Randwood Estate subject of meetings coming up

The developer behind plans for a subdivision bordering the Randwood Estate will present his proposal to the town this spring — along with a local group fighting development on the historic estate.

Solmar Development Corp. has submitted heritage permit applications to the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake for proposed alterations and demolitions at 200 John Street East and 588 Charlotte Street.

They are speaking at a virtual municipal heritage committee meeting on Wednesday, April 12, at 5 p.m., a meeting scheduled solely to deal with their proposal. The newly-
formed municipal heritage committee had its first meeting of 2023 on March 8, during which it reviewed the presentation and delegation process.

Town staff received notice of Solmar’s complete applications on Feb. 17. They will publish a recommendation report on these applications on Wednesday, March 29.

After the April 12 meeting, an in-person public meeting will take place Monday evening, April 24, with final presentations and delegations: it is then that council will make its final decision on the subdivision plans.

This proposal has been the subject of debate and litigation for nearly five years, since the public first learned of plans to build a hotel and conference centre on the estate, and a subdivision beside it, in 2018.

Since then, members of the community group SORE (Save Our Rand Estate) have been involved in legal challenges involving these development plans.

Following Solmar’s presentations, SORE members will give their own presentations on the applications, as a party in associated litigation matters. Solmar and SORE have been allotted up to 30 minutes for their presentations, while delegations from the public can last 10 minutes each.

The Rand Estate was the subject of a separate discussion at the start of this year, during the Jan. 24 general committee of the whole meeting. The committee reviewed a staff report which detailed how four parts of the wall are not designated as heritage properties under the Ontario Heritage Act.

Because 200 John Street East and 588 Charlotte Street have these designations, the developer is required to get council’s approval to change or demolish its heritage attributes — the same, council and staff discussed, is not true for parts of the wall at 2 Weatherstone Court, 1 and 9 Christopher Street, and 580 Charlotte Street.

According to chief administrative officer Marnie Cluckie, if there are any issues with these parts of the wall, such as safety concerns with its deterioration, then municipal property standards rules would apply — but this has no connection to the Ontario Heritage Act or the heritage committee.

“There’s still a mechanism to make sure things are safe but they don’t actually fall under that criterion of the Ontario Heritage Act — so we can’t lay charges or have penalties,” she said on Jan. 24.

As written in the staff report from Jan. 24, the brick, concrete and stone wall is “one of the most visually prominent original elements of the Rand Estate which continues to provide visual cohesiveness.”

Giving these properties official heritage designation, however, would be a significant process: Coun. Erwin Wiens noted the municipal heritage committee has its work cut out for itself this term of council, with 200 properties in town to review on the municipal registry of heritage properties for potential designation.

Under Ontario’s new Bill 23, coming into effect this July, there will be changes to how heritage properties are to be designated under the Ontario Heritage Act. The town’s council and lord mayor previously expressed concern it will become more difficult to protect its historic properties.

“We just received this report, and it’s an important report, and it’s something we need to digest,” Wiens said. “I don’t believe the wall is as important as other homes. I just think that we have more important work.”

Information about how to register as a public delegate will be available once the meeting agenda is posted on March 29.