Dr. Marcus Letourneau

The appellant appealed the municipality's by-law designating a property as having cultural heritage value under the Ontario Heritage Act.

At a settlement hearing, the Tribunal accepted uncontested expert heritage planning evidence that the property had been significantly altered and did not meet any of the prescribed criteria in O. Reg. 9/06.

The Tribunal allowed the appeal and repealed the designating by-law.

The Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake issued Notices of Intention to Designate three adjacent properties under the Ontario Heritage Act.

The objector argued that the properties did not constitute a 'nested cultural heritage landscape' (CHL) and that their deep setbacks were not heritage attributes.

The Conservation Review Board found that while the properties could be considered a nested CHL for planning purposes under the Provincial Policy Statement, they could not be designated as such under the Act without improperly creating a de facto heritage conservation district.

However, the Board agreed with the Town that the deep setbacks, historically driven by a now-extinct watercourse and changing cultural norms, were valid heritage attributes that contributed to the properties' cultural heritage value.

The Board recommended designation with the nested CHL concept removed from the attributes.