1. ADOPTION OF THE STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES FOR THE CONSERVATION OF HISTORIC PLACES IN CANANDA

Adoption des normes et lignes directrices pour la conservation des lieux patrimoniaux au canada

Committee recommendations

That Council adopt:

1. Adopt the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada as amended from time to time as a policy document to assist with the planning, stewardship and conservation of designated heritage resources within the City of Ottawa.

2. Approve that reference to the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada be incorporated in the City of Ottawa Official Plan, and other policy documents as appropriate as part of the Official Plan Review.

RecommandationS du Comité

Que le Conseil adopte :

1. adopte les Normes et les lignes directrices pour la conservation des lieux patrimoniaux au Canada, telles que modifiées de temps à autre, à titre de politique visant à aider à la planification, à la gouvernance et à la conservation des ressources patrimoniales désignées dans la Ville d’Ottawa.

2. approve que l’on inclue une référence aux Normes et lignes directrices sur la conservation des lieux patrimoniaux au Canada dans le Plan officiel de la Ville et tout autre document pertinent dans le cadre de l’examen du Plan officiel.

Documentation

1. Deputy City Manager, Planning, Transit and the Environment report dated 19 August 2008 (ACS2008-PTE-PLA-0186).

2. LACAC Extract of Draft Minutes of 4 September 2008.

3. Extract of Draft Minutes, 23 September 2008.

Report to/Rapport au :

Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee

Comité consultatif sur la conservation de l'architecture locale

and / et

Planning and Environment Committee

Comité de l'urbanisme et de l'environnement

and Council / et au Conseil

19 August 2008 / le 19 août 2008

Submitted by/Soumis par : Nancy Schepers, Deputy City Manager/Directrice municipale adjointe,

Planning, Transit and the Environment/Urbanisme, Transport en commun et Environnement

Contact Person/Personne Ressource : Grant Lindsay, Manager/Gestionnaire, Development Approvals/Approbation des demandes d'aménagement, Planning Branch/Direction de l’urbanisme

(613) 580-2424, 13242 Grant.Lindsay@ottawa.ca

City-wide

Ref N°: ACS2008-PTE-PLA-0186

SUBJECT:	ADOPTION OF THE STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES FOR THE CONSERVATION OF HISTORIC PLACES IN CANANDA

OBJET :	Adoption des normes et lignes directrices pour la conservation des lieux patrimoniaux au canada

REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS

That the Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee recommend that Planning and Environment Committee recommend that Council:

1. Adopt The Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada as amended from time to time as a policy document to assist with the planning, stewardship and conservation of designated heritage resources within the City of Ottawa.

2. That reference to the Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada be incorporated in the City of Ottawa Official Plan, and other policy documents as appropriate as part of the Official Plan Review.

RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT

Que le Comité consultatif sur la conservation de l’architecture locale recommande au Comité de l’urbanisme et de l’environnement de recommander à son tour au Conseil :

1. d’adopter les Normes et les lignes directrices pour la conservation des lieux patrimoniaux au Canada, telles que modifiées de temps à autre, à titre de politique visant à aider à la planification, à la gouvernance et à la conservation des ressources patrimoniales désignées dans la Ville d’Ottawa.

2. que l’on inclue une référence aux Normes et lignes directrices sur la conservation des lieux patrimoniaux au Canada dans le Plan officiel de la Ville et tout autre document pertinent dans le cadre de l’examen du Plan officiel.

BACKGROUND

The Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada are the result of a major collaborative effort among federal, provincial, territorial and municipal governments, heritage conservation professionals, heritage developers, and many individual Canadians.

The Standards and Guidelines describe the principles and practices that encourage the long-term conservation of the country’s historic places. The Standards and Guidelines present internationally accepted standards for all projects and a series of ‘recommended’ and ‘not recommended’ approaches for specific resource and material types. The purpose of the Standards and Guidelines is three-fold:

1. To provide sound, practical, results-oriented guidance for sound decision making when planning for, intervening and using a historic place;

2. To develop a pan-Canadian set of standards and guidelines, which may be adopted by federal, provincial, territorial or other authorities as a benchmark for assessing proposed conservation interventions; and

3. To assist people who apply for government financial incentives for conservation by forming the basis for review and assessment of a preservation, rehabilitation or restoration project.

The Standards and Guidelines is a lengthy document of 174 pages. It is available in English and French at the website described in Document 1. Relevant extracts have been included as separate documents in this report.

DISCUSSION

Recommendation 1:

The Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada are the first-ever pan-Canadian benchmark for heritage conservation practice in this country. The Standards and Guidelines are not intended to replace the statutory role of the Ontario Heritage Act, regulations under the Act, or the City of Ottawa Official Plan. They are also not intended to replace the role of conservation specialists or to provide detailed technical instructions. They can, however, provide a common benchmark to guide restoration and rehabilitation of historic places, ensuring that heritage values are preserved and that these historic places continue to be useful resources in the life of a community.

Many partners of the initative have adopted the Standards and Guidelines as a policy document. The Parks Canada Agency now relies on it to assess conservation interventions for all federal heritage buildings and for the national historic sites under its stewardship. Several provinces, including Alberta and Saskatchewan, as well as many municipalities in Ontario also employ the Standards and Guidelines to help protect the historic resources under their jurisdictions. A Ministry of Culture survey conducted in 2006 revealed that approximately 69 municipalities in Ontario endorse the Standards and Guidelines as a tool for guidance. A more recent survey of select Ontario municipalities is included in Document 2. This survey indicates that the Standards and Guidelines are useful in administering incentive programs such as heritage grants, tax relief and façade improvement programs, where guidelines of a technical nature are needed. Kingston and Brampton refer to the Standards and Guidelines in their Official Plans.

How Will It Be Used:

1. Municipal Heritage Grant Program

The part of most use will be the “Guidelines for Buildings”, described in section 3 of the Standards and Guidelines and included as Document 3. These guidelines will be used in the administration of the existing City of Ottawa Heritage Grant Program for Building Restoration [http://www.ottawa.ca/residents/planning/built_heritage/grants/index_en.html], as well as any future financial incentive programs. At the time of the initiation of the Heritage Grant Program in 1987, no Canadian document such as this existed and the United States’ Secretary of the Interior Standards for Rehabilitation was used.

Information regarding this aspect of the Standards and Guidelines will be provided, as needed, to applicants for restoration grants and other future financial incentives from the City of Ottawa.

2. Future Federal Financial Incentives

One of the principal reasons for the development of the Standards and Guidelines was to prepare for federal financial incentives anticipated from the Historic Places Initiative. While that has not yet taken place, the City of Ottawa will be more prepared than most by having adopted the Standards and Guidelines and having already placed properties on the Canadian Register of Historic Places [http://www.historicplaces.ca].

3. Façade Improvement Programs

The guidelines related to façade improvement, found within the section “Guidelines for Buildings”, could be of use in future programs such as the Rideau Street Heritage Façade Restoration Program, which provided funds to restore the facades of 97-105 Rideau Street in 2007.

4. Additions to Historic Buildings

Heritage planning staff has been using the guidelines for “New Additions to Historic Places” included as Document 4, since 2003 to assist in the assessment of additions to heritage buildings.

The Standards and Guidelines will be updated as new content is made available by the Parks Canada Agency or the Historic Places Initiative and its partners. Adoption of the Standards and Guidelines does not preclude the subsequent adoption of additional standards and/or guidelines written or recommended by city planning staff for specific or general heritage resource types and/or issues.

Recommendation 2

The City of Ottawa Official Plan is currently being updated and reference to the Standards and Guidelines can be incorporated as appropriate into the revised document.

CONSULTATION

This report is administrative in nature and was not subject to public consultation.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

N/A

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

Document 1 Parks Canada Agency. (2003). The Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada. Accessible in English and French at:

http://www.pc.gc.ca/docs/pc/guide/nldclpc-sgchpc/index_e.asp and

http://www.pc.gc.ca/docs/pc/guide/nldclpc-sgchpc/index_f.asp. English and French copies of this document are on file with the City Clerk.

Document 2 Survey: How Other Ontario Municipalities are using the Standards and Guidelines

Document 3 Parks Canada Agency. “Guidelines for Buildings” from The Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. 2003.

Document 4 Parks Canada Agency. “New Additions to Historic Places” from The Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. 2003.

SURVEY: HOW OTHER ONTARIO MUNICIPALITIES ARE USING

THE STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES DOCUMENT 2

Peterborough:

- Adopted by Council in 2006; and

- Used as the mechanism for measuring compliance for applications under the Heritage Tax Pelief Program; used to define how work on heritage attributes is to be completed.

Kingston

- Used as a guidance document for the Heritage Incentives Program, which includes the Heritage Property Tax Relief Program and the Heritage Property Grants Program; and

- Referenced in the draft Official Plan.

London:

- Used as a guidance document for downtown programs, such as the Façade Restoration Program.

Burlington:

- Referenced when commenting on building permit applications for designated properties;

- Referenced when commenting on heritage permit applications, in reoprts to Council and in letters to the owner;

- Will be used as a benchmark for deeming work eligible for funding in the updated Heritage Grant and Loan Program; and

- Will be used to assess compliance under the future Heritage Property Tax Relief Program.

Brampton:

- Adopted by Council through the Official Plan amendment process in 2006;

- Referenced in the heritage permit applications; and

- Integrated into planning reviews.

Toronto:

- Adopted by Council in March 2008; and

- Used as the official guiding document for all designated and listed properties in the city.