Report to: Planning and Development Report Date: December 2, 2008
SUBJECT: Recognition of a Cultural Heritage Landscape
Vinegar
Hill Neighbourhood
Markham
Village Heritage Conservation District
PREPARED BY: George
Duncan, Senior Heritage Planner, ext. 2296
RECOMMENDATION:
That the report dated December 2, 2008. entitled
Recognition of a Cultural Heritage Landscape,
Vinegar Hill Neighbourhood, be received;
That Council advise the Markham
Village Conservancy and the Vinegar Hill Ratepayers Association that the
Cultural Heritage Landscape of the Vinegar
Hill neighbourhood will continue to be protected through the policies of the
Markham Village Heritage Conservation District
Plan;
And that a copy of this report be
forwarded to the consultant team and advisory committee for the Main Street
Markham Class Environmental Assessment.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Council designated the Markham
Villlage Heritage Conservation District under
Part V of the Ontario Heritage
Act in 1990. The district comprises
three distinct neighbourhoods: Vinegar Hill (south area), Markham
Village (centre area) and Mount
Joy (north area). A Heritage
Conservation District Plan governs preservation and changes within these areas.
Vinegar Hill, the portion of the heritage district between
Highway 407 to the south and Highway 7 to the north, is the oldest part of Markham
Village. The Markham Village Conservancy and the
Vinegar Hill Ratepayer’s Association propose that the Town of Markham
give additional recognition and protection to the Vinegar Hill neighbourhood
through individual designation as a Cultural Heritage
Landscape, under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage
Act. The concept of recognizing and further protecting Vinegar Hill/Vinegar
Dip within the context of the Markham Village Heritage Conservation District is related to
potential changes that may occur as the result of the Main Street Markham Class
Environmental Assessment, currently in progress.
The Markham Village Heritage
Conservation District Plan currently provides a statement of significance for
Vinegar Hill under the heading of General Urban Character. This detailed description of the heritage
attributes of Vinegar Hill is comprehensive and in effect describes the area in
terms of a Cultural Heritage Landscape, but
without using that specific label. This
term was not in common use in 1990, when the District Plan was created. The District Plan provides recommendations
and policies for the protection and enhancement of the diverse components of
the Heritage Conservation District.
According to the Provincial Policy
Statement (2005), a Heritage Conservation
District is one type of Cultural Heritage
Landscape. Vinegar Hill is therefore
already recognized as a distinct area for heritage recognition and protection
in the designation of the Markham Village Heritage
Conservation District and its supporting District Plan.
Staff does not support the concept
of applying a Part IV designation to the Vinegar Hill area of the Markham
Village Heritage Conservation District, as it
would not offer additional protection for the area, given that the existing
policies of the District Plan would continue to be applied in the same manner
as they are at present. Initiating a
practice of individual sub-area designations within already designated Heritage
Conservation Districts would be administratively impractical, and could result
in objections being filed by affected property owners.
In order to respond to the essence
of what the community has requested, staff recommend that Council pass a
resolution to offer assurance to the concerned community groups that the
Vinegar Hill neighbourhood will continue to be protected through the policies
of the Markham Village Heritage Conservation
District Plan. Staff also encourage the
community to participate in the Main Street Markham Class Environmental
Assessment process, currently underway.
PURPOSE:
To respond to a community request
to recognize the Vinegar Hill neighbourhood of the Markham Village Heritage
Conservation District as a significant Cultural Heritage
Landscape.
BACKGROUND:
The Markham Village Heritage
Conservation District was designated in 1990
Council designated the Markham
Village Heritage Conservation District under
Part V of the Ontario Heritage
Act in 1990 (By-law No. 120-90). The
District comprises three distinct neighbourhoods: Vinegar Hill (south area), Markham
Village (centre area) and Mount
Joy (north area). A Heritage
Conservation District Plan governs preservation and changes within these areas.
Vinegar Hill is the location of the beginning of Markham Village
The southern area of the Markham Heritage
Conservation District is known as Vinegar Hill, named for the apple cider
vinegar industry that once existed there, in connection with local apple
orchards. This area was the nucleus of
early Markham Village,
with mills, a school and a post office established by the 1820s. The Rouge
River provided a power source for
the mills and other industries, and the river and the valley form the
distinctive hollow or “dip” on Main Street. In fact, local names for the neighbourhood
include both Vinegar Hill and Vinegar Dip.
Vinegar Hill is that portion of
the Markham Village Heritage Conservation
District between Highway 407 to the south and Highway 7 to the north.
The extent of the heritage district includes both the streets and the
valleylands
The boundaries of the Markham
Village Heritage Conservation District include
Main Street South and the
side streets within the Vinegar Hill neighbourhood, as well as the valleylands
that form the hollow.
The community has requested that Council recognize Vinegar Hill as a
Cultural Heritage Landscape
At Heritage Markham’s June 11, 2008 meeting, Dianne More, President of the
Markham Village Conservancy, submitted a proposal for Heritage Markham’s consideration. The proposal recommends that the Vinegar Hill
section of the Markham Village Heritage
Conservation District be recognized as a Cultural Heritage Landscape through individual designation
under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act. The Vinegar Hill Ratepayer’s
Association passed a resolution in support of the Markham Village Conservancy’s
proposal. The proposals from the Markham
Village Conservancy and the Vinegar Hill Ratepayer’s Association are attached
as Appendix ‘A’ and ‘B.’
The concept of
recognizing and further protecting Vinegar Hill/Vinegar Dip within the context
of the Markham Village Heritage
Conservation District is related to potential changes that may occur as the
result of the Main Street Markham Class Environmental Assessment, currently in
progress.
Heritage Markham
requested staff to look into the community’s request
In response to the
community’s proposal, Heritage
Markham requested that staff report back on the feasibility of a Part IV
heritage designation being applied to this area, or an alternate means of
enhancing the recognition and protection of Vinegar Hill as a significant
Cultural Heritage Landscape (See Extract, Appendix ‘C’).
What is a Cultural Heritage Landscape?
The terms Cultural Heritage
Landscape and Cultural Landscape are both used to describe a cultural heritage
resource, as defined in the Provincial Policy Statement (2005):
“Cultural heritage landscape: means a defined geographical area of
heritage significance which has been modified by human activities and is valued
by a community. It involves a grouping(s)
of individual heritage features such as structures, spaces, archaeological
sites and natural elements, which together form a significant type of heritage
form, distinctive from that of its constituent elements or parts. Examples may include, but are not limited to,
heritage conservation districts designated under the Ontario Heritage Act: and villages, parks, gardens,
battlefields, main streets, and neighbourhoods, cemeteries, trailways and
industrial complexes of cultural heritage value.”
See Appendix ‘D’ for additional
information about Cultural Heritage Landscapes
in Ontario.
OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:
The significance of Vinegar Hill was identified during the 1989-1990
process of heritage conservation district designation
In a report titled Volume 1:
Defining the District, prepared by Project Planning Limited, consultants to the
Town of Markham, Vinegar Hill and
the related Rouge Valley Open Space Zone were identified as distinct areas of
importance to the District. Buildings,
roads and natural features were described in an analysis of existing
conditions. The report recommended
designation of Vinegar Hill as a sub-district within the context of the Markham
Village Heritage Conservation District in
terms of historical association, road and lot layout, landscape and streetscape
features, archaeological resources and other site specific factors.
The Markham Village Heritage
Conservation District Plan provides for the protection of the built and natural
heritage features of Vinegar Hill
Volumes 3 and 4: Design Guidelines
and Implementation Process of the Markham Village Heritage
Conservation District Plan (1990), provides a statement of significance for
Vinegar Hill under the heading of General Urban Character. This detailed description of the heritage attributes
of Vinegar Hill is comprehensive and in effect already describes the area in
terms of a Cultural Heritage Landscape, but
without using that specific label. This
term was not in common use in 1990, when the District Plan was created.
The District Plan provides
recommendations and policies for the protection and enhancement of the diverse
components of the Heritage Conservation
District.
A Heritage Conservation District is one type of
Cultural Heritage Landscape
As noted in the quotation from the
Provincial Policy Statement, a Heritage
Conservation District is one type of Cultural Heritage
Landscape. Vinegar Hill is already
recognized as a distinct area for heritage recognition and protection in the
designation of the Markham Village Heritage Conservation
District and its supporting District Plan.
The Ontario Heritage
Act
The current Ontario Heritage
Act allows municipalities to include individual properties designated under
Part IV to be included in a Heritage
Conservation District designated under Part V.
At the time of the original designation of the Markham Village Heritage
Conservation District, the heritage legislation did not allow individually-designated
properties to be included in a heritage district. Markham’s
First Post Office at 53 Main Street South,
is the only individually-designated property in the Vinegar Hill neighbourhood.
Designation of Vinegar Hill under
Part IV of the Ontario Heritage
Act would not provide additional protection of the Cultural Heritage
Landscape, as the additional protection potentially provided by an individual
designation would be for specific architectural features or any interior
features identified in the Statement of Significance. Since the entire area with its buildings,
roads and natural areas constitutes the Cultural Heritage
Landscape of Vinegar Hill, Part IV designations would have to be applied to
multiple properties, resulting in double-designation.
Therefore, staff does not support
the concept of applying a Part IV designation to the Vinegar Hill area of the
Markham Village Heritage Conservation
District, as it would not offer additional protection for the area, given that
the existing policies of the District Plan would continue to be applied in the
same manner as they are at present. Initiating
a practice of individual sub-area designations within already designated Heritage
Conservation Districts would be administratively impractical, and could result
in objections being filed by affected property owners.
FINANCIAL TEMPLATE
Not applicable.
ALIGNMENT
WITH STRATEGIC PRIORITIES:
The recognition of the Vinegar
Hill neighbourhood aligns with the Strategic Priority of Growth Management as
it provides a basis for the protection of this part of the Markham Village Heritage
Conservation District in the context of growth and change.
DEPARTMENTS CONSULTED
AND AFFECTED:
Not applicable.
RECOMMENDED BY:
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Valerie Shuttleworth, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.
Director of Planning & Urban Design
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Jim
Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P.
Commissioner of Development Services
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ATTACHMENTS:
Figure 1: Map showing the Vinegar Hill area of
the Markham Village Heritage
Heritage
Conservation District
Appendix ‘A’: Markham
Village Conservancy Proposal
Appendix ‘B’: Vinegar Hill Ratepayer’s Association Position
Appendix ‘C’: Heritage Markham
Extract
Appendix ‘D” Background Information on Cultural Heritage
Landscapes
File: Q:\Development\Heritage\SUBJECT\MVHCD\DSCNov408CulturalLandscape.doc
Figure 1: Map showing the Vinegar Hill portion of the Markham Village Heritage
Conservation District