REPORT TO DEVELOPMENT SERVICES COMMITTEE
TO:	Mayor and Members of Council
FROM:	Jim Baird, Commissioner of Development Services
	Valerie Shuttleworth, Director, Planning & Urban Design
PREPARED BY:	George Duncan, Senior Heritage Planner
DATE OF MEETING:	January 10, 2006
SUBJECT:	REVISED BUILDING CLASSIFICATION
	MARKHAM VILLAGE HERITAGE CONSERVATION DISTRICT

RECOMMENDATION:

That the report titled “Revised Building Classification, Markham Village Heritage Conservation District be received;

And that the Markham Village Heritage Conservation District Plan be amended by deleting the 1991 building classifications and replacing them with the 2005 building classifications as recommended by Heritage Markham (Appendix ‘B’)

PURPOSE:

To recommend revised building classifications for properties located in the Markham Village Heritage Conservation District as the result of a review of existing classifications undertaken in 2004-2005.

BACKGROUND:

The Markham Village Heritage Conservation was designated under Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act in 1991. The district has three distinct areas: Vinegar Hill (south area), Markham Village (central area) and Mount Joy (north area). The District Plan contains policies relating to the treatment of four classes of buildings:

H – Properties individually designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act.

A – Buildings of architectural and historical value that give the main heritage character to the

district.

B – Buildings of contextual value that support the heritage character of the district but are not

considered to be of heritage significance themselves.

C – Buildings that do not relate to the heritage character of the district.

When the District Plan was created, the work was done by a consultant team that evaluated and assigned a classification grade to each building standing in the district at the time. An extract from the District Plan, providing more details on the classification system, are attached as Appendix “A.”

The need to update the building classification has been identified through the on-going administration of the Markham Village Heritage Conservation District

Since the time the heritage district was designated, some inconsistencies have been found in the day-to-day implementation of the District Plan. Specifically, some buildings of obvious heritage significance were assigned B or C grades, which has created problems when owners, applicants, realters, etc. have inquired about the heritage status of buildings and properties within the area. Also, the structure of the plan makes it difficult to identify the classification for properties by using the mapping in the document because the maps are at a small scale and do not include street addresses.

Re-evaluation of buildings has been undertaken by Heritage Section staff

In response to the above concerns with the existing building classifications, Heritage Section staff has undertaken a re-evaluation process to look at each building within the Markham Village Heritage Conservation District and propose a revised grading where appropriate. The new grading was done using the existing classification system in the District Plan, however the classes were simplified into three: A, B and C. The H buildings, which are those properties individually designated under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, are now listed as A buildings, and their special status is indicated by adding “Part IV” after the “A” classification. This is consistent with the classification system used in the Unionville Heritage Conservation District Plan, the model upon which new or revised Heritage Conservation District Plans are being based.

A total of 562 buildings were visited and reviewed during this study.

Building classifications changed for 20% of the properties examined

In general, many class B buildings (usually dating from the early 1900s to 1920s) that retain the better part of their original character have been upgraded to class A. Other B buildings are those built in recent years according to the design guidelines of the District Plan. A few B buildings are heritage buildings that have been significantly altered, but could be restored to become class A.

A number of class C buildings that contribute to the heritage character of the district have been upgraded to B. These buildings are usually structures dating from the 1930s onward that in time may be considered to be of heritage value.

In some cases, C buildings were upgraded to A buildings because the consultants appear to have been inconsistent in their original evaluations of the building stock. A number of buildings of obvious heritage value were given C ratings in 1991, however, this issue only seems to occur in portions of the heritage district. An explanation for this inconsistency may be that more than one person conducted the evaluations, depending on the area, and these consultants applied their own standards of what did or did not constitute a heritage building. The revised building classification was done by a single member of Heritage Section staff to ensure consistency.

In summary, 80% of existing building evaluations remained the same as they were in the 1991 district plan. A total of 20% of building evaluations were changed as the result of the 2004-2005 re-evaluation. At the same time, corrections were made to the municipal addresses of the properties being examined. The revised building classifications are attached as Appendix “B.”

The following chart illustrates the scope of revised building classifications as proposed in this report:

Building Classifications 1991 to 2005	Percentage of Change
B to A	06%
C to B	10.5%
C to A	3.5%
Total Change in Classifications	20%

Heritage Markham has reviewed and endorsed the revised building classifications for the Markham Village Heritage Conservation District

The revised building classification was presented to Heritage Markham at the November 9, 2005 meeting. Following a review by the committee members, the revised building classification was endorsed by Heritage Markham at their December 14, 2005 meeting (see Extract, Appendix “C).

OPTIONS/DISCUSSION:

Changes to the schedules and appendices of the District Plan may be amended by a resolution of Council

According to the policies of the district plan, the schedules and appendices, as well as minor administrative amendments, may be amended by a resolution of Council upon the recommendation of Heritage Markham. The applicable excerpt from the Volume 4 of the Markham Village Heritage Conservation District Plan is attached as Appendix “D.”

In view of the above policy framework, staff recommend that Council pass a resolution to delete the 1991 building classifications and replace them with the 2005 revised building classifications attached as Appendix ‘B’.

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

There are no financial implications to be considered in this report.

ENGAGE 21ST CONSIDERATIONS:

The classification of buildings within a heritage conservation district helps to achieve a Quality Community by identifying heritage resources worthy of protection, which strengthens the sense community identity.

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

The revised building classifications for the Markham Village Heritage Conservation District were reviewed by Heritage Section staff and by Heritage Markham.

ATTACHMENTS:

Map 1 – Boundaries of the Markham Village Heritage Conservation District

Appendix “A” – Existing Building Classification System

Appendix “B” – Revised Building Classifications

Appendix “C” – Heritage Markham Extract

Appendix “D” – Excerpt from Volume 4 of the District Plan

Valerie Shuttleworth, M.C.I.P., R.P.P. Director of Planning & Urban Design

Jim Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P. Commissioner of Development Services

File Path: Q:\Development/Heritage/Subject/MVHCD/ClassificationDSCJan10