Lincoln to consider town-wide heritage district implementations

By Tristan Marks
NewsNow

The Town of Lincoln will soon have a new tool, or rather many tools, to utilize in protecting its heritage.

Council voted Monday to initiate a study into the possibility of declaring not just one Heritage Conservation District (HCD), but many distributed throughout Lincoln’s many hamlets.

Coun. Tony Brunet introduced the motion, but noted it came in conjunction with the entire Heritage Committee and carried their “full endorsement”.

This included the support of Brunet’s fellow committee member, Coun. Lynn Timmers.

Brunet noted that the idea of setting up a HCD had been “on the radar for two years”, and in earlier meetings Councillors had floated the idea.

Mayor Easton even suggested a location for a heritage district during a meeting earlier this term: along Academy Street and Main Street in Beamsville.

However, Brunet explained that this motion was designed with a town-wide scope in mind.

“It was our intention all the time to consider heritage districts, plural,” he said in an interview before the meeting.

“We want to make sure that we’re maintaining the history and the culture that make all of our Town unique, even hamlets like Tintern and Campden as well- the entirety of Lincoln.”

He further noted that the Heritage Committee recognizes that every one of Lincoln’s hamlets has features that “merit study An HCD is defined in the Heritage Act as a specially defined geographical area within a municipality that is protected under a local bylaw to ensure conservation of its existing heritage character.

This type of heritage declaration focuses on an entire defined area, especially its “contextual attributes” which include the variety of buildings and how they interrelate, the physical attributes including trees, landscapes, building setbacks, roads, street furniture and lighting.

Coun. Timmers, who seconded the motion, said this will take an important step towards preserving Lincoln’s history and heritage.

“To me, this is something very important to our municipality, to identify and protect our heritage,” she said.

Council voted unanimously in support.

However, during discussions, Coun. Mike Mikolic asked some questions as to how the studies would proceed and what effects they might have on future development.

He asked if the public would be included in the study process and would a consultant need to be hired.

Director of planning Matt Bruder answered the councillors’ questions.

“We would include consultation with members of the public, mostly for areas that are subject to the study,” he explained. “Typically, we’d also hire a consultant for these types of studies, yes.”

Mikolic also asked how a HCD would affect development in its borders, giving the following hypothetical.

“If Jordan Village was declared to be a heritage district, would the new museum building still have been able to be built?” he asked.

“The short answer is yes,” Bruder replied, going on to explain that such a decision would depend on the HCD’s goals for what to preserve, what attributes a new building would require from that and so on.

With the studies soon to be underway, the Town of Lincoln may soon have an additional tool for directing its development.

As Brunet said before the meeting, “A lot of communities are going through growth and expansion and we want to do it right by making sure we do so with our history and heritage in mind.”

He also said that HCDs would help the Town continue towards its goal of being a tourism destination by maintaining its unique connections to the past.