New rules stop one of Toronto’s coolest neighbourhoods from being turned to condos

The Toronto Preservation Board is celebrating some pretty big triumphs this week in the way of increased protections for some of the city’s trendiest and most distinctive neighbourhoods.

The Board, which helps oversee the proper implementation of the Ontario Heritage Act within city limits, has long been seeking heritage designations for areas like Kensington Market and West Queen West in the hopes that they can be safeguarded from eventually becoming faceless stretches of new development.

And, while one is well on its way to that nomination, another was just formally recognized as such by local bylaw.

As of the end of last month, the City has formally recognized West Queen West between Bathurst and Dufferin streets as a Heritage Conservation District, approving the West Queen West Heritage Conservation District Plan that has been in the works for nearly a decade.

An update from the City on December 18 states that the locale is now protected under Part V of the provincial Heritage Act, making it harder for property owners to freely renovate, otherwise alter, and more importantly raze properties along the strip.

The move “provides a policy framework that better ensures the long-term conservation of the study area’s cultural heritage values, integrity and heritage resources,” City docs state, with a focus on the historical facades and architectural attributes of the businesses and homes in the area.

City bylaw mandates that anyone looking to demolish any building in the bounds outlined will now have to apply for a special heritage permit to do so, which will have to be approved by City Council.

Also, all new (infill) construction must be found to “contribute to the heritage character of the district” while “certain alterations to buildings [must] conform to the district objectives, policies and guidelines included in the plan.”

Unfortunately for the few buildings in the city that speak to its relatively limited history, these rules are often only applied to external street-facing components, like the facades that residents often see transplanted onto shiny new skyscrapers to Frankenstein-esque ends.

But, given that the HCD Plan’s objectives include making certain any new builds or additions “enhance the cultural heritage value of the district particularly with respect to the historic scale, form and massing of its contributing properties and the public realm,” it seems that West Queen West will be spared from any monumental changes that would be at odds with the existing, storied fabric of the community.