The Trinity Royal Heritage Conservation area includes much of the uptown commercial and residential core. (Danielle McCreadie)
Several heritage homeowners and advocates in Saint John are speaking out against proposed new bylaw changes.
As the city looks to modernize the bylaw—which protects and guides alternations to heritage homes—some are worried the changes will send the wrong message about the importance of historic buildings.
Of note, many are worried that their historical homes won’t qualify for single-spot heritage designation due to the program’s tight budget and low resources.
City councillor Donna Reardon owns a couple of heritage homes in the city’s well-known conservation area Trinity Royal. She would like to see the city better prioritize heritage conservation.
“Heritage as a brand is big for us and I’m not sure if that’s understood that well. It’s the same old story no matter where you’re from: you take things for granted. For other people that don’t have this infrastructure, it is very impressive and it’s very compelling,” she said.
Sparking the discussion around spot designation is an external amendment to the bylaw, which denied designation to 152 Watson Street on the west side.
Although it doesn’t currently fall in one of the 11 heritage conservation districts, the owners say the building pre-dates the Saint John Fire and carries a lot of historical architecture.
Chris and Melissa Osborne say they’re concerned that without the heritage designation, the future owners of their home won’t be bothered to conserve and restore its history.
Reardon agrees that there needs to be a better process for spot designation in place.
“It is still a historical building for the city. I would like to capture as many of those as possible, because I think they really are a treasure for us, and they make us so unique in New Brunswick,” she said.
“I would like to see them set a list of criteria that would align with our current heritage bylaw, and say that if your building meets these criteria, then yes we will offer you a designation.”
Starting A Heritage Collection
Reardon also sees the benefit of having heritage districts.
Under the bylaw, neighbours may apply for heritage designation together to create or expand a new conservation area.
Heritage staff say they would much rather see this approach, and have “collections” of heritage areas around the city.
“There’s security in living in a heritage district or area,” said Reardon, as neighbours all have to follow the same rules when it comes to external work.
Reardon says the city needs to better take care of its heritage assets and would like to see some better long term planning.
“Part of the problem is that Heritage never knows what they’re going to get for a budget. They need a long-term financial plan for a budget… to get their work done well,” she said.
Reardon says its all about balance between what homeowners want and what the city can provide.
“Saint John has been hungry for a long time and when you’re hungry, a lot of times you have to look at your basic needs and you forget about some of the niceties because you just can’t afford them, and they go on hold for a while,” she said.
In ten years from now who knows where we’ll be from all of this. Maybe we’ll have more money, and maybe we’ll have more support systems and maybe we’ll have more encouragement for people to stay in the heritage areas,” she said.
The third reading of the bylaw will return to council later this month, with more information and options around spot designation for council to vote on.
