Property owners avoid heritage designations by tearing down buildings. Change the rules, OFA says

QUEEN’S PARK— The Ontario government is making moves in the right direction but not going far enough when it comes to heritage building designations that lock owners into maintaining them, particularly on farms, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture argues.

The Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries is looking at easing off on regulations that require the owner to maintain a heritage building on their property. The province is proposing that municipalities be required to notify landowners and allow landowners to challenge the designation.

As it stands, property owners don’t get a say and that’s led to drastic action. A homeowner in the Ottawa area tore down his 19th-century farmhouse just days before it received a heritage designation last fall. A London, Ontario, man demolished his barn just days before it was to be officially recognized as a heritage building.

The OFA argues that the province should exempt non-residential farm buildings and agricultural landscapes entirely.

“Forcing farmers to shoulder the costs and obligations of buildings that serve no day-to-day farm purpose is unrealistic,” says OFA president Keith Currie.