Heritage properties in the city of Ottawa will be subject to new maintenance and repair standards by January 2010.
A proposal to protect heritage buildings from neglect and, ultimately demolition introduced last fall by Rideau-Vanier Coun. Georges Bédard, has been approved by council for implementation before the end of the year.
The bylaw will ensure heritage properties adhere to minimum maintenance standards in order to avoid being condemned.
It is being finalized this fall and Bédard hopes to see it in effect by December.
“Before we get into such a state that developers are knocking down old buildings, we have to have minimum requirements,” says Bédard.
The recommendations not only set out guidelines for property owners to follow, but they also encourage city officials such as building inspectors, fire marshals, and heritage planners to work together and share information about the state of these historic structures.
This would mean consulting not only the Building Code Act and the Fire Protection Act before permitting a property to be demolished, but also the Ontario Heritage Act.
The main focus of the plan is to be proactive in protecting these structures from damage beyond repair.
“According to present laws, if a building was barricaded, the owner could turn the heat off and let water damage occur,” says Bédard. “[The bylaw] ensures there won’t be any damage from bursting pipes in the winter.”
Centretown has more heritage properties than any part of the city.
According to the proposal, there are approximately 10,000 properties in Ottawa that have been identified as properties with heritage features.
“Centretown is very heritage-rich,” says David Jeanes, a member of Heritage Ottawa. “Much of Bank Street and Cathedral Hill are considered heritage conservation districts, as well, several individual houses in the Golden Triangle.”
These changes will give councillors more tools to protect heritage buildings in their communities, he said.
The report was prompted by threats to several buildings in Bédard’s ward of Rideau-Vanier.
He cites downtown streets such as Cumberland and Murray as being full of examples of owners boarding up buildings and leaving them to deteriorate.
Somerset House, a brick heritage building, partially collapsed in late 2007 leaving the intersection of Bank and Somerset streets closed for several weeks.
Jeanes says this is an example of what this bylaw is trying to prevent.
These are very significant changes, says John McLeod, a heritage expert.
He says Ottawa is full of heritage properties despite being such a young city.
“It used to be a standard procedure to let a building deteriorate to the point that it must be torn down for safety reasons,” he says. “That won’t be allowed to happen anymore, someone would have to fix it up.”
The recommendations ensure that the repairs won’t occur too late.
“When a developer boards up, he still has to maintain it, and we can force them to fix it. Or city staff can fix it and put it on their (the owner’s) tax bill,” says Bédard.