At the direction of Council, The City is currently working to implement new policy tools and financial incentives to support heritage conservation. This includes additional grant funding for designated non-residential heritage resources, continued development of a proposed residential heritage tax credit program, and phased implementation of residential heritage area policies throughout 2021-2023.
At the July 27th, 2020 Council meeting, Council approved the following motion:
That Council direct Administration to:
- Undertake a two-year phased program (2021 – 2023) to implement the heritage area policy tools, using the recommended thresholds, through the local area planning process, Land Use Bylaw amendments, or associated land use redesignations, and return to the Standing Policy Committee on Planning and Urban Development to report on the progress in Q1 2024;
- Alter the City-wide Historic Resource Conservation Grant Program by:
- Preparing a mid-cycle budget request for a $2 million increase to the base budget and funding for the City-wide Historic Resource Conservation Grant Program from $500,000 to $2.5 million;
- Restructuring the grant program to direct $2 million to non-residential conservation projects with a cap of $1 million per project, and reserve $500,000 for residential projects with the existing cap of $125,000; and,
- Return to the Priorities and Finance Committee no later than Q1 2022 with the residential tax credit financial incentive package for consideration in the 2023-2026 budget deliberations.
What this means is the heritage area policy tools will begin to be implemented, while funding for the Historic Resource Conservation Grant Program has been increased. Administration will also develop a residential tax credit for consideration for the next budget cycle.
The minutes from the July 27th Council meeting can be found here. Administration’s report and all 10 of the attachments can be found under item 7.5. To stay updated on the Heritage Conservation Incentives project, click here.