Item - 2024.PB16.3

The Toronto Preservation Board recommends that:

1.  City Council state its intention to designate the property at 1 Heritage Place under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act in accordance with the Statement of Significance for 1 Heritage Place (Reasons for Designation) attached as Attachment 1 to the report (March 12, 2024) from the Acting Senior Manager, Heritage Planning, Urban Design, City Planning.

2.  If there are no objections to the designation, City Council authorize the City Solicitor to introduce the Bill in Council designating the property under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

This report recommends that City Council state its intention to designate the property at 1 Heritage Place under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act for its cultural heritage value according to the Statement of Significance which includes a description of Heritage Attributes found in Attachment 1.

The subject property at 1 Heritage Place is located one block west of Scarlett Road north of Eglinton Avenue West in the Humber Heights-Westmount neighbourhood in Etobicoke. It contains a two-storey detached house form building located in a subdivision development from the 1950s along La Rush Drive. With the address of 1 Heritage Place, the subject property is located on a cul-de-sac off La Rush Drive with three other residential properties. A Location Map and Current Photograph of the heritage property is found in Attachment 2. 

Constructed between 1851 and 1857 for prominent merchant and landowner Edward Scarlett, the Pre-Confederation era property features a vernacular style villa incorporating late Georgian and Italianate elements, reflecting the astylistic simplicity that was popular in the mid-19th century. The Scarlett family where prominent merchant millers, businessmen, and landowners who contributed to the early industrial development of Etobicoke and York Townships. This included Scarlett Road, which is named after the family. The Edward Scarlett House is located on a rise of land adjacent to the Humber Creek and framed by generous landscaping, the property is situated within a picturesque landscape that retains a sense of rural seclusion.

Staff have determined that the property at 1 Heritage Place containing the Edward Scarlett House has cultural heritage value and meets 3 of the Ontario Regulation 9/06 criteria prescribed for municipal designation under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act. A property may be designated under Part IV, Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act, if it meets two or more of the nine criteria.

The property was listed on the City's Heritage Register on September 27, 2006.

The owner of 1 Heritage Place requested the designation and proposes to undertake chimney and masonry restoration.  The owner has submitted an application to the 2024 Toronto Heritage Grant program. To be eligible for a Toronto Heritage Grant a property is required to be Designated under Part IV Section 29 of the Ontario Heritage Act.

Designation enables City Council to review proposed alterations or demolitions to the property and enforce heritage property standards and maintenance.