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King Council: considerable anger with heritage register

Council agrees to remove 13 of 29 suggested properties off list

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 16, 2015
By Tim Kelly

Nobleton resident June MacIntyre could have been speaking for the entire process of adding properties to the King Township Municipal Register when she said, “It’s a piece of s---” Monday night at King Township council.

That seemed to be the consensus of council, staff and grumbling residents as the Township will now go back to the drawing board with a working session to determine its heritage register process.

However, Monday night, the Township had to deal with some angry residents who wanted nothing to do with having their properties being put on the heritage register.

MacIntyre’s profane comment was in direct reference to her own property at 12978 Hwy. 27. She was strongly arguing against designation.

Placement on the heritage register is “just going to devalue,” his property said Brian Sinnett whose building is next door to MacIntyre’s at 12972 Hwy. 27 in Nobleton. “I’m self-employed and this building is our pension,” added Sinnett.

Nils Corneman, who lives on the 15th Sideroad at 6740 said he was confused about the descriptions in the staff report about his property.

“It (report) said, ‘It adds to the streetscape of 15th Sideroad.’ There is no streetscape on 15th Sideroad,” he said. “It’s a dirt road. It’s a burden to be on the (heritage register) list. It’s not right, it’s not fair.”

There was near unanimous agreement from councillors that it wasn’t fair to designate private properties against the will of township owners.

“I just don’t feel that’s a burden I want to put on my constituents,” said Ward 3 Councillor Linda Pabst.

Added Ward 6 Councillor Avia Eek, “I don’t think it’s our job to usurp their rights.”

Ward 5 Councillor Debbie Schaefer, a member of the Township’s heritage advisory committee, struck a note of caution about taking properties off the heritage register even if property owners don’t want to be on it.

“In our sustainability plan it says we respect our own history and culture. Many of the deputations and people were actually very unkind to their own properties.

“This isn’t about whether a property is pretty or beautiful, that has nothing to do with it at all, these properties are properties that show us where we have come from, how our municipality was formed,” she said.

Schaefer also explained that being on the register doesn’t prevent owners from working on their properties or selling them, it only provides the Township with a 60-day notice period before the property can be demolished. Without it being on the register, a property can be demolished in 10 days.

Mayor Steve Pellegrini said he believed the process as currently set up does not work and that more needs to be done to work with residents and to encourage people to want to be on the heritage register.

“We need to fix this process; I also do not want to impose any hardship on any resident in King. We need a working session,” he said.

Council approved taking 13 of 29 suggested properties off the Township Heritage Register at the request of property owners who wished to not be on it. That leaves 16 properties on the register.