The first official council meeting of 2026 is a planning meeting, and most of it is focused on downtown! Back for final approval is the plan for running the core as a heritage district, and since we’re talking about the past, we will also talk about the area’s future with a new plan to streamline development. But that’s not all, there will be a decision about a major downtown development project, and even some decisions about a south end project. Here’s the preview…
NOTE #1: Delegates will be able to appear at this meeting in-person or via tele-presense but you do have to register with the clerks office before 10 am on Friday January 16. You can also submit written delegations and correspondences for agenda items.
NOTE #2: In addition to meeting in-person, this meeting will also be live-streamed on the City of Guelph’s website here.
12 Clarke Street West: Notice of Intention to Designate – This house came to the Heritage Advisory Committee for their endorsement to designate last summer. The home, which was built by prominent local carpenter David Young in the 1870s, meets four of the nine prescribed criteria for determining design and physical value, historical and associative value, and contextual value, as per Ontario Regulation 9/06.
316 Grange Road: Intention to Demolish a Cultural Heritage Resource – From November’s heritage committee meeting is a request to demolish the single-storey house and an old bard from the early 20th century on this property so that a developer can proceed with a new 79-unit residential subdivision. An archaeological consultant has advised that while these are rare types of structures to be found in the Guelph city limits, there isn’t enough justification to designate them.
89 Arthur Street North: Notice of Intention to Designate – Essentially at the corner of Arthur and New Street, the home that was originally built for Reverend Arthur Palmer in 1855 meets five of the nine prescribed criteria for determining cultural heritage value or interest. The Heritage Advisory Committee recommended that the property be designated at their December meeting.
Decision Report 55 Baker, 152 and 160 Wyndham St N Proposed ZBA – Back in November, council heard the proposal to build two mixed-use towers – 17 and 19 storeys – containing approximately 401 residential units, plus ground-floor commercial space, and underground and podium parking for the northern portion of the Baker Street redevelopment. Now, staff are recommending that council formally endorse the plan.
Downtown Community Planning Permit System – As what was already approved for the area around Stone Road Mall, this will create a single, streamlined approval system that combines zoning, minor variance, and site plan control into one decision process for most projects in order to reduce timelines and get building started faster. At essence, the plan will implement the new downtown heights previously approved, remove parking minimums, and secure community benefits—primarily affordable housing—in exchange for additional height and density. This is the statutory planning meeting for this plan, meaning that no final decision will be made at this meeting and council will only vote to receive the report. The final plan will come back to council for approval in March.
Hanlon Creek Business Park Phase 3 Housekeeping Amendments – The staff report is categorizing this as “housekeeping amendments” including correcting mapping errors, approving a red-line change to subdivide Block 33 into two new blocks, and extending the draft plan approval to November 8, 2029. Nothing here substantively changes the development, but it protects needed infrastructure areas and it will supposedly improve what the report calls “development potential”. This is both a statutory and decision meeting but you may recall that this item was originally supposed to be on the agenda for the December planning meeting but it was postponed in the amended agenda.
Designation of Downtown Guelph Heritage Conservation District – After bringing this to council for a first look back in October, but now staff are ready for downtown to formally be designated as a heritage conservation district. Since October there have been no changes to the boundary or the justifications for designation, but there’s some new language that explicitly clarifies that this plan works in tandem with both the height study and the Downtown Secondary Plan, includes a list of heritage-friendly insurers and clearer messages about the protection obligations, plus refined timeliness, process explanations, and a clearer list of exemptions for heritage permits. If no appeal is made, Downtown Guelph should become the city’s second heritage conservation district by the beginning of March.
Guelph Politico 