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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOctober 22, 20251 Present: Heritage Pickering Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes Electronic Meeting October 22, 2025 - 07:00 PM N. Brewster S. Croteau L. Jeffrey M. Lowe S. Monaghan R. Smiles B. Sopher K. Hearst, Records, Privacy, and Elections Coordinator (Recording Secretary) A. MacGillivray, Council and Committee Coordinator M. Somerville, Senior Planner, Heritage (Staff Liaison) Regrets: R. Anderson J. White 1. Review and Approval of Agenda Moved By N. Brewster Seconded By R. Smiles That the October 22, 2025, Heritage Pickering Advisory Committee meeting agenda be approved. Carried 2. Disclosure of Interest No disclosures of interest were noted 3. Approval of Minutes 3.1 May 28, 2025 Meeting Minutes Heritage Pickering Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes October 22, 2025 2 Moved By R. Smiles Seconded By S. Croteau That the Minutes of the May 28, 2025, Meeting of the Heritage Pickering Advisory Committee be approved. Carried 4. Delegations There were no delegations. 5. New Business 5.1 Proposed 2026 HPAC Meeting Schedule M. Somerville provided an update on the 2026 HPAC Meeting Schedule highlighting that the last meeting will be held in June 2026 due to the municipal elections. Moved By S. Monaghan Seconded By B. Sopher That the Heritage Pickering Advisory Committee 2026 Meeting Schedule be adopted as follows: • January 28, 2026 – 7:00 pm • February 25, 2026 – 7:00 pm • March 25, 2026 – 7:00 pm • April 22, 2026 – 7:00 pm • May 27, 2026 – 7:00 pm • June 24, 2026 – 7:00 pm Carried 5.2 Verbal Update - Pickering Forward: Official Plan Review - Community Elements and Infrastructure Engagement Summary Report M. Somerville provided an overview of the Open House held in May for the Pickering Forward: Official Plan Review, highlighting feedback from the public regarding heritage concerns in the community. Discussion ensued amongst the Committee regarding: • Community support for heritage integration by protecting heritage buildings, Heritage Pickering Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes October 22, 2025 3 site, and intangibles through storytelling, plaques, public art, and inclusive interpretation; • Community support to integrate heritage into urban design and new development, building around heritage elements in the community instead of relocation or demolition; • Expanding heritage definitions beyond architecture to include waterfront, trails, farmland, and indigenous cultural heritage identity; • Storytelling and placemaking, include more public art, walking tours, and storytelling to build community identity and civic pride; • Integrating heritage into sustainability frameworks and recognizing rural landscapes and cultural heritage and embedding in policy; • Heritage retention in intensification zones; • Changes to Ontario Heritage Act and the Heritage Registry no longer being used anymore as placeholder for heritage value; • Balancing conservation and real-world demands, including accessible interpretation and improving accessibility to historic resources; • Refocusing on existing concentrations of heritage structures and developing a concerted visibility campaign; and, • Incorporating more historic references into park design, including developing a set of themes than can be used by developers in park development. M. Somerville provided an overview of the status of the Northeast Pickering Secondary Plan, highlighting that the area does not currently have any plans for servicing in the development and ensuring that there are no additional water outflows into Ajax via local tributaries and streams. M. Somerville directed Committee Members to letstalkpickering.ca/NEP for more information on the Northeast Pickering Secondary Plan and how development will work around the Greenwood Community to maintain heritage elements. 5.3 Memorandum from Matt Somerville, Senior Planner, Heritage Re: Part IV Designation - 681 Pleasant Street M. Somerville provided an overview of 681 Pleasant Street and the requirements for a Part IV Heritage Designation, highlighting that the property is not listed or designated currently but included in the City's heritage inventory and that the owner submitted a site plan application to sever the property into two lots Discussion ensued amongst the Committee regarding: Heritage Pickering Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes October 22, 2025 4 • The heritage impact assessment for the property and non-compliance of the severance regarding frontage affecting urban form; • The historical review of the property, Fairport, Thomas Mansfield Sr., and the Fairport Store; • The architectural value, including that it is the only 19th century brick building in the community that is of a high-level of artistic merit and representative of the Ontario vernacular architectutral style; • The associative value, including historical associations to Thomas Mansfield Sr., a well-known merchant in the area historically; • The contextual value, including the importance of the property to the historical elements of the Fairport community; • The property meeting all three of the primary criteria for heritage designation under the Ontario Heritage Act; • Thomas Mansfield Sr. and his family and their significance to the Fairport community; • The development of a new Cultural Master Plan for the City of Pickering and adding further discussion to the a future Committee Meeting. • Potential for additions to property that meeting urban form and intensifications goals, including a coach house on the back and a new addition on to the rear of the house adding 3 units to the property; • The property being listed on MLS and wanting to designate the property for transparency to prospective buyers; and, • Next steps following the recommendation for designation by the Committee, including taking the designation to the Planning and Development Committee, then Council for Approval. Moved By M. Lowe Seconded By R. Smiles That Heritage Pickering recommends the Part IV designation of 681 Pleasant Street under Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act. Carried 6. Other Business M. Somerville discussed brining forward the new heritage tax rebate program to the Committee at the next meeting. 7. Next Meeting Heritage Pickering Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes October 22, 2025 5 The next regular meeting of the Heritage Pickering Advisory Committee is scheduled for November 26, 2025. 8. Adjournment Moved By S. Monaghan Seconded By S. Croteau That the meeting be adjourned. Carried The meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m.