This month’s Heritage Guelph meeting will be about taking the workplans and putting the plans to work. After the last couple of months getting ducks in a row and responding to the heritage changes made in Bill 23, planning staff are now ready to start the collective actions to save as much heritage as possible before the Province’s two-year time line runs out. Shall we begin?! Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Heritage Guelph Meeting for March 13, 2023”
In many ways, the February Heritage Guelph meeting was a continuation of the January meeting with the committee affirming the new boundaries for the proposed Cultural Heritage District for the OR Lands. In other news, Heritage Guelph took staff’s Top 10 list of the non-downtown heritage properties they’re most concerned about and added a couple of amendments including a big one on Catholic Hill. Continue reading “RECAP: Heritage Moves Ahead with OR Land Boundary and “Top 11” List”
For February’s Heritage Guelph meeting, it feels like we’re resetting the table for the tricky years ahead. Two items will be before the committee this month, both already familiar to the public at large; Heritage Guelph will formally recommend the shape and size of the heritage district at the old jail lands, and then begin the busy work of saving as much heritage as they can in the next 24 months. Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Heritage Guelph Meeting for February 13, 2023”
Heritage Guelph kicked off the new year with an update about a couple of key areas of concern: The Heritage Conservation District study of the Ontario Reformatory Lands, and an update about the post-Bill 23 workload for heritage staff. There was progress on both counts, especially with the HCD study which looks about ready to move on to the next phase, the phase where it comes to council! Continue reading “RECAP: Heritage Guelph Likes the OR Land Boundaries; Also Bill 23 Update”
With the new year, Heritage Guelph is now officially under the proverbial gun thanks to changes in Bill 23 and the ongoing efforts to preserve the Ontario Reformatory Lands in the east end. Both of these items will be front and centre at this month’s Heritage Guelph committee meeting as the people in charge of protecting Guelph’s old places face some new challenges. Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Heritage Guelph Meeting for January 23, 2023”
The day after Halloween offered at least one scare for anyone worried about heritage protection in Guelph. The last two meetings of the 2018-2022 term of council heard the objection of a heritage designation passed last summer in one, and then had one last moment of togetherness in the other. So let’s take a moment and recap how this very busy term of city council came to a close. Continue reading “This Week at Council: Heritage Designation Re-Debate and Goodbyes!”
One more last bit of business before the official end of this term of council. You can click here for the amended agenda from City Hall, and you can click here for the Politico preview. For the complete blow-by-blow of today’s council meeting, you can follow along on Twitter, or follow the tweets below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “LIVE BLOG: Special City Council Meeting for November 1, 2022”
We’re back! Before the new council is sworn in in mid-November, we get two more council meetings to bookend your All Saints’ Day activities. For the morning, it’s a question of heritage: Will council re-commit to the decision they made in July about the demolition of a heritage home to make way for 18 new affordable units? The answer, and the circumstances, might surprise you. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the Special November 1 Meeting?”
The open space around the Old Guelph Reformatory, affectionately (and unofficially) known as the Old Refomatory lands, are an attractive area in the city that a lot of people would like to see protected. That’s why council passed an initiative last summer to study the area as a possible heritage district, and if you’ve been itching for your chance to offer your two cents, your time is finally here! Continue reading “Open House Coming Up for OR Lands Heritage District Study”
The year at city council ended with what actually might be some of their most intense debates. In December, there was a pretty fiery discussion about accelerating the City’s response to climate change, a new debate about whether a governance review is needed for the downtown business improvement area, and there was even some time for a public meeting on a rezoning and a brand new heritage designation. Let’s recap this last month of 2021 at council. Continue reading “This Month at Council: Race to Zero, Hotel Redo, and Downtown Drama”
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