Maintaining character: Milton studies Omagh heritage

NRU
Aug. 31, 2016
By Leah Wong

With Halton Region planning to realign one of the regional roads running through Milton, the town is taking the opportunity to study the possibility of re-designating lands to bring cohesion to a historic village.

To better understand the heritage value of this village, last week council approved a heritage conservation district study of Omagh. Located around Britannia Road and Fourth Line, Omagh is the only one of Milton’s villages from the former Trafalgar Township that has retained much of its original character.

“Omagh is kind of like the lost, forgotten township [in Milton],” Milton Ward 1 councillor Robert Duvall told NRU. “A lot of these little areas lose their character in a 30-year time period, but this one has kept a lot of its original buildings.”

None of the buildings in the study area presently have heritage designation, but about half are included on the town’s list of heritage properties. As part of the study staff will expand the inventory and evaluate what building features contribute to the village’s character.

Halton Region plans to re-align Britannia Road, which currently runs through the village, to a by-pass south of Omagh, avoiding the village. Britannia Road will then be linked to the road system of the proposed subdivisions to the north or turned into a cul-de-sac.

One of the challenges in Omagh is that the north and south halves of the village have different zoning - the northern half is in Milton’s urban area while the southern half is in the rural area.

“Different zoning, official plan and regional official plan policies apply to either side of Britannia Road,” Milton development review director Christian Lupis said in an email to NRU. “This does not make it possible to plan for the future of the village in a comprehensive fashion.”

Lupis added that the re-alignment of Britannia Road and the HCD study create an opportunity for the town to explore official plan policy and zoning changes that would allow the agricultural lands within the village to be re-designated for residential use. Having both parts of the village designated residential will allow Omagh to be planned as a complete community spanning both sides of the road.

Duvall said he would like the character of the village maintained but agrees that the re-designation of the southern part would offer an opportunity to create a more cohesive design.

“When you’re driving around town you see a lot of buildings that have been torn down or that we’ve lost to fire, usually because they’ve been lost and forgotten,” said Duvall. “This [study] is our opportunity to make sure that doesn’t happen [in Omagh].”

Omagh is located within the town’s Boyne Survey Secondary Plan, which is targeted for the third phase of residential growth in Milton. Under the secondary plan, Lupis said that no development can occur in the Omagh area until the HCD study has been completed.

The HCD study will address cultural and natural heritage features. There is a creek and natural heritage system running through the village, requiring the town to assess the extent of the floodplain within the village in collaboration with Conservation Halton.

The town will launch a public consultation process in the fall to solicit feedback from residents about the HCD study.

Staff will report to council on its recommendations about the heritage value of the area and any potential re-designation in spring 2017.