Heritage rules to be reviewed by Summerside task force
Planning board chair hopes to simplify the rules
It's been 17 years since the heritage rules were updated in Summerside, P.E.I., and planning chair Coun. Brian McFeely says it's time the city took a close look at them.
"It's time to do a thorough review. I think it was 2003 that the last review… was completed," McFeely said.
The main goal is to review existing bylaws and regulations around heritage and look for gaps that may exist, he said.
A resolution to establish the task force was passed unanimously at a Summerside council meeting on Monday night. The Summerside Heritage Plan and Bylaw Review Task Force will have a year to do its work.
Three members of the public and a representative from the Summerside Historical Society will be part of the group looking at heritage, McFeely said. The plan is to look at best-practices across the country in similar sized municipalities.
"Then develop a report to bring first to the planning board for approval then ultimately back to council for final approval," he said.
Ranking heritage?
The task force will also establish a scoring or ranking system to determine what constitutes a heritage site, McFeely said.
"Ideally we will have our first meeting early in the New Year," he said. "I would very much like to get a good part of the work done before summer."
Sometimes the process around what constitutes a heritage location isn't clearly defined or the rules understood, McFeely said.
"I just see it as tidying up things and looking at a simple version that people, you know, certainly understand the process," he said.
The hope is to have the recommendations brought from the task force to council by the end of 2021, McFeely said.