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Saturday, May 24, 2025

Search Results: arch-i-text

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Arch-i-text: The good and the bad in the Ford’s government new Bill 17

Brian Marshall -
Brian Marshall details the introduction of Bill 17, the Protect Ontario by Building Faster and Smarter Act, introduced this spring, which, Marshall writes, contains provisions around development and home construction that are helpful, and others that present serious concerns.

Arch-i-text: Ford government attacks Ontario’s livability

Brian Marshall -
Describing the newly introduced Bill 5, Brian Marshall writes, "Quite simply, the proposed legislation seeks to gut environmental protection, continuing Ford’s earlier assaults in 2020 and 2022."

Arch-i-text: Another Rand lawsuit, and the future of the urban design and planning, part two

Brian Marshall -
"Any review panel composed of members from outside the municipality will lack "skin in the game" and a personal understanding of the history, built character and design vision necessary to ensure their recommendations are not simply an academic expression unaligned with the wishes and desires of the established community," writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Why urban design and urban planning are not interchangeable

Brian Marshall -
"It is a fundamental mistake for a municipality to assume that urban planners and urban designers are interchangeable. A city or town must draw upon the expertise of both professions to successfully realize urban development that serves the needs of its residents," writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Glencairn was an irreplacable part of Canadian history

Brian Marshall -
"The loss feels like a death — not of a person, but a part of a person vested in a physical symbol of shared heritage. There's simply no excuse," writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: How zoning bylaws affect the design of homes in neighbourhoods

Brian Marshall -
Analyzing the presence of a new home in Old Town NOTL, Brian Marshall writes, "This building is almost a textbook case demonstrating that even good architecture, when built in the wrong place, diminishes both its own qualities and the neighbouring streetscapes."

Arch-i-text: The goal of the town’s next heritage conservation district plan

Brian Marshall -
The new heritage conservation district study, a plan will create "a tool to manage change, the policies and guidelines accept the evolution of buildings and structures over time," writes Brian Marshall, "while ensuring that any such change complements, rather than detracts from, the district’s unique character."

Arch-i-text: Examining the latest study on the heritage conservation district

Brian Marshall -
"This particular bylaw is ... remarkably flexible — almost to the point of raising the question of whether it will accomplish the protection necessary for a successful study," writes Brian Marshall of a new bylaw meant to halt development in a portion of Old Town for one year.

Arch-i-text: The restoration calculation — why historical buildings are worth saving

Brian Marshall -
"A given piece of architecture, whether modest or grand, is a physical representation of the architect’s (or the property owner’s) creative expression, defined by its purpose, and set within — or sometimes in contrast with — the prevailing political, economic and cultural conditions of society," writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Addressing some urban myths about designation

Brian Marshall -
In examining a 2023 study from McMaster University that looked at the corelation between heritage designation and property value, "The authors concluded that heritage-designated properties 'were associated with a positive increase in sale value' and resulted in 'an increase in sale price of residential properties,'" writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Heritage designation, part two — determining a propety’s historic value

Brian Marshall -
"On occasion, satisfying the criteria contained in this category can be straightforward, in cases wherein the facts are already established ... or self-evident — however, far more often a significant amount of research is required," writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Grey Forest Homes vs. Virgil’s coniferous forest

Brian Marshall -
"At a juncture in history wherein climate change initiatives are generally considered by both governments and voters to be a high priority, most of the members of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s elected council apparently don’t give a damn — only if it stands in the way of development," writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: A primer on property heritage designation

Brian Marshall -
"Sometimes the easiest way to determine the importance of a property to the character of its area is to consider what would happen to that character if the property were to be demolished or significantly modified," writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Ford’s overture and what lies ahead for everyday Ontarians

Brian Marshall -
"Sure, the premier and his local sycophants may point to grandiose promises of investments in Niagara’s infrastructure — most of which have not, to date, materialized — but, how does that translate to the health of your family’s pocket book?" writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Points of interest and infrastructure

Brian Marshall -
Writing about the stormwater infrastructure management plans for hte upcoming Parliament Oak hotel, Brian Marshall writes, "Should the municipality construct and own that pipe, legal experts opine that the town could bear all or a part of that liability."

Arch-i-text: Maj. David Secord’s old home — what happens when it goes wrong

Brian Marshall -
"For over a decade now, this once gracious stone home has been owned by a developer and allowed to deteriorate in a fashion that can only be described as a textbook case of demolition by neglect," writes Brian Marshall of Secord's historical home on Paxton Lane, built circa 1799.

Arch-i-text: If push comes to shove, enforcing standards can be done

Brian Marshall -
In this week's edition of Arch-i-text, Brian Marshall outlines how a municipality may directly intervene to bring a property into the provincially required standards under the Building Code Act.

Arch-i-text: Disparities in how municipalities enforce the Building Code Act

Brian Marshall -
"Clearly, the province has recognized the serious nature of a conviction under the building code and has provided a sledgehammer to enforce it but, far too often, municipalities have bypassed the sledgehammer in favour of a fly swatter," writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Property standards and demolition by neglect

Brian Marshall -
Columnist Brian Marshall will spend the next few weeks examining the options available to municipal authorities for protecting heritage properties, starting with a bylaw called "The Standards for the Maintenance and Occupany of Property," which "provides the criteria for maintenance of all properties located within the municipal boundaries of Niagara-on-the-Lake," writes Marshall.

Arch-i-text: The green road forward for everyone

Brian Marshall -
"I’d like to begin 2025 by extending my heartfelt gratitude to those who have taken the time out of their busy days to engage with this writer," writes Brian Marshall, sharing some of the feedback he received on his last column of 2024, with some food for thought on climate change action and green infrastructure for the new year.

Arch-i-text: All about green infrastructure

Brian Marshall -
"The protection and expansion of our natural heritage system supported by green infrastructure has become the proven order of the day and necessary to our future," writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: Things to know, to do and to learn

Brian Marshall -
From the future of the historic Crysler-Burroughs property at 187 Queen St., to the promising effects of investing in green infrastructure over grey infrastructure, Brian Marshall looks forward at how communities can make choices that make people, life, history and heritage a priority.

Arch-i-text: Good financial management needs transparency

Brian Marshall -
"While it wouldn’t make the pain of increased property taxes any less, a process dedicated to 'transparency, fiscal responsibility and effective communication with our residents' would certainly go some distance to increasing the confidence of NOTL’s voters," writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: The games local governments play with infrastructure

Brian Marshall -
"After decades of chronic under-investment by local governments, they will not be able to address the investment necessary to bring Niagara’s water and wastewater systems up to date," writes Brian Marshall.

Arch-i-text: A bit about our property taxes, and heritage designation’s (minimal) influence

Brian Marshall -
A heritage designation for a home may, under certain circumstances, "add a little to the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation’s assessed value calculation," writes Brian Marshall. "However, I might observe that the financial return on investment, which the property owner will derive from designation, far outstrips that potential cost."

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