Niagara-on-the-Lake Local received the following letter critical of heritage planning decisions which the writer claims too often favour developers.
The Ontario Land Tribunal’s recent decision that went against Solmar over the Rand Estate was a shot fired across the bow of councillors and town planning staff who choose to ignore accepted practices on urban planning and preservation of cultural and architectural heritage. The OLT decision stated clearly that Solmar’s development plans for the Rand estate “do not represent good planning in the public interest.” This from an institution that typically finds in favour of developers.
While the town was opposed to the developer in the case of Rand, they have been overly accommodating in the development of Parliament Oak, St. Davids, 187 Queen St, and several other recent projects. The heritage planner and many of the other planners who opposed Solmar’s plans for the Rand Estate are no longer with the town. Their replacements seem more eager to support developer applications without considering long term effects to the community or heritage. I hope present day planning staff is paying close attention to the OLT decision on Rand and learns from it in approving future developments.
Stewart Hall
NOTL
