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Downtown Heritage Conservation District Study

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We anticipate that the study will be complete in early-2025. It will be posted here for the public to review when it is complete, followed by a Public Information Centre.

Welcome to the Downtown Heritage Conservation District Study Survey.

The City of St. Catharines wants your input on the creation of a new heritage conservation district (HCD) in our downtown.

The City is pursuing a potential heritage conservation district to help manage change in the downtown to ensure its character is maintained for future generations. The downtown is the city's urban growth area. We know changes are coming, and we want to find a unique solution that maintains our history, while welcoming change and investment.

Currently, the City has five Heritage Districts that have been effective at conserving the City's heritage. You can learn more about them here.

Designation of a HCD takes place in two distinct phases: the Study Phase and the Plan Phase. At this time, we are only working on the Study Phase, which identifies what is significant by:

  • Identifying and evaluating the key historical, architectural and heritage buildings landscape features
  • Reviewing the current planning and regulatory context re: heritage designation
  • Establishing a clear, defensible rationale for the appropriate boundaries of a Heritage Conservation District
  • Obtaining meaningful input and support from local stakeholders, business owners, and residents through effective public consultation

If the Study Phase identifies all or part of the Study Area to meet the threshold criteria from Ontario Regulation 9/06 of the Ontario Heritage Act, Council may decide to proceed with the Plan Phase, and prepare an HCD Plan for the recommended boundary.

A HCD Plan provides policies and guidelines for conservation, protection, and enhancement of the area's special heritage character.

While we have consultants doing research and evaluating the downtown for heritage potential, we'd like your input, as well.

Downtown Heritage Conservation District Task Force

As part of the City's efforts to ensure that the perspective of local businesses and property owners are heard, the City started a Downtown Heritage Conservation District Task Force made up of representatives from the Downtown BIA, Council and the Heritage Committee. The groups Terms of Reference can be found here.

The Task Force held its first meeting on Thursday June 27th. The meeting was recorded on Youtube and can be found here.

The date of the next Task Force meeting is to be determined.

Community Survey

The community survey was open to the public from April 11th to May 21st, 2024. We had 125 submissions (along with an additional 7 surveys filled out at the Downtown Block Party). We'd like to thank everyone who took the time to provide their input and share their thoughts about the future of the downtown.

If you missed the survey and want to provide feedback, please contact James Neilson at jneilson@stcatharines.ca. Your feedback is important and we'd like to hear from as many voices as possible!

Community Survey - Downtown Block Party!

For one day only, we re-opened the community survey to get feedback from those of you who attended the Downtown Block Party on July 27th 2024. We'd like to thank everyone who took the time to provide their input and share their thoughts about the future of the downtown.

Community Survey - Property and Business Owners

The City received a lot of great feedback in the first round of surveys but we're looking for more information from property and business owners. Please fill out the survey below. We have extended the deadline for submissions to October 31st.

We have also heard that some people are having technical problems with the survey. We still want to hear from you! We have created a hard copy of the survey that you can print out. Click here to download the survey.

Once you have completed the survey, please drop it off at the Planning Department counter on the first floor of City Hall.

Downtown BIA Heritage Panel Event

On Thursday September 26th at 10am, the Downtown BIA held a Heritage Panel event at the Library. The event was an opportunity for property and business owners to ask questions to members of a panel who have experience in St. Catharines with heritage properties. The meeting was recorded on Youtube and you can watch the session here.

Community Mapping Project

We are also interested in learning more about your thoughts through our interactive mapping project! Click here to visit the project and let us know about the areas of the downtown that are most important to you.

Public Information Centre

The first Open House was held on April 24, 2024 at the Market Square. We had a great turnout and we want to thank everyone who attended and offered their feedback on the project.

The project display boards from the Open House can be found here.

A slide show with more information can be found here.

We anticipate that another Public Information Centre will be held in early-2025 when the Study is closer to completion.

Study Area

We anticipate that the study will be complete in early-2025. It will be posted here for the public to review when it is complete, followed by a Public Information Centre.

Welcome to the Downtown Heritage Conservation District Study Survey.

The City of St. Catharines wants your input on the creation of a new heritage conservation district (HCD) in our downtown.

The City is pursuing a potential heritage conservation district to help manage change in the downtown to ensure its character is maintained for future generations. The downtown is the city's urban growth area. We know changes are coming, and we want to find a unique solution that maintains our history, while welcoming change and investment.

Currently, the City has five Heritage Districts that have been effective at conserving the City's heritage. You can learn more about them here.

Designation of a HCD takes place in two distinct phases: the Study Phase and the Plan Phase. At this time, we are only working on the Study Phase, which identifies what is significant by:

  • Identifying and evaluating the key historical, architectural and heritage buildings landscape features
  • Reviewing the current planning and regulatory context re: heritage designation
  • Establishing a clear, defensible rationale for the appropriate boundaries of a Heritage Conservation District
  • Obtaining meaningful input and support from local stakeholders, business owners, and residents through effective public consultation

If the Study Phase identifies all or part of the Study Area to meet the threshold criteria from Ontario Regulation 9/06 of the Ontario Heritage Act, Council may decide to proceed with the Plan Phase, and prepare an HCD Plan for the recommended boundary.

A HCD Plan provides policies and guidelines for conservation, protection, and enhancement of the area's special heritage character.

While we have consultants doing research and evaluating the downtown for heritage potential, we'd like your input, as well.

Downtown Heritage Conservation District Task Force

As part of the City's efforts to ensure that the perspective of local businesses and property owners are heard, the City started a Downtown Heritage Conservation District Task Force made up of representatives from the Downtown BIA, Council and the Heritage Committee. The groups Terms of Reference can be found here.

The Task Force held its first meeting on Thursday June 27th. The meeting was recorded on Youtube and can be found here.

The date of the next Task Force meeting is to be determined.

Community Survey

The community survey was open to the public from April 11th to May 21st, 2024. We had 125 submissions (along with an additional 7 surveys filled out at the Downtown Block Party). We'd like to thank everyone who took the time to provide their input and share their thoughts about the future of the downtown.

If you missed the survey and want to provide feedback, please contact James Neilson at jneilson@stcatharines.ca. Your feedback is important and we'd like to hear from as many voices as possible!

Community Survey - Downtown Block Party!

For one day only, we re-opened the community survey to get feedback from those of you who attended the Downtown Block Party on July 27th 2024. We'd like to thank everyone who took the time to provide their input and share their thoughts about the future of the downtown.

Community Survey - Property and Business Owners

The City received a lot of great feedback in the first round of surveys but we're looking for more information from property and business owners. Please fill out the survey below. We have extended the deadline for submissions to October 31st.

We have also heard that some people are having technical problems with the survey. We still want to hear from you! We have created a hard copy of the survey that you can print out. Click here to download the survey.

Once you have completed the survey, please drop it off at the Planning Department counter on the first floor of City Hall.

Downtown BIA Heritage Panel Event

On Thursday September 26th at 10am, the Downtown BIA held a Heritage Panel event at the Library. The event was an opportunity for property and business owners to ask questions to members of a panel who have experience in St. Catharines with heritage properties. The meeting was recorded on Youtube and you can watch the session here.

Community Mapping Project

We are also interested in learning more about your thoughts through our interactive mapping project! Click here to visit the project and let us know about the areas of the downtown that are most important to you.

Public Information Centre

The first Open House was held on April 24, 2024 at the Market Square. We had a great turnout and we want to thank everyone who attended and offered their feedback on the project.

The project display boards from the Open House can be found here.

A slide show with more information can be found here.

We anticipate that another Public Information Centre will be held in early-2025 when the Study is closer to completion.

Study Area

  • CLOSED: This survey has concluded.

    Downtown Heritage Conservation District Study - Property and Business Owner Survey

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Page last updated: 09 Dec 2024, 08:07 AM