Heritage Grant Bylaw

Whereas the City of Kingston values its architectural heritage; and

Whereas the City of Kingston was the first municipality in Ontario to establish a legally mandated Municipal Heritage group, which was accomplished through special legislation known as the Kingston Act; and

Whereas since 1970 approximately 1400 properties have been identified for the conservation of their historical or architectural value or interest; and

Whereas the Province of Ontario discontinued financial grant support for heritage preservation or restoration; and

Whereas Section 39 of the Ontario Heritage Act authorizes the Council of a municipality to pass a Bylaw providing for the making of a grant or loan to the owner of a property designated under the Act for the purpose of paying for the whole or any part of the cost of alteration of the property on such terms and conditions as the Council may prescribe; and

Whereas pursuant to Section 39 of the Ontario Heritage Act R.S.O 1990, c.0. 18, as amended, and clause 23.2 (1)(c) of the Municipal Act 2001, S. O, 2001,c. 25 as amended, permits a municipality to delegate grant making powers to an individual who is an officer, employee or agent of the municipality for the purposes of paying for the whole or any part of the cost of alteration of the property on such terms and conditions as the Council may prescribe; and

Whereas Section 45 of the Ontario Heritage Act authorizes the Council of a municipality to pass Bylaws providing for the making of a grant or loan to the owner of any building or structure and the land appurtenant thereto that is situate within an area that has been designated by Bylaw under Part V of the Act, as a heritage conservation district, for the purpose of paying for the whole or any part of the cost of alteration of such property on such terms and conditions as the Council may prescribe; and

Whereas the City of Kingston desires to assist heritage property owners and encourage the restoration and preservation of buildings or structures of historic or architectural value; and

Therefore be it resolved that the Council of The Corporation of the City of Kingston enacts as follows:

1.1 The City of Kingston Heritage Grant Program is a matching grant program to assist owners of properties designated under Part IV or Part V of the Ontario Heritage Act with the cost of undertaking approved conservation or restoration projects. The program is administered by Planning, Building and Licensing Services.

2.1 In this Bylaw, unless otherwise specified in this Bylaw:

Act shall mean the Ontario Heritage Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.18.

Applicant shall mean the owner of the property applying for a grant, or their agent, if such agent is authorized in writing by the owner to act as agent for making the applications;

City shall mean The Corporation of the City of Kingston;

Conservation shall mean all action or processes that are aimed at safeguarding the heritage attributes of a designated heritage property so as to retain its heritage value and extend its physical life;

Contravention shall mean an offence under a municipal Bylaw, statue or regulation for which enforcement proceedings have been commenced that relate specifically to the building or land for which a grant is sough or given;

Council shall mean the Council of The Corporation of the City of Kingston.

Director shall mean the Director of Planning, Building and Licensing Services or the successor department to which the work is administratively assigned, or his/her designate;

Designated Heritage Property shall mean property including all buildings and structures thereon that have been protected by municipal Bylaw as being of cultural heritage value or interest pursuant to Parts IV and V of the Act;

Eligible Property shall mean that which is described in Section 4 of this Bylaw;

Eligible Conservation Work shall mean that which is described in Section 5 of this Bylaw;

Estimated total cost shall mean the total cost of works inclusive of HST and PST, associated with the alteration of a heritage property, that have not yet been carried out but for which documentation (e.g., quotation, scope of work, etc.) has been received by the Owner and/or the Applicant;

Guidelines shall mean any guidelines or other type of operating procedural document that may be developed for the purposes of administering this Bylaw, as may be amended from time to time;

Heritage Attributes shall mean the principal features, characteristics, context and appearance that contribute to the cultural significance of an eligible property;

Heritage Kingston shall mean the City's municipal cultural heritage advisory committee, established pursuant to the Act;

Landscaping shall mean the process of altering the physical or natural features of a property, but does not include groundskeeping and other forms of routine maintenance;

Owner shall mean the person registered on title in the applicable registry office as the owner;

Preservation shall mean the act or process of applying measures necessary to sustain the existing form, integrity and materials of a designated heritage property;

Restoration shall mean the process of accurately revealing, recovering, replicating, reproducing, reconstructing, or representing the state of a designated heritage property at a particular period in its history, while still protecting the cultural heritage value of the property.

Routine Maintenance shall mean cyclical, non-destructive actions, which are necessary to slow the deterioration of an Eligible Heritage Property; this includes:

1. Periodic inspection;
2. Property cleanup;
3. Gardening and repair of landscape features;
4. Replacement of broken glass in windows;
5. Minor exterior repairs (e.g replacement of individual asphalt shingles where there is little or no change in colour or design etc.); and
6. Repointing areas of wall space under 1.5 square metres; and any other work defined as "maintenance" within a designation Bylaw.

Total cost shall mean the total cost of works, inclusive of HST and PST, associated with the alteration of a heritage property, that have been carried out and for which documentation confirming the completion of the works has been received by the Owner and/or the Applicant.

3.1 The Heritage Grant Program provides a matching grant of up to half of the Estimated Total Cost (50%) of the Eligible Conservation Work, up to the maximum of five thousand dollars ($5,000).

3.1.1 Notwithstanding 3.1 to the contrary, an Owner is only eligible for a matching grant of up to $2,500 or half of the Estimated Total Cost (50%) of the Eligible Conservation Work, whichever is lesser, when the Eligible Conservation Work, involves the use of appropriate modern materials (e.g., asphalt shingles, aluminum or vinyl eaves, etc.).

3.2 If the Owner wishes to complete the work themselves, the cost of materials, contracted labour, rented equipment, and related expenses necessary to complete the Eligible Conservation Work may be considered part of the Total Cost provided proof of such costs (i.e., receipts) are provided to the City. The cost of labour of self-completed work will not be considered part of the Total Cost.

4.1 For a property to be considered eligible for a grant, the property must be:

1. designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, as follows:
   1. for a single property, a designation Bylaw or heritage easement must have been passed and registered under Parts II or IV of the Act; or
   2. for a property located within a heritage conservation district, a designation Bylaw must have been passed under Part V of the Act;
2. free of any compliance orders, enforcement orders, and contraventions; and
3. free of property tax arrears and any other fees or penalties owed to the City.

4.2 The Owner of a property that is currently receiving funding through the City's Heritage Tax Refund program (Bylaw 2005-257, or as amended) will not be eligible for the receipt of a grant under this Bylaw.

4.3 The Owner of a property that is currently receiving funding through the City's Heritage Fund (City of Kingston Culture Plan, as amended) or any other City grant program, may be eligible for the receipt of a grant under this Bylaw, provided that the scope of work does not overlap (i.e. an owner may receive funding for the restoration of a heritage attribute as well as funding for the programming of the heritage property).

4.4 The Owner of a property that has received provisional approval of a grant subject to this Bylaw will not be eligible for an additional grant(s) until such time as any works associated with the approved grant have been completed, inspected and approved by the City.

4.5 Designated Heritage Properties owned by any level of government or institution which receives funding from any level of government are not eligible for funding under this Bylaw.

4.6 The Owner of an Eligible Property may only receive grant funding for conservation works associated with that property, in accordance with the provisions of this Bylaw, once every two years (i.e., every other year). Where the ownership of an Eligible Property changes within this two year period, the subsequent Owner shall be limited in the same manner as if the ownership of the Eligible Property did not change.

5.1 To be eligible for a Heritage Grant, the proposed work must:

1. correspond with a heritage permit application which has received approval within the last 12 months; or
2. correspond with a heritage permit application which is made concurrent with a grant application, in which case the issuance of any grant funding will be dependent on the approval of the heritage permit.

5.2 Grant funding will only be issued when it is associated with alterations approved under the Ontario Heritage Act that preserve, restore or enhance specific Heritage Attributes and do not detract from or diminish the cultural heritage of a property or District, being limited to the following:

1. repair, conservation or re-construction of heritage attributes which still exist;
2. repair or replacement of windows in accordance with the City's Policy on Window Renovations in Heritage Buildings;
3. repair of masonry elements in accordance with the City's Policy on Masonry Restoration in Heritage Buildings;
4. restoration of heritage attributes which have been lost but for which the appearance can be clearly determined from archival or documentary sources or physical evidence that supports the existence of the missing features;
5. introduction or repair of protective elements that will protect heritage including original features;
6. any conservation work visible from the exterior that is necessary to ensure a building is structurally sound including the correction of serious structural faults which threaten the building's survival;
7. any conservation work which repairs, restores or enhances specific Heritage Attributes associated with historic cemeteries and their features, such as mausolea, vaults, stone walls, wrought iron fences and gates which are part of the original design;
8. exterior painting where it can be demonstrated that the proposed colours are consistent with, and do not detract from, the history and character defining attributes of the property or those identified within the relevant District; or
9. any other alterations which the Director, in his or her sole discretion, determines will uphold the objectives of this Bylaw.

5.3 Eligible Conservation Work will be guided by the following policies and principles: Individual Designation Bylaws, Heritage Conservation District Plans, Conservation Principles from the Ontario Ministry of Tourism Cultural and Sport or the relevant Ministry, and Parks Canada's "Standards and Guidelines for the Conservation of Historic Places in Canada."

6.1 The following work is ineligible for grant funding issued under this Bylaw:

1. interior work, unless related to an interior feature or component that is identified as a Heritage Attribute;
2. short-term, routine maintenance;
3. work on portions of a building which are not considered or include heritage attributes;
4. landscaping, unless related to the preservation, conservation, or restoration a heritage attribute;
5. lighting, unless considered repair or restoration of a Heritage Attribute;
6. signs and commemorative plaques;
7. mechanical systems and insulations;
8. skylights;
9. poor or defective work;
10. non-permanent fixtures; or
11. technical studies, architectural or engineering services or the preparation of drawings;

7.1 The submission of an application for a heritage grant must include the following:

1. A completed application form and detailed description of the works;
2. Photographs of the building and area(s) where work is proposed;
3. An Estimated Total Cost of the proposed work including a detailed of the cost of materials, contracted labour, rented equipment, and related expenses necessary to complete the work;
4. Owner's authorization where an Applicant is to act on behalf of the Owner.

7.2 Applications for the heritage grant program must be submitted between January 1st and the last business day of March for that year's funding program; notwithstanding the foregoing, for the 2018 funding year only, applications will be received until April 30, 2018.

7.3 Applications received outside of this period will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis and only if grant funding is available following the initial round of application review.

8.1 Applications will be reviewed by staff and the Director, or his/her designate, against the provisions of this Bylaw.

8.2 Applications that meet the provisions of this Bylaw will be awarded grant funding by the Director, or his/her designate, provided such funding does not exceed the value of the annual budget for heritage grant funding as approved by Council.

8.3 If the applications received meet the provisions of this Bylaw, and are associated with grant funding that would exceed the available budget as approved by Council, the following criteria will be used to assess and accordingly allocate grant funding, with first priority going to those that score highest.

1. Projects that involve the maximum retention of heritage attributes;
2. Projects that will provide a high level of benefit to the public or high level of contribution to the public's understanding of heritage conservation;
3. Projects where the integrity of the heritage property may be threatened if the work is not undertaken;
4. Applications for properties which have never received funding before.

8.3.1 Staff will consult with the Heritage Properties Working Group, or any successor thereto on the evaluation of applications when the scoring criteria are applied in order to review the final outcomes.

8.4 Applications that meet the provisions of this Bylaw, but are excluded from funding as a result of budget limitations and the conclusion of the prioritization process described herein, may still apply for funding in the next year of the heritage grant program.

8.5 The decision of the Director is final.

9.1 The issuance of grant funding will not occur until the following are completed to the satisfaction of the City:

1. a site visit is completed by City staff to verify that the Eligible Conservation Work has been completed in accordance with the details of a permit issued under the provisions of the Ontario Heritage Act; and
2. The Owner or Applicant has provided confirmation that the Total Cost of the Eligible Conservation Work is equal to or less than the Estimated Total Cost of the Eligible Conservation Work.

9.2 Notwithstanding Section 3.1 to the contrary:

1. the Director, or his / her designate, may approve of an increase in grant funding where the Total Cost exceeds the Estimated Total Cost provided the Total Cost is within thirty (30) percent of the Estimated Total Cost and where fifty (50) percent of the Total Cost does not exceed the maximum grant amount of five thousand dollars ($5,000); or
2. in the event that the Total Cost is less than the Estimated Total Cost, the Director will approve a decrease to provisionally approved amount of funding to a maximum of 50% of the Total Cost, not to exceed $5,000.

9.3 The Eligible Conservation Work must be completed within the three (3) year period from the date of approval of the heritage permit for which the grant is tied. In exceptional cases, the timeframe for project completion may be extended for up to one year, upon the submission of a written request to staff stating reasons required for the extension, for which approval is at the discretion of the Director.

9.4 Notwithstanding Section 4.1to the contrary, provided that the application meets all other provisions of this Bylaw, the Director, or his / her designate, may approve of a grant application if an outstanding property standards order or other order relates to a heritage attribute and the funding will allow this attribute to be conserved, preserved or restored.

9.5 Approval of a grant does not absolve the Owner from obtaining all other approvals required by law to undertake the project.

10.1 This Bylaw shall come into force and effect on the date of its passing.

This Bylaw was given the third reading and passed: January 23, 2018