Delisting Aurora homes from heritage list a bad precedent: resident
Local residents want to see heritage preserved along Tyler and Temperance streets.

YorkRegion.com
May 3, 2017
Amanda Persico

Residents near the proposed new Aurora United Church redevelopment plan are urging council to keep the heritage feel of the streets.

Recently, the church presented plans to rebuild the church that burned down in 2014 on the same site — at Yonge and Tyler streets.

The plan also includes building a 9-storey retirement residence along Tyler and Temperance streets, which requires the demolition of five properties.

The five buildings on the site — 12 and 16 Tyler Street, 55, 57 and 57A Temperance Street — are on the town’s heritage and cultural registrar.

According to town staff, there are more than 100 homes on the town’s list, which are assessed for heritage value as an application comes before the heritage committee.

Local residents want the town to keep those homes on the town’s list and to see them incorporated into the building plans for the new church and retirement residence buildings. But the threshold is high when it comes to designating a property.

There is heritage value in keeping and restoring those homes, said area resident Tony Masongsong.

He purchased a rundown home, which was on the town’s list, and spent time and money converting it into an awarding-winning heritage gem.

“The streetscape tells the story,” Masongsong said.

The town’s heritage committee evaluated each property and found “no compelling heritage value,” said the town's planning director, Marco Ramunno.

Councillors voted to remove the five properties from the town’s heritage and cultural registrar during a recent general committee meeting.

But that could set a dangerous precedent, council was told.

“What’s to stop another developer coming in and delisting the heritage homes,” said Aurora Village Ratepayers Association vice-president Troy Hourie.

Along with the loss of heritage, the proposed height is also a concern for surrounding residents.

“It’s so huge, it will take over the community,” said Hourie, who has an architecture background. “The plans need to be more delicate and there needs to be more transition. It doesn’t fit stylistically.”

The ratepayers group has collected close to 200 signatures both on a paper and online petition calling for a reduction in height from nine storeys to five stories.

But that’s not to say the group is against the idea of the church rebuilding in the original location or the proposed retirement residence.

The ratepayers group is looking for compromise, Hourie added.

Without an entrance along Yonge Street, retirement residence and church traffic, including emergency service vehicles, will be directed onto local streets, which are narrow.

Another public planning meeting is slated for the end of May, where a revised application is expected.