Provincial deadline means these London properties could be dropped from heritage list

In under a year, hundreds of London buildings stand to be removed from a list of properties with heritage significance, a move that could leave them open for demolition as part of Ontario's plan to speed housing development. 

London currently has 2,201 properties on its Register of Cultural Heritage Resources. It's a kind-of holding list for buildings deemed to have potential heritage value. Properties that meet the criteria for the heritage protection are typically selected from this list. 

But under legislation passed in 2022 at Queen's Park to increase the housing supply, properties not heritage-designated were set to be removed from the heritage register by the end of the year and wouldn't be able to return to it for five years. 

While the rules are intended to preserve historically significant buildings, heritage designation also puts limits on the owner: They aren't allowed alter or demolish the building without approval from city hall. The owner of a property on the heritage list must give the city 60 days notice before moving ahead with a demolition to give the city time to determine if they want to grant full designation. 

Getting full designation for a heritage-listed property can take months and requires a planner's report.

Last year, a total of three properties in London were granted full heritage designation from the list. 

Kyle Gonyou, the city's manager of urban design and heritage, said they're working on ways to comply with the new rules.

"Presently we don't have any direction from council in terms of a strategy or approach on what to do with the non-designated properties on the register of cultural heritage resources," Gonyou told CBC News. "We don't have a number or anything like that."

Stephanie Bergman, who chairs the city's advisory committee on planning, worried that so many properties are due to be removed from the list before their heritage attributes can be properly evaluated. 

"It's quite concerning to us because that list is a really important tool for being able to study and identify properties that should be designated." 

She said properties on the list do have a measure of protection, even without full heritage designation. Applications to develop or demolish them that come to City Hall trigger an assessment of their heritage value. 

Bergman submitted the following list to CBC News as examples of heritage-listed properties in London that could be dropped from the list. These properties are currently not heritage-designated: 

• Gibbons Lodge – 1836 Richmond St. Currently the official residence of Western University's President, the house was the original home of prominent lawyer Sir George C. Gibbons. 
• Ivey Spencer Leadership Centre -  551 Windermere Rd. 
• 664 Richmond St. – Former Keg restaurant and former London CP train station.
• Woodland Cemetery – 493 Springbank Dr.
• 471 Ridgewood Cres. – An example of a mid-century modern church. 

In explaining the reasons for its changes to the Heritage Act, the province said it's all about freeing up for potential properties for development that don't currently meet the requirements for heritage designation and maybe never will.

"The government of Ontario updated the Ontario Heritage Act through Bill 23 to support future growth while continuing to conserve heritage properties and making the process transparent, consistent and predictable for all parties," they said in a statement to CBC News.  

"Previously, municipalities were able to keep listed properties on the register indefinitely, resulting in many cases of additional red tape, uncertainty and delays."

The province said the changes will force municipalities to shrink the size of the registry and move ahead with designation for properties that meet the criteria. 

Bergman pointed to London's Fugitive Slave Chapel as a property that benefited from full designation. It's been relocated at Fanshawe Pioneer Village. She said heritage advocates in London are looking at the list to triage which ones should be pushed forward for designation before they are removed from the list. 

"It's really important that we find ways to protect our cultural heritage and this does cause us to rethink how we do that," she said. "But this is going to be a challenge."