Much of Old Town is under review for its historical value after the Niagara-on-the-Lake town council greenlit a study of its heritage assets.

Town heritage planning manager Steve Burke presented council with a bylaw and appendiced map at a committee of the whole meeting Feb. 4 which would establish the boundaries of the study area in Old Town.

The research is part of an ongoing effort to expand the existing heritage district bound by Byron, Gate, Johnson and Wellington streets.

The study area stretches from Palatine Place to the dock area and from the shores of Lake Ontario to as far south as John Street.

“It’s something that we wanted to do from the beginning,” Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa said in an interview.

The heritage district plan was a priority of this council’s strategic plan and a key part of his campaign platform in 2022, Zalepa said.

Expanding the heritage district would help the town get a lot of properties designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, thereby protecting them from development.

The area will be studied for its heritage value for the next year by Ottawa-based heritage consultant Cultural Spaces, which the town has retained for the study.

In the meantime, demolitions, alterations and new development on properties within the study area will be prohibited, Burke told Council.

Some properties, however, will be exempt from the restrictions.

Burke said these would include properties impacted by bylaw amendments in the last three years and those already designated under the Ontario Heritage Act.

A staff report on the agenda, signed by Burke and two senior staffers, said at least 25 per cent of the properties in a proposed heritage district need to meet the Ontario Heritage Act’s criteria to qualify for the designation.

The report said 75 properties in the study area are on the town’s heritage register.

Burke said the boundaries of the future heritage conservation district will likely be different than those in the study.

Zalepa said he did not think the study’s boundaries should have been adjusted to accommodate other properties, including high-profile heritage assets like the Rand Estate.

The Rand Estate was the subject of another heritage study conducted in 2023.

Zalepa said the town’s consultants did not see value in duplicating the research produced in that study.