1. LOCAL ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE – REQUEST FOR COMMITTEE NAME CHANGE

COMITÉ CONSULTATIF SUR LA CONSERVATION DE L’ARCHITECTURE LOCALE – DEMANDE DE CHANGEMENT DU NOM DU COMITÉ

Committee recommendation

That Council approve that the Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee’s (LACAC) name be changed to the Ottawa Built Heritage Advisory Committee (OBHAC).

Recommandation DU Comité

Que le Conseil approuve que le nom du Comité consultatif sur la conservation de l’architecture locale soit changé à Comité consultatif sur le patrimoine bâti d'Ottawa (CCPBO).

Documentation

1. Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee report dated 8 September 2009 (ACS2009-CCV-LAC-0004).

Report to/Rapport au :

Planning and Environment Committee

Comité de l'urbanisme et de l'environnement

and Council / et au Conseil

8 September 2009 / le 8 septembre 2009

Submitted by/Soumis par : Chair/président

Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee/ Comité consultatif sur la conservation de l’architecture locale

Contact Person/Personne ressource: Melody Duffenais, Advisory Committee Coordinator / coordinatrice des comités consultatifs

(613) 580-2424 x20113, Melody.Duffenais@ottawa.ca

Ref N°: ACS2009-CCV-LAC-0004

SUBJECT: LOCAL ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE – REQUEST FOR COMMITTEE NAME CHANGE

OBJET: COMITÉ CONSULTATIF SUR LA CONSERVATION DE L’ARCHITECTURE LOCALE – DEMANDE DE CHANGEMENT DU NOM DU COMITÉ

REPORT RECOMMENDATION

That the Planning and Environment Committee recommend that Council approve that the Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee’s (LACAC) name be changed to the Ottawa Built Heritage Advisory Committee (OBHAC).

RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT

Que le Comité de l’urbanisme et de l’environnement recommande au Conseil d’approuver que le nom du Comité consultatif sur la conservation de l’architecture locale soit changé à Comité consultatif sur le patrimoine bâti d'Ottawa (CCPBO).

BACKGROUND

At its meeting on 3 September 2009, the Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee unanimously agreed to request a change to the committee’s name. A revised Ontario Heritage Act was enacted in 2005, and the term LACAC is no longer used in the Act. The Act, however, does not specify a replacement name, but refers to “municipal heritage committees.” Since then, the issue of a name change for the Ottawa LACAC has come up several times, both offline and during the committee’s official meetings. A major concern is that while City staff understands the committee’s role, the committee’s current name does not convey a clear picture to the public and those in the field of heritage conservation of the LACAC’s role and mandate. Following a substantial discussion on possible names, including the connotations of each, the committee agreed that the name chosen should imply that the committee deals with heritage buildings and their landscapes, not heritage events or programming, and settled on the name ‘Ottawa Built Heritage Advisory Committee (OBHAC)’.

DISCUSSION

Section 28 of the Ontario Heritage Act authorizes the council of a municipality to establish, by by-law, a municipal heritage committee to ensure the conservation of properties of cultural heritage value or interest. The Act does not stipulate what the title of such committee must be.

Municipal heritage committees in Ontario use a variety of names. The Ministry of Culture website provides a Municipal Heritage Committees Directory at the following link: http://www.culture.gov.on.ca/english/heritage/lacac/lacac_list.htm. A quick synopsis shows that of the 142 municipal heritage committees in Ontario, 11 still use LACAC exclusively, 17 use a combination of heritage committee and LACAC, 113 use some combination of the (Municipal Name) Heritage Committee or Heritage (Municipal Name), 1 uses a different name. In sum, only 20% of the existing municipal heritage committees in Ontario still retain LACAC in whole or part.

CONSULTATION

Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability

Staff is aware of the desire of LACAC to change its name to the Ottawa Built Heritage Advisory Committee which is permitted as a result of recent changes to the Ontario Heritage Act and is supportive of the proposed name change..

Arts, Heritage and Culture Advisory Committee

The issue has been raised in the past during informal discussions with members of the Arts, Heritage and Culture Advisory (AHCAC), at which time they expressed reservations about the possibility of LACAC choosing a name that incorporates the word ‘heritage’.

The Chair of the LACAC consulted the Chair of the AHCAC following the LACAC meeting of September 3^rd to advise of the proposed name change, and made a presentation to AHCAC at their informal meeting of September 29, 2009. At its next official meeting on 20 October, 2009, the AHCAC considered the proposed name change and voiced no objection.

Legal Services

Legal Services was contacted about the process of requesting a name change in July 2009. Legal Counsel advised that the normal process would be to raise this during City Council’s governance review. Given that the mid-term governance review had already occurred, it was suggested that LACAC could identify this as an agenda item for September, 2010 for recommendation to the new Council.

City Clerk’s Branch

The LACAC Coordinator had suggested the issue could be dealt with during the Mid-term Governance Review. However, when the issue was not raised again until after that review had occurred, the Coordinator supported the advice provided by Legal Counsel but noted that it is within the LACAC’s right to prepare a report requesting a name change before then if it has sufficient reason to support its request.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

There are no financial implications to this report.

LEGAL/RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS

There are no legal/risk management implications to this report.

RURAL IMPLICATIONS

N/A

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION

N/A

DISPOSITION

The LACAC Coordinator will notify the committee of City Council’s decision.