage districts include “buildings in the district and how they are connected to the history of a community’s development, as well as features like trees, landscapes, roads, and even local events and traditions,” the town says on talktheburg.ca.  

The boundaries of the proposed downtown core heritage area include a historic property at 359 Dalhousie St. that council recently approved for redevelopment.

The house, built in 1912, was owned by former businessman and town councillor Colin Wigle. Its heritage residential zoning was removed and a draft plan for a four-storey, 12-unit condominium was given the OK by council.  

The heritage conservation district process is only about halfway through, said Gibb, so a final decision is still some time away.  

bamacleod@postmedia.com  

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