The city will begin planning how to implement a Galt Core Heritage Conservation District after passing on an option to expand the original boundary of the HCD’s study area along Water Street North and to the west side of the river.
City staff recommended the expanded study area at Tuesday's council meeting along the $16,300 price tag that comes with it, but council decided otherwise, choosing instead to go ahead with the original scope in its vote on a motion to move to the next stage.
“I think the expanded boundary is too big and it takes in too much area,” said Coun. Donna Reid in putting forward an amended motion to keep the original boundary.
She thinks the original boundary encompassing 271 properties will allow the city to better harmonize heritage preservation with the need for more development and intensification.
“The smaller area is where most of the harmonization needs to take place. It will make it strong and it will make it better for everyone.”
Reid’s motion was seconded by Coun. Mike Mann, who said the original scope is sufficient in his mind.
Other councillors were mixed.
Coun. Pam Wolf wants to see Galt’s core protected, but said without growth “the city dies.”
“We need development in our core and the density and vibrancy that can bring and I’m hoping the HCD will manage growth and not stifle it,” she said, noting how an individual approach to designating heritage buildings in an area the size of downtown Galt is “easier said than done.”
Although Wolf admitted to having concerns the study area is large already, she wanted to see the boundary expanded across the river.
Coun. Nick Ermetta worried about the sight lines that could be lost if development happens on the west side of the river and wanted to go with the staff recommendation to expand the HCD.
But Mayor Kathryn McGarry said Queen’s Square is already covered by the Dickson Hill HCD, adding she’s not worried about the west side of the river because of it.
That notion changed Coun. Wolf’s mind to vote in favour of Coun. Reid’s amended motion.
Other places of identified concern, like Centennial Park, could be added to a future East Galt HCD, which has been deferred for several years, McGarry said.
Coun. Jan Liggett pointed to the Gaslight District development in her belief the 67 properties identified in the expanded study boundary should be included in the HCD and the protections it provides.
“I think it protects us. It gives us an opportunity to look at whether these areas should be added or not.”
Coun. Scott Hamilton said he believes increasing the HCD to encompass such a large core area may dilute its purpose.
“I think there’s strength in not biting off more than we can chew.”
Throughout the debate on the merits of the HCD, those in favour of it have argued the need for heritage preservation in Galt’s historic core in the face of increasing demand for densification.
But opponents of the expanded the study area, including members of the city’s own heritage advisory committee, said they had concerns about buy-in from the public once the scope is expanded.
Worries it could hinder development persisted at the economic development committee last month where lead architect on the Cambridge Mill project Patrick Simmons warned the HCD presents an obstacle many developers don’t want to deal with.
At Tuesday's council meeting, Karen Scott Booth, a volunteer with the local branch of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, told council the ACO applauds the initiative and enthusiastically endorsed the expanded boundary, which they feel would capture additional buildings of heritage and cultural interest.
She urged council to accept the recommendation from staff.
“The familiar saying measure twice, cut once is apt in this instance,” she said. “We want to get it right the first time.”
Pushback against the HCD from special interest groups and some downtown business owners do not represent the wider public interests, she said.
“This downtown is too important to make a mistake here, this evening.”
But others disagreed.
Sean Maciel, a lifelong resident of Cambridge and graduate of the University of Waterloo School of Architecture, told council the HCD does not respect Galt core’s social heritage and there’s nothing in it to guarantee it will protect the area’s built heritage.
“Council must not allow it to proceed,” he said, explaining how Galt is “broken in a way” because a vibrant downtown occurs when we live and build and work together.
“That hasn’t described the Galt downtown core in a long time.”
“In deeply misunderstanding the social and cultural heritage of Galt, this HCD will perpetuate this unworkable condition downtown,” he said, mainly by limiting the city’s density goals.
The only way Galt is going to see revitalization, he said, is by bringing more people in to live and work there.
The city’s modern approach is based on prioritizing temporary visitors, tourists and shoppers and that has “perpetually failed to revitalize downtown.
“Preserving it is massively short sighted,” he said.
A prime example is the city’s 37-year-old Main Street heritage conservation district, Maciel said. Its purpose to aesthetically preserve and restore buildings, hasn’t been successful, but the ACO declared it a success nonetheless because “the character remained the same.”
“This is NIMBYism disguised as heritage protection,” he said. “The HCD will interfere with our ability to build the city we need to have.”
Maciel said the city should instead create a heritage permit process and use that to manage its heritage building stock.
Going straight to an HCD is overkill, he said.
Cambridge heritage advocate Michelle Goodridge said omitting areas north of the original boundary and on the west side of the river, including the Cambridge Mill and Queen’s Square, would be doing a disservice to the city.
“I’m concerned we will miss a vital opportunity here to protect and guide development in this critical area that is long overdue,” she said.
Responding to those opposed to the plan, Goodridge said that short sighted view stems from not having all the facts or having read the studies around the socio-economic impacts of HCDs, which counter the myth that it negatively impacts property values.
She pointed to property values in the Dickson Hill area, which many attribute to the HCD protections in place there to prevent “unsympathetic development” the likes of which took down the Gore Mutual building decades ago.
“Without stronger protections, we will continue to see unmitigated and irreversible change to our core, rather than more adaptive reuse projects like the school of architecture, old city hall and the Galt post office,” Goodridge said.
Mayor Kathryn McGarry asked staff to explain how the HCD is being developed while taking other priorities into account, namely provincial growth targets, transit initiatives designed to achieve the city's climate change goals and density targets to establish a business case for Phase 2 of the LRT.Senior heritage planner Abraham Plunkett-Latimer said consultants will develop the HCD in conjunction with other studies the city is undertaking that look at intensification, building height, visualization and zoning bylaws.
Although the plan has yet to be developed, he said it will identify specific objectives for growth, protection of specific heritage structures and viewscapes, along with suggestions on how alterations could happen while being flexible.
“The objective to make sure all of those priorities are met and would not be compromised by the HCD,” he said.
Funded through the city’s Capital Works Reserve Fund, the budget for the Galt Core HCD is $100,000, $50,000 of which was allocated to the study phase of the project.
Consultants from ASI and Fotenn Planning will now begin to prepare draft policies to help conserve and enhance the character of the district that has been identified in the HCD study. Two additional Public Information Centres are planned as part of the Plan Phase of the project, during which members of the public will have the opportunity to provide input.
