Toronto heritage property backlog

Report emphasizes lack of resources, staff
Kris Scheuer
(Updated Feb. 11 for Town Crier.)

Geoff Kettel, left, Paul Litt, Karen Carter and David Crombie helped to release a report on proposed changes to how the city handles the designation of heritage properties. Photo by Kris Scheuer/Town Crier.

Hoping to have your childhood home declared a heritage site?
Well you may have to wait awhile.
“There is a backlog of 100 properties that’s been submitted to the city for consideration, but haven’t been processed, haven’t gone to the (Toronto) Heritage Board or city council,” Geoff Kettel, chair of the North York Preservation Panel told the crowd regarding the findings of a report on the state of heritage in the city.
“The 100 is just the tip of the iceberg,” he added. “They represent ones with a development where the community is concerned about a possible demolition. That backlog will take time to move (through).”
In an email to the Town Crier, Kettel wrote that the city’s preservation services staff are able to process only about 40 potential heritage properties a year.
“I would also add that the demand to add new properties to the backlog is lower than it should be because we know that there is no appetite in heritage preservation services to add new properties to the list,” his email stated.
The 12 page report was a joint effort by Heritage Toronto and the Toronto Historical Society and was based on several consultations with community and heritage groups.

Advertisement

Application to demolish Maclean House

Owner wants to tear down the heritage home near Casa Loma
Plan to replace 100-yr-old building with townhomes, apartments
Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier Feb. 9.)

Maclean House before the owner removed aspects of it in Dec 2009. Image courtesy of City of Toronto.

The owner of 7 Austin Ter. has applied to demolish the designated heritage property known as the Maclean House. The plan is to build a six unit rental housing building plus eight town homes on the site.
City planning and heritage staff has advised council to refuse the demolition permit.
Currently there’s a 10 unit, one and a half storey residential building on site.
Publisher John Bayne Maclean lived in the home from 1910 until his death in 1950. John M. Lyle, who also constructed the Royal Alexandra Theatre and Union Station, built the home.
City heritage staff wrote in its report to council that, “there is no justification for the demolition of the structure at 7 Austin Terrace.”
A separate report from planning staff on the same demolition issue from a different perspective: rental housing and residential development.
The current building contains 10 units: one owner unit plus nine rentals.
The application to demolish the entire building would mean a loss of nine rentals: two of which are considered affordable, three are mid-range and four are priced on the high end.