“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.
“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.
“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.
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.”
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.”
“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.
“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.
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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
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.”
“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.
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.
“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.
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.
“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.
“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.
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.
“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.
“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.
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.”
“No one is suggesting that roundabouts do not have a place in our road infrastructure, but rather, installed only in selected intersections,” writes Brian Marshall. “I submit that the centre of St. Davids is not one of these intersections.”
“Here in Niagara-on-the-Lake, I suggest that one of the primary ‘benefits’ is the character and heritage of the town that we have inherited. And, when a part of that inheritance is threatened, I argue that our elected officials are obligated to fight for its preservation,” writes Brian Marshall.
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