Filed last month, and two years in the making, the Master Plan groups the County’s heritage resources into ten categories: Indigenous landscapes, transportation routes, agriculture, fishing, military, heritage landscapes, historical communities, industry, lighthouses, and shipbuilding. 

This final draft report by WSP Canada reflects public input, Indigenous engagement, and consultations  with focus groups and the Built and Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee.

Heritage categories include both built heritage resources and landscapes. Built heritage refers to physical structures such as buildings or monuments. Cultural heritage landscapes include any geographic point that marks shared history, including viewscapes.

Mapping historical assets and explaining why they are to be protected is the key part of the work. The report points to well known and in many cases already designated and protected natural and cultural heritage assets — Sandbanks, Lake on the Mountain, Glenwood Cemetery, the Crystal Palace. But it also points to assets that could or should be protected — the Millennium Trail, Hillier’s limestone soil, Picton Bay, Base31, and all of the County’s remaining lighthouses. 

WSP outlines a matrix for recognizing and protecting heritage assets. The highest level of protection is built heritage designation under the Ontario Heritage Act (OHA). Protected structures can only be altered with a heritage permit, which goes through the Built and Cultural Advisory Committee. 

But there are other ways of protecting both cultural and natural heritage.

The OHA also requires municipalities to keep a list of non-designated buildings with heritage value. Recent changes to the act under Bill 23, however, require municipalities either to designate or de-list properties from the register by January 1st, 2027.

Cultural and Natural Heritage Landscapes can also be monitored and protected under municipal policies like the Official Plan. But WSP notes that the County’s current OP lacks a specific land-use policy to identify and evaluate historically significant points.

A Heritage Planner

To ensure heritage doesn’t slip through the cracks under development pressure, the report’s top recommendation is to hire a dedicated Heritage Planner. If such a position is not in the budget, they suggest hiring 2-3 firms specializing in heritage to review development applications and lead new heritage projects. 

The report also suggests establishing a heritage conservation reserve fund to support conservation projects. It also recommends support for ongoing engagement with Indigenous Nations rights holders on culturally significant landscapes. 

WSP recommends the municipality work more closely with the Built and Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee’s heritage designation task team to identify priority sites with a specific emphasis on “high historical value, under-represented communities, and evolving communities that may be facing development pressure.”

The report also recommends close collaboration with the Economic Development Officer and tourism-related departments to center heritage within the County’s marketing strategy. They note there is support for heritage protection and economic development through tax relief programs and grants from the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund. 

The cultural heritage resources identified in the Master Plan are still only potential sites of protection and revitalization. It is now up to the County to evaluate its inventory of natural and cultural heritage resources and transform the strategies presented by WSP into protective policy. 

The final report comes to the February 18th Planning and Development Committee meeting. Comments are invited on Have Your Say until January 26th. 

Additional Properties Recommended for Designation

Italics indicate high priority

Transportation

Millennium Trail

Loyalist Parkway

Wesley Acres Road

Royal Road Streetscape (Maypul Lane to County Road 10)

Maypul Lane Raod (Bond Road to Royal Road)

County Road 13 (Rutherford Stevens Lookout to Black River)

Palen’s Bridge

Black River

Picton Wood Railway Station

Picton Brick Railway Station

Historical Communities

Ameliasburgh Heritage Village

A series of Listed but not yet Designated houses:

Ostrander House, Wellbanks House, A. Farwell’s House, Mouck House, Thomas General Store

Some churches and cemeteries:

Black River Church, Black River Cemetery, South Bay United Church Chapel and Cemetery, Cherry Valley United Church Cemetery, Glenwood Cemetery, East Bloomfield Quaker Cemetery, South Bay Graveyard, and the story of Minerva, The White Chapel, and Roblin Cemetery.

Bloomfield Village

Jackson’s Falls Country Schoolhouse and Inn

Hayes Inn