[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[1:04] What we're going to call to order the economic prosperity and growth planning committee meeting,
[1:11] joining us online today, is Councillor Hicks.
[1:14] Before we get started, is there any declarations of conflict of interest?
[1:21] Not seeing any.
[1:24] Let's move on to the first agenda item.
[1:28] Affordable housing strategy update and future municipal housing programs, administrative report, and PowerPoint presentation by Emily Nielin.
[1:40] Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon, everyone.
[1:43] Again, my name is Emily, I'm the city's affordable housing development coordinator.
[1:47] As you can see, presentation on the affordable housing strategy refresh and the future of municipal housing grants.
[1:55] This presentation I'll give a bit of background on the city's recent work related to housing, as well as update this committee on the city's progress on updating its affordable housing strategy.
[2:08] I will discuss the situation, the city currently finds itself in with respect to funding for municipal housing programming, and I will make a recommendation that additional budget for housing support be referred to the 2027 budget process.
[2:27] To be explicitly clear today, I'm not seeking approval for that additional funding. Again, that's reserved for that process later this year.
[2:33] I'm also not seeking approval for specific programs, that would take place after the budget
[2:39] is adopted, but really just to talk about how staff are seeking to revise and maintain
[2:48] some of its current grants really given the opportunity to do so through that additional funding.
[2:54] So, hope this is information the committee will find beneficial going into that budget process.
[3:01] To begin, here's a list of seven grants that these city currently offers.
[3:07] Please note that most of these are closed at this time given that they're fully subscribed with the funding that the city has available.
[3:17] So, on the right or on the left, sorry, you can see six grants that are funded by the Housing Accelerator Fund or have.
[3:24] these include grants for non-profits for things like capacity building, pre-development,
[3:31] the construction of affordable home ownership units, and then also grants for both non-profit
[3:37] and private developers for the construction of rental housing, modular manufactured housing,
[3:45] and in-field development and secondary-developing units or SDUs. On the right, you can see one grant,
[3:51] the Affordable Housing Permit and Community Planning Feas Grant.
[3:56] And that's funded internally right now.
[3:59] That's using the $159,000 that's made available every year for housing support.
[4:07] So all of this work is informed by two things.
[4:10] I'll just briefly touch on those.
[4:13] Number one being the Housing Needs Assessment or H&A.
[4:17] Really, that's just a study that informs us how much housing is need, what type, and at what price is needed in our community both now, and then looking forward in the future.
[4:34] So, as you can see, we, the city released that in 2021, and then that data was updated in 2025.
[4:43] And the second thing being the affordable housing strategy, so really that's the road map, right?
[4:50] Those are the actions that the city is going to take to make housing more affordable for more residents.
[4:56] So that was adopted in 2022, and then that'll be updated this year in 2026.
[5:03] A lot has changed since 2022. We know housing has become harder to afford for more people in
[5:12] Frederton and at the same time Frederton has grown and it's grown quite quickly and is expected to keep growing.
[5:20] So we'll update the strategy to kind of reflect that new reality and we'll do that using the latest data from
[5:29] the H&A and then also of course what we hear from the community.
[5:35] What are we looking at?
[5:36] What is the city looking at specifically in the strategy refresh?
[5:40] Well, a definition of affordable housing for the strategy to use of course.
[5:45] Updated goals and priorities and actions for the city and an implementation plan
[5:51] with clear timelines and responsibilities.
[5:54] And then at the specific request of this committee I will explore one of the recommendations from the current strategy, which is the possibility of a municipal housing entity.
[6:07] This work is organized around four project phases. It's largely sequential work.
[6:14] Phase one being completed at this time. We took a look at the existing strategy and how that's been going.
[6:20] revisited the H&A, kind of took stock of the city's experience with half the housing
[6:27] accelerator fund, because that's been quite significant in recent years, and then really
[6:32] analyzed where we're at federally and provincially at this time.
[6:38] Staff have now moved into phase two, which is public and stakeholder engagement, so that'll
[6:43] be public survey targeted outreach to underrepresented groups, staff discussions,
[6:50] feedback from me, affordable housing committee, all of that's happened and happening and then
[6:56] staff will move into phase 3 and 4. So develop the draft internally review the draft.
[7:03] It'll go back before affordable housing committee in this committee before being presented
[7:08] to Council later in 2026. So just taking a look back on the current strategy and how that's
[7:17] going. So there's 13 recommendations. You'll see seven on the left hand slide. Our left hand side of the slide is completed or ongoing. Again, many of these things.
[7:30] You would kind of start and then continue doing before really marking as completed. So, of course, the city has created the affordable housing development coordinator role.
[7:41] It's reviewed and amended the zoning bylaw to enable more housing to be built more quickly.
[7:46] City is supported, community housing, organizations and projects. Again, mostly through grant programs that have been funded by half.
[7:57] City is sold land for various affordable housing projects. City has been successful in requesting financial support.
[8:04] samples of that would be again half, it's a federal program or rapid housing initiative,
[8:10] again another federal program. And staff regularly collaborate with other municipalities to ensure
[8:17] that what we're doing here in Frederickton is in line with best practices as seen across the province.
[8:24] Just a quick note before we look on the right hand side of the slide about half,
[8:29] really half and the strategy had similar aims. They both aim to expand the supply of
[8:38] housing and housing options in front of them, but they were different things. And
[8:43] they were working on different timelines. So that half funding, which was quite
[8:47] significant in our community, that was contingent on a lot of things in a very
[8:53] particular timeline. And so that drew a lot of municipal capacity. But it also, you know, in some cases, provided the funding and provided the urgency to act on on some recommendations. So not everything was completed. That's not a reflection of, you know, those actions on the right, not being importance or worthwhile.
[9:15] they can certainly be contemplated again in the updated strategy if desired by council.
[9:25] Here's kind of a summary, a timeline of recent municipal housing work on housing. So 2021,
[9:34] again, that housing needs assessment is released and then to address the issues identified in
[9:41] the city adopts the strategy in 2022 the following year. Then in 2023 the city establishes
[9:50] that annual budget line for housing support, amount of $159,000, that year the city is also
[9:58] successful and receiving $5 million from the Rapid Housing Initiative for RHI. Following year
[10:05] 2024, a half million dollars established for land for affordable housing.
[10:12] That was canceled in the 2026 budget, but it was there for 2024 and 25.
[10:18] Again, not year 2024, city receipts just over $10 million from half.
[10:24] Unlike our HIV, the city was to receive that in annual installments over a series of four
[10:29] years, but that started in 2024.
[10:32] And then last year, 2025 is mentioned that data from the Housing needs assessment is updated and then of course this year will reckon with that through updating the strategy.
[10:46] So just a bit of a visual on how the city is funded housing programs over the past few years.
[10:53] So, in 2023, you can see in green, the city receives that $5 million chunk from RHI.
[11:00] I supported two really phenomenal projects in our community through that.
[11:05] And then starting in 2024 in purple, you can see that annual installment, just over 2.5 million
[11:11] from half.
[11:13] Starting in 2023 in blue, at the very bottom, you can see that annual operating funding for housing
[11:20] support in the amount of $159,000 and then in 2024 and 2025 and read, you can see that
[11:27] half a million for land for affordable housing.
[11:31] So really the key takeaway here is that federal investment has made a significant portion
[11:38] of all of this work.
[11:42] So of course the previous slide doesn't capture the full extent of municipal housing work,
[11:49] right, so securing land for affordable housing, promoting density, reducing the cost of
[11:55] builds, unlocking Silk Road area for development, there's lots of examples there and
[12:00] won't go into everything, but just, you know, some recognition that that previous slide
[12:06] doesn't capture, of course, everything that we do at the city related to housing.
[12:13] So, what does that lead the city in 2026? What does it all mean? Well, with the new data from the H&A last year in several federal funding programs coming to an end, the city is refreshing its strategy this year in 2026, but really in addition to this work, it's time.
[12:34] It's time to start thinking about the future
[12:37] of Frederickton's housing grants in particular,
[12:41] how these might be funded.
[12:43] So going forward, staff recommend that the city
[12:47] offer these housing grants or a similar portfolio
[12:52] of housing grants.
[12:54] You'll notice that most, again, on the left,
[12:57] are geared to nonprofits and to co-ops
[13:02] who are building deeply affordable housing, supporting these organizations from capacity building
[13:10] through to connecting to municipal water and sewer services through to construction.
[13:16] Staff also recommend, as you can see on the right, continuing some sort of grant program to encourage
[13:23] a gentle density that would be open to homeowners as well.
[13:27] Again, today is not about proving specific grant programs.
[13:31] It's really to just give an idea of what might be possible with respect to the funding that would be required for us to staff to revise and maintain some of the things that we currently offer.
[13:46] Now, the city is on track to receive that final installment from half that will hopefully come to us next year in 2027 as you can see in purple.
[13:55] But really, again, that funding timeline for that program was 2020, 2020, so the majority
[14:01] of that has already been committed to projects during that timeline, so you can see
[14:07] that in the yellow outline.
[14:09] So this leaves the city with quite a significant decline in funding for housing grants.
[14:16] So the city does have, you know, that last bit of half funding, but it hasn't been committed.
[14:22] And some interest that's earned on that half funding, but really we have a gap going forward.
[14:29] So that end staff are recommending that the housing support budget being increased by $91,000
[14:36] at a minimum from $159,000 to $250,000 range, that would be starting next year in 2027 that we're requesting that.
[14:49] We can look even further ahead to 2029 and really another revenue source, but have to be identified to bump out that.
[15:00] Housing support budget even further once half is complete to be spent. But again, that's a conversation for a later time, but staff are really encouraging council to look to the future here.
[15:13] So, in summary, there's opportunity for
[15:16] product and to continue programs, especially grants that have been
[15:21] really meaningful in our community, in terms of housing supply
[15:26] and affordability, but it will be on the city's
[15:30] dime moving forward.
[15:31] Our H.I. has ended half is ending.
[15:36] We have to work with that new reality of no more
[15:39] direct to municipality funding.
[15:44] You know, getting into some of these proposed programs, again,
[15:49] the details would really depend on how much funding is made available.
[15:54] But capacity building for non-profits and co-ops, that's something the city currently supports,
[15:59] and going forward staff, recommendations,
[16:01] revising and maintaining this program to help new groups form and existing groups scale.
[16:07] pre-development for nonprofit and co-ops that's something else the city currently supports going
[16:15] forward staff would also recommend continuing such a program. Again, that's really to help
[16:22] groups offset cost during that proof of concept stage in development, rebating or reimbursing
[16:30] rather the cost of municipal fees relating to permits and again various things you can see
[16:36] on the screen.
[16:37] Something else that City currently does and staff would recommend revising and maintaining
[16:43] this program.
[16:46] This is something that with increased operating funding for housing support staff would recommend
[16:55] developing and that's a grant program to support nonprofits and co-ops with the cost of
[17:01] connecting their project to municipal water and sewer services, other
[17:05] municipalities in the province, such as Edmundston offers such
[17:09] programming, so really this would be something that staff would like to
[17:14] explore if given the opportunity to do so.
[17:17] And lastly, on the nonprofit and co-opside development grant, the
[17:22] city currently offers a variety of grants to support the cost of
[17:26] construction and going forward staff recommend continuing some
[17:30] of program to support a deeply affordable home ownership, co-op housing, and rental housing programs.
[17:37] Again, quite a modest grant, but would recommend continuing that, and then staff also recommend
[17:46] revising and continuing some sort of grant program for home owners that incentivizes the construction
[17:53] of SDUs, putting in a basement, garden garage or accessory apartment, can really help folks
[18:01] afford the cost of home ownership or even help house an elderly parent or adult child
[18:08] need of a place to live. Again this would be quite a modest grant but we would staff would
[18:14] advocate to continue such a program. So in summary many of these grants would have an enabling
[18:22] effect on the city's nonprofit and co-op housing sector, allowing such local organizations
[18:30] to then leverage funds from other sources and more senior levels of government after they're
[18:38] able to secure that level of funding, that bit of commitment from the city, such early on in
[18:46] the development process. So really, without millions of dollars coming in from the federal
[18:52] government staff recommend that the city prioritizes grants for nonprofits and co-ops who are
[18:59] building deeply affordable housing rather than private developers building lower end of
[19:06] market and below market housing. This is something the city supported during half and it was
[19:12] certainly valid for the city to do so but given the new funding reality staff recommend tailoring
[19:20] financial incentives to projects that would have the biggest impact in
[19:24] Frederickton and really that's deeply affordable housing for those who
[19:27] did it most right. Staff also acknowledged that the value of many grants
[19:33] would have to be lowered and that the city would get out fewer grants. It's
[19:37] just a different funding reality. The city has incentivized various priorities
[19:43] under half modular and manufactured construction, accessibility, location, many different sorts
[19:50] of things, and staff could still be creative and incentivize those things. But again, without
[19:56] that millions and millions of dollars coming in from the federal government, it might look
[20:02] different in the future. So, committee members can refer to the recommendation on the slide
[20:07] are included in my administrative report, you know, at a minimum if an additional $91,000
[20:14] was made available in annual operating funding for housing support, staff could revise and
[20:20] maintain some programs that we feel are serving quite specific gaps in our community. Again,
[20:26] this wouldn't be about funding the entire cost of construction. I don't think that's possible,
[20:32] given the amount of money we're talking about, but more about enabling the community
[20:37] housing sector that's so cool here to Frederickton.
[20:40] So thank you so much, Mr. Chair, that's nothing further,
[20:42] but I'm happy to answer any questions.
[20:47] Thank you very much, Emily, for the informative and comprehensive update.
[20:53] It's very evident that you yourself, your group, and city staff,
[20:56] have put a lot of time and effort in this, and it's very evident.
[21:02] Before we proceed, I just want to acknowledge that Councillor Erickson has joined us online.
[21:06] And before we get into the proposed motion, does anybody have any questions, but presentation?
[21:20] Councillor Lillison.
[21:22] Thank you, Mr. Chair.
[21:24] I guess comments questions is I just wanted to make the committee aware that these grants
[21:29] largely align with feedback that we're getting at affordable housing committee.
[21:32] Grants have been useful under the Housing Accelerator Fund program.
[21:38] It's disappointing that that program wasn't continued because it animated so much good work in our community, but I think that in terms of the proposed grants, including the new grant, I think that staff have heard feedback well from the community and the developers on what has worked well.
[22:00] 91,000's kind of a very low number, considering that the 159 has never been adjusted for inflation since 2023.
[22:11] And we're in the 2027 and we're dealing with inflationary pressures all the time.
[22:17] So I guess I'm reticent to see that as all new money, some of it accommodating for inflationary pressures,
[22:24] but good that we're looking to add more money to our budget.
[22:28] I guess my specific...
[22:30] The question around the grants is I hear a lot from the nonprofit community that in the absence of new dollars in the AHP program, which many of them rely on, a lot of them are looking towards acquisition instead of new development.
[22:47] I'm wondering if staff could comment on the possibility of including acquisition as a permitted
[22:56] use of the development grant of $10,000 per door?
[23:02] Yeah, through you, Mr. Chair, that's an excellent point.
[23:06] I think it kind of speaks to the overall tone of the presentation today, right, like depending
[23:10] on the amount of funding that's made available, that will determine how creative staff
[23:15] can be. But you're absolutely correct, Councilor Jen, through you, Mr. Chair, that, you know,
[23:20] there are folks in the city who need housing, you know, under $3, $3, $3, $3, $2, and the cost
[23:30] of construction is high and deeply affordable housing requires deep subsidization for multiple levels
[23:37] of government. So, knowing that the cost of construction is high and if this is an interest of the
[23:42] profit in co-op housing sector.
[23:45] There is an opportunity for the city to be a bit more creative in the grant programs that
[23:49] offers under half, there's quite specific criteria that we had to need.
[23:54] It wasn't city funding, it's federal funding, so it's definitely something that can be explored,
[24:00] but would depend on the amount of funding that's made available.
[24:06] Thank you, and just further comment, and I'll look to Director Forrest, the nominal budget
[24:12] amounts. I'm assuming that those are all flexible right now. We're just talking about the
[24:16] 91,000, but typically even during half we would reallocate funding based on demand.
[24:22] Yeah, through you, Mr. Chairman. The way we tried to approach our programs all the way
[24:26] through is to be very flexible and try and place the money where the demand is and where
[24:31] the most good can be done. So I think I would suggest that if Council wants to move forward
[24:36] in a direction where there's funding of a boat this magnitude, we would be quite nimble and move
[24:40] money to where the best applications and the best opportunities are.
[24:50] Any further questions?
[24:54] From anyone online?
[24:56] I have one question myself.
[24:59] It's with respect to the status of the strategy of recommendations.
[25:05] And the definition of affordable housing.
[25:07] I see that it's an important.
[25:09] It's obviously been made something that needs to be addressed.
[25:13] I was just wondering if you could provide a little bit of context for
[25:16] new cancers and those listening at home about the definition or the different definitions
[25:21] of affordable housing and why it's so important to get a revised edition in the
[25:26] bylaws.
[25:28] Yes, absolutely, Mr. Chair, so the city currently defines affordable housing and our zoning
[25:34] bylaws as housing that's built using affordable housing programs at the federal and provincial
[25:40] level, so the city actually looks to more senior levels of government, and that allows the city
[25:46] to use different things that are in the zoning by-laws, such as density, bonuses, that's
[25:52] one thing that's afforded to affordable housing projects, so that's the definition that we're
[25:57] talking about. Generally, when we're talking about affordable housing and housing that is, you know,
[26:03] really attainable for folks, that's when they're spending 30% or less of their income on shelter
[26:09] costs, so that can include rent and a variety of other things, so that's something that
[26:14] can be explored in the strategy refresh. It wasn't gotten to this time around. Again, from
[26:21] the planning side, we could refer to those more senior levels of government when deciding
[26:26] for project was going to be granted density bonus singer something like that, but yet something
[26:32] and it can be explored through the strategy refresh.
[26:38] Thank you, Emily.
[26:43] Oh, Steve, do you want to add something?
[26:46] Yeah, thank you, Chair.
[26:47] Sorry to interject.
[26:48] I just wanted to, I know we have a group of councillors, some that are very experienced
[26:53] with our budget process, some that are about to experience the first time and talk a little
[26:57] bit about how this is, was an interesting scenario in it.
[27:02] We wanted to do a roller coaster on housing funding over the last five years.
[27:05] I don't know where, millions of dollars came out of federal level of government and we had to figure
[27:11] out how to disperse that in a way that met the needs of the community, which we did.
[27:16] And then just as randomly as that money arrived, that money and those funds have disappeared.
[27:21] And so we're trying to figure out where Council wants us on this in terms of investing our own money.
[27:27] What you've got today is a simple referral to the budget process.
[27:30] And then as we go through the budget process, you will see how that fits into the macro.
[27:35] macro perspective of the budget, and that's where you'll be able to have a much more comprehensive debate about is it enough?
[27:42] Is it too much? How does it fit with our ability to get our tax rate where we want it, it's accurate?
[27:48] So, they're by supporting this, you are not in any way committing yourselves to a budget decision.
[27:57] you are committing that you will discuss it and think about it once you see the totality
[28:04] of our budget process. So I don't know if that made things more clear or less clear,
[28:09] but that's my attempt to be helpful on where this fits into our general processes.
[28:16] Thank you for that context.
[28:21] Any further questions?
[28:24] So, on the motion, do we have a mover, moved by Councillor the join, seconded by Deputy Mayor
[28:35] Breend.
[28:40] Any discussion on the motion?
[28:44] Deputy Mayor Breend.
[28:45] Thank you, Mr. Chair.
[28:47] I just want to say that I support this motion, but building on some of the things CIOs,
[28:53] If I had said, when we had lots of money coming in from the feds, we had two years where we
[28:58] budgeted $500,000 to affordable housing, and that was dropped from the budget last year.
[29:05] So taking it to, I don't want anyone to think, taking it to 250,000 is a giant wind for
[29:10] affordable housing.
[29:12] We spend lots of time talking around the table about the crisis we're faced with socioeconomic
[29:20] conditions in Ferguson, and those are all banded solutions, but when we invested in affordable
[29:25] housing, we're actually keeping people, when we invest in deeply affordable housing,
[29:30] giving people the opportunity to stay in their housing, so they're not falling into that
[29:34] gap.
[29:35] So I just wanted to raise that point, and also the point that I would love to see a discussion about
[29:41] how we dispose of city land and the percent of it, which could be mandated through affordable
[29:47] housing.
[29:48] at some point in the future. Thank you.
[29:52] Thank you to Deputy Mayor and Green. Any other comments or questions on the motion?
[29:59] With that?
[30:00] All those in favor? All those opposed? Motion carried. Moving on to item 4.2, welcoming the
[30:09] malagamated areas to President's municipal plan. We have Melissa Tanchoy with a power presentation.
[30:15] Go ahead. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Council. The Chair mentioned, my name is Melissa Tanchoy and my
[30:22] plan there with the city and then was a leading this project. At the July 23 committee meeting, I introduced
[30:28] to land use project to integrate the amount of the amount of areas
[30:30] to, for instance, municipal plan.
[30:33] And I also noted at that point that I'll be coming back
[30:36] to the community to update you in the consultation
[30:40] and engagement process for this project.
[30:42] So this is a presentation for you, for your awareness,
[30:46] and also for you to share with residents.
[30:50] So just a bit of a recap about the project.
[30:53] In 2023, the Bander staff, the city of Fred Xen,
[30:56] were expanded through the local government reform process.
[31:00] And as part of this process, the city agreed to continue
[31:02] to implement the existing land use regulations
[31:05] for the amalgamated areas until the time
[31:07] came to integrate the areas to the city's land use plan.
[31:11] So that's our zoning by law and our municipal plan.
[31:14] So this meant that since 2023, stuff has continued
[31:17] to implement the existing nine rural plans for this area
[31:20] in addition to the city's own municipal plan and zoning by
[31:23] So these are all different set of regulations and visions for each of the community's features.
[31:31] So the difference across the different plants are not just in terms of regulations as I mentioned,
[31:36] but also in terms of the long term visions for each of the areas because they're all part of different communities.
[31:42] So the main goal for this project is really to align the policies and regulations to provide a clear and consistent vision for the municipalities present and for the future.
[31:51] So, the integration of the land use regulations has been mandated by the province to be completed
[31:56] at no later than January 20, 28, so we do have a timeline for this project.
[32:00] But since 2023, it has given us quite a bit of time to actually understand this areas a
[32:05] little bit better.
[32:07] I also wanted to add an additional note that staff would like to reiterate that, well, we understand
[32:12] that taxes and service delivery are very important topics.
[32:16] There are not in the scope of this project.
[32:17] those topics we need to be addressed through the budget process and cannot be addressed through
[32:22] these line-news project. So just in front of you that's a map of the city of Fertixen as
[32:30] well as the rural areas that we've amalgamated through the local government reform process.
[32:37] And it also outlines each of the plans for each of those areas.
[32:43] As a reminder for the project timeline, that's when you're screen and we're currently wrapping
[32:49] up the technical analysis. It's been completed. We're just wrapping up the document that
[32:55] has been translated. And they'll be available on the Gates Friday Town on the project
[32:59] website. And we are currently in the middle of consultation and engagement process.
[33:06] So,
[33:06] just with our city engagement, in front of you, you see all the groups that will be engaged
[33:12] through this project. We have for rights holders, community stakeholders, neighboring municipalities,
[33:19] these provincial departments, city-of-frightened staff, and council, and a submission before
[33:24] this consultation phase is quite well underway.
[33:28] It is a fairly long list to engage with, but we want to make sure that the project is
[33:32] as well informed as possible, and that everybody in this project is also well informed
[33:38] of what the project is and isn't about.
[33:42] So in terms of the community engagement, there are three ways in where residents and businesses
[33:47] and everybody can actually engage with this project.
[33:50] So we'll have community meetings,
[33:53] the website on EngageFriticTent has already been set up,
[33:56] and folks can leave questions in comments there,
[34:00] or folks can also contact the planned department
[34:02] for any questions.
[34:04] So there's several ways to engage with.
[34:07] The regards to the community meetings,
[34:08] they're coming up in September.
[34:10] So in order to make these meetings more accessible to residents,
[34:14] we have online meetings,
[34:16] and also in person meetings.
[34:18] So for the online meetings, we will require registration.
[34:21] It'll be over Zoom, so we do need to send the link to folks.
[34:24] On September 17th, we'll have the English session,
[34:27] and on the 18th, we'll be the French session.
[34:31] We'll have three in person community meetings.
[34:34] September 22nd, we'll be at Barker's Point School,
[34:36] so that's closer to the Pembroke Creek,
[34:38] Lower San Mary's Catchman area.
[34:42] On the 23rd, we'll be at Douglas Baptist Church,
[34:45] and on the 24th at the National Access Alliance Club,
[34:49] so for the Clarence Road area.
[34:51] Resonance can attend any of those meetings
[34:53] is just that for all of the in-person meetings
[34:55] there'll be a bit more focus in the presentation
[34:57] with that specific role plan.
[35:02] So what residents can expect from the community engagement
[35:05] if folks are not familiar with it,
[35:08] we'll start with the presentation,
[35:09] and then we'll have conversations one-on-one
[35:10] with residents and the products team.
[35:13] Really what we want to learn from this is like,
[35:15] important to the community in terms of your presence so can you build a
[35:20] chat here how big can it be but also for the future right like how do you
[35:24] envision this area in the long term. In terms of the next steps as I mentioned
[35:29] before the technical background report will be published on the gauge
[35:32] foritexin and the consultation phase will be coming up so folks can attend a
[35:37] community meeting they can stay up today with the project on the gauge foritexin
[35:42] There will be an engagement before that will be prepared for October and will be available on the gauge page.
[35:48] We'll be updating the engagement for some page with all of this information.
[35:53] The community meeting set a register by the end of today, yeah, comm set, yeah.
[35:58] So yes, there will be a bit of a day by the end of today.
[36:01] But otherwise, if Council has any questions,
[36:04] the welcome to answer any.
[36:05] Thank you.
[36:07] Thank you very much for the update, Melissa.
[36:10] There's a lot of great information in there.
[36:13] It's very important work that's being done and including the community in the process.
[36:19] I think is a crucial step before we move on to we have any questions on the presentation.
[36:31] Yes, go ahead, Councillor Quitic.
[36:33] Thank you, Mr. Chair.
[36:34] I just think we need to ensure and get it out there to the communities that are no uncertain
[36:41] that taxes and service deliveries are not part of this engagement because that's what they want
[36:49] to talk about so we need to let them know ahead of time or we're going to have issues when we get
[36:54] to these communities.
[37:00] Any other questions or comments?
[37:04] Okay, great. Thank you. Our Melissa sorry.
[37:09] Moving on to 4.3. Removing properties from the heritage area. We have an administrative report that
[37:17] presented by Harry Joffer to Sir Lark and Wilkmore.
[37:22] Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon.
[37:27] For those of you who I haven't met yet, my name is.
[37:30] I'm a Heritage Officer with the Heritage and Urban Design Division under the Planning Development and by law enforcement department.
[37:37] I'm here to present to you today an overview of the report before you, regarding the process of requesting a removal of properties from the city's heritage preservation by law.
[37:48] I'll begin with some relevant background information that I'll outline the process that would apply to the request for a removal followed by associated costs and the potential implications for the city's heritage program.
[37:58] So to begin, what is the background to this agenda item?
[38:02] At its July 23rd, 2026 meeting, the Economic Prosperity and Growth Planning Committee directed
[38:08] staff to prepare an administrative report, addressing the removal of properties from the
[38:12] CNN's Point Heritage Preservation Area.
[38:15] The city's Heritage Preservation Framework dates back several decades, pursuant to the Municipal
[38:20] Heritage Preservation Act of 1978, and following a recommendation from the Heritage
[38:24] Advisory Committee, Council approved the creation of the Preservation Review Board in 1980.
[38:30] Over the following four years, both the Board and the City Review Preservation Practices
[38:34] and other municipalities, established draft boundaries for the preservation area, and undertook
[38:39] extensive public consultation.
[38:42] In 1984, Council adopted the City of Frederickton Heritage Preservation Biola, number L-4,
[38:47] which established the St. Anne's Point Heritage Preservation area.
[38:50] At that time, it included approximately 50 properties in the King Street and Brunswick Street area.
[38:58] The preservation area was subsequently studied for expansion during the 1990s,
[39:02] and that were concluded additional studies, the development of draft design guidelines,
[39:07] and public consultation involving a neighborhood steering committee and effective property owners at the time.
[39:12] In 1997, the bylaw was amended to expand the SNA's point heritage preservation area to the larger concentration shown on the current map.
[39:20] Those amendments also introduced the design guidelines authorize the delegation of routine certificates of appropriateness or heritage permits to a community heritage officer and establish timelines for application review.
[39:33] Since 1997, nine individual properties have been added to the Heritage Preservation Area outside of the main concentration that you see on a map today, and there have been no properties formally removed from it since its adoption.
[39:45] Additionally, staff are currently in process of finalizing the drafts for both the Heritage
[39:49] Conservation Area by-law and accompanying planning and design guidelines as recommended
[39:53] by the Heritage Program and Services Review from 2023.
[39:58] So let's overview the amendment process.
[40:00] Under section 59 of the Heritage Conservation Act, removal of a property from the preservation
[40:03] area requires amendment to the applicable schedule of by-law number L-4.
[40:08] This process would begin with a formal request.
[40:11] With the request, the application would include the request for removal, confirmation of the property owner's consent, and a heritage value assessment prepared by Heritage Professional.
[40:21] The Heritage Value Assessment would provide an independent assessment of the property's heritage value, and its contribution and contribution to the character of the area.
[40:28] Once the request has been submitted, staff may meet with the property owner, a requesting party to confirm that the necessary information has been provided, and to order to determine whether additional information is required.
[40:38] The application would then be reviewed by Heritage and Urban Design staff, staff would assess the report and prepare report and recommendation to the preservation review board.
[40:47] Following this, the preservation review board would then consider the request and provide its recommendation.
[40:53] Following the board's consideration, the matter would then proceed to Council for consideration and the public notice and hearing requirements would need to be completed.
[41:00] It counsels chose to approve their mobile, then they required registration of the Land Titles Act,
[41:05] your registration act as applicable, would then be completed.
[41:09] Overall, this would therefore be a formal and multi-stage process.
[41:13] To reiterate, it would be a formal application, review and recommendation by staff, preparation
[41:18] of staff recommendation to the Preservation Review Board, consideration of the Preservation Review Board,
[41:30] completion of the public notice and hearing requirements under the Heritage Conservation Act.
[41:34] Consideration by City Council, with a decision made through an amendment to buy on number L--4,
[41:39] should be decided to remove a property from the preservation area, and then the registration of the removal should
[41:43] cancel approve the amendment. With this, it is important to discuss administration implications,
[41:50] costs, fees, and policy and planning considerations. So as part of any request to remove a property,
[41:56] The request we need to be considered within the context of Council's existing plans, policies, and strategic directions.
[42:03] The report brought forward to identify as the applicable direction within the Municipal Plan, the City Center Plan, the so-called Secondary Municipal Plan, and the Heritage Program and Services Review.
[42:12] A particular relevance is the Heritage Program and Services Review, which was endorsed by the Economic Vitality and Growth Planning Committee, and adopted by City Council in June 2023.
[42:22] The review provides strategic direction for the future of heritage conservation in Frederton and identifies recommendations intended to strengthen the city's heritage program.
[42:32] It states that with robust implementation of these recommendations and others out of all, the city of Frederton can be a heritage conservation leader both regionally and nationally.
[42:40] The review also identifies the need for consistent and strong council and community commitment to support that achievement.
[42:46] Request to remove properties from the Heritage Preservation Area would therefore need to be considered within that broader direction.
[42:53] And the St. Anne's Point Heritage Preservation Area is intended to conserve a collection of heritage resources and a character of the area as a whole.
[43:00] Based on these considerations, the incremental removal of properties from the Heritage Preservation Area may not support the Conservation Objectives established to the Heritage Conservation Act by a number-4, or Council's adopted plans and policies.
[43:12] Administration implications associated with processing removal requests.
[43:17] Each request will require an amount of additional staff time to review and process the request.
[43:21] As a result, individual removal requests would create additional administration demand on staff.
[43:27] And could require resources that would otherwise be directed towards the implementation of the priorities,
[43:32] identify through the Heritage Program and Services Review, as well as divisions regular work program.
[43:37] In the past, the city has covered costs associated with the addition of properties to the preservation area.
[43:44] Given the nature and extent of the process, staff recommend that the costs associated with a request for removal through the responsibility of the applicant.
[43:51] These costs arise directly from the amendment process under sections 56, 57, and 58 of the Heritage Conservation Act.
[43:58] An amendment is subject to public notice and hearing requirements as mentioned previously.
[44:02] The cost of the required public notice, and advertising, is currently a minimum of $1,500.
[44:09] Although the final amount is subject to the applicable advertising rates at the time.
[44:13] If Council approves their removal of a property subsection 593 of the Heritage Conservation Act,
[44:18] also requires notice of the removal to be registered under the Land Title's Act of Registration Act as applicable.
[44:23] That registration fee is $85 per PID.
[44:27] staff there for recommend that the application fee for request term of a property from the
[44:31] Sanance Point Heritage Preservation Area be established at $2,500 per bid, aligning with
[44:36] the current fee for municipal plan amendment.
[44:42] The proposed fee reflects the additional staff time, administration work required to review
[44:46] the request, assess the supporting material, prepare their necessary reports and recommendations,
[44:51] coordinate the amendment process and account for the mandatory notice, advertising requirements
[44:55] and registration fees under the Heritage Conservation Act.
[44:58] In addition, if it development, I'm...
[45:00] Officer determines that immunists plan amendment and or zoning amendment is required as a result of the proposed removal of the property, the applicable fees for those amendments would also apply.
[45:09] So to summarize this presentation, the report establishes a formal process for considering request to remove a property from the St. Anne's Point Heritage Preservation Area within the provisions of the Heritage Conservation by law, which is currently in draft.
[45:23] With that, it is recommended that the Council of the City of Farterton direct the director of planning development by law enforcement,
[45:28] to include provisions in the proposed Heritage Conservation by law as outlined in the recommendation.
[45:33] Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and I'm happy to answer any questions.
[45:37] Thank you, Laura, for the very detailed report.
[45:41] There's a lot to consider in there.
[45:43] Are there any questions from my fellow Councillors?
[45:50] Councillor Legion.
[45:52] Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair.
[45:53] and thank you, Laura, that was certainly a mouthful and I'm not sure I followed all of that,
[46:00] but there's a lot of process in there, so I do have a couple of questions. One refers to
[46:05] the recommendation where we're referring to a heritage value assessment prepared by a qualified
[46:10] heritage professional. I wonder if you could give the committee some clarity around what a qualified
[46:16] heritage professional would be. So we can revert, we thank you through you, Mr. Chair. We can review
[46:22] the language, but essentially what a heritage professional is is someone with formal training,
[46:26] knowledge, and or experience in the conservation, management, and promotion of cultural
[46:30] historical, architectural, and or natural heritage resources. So that could be applicable
[46:34] backgrounds or education.
[46:39] So I think that's going to be a little bit, thank you. I think
[46:42] that's going to be a little bit difficult for our property owner to digest whether they're choosing
[46:47] a certified or qualified heritage professional because it's very
[46:53] worthy in the way we're doing it. I think it would be helpful if we provided
[46:57] more clarity through this process in terms of what a designation could look
[47:02] like and or providing property owners that which to
[47:09] avail themselves of this process with a list of who the city considers it would be
[47:15] not really productive for someone to go to engage a history professor and you know engage
[47:26] them, pay them for a report that didn't bear the merit of a qualified professional.
[47:32] So that's my comment there.
[47:33] My other question is we're talking about the municipal process around D designation, I guess.
[47:41] When we're talking about public notice, are we talking about it in the same context as the rezoning application where we're going to draw 100 meters circle around the property for a public hearing of support and objections, is that going to be part of the process?
[47:57] Laura can jump in as well, Mr. Chair, but there are differences between the two pieces of legislation, the Community Planning Act, and what we do under zoning and then under the Heritage Conservation Act.
[48:08] The Heritage Conservation Act still requires newspaper advertisement. We haven't done that on the zoning side for a number of years.
[48:15] And we have not historically done by mail notification of adjacent property owners in the heritage space.
[48:23] So there are differences between the processes.
[48:25] Some of which is kind of just city practice, but a good chunk of which is differences in the provincial pieces of legislation.
[48:35] Just a quick follow.
[48:36] If I'm hearing you correctly, then the 100 meter notification would not apply to this process.
[48:42] Okay, thank you.
[48:47] Any other questions?
[48:47] Okay,
[48:55] do we have someone to move the recommendation from the city?
[49:00] I moved by Councillor Moser, seconded by Councillor Green on the question.
[49:08] All those in favour?
[49:10] All those opposed?
[49:12] Motion carried.
[49:14] Thank you, Laura.
[49:17] And that concludes all the agenda items on today's agenda.
[49:21] Thank you everybody for their presentations and we'll consider this meeting adjourned.