Item - 2019.PB4.3

The Toronto Preservation Board recommends to the Planning and Housing Committee that:  

1. City Council approve the grant awards for the 2019 Toronto Heritage Grant Program for the following 17 designated properties, to assist property owners in funding the scope of conservation work generally described in Attachment 1 of the report (March 19, 2019) from the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning.

2. City Council direct that the use of the grant awards outlined in Recommendation 1 above be limited to only the conservation work approved by the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, and that the issuing of the grant award be subject to the grant recipient satisfying all conditions as set out in the Letter of Understanding between the City and the grant recipient.

3. City Council revise a grant previously awarded in 2016 for the property located at 437 Sherbourne Street to reflect a reduced scope of conservation work, with the grant to be reduced from $20,000.00 to a maximum grant of $10,000.00 as set out in the Letter of Understanding between the City and the grant recipient, and generally described to be soffit and fascia repair and painting.

4. City Council direct that the use of the grant award outlined in Recommendation 3 above be limited to only the conservation work approved by the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, and that the issuing of the grant award be subject to the grant recipient satisfying all conditions as set out in the Letter of Understanding between the City and the grant recipient.

5. City Council direct staff to amend the eligibility requirements as set out in the Terms and Conditions for the Toronto Heritage Grant Program so that any tax-exempt property designated under Part IV or Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act including a house-form building may be eligible for a grant equivalent to 50 per cent of the cost of eligible conservation work, with no limit.

This report recommends the approval of seventeen grants totalling $214,600.00 under the Toronto Heritage Grant Program and that the program's eligibility criteria be amended to eliminate the maximum grant award limit for not-for-profit house form tax-exempt properties as set out in this report.   

The Toronto Heritage Grant Program provides matching grant funds for eligible heritage conservation work to owners of residential properties or tax exempt properties in the City of Toronto designated under Part IV or V of the Ontario Heritage Act (OHA). Property owners may receive a grant once every five years for up to 50% of the cost of eligible conservation work. Owners of house form buildings may receive up to $10,000, or if replacing an entire cedar or slate roof assembly, up to $20,000. There is no maximum grant amount for owners of non-house form buildings.

The properties that have been recommended for a grant award vary in size and location in Toronto. Most of the properties are residential houses located in Heritage Conservation Districts. The approved conservation work includes window restoration, masonry repairs, and the repair, restoration of original historic slate and cedar roofs.