Item - 2021.PB24.4

The Toronto Preservation Board recommends to the Toronto and East York Community Council that:

1. City Council state its intention to designate the property at 103 Heath Street West under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, in accordance with the Statement of Significance: 103 Heath Street West (Reasons for Designation) attached as Attachment 3 to the report (April 21, 2021) from the Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning.

3. If there are no objections to the designation in accordance with the Ontario Heritage Act, City Council authorize the City Solicitor to introduce the necessary bill in Council.

4. If there are objections in accordance with the Ontario Heritage Act, City Council direct the City Clerk to refer the proposed designation to the Conservation Review Board.

5. If the designation is referred to the Conservation Review Board, City Council authorize the City Solicitor and appropriate staff to attend any hearing held by the Conservation Review Board in support of Council's decision to designate the property.

Liz McFarland, Planner, Heritage Preservation, Urban Design, City Planning gave a presentation on Intention to Designate under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act - 103 Heath Street West.

This report recommends that City Council state its intention to designate the listed property at 103 Heath Street West (James Hobbs House) under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its cultural heritage value.

The subject property at 103 Heath Street West is situated on the south side of Heath Street West, between Yonge Street and Avenue Road. It contains a two and a half storey, late Victorian-era, red brick house constructed in c.1892. The building is amongst the earliest houses built on this section of the south side of Heath Street West in the late 19th century, representing the earliest period in the historical evolution of the street and the Deer Park Neighbourhood.

The James Hobbs House is among the few surviving houses developed as part of Registered Plan 365 in the early 1880s-1890s. Two of the other earliest dwellings located in this section of the south side of Heath Street between Yonge Street and Avenue Road (55 and 59 Heath Street West) are already included on the City of Toronto's Heritage Register, and 59 Heath Street (the only other remaining dwelling on the street designed in Toronto's quintessential Bay-and-Gable style) is further protected with Part IV designation under the Ontario Heritage Act.

Upon Council's decision to include the property on the City's Heritage Register in March 2021, Heritage Planning staff have undertaken further research and evaluation and determined that the heritage property at 103 Heath Street West meets Ontario Regulation 9/06, the criteria prescribed for municipal designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act under all three categories of design, associative and contextual values. As such, the property is a significant built heritage resource.

Designation enables City Council to review proposed alterations for the property, enforce heritage property standards and maintenance, and refuse demolition.