Item - 2012.PG17.12

City Council has directed staff to develop a prioritization system to determine which Heritage Conservation District (HCD) study areas should be conducted first. City Council previously authorized 10 potential HCDs for study before Heritage Conservation Districts in Toronto: Procedures, Policies and Terms of Reference (January, 2012) was adopted, and an additional three potential HCDs have been nominated, either by City Council or by members of the community.

Staff propose a system which measures the intensity of development activity, the existing levels of heritage protection, the overall fragility of an area and City planning priorities as key criteria, and also takes into consideration the allocation of staff resources and council direction.

Five priority HCD study areas have been identified as a result: St. Lawrence, King/Spadina, Historic Yonge Street, Garden District and Queen Street East. Staff recommend that Council direct these studies to commence immediately in response to the level of risk to the heritage character of these areas. It has been estimated that with existing staff resources up to three HCD studies may be underway in the City at any given time.  Due to the backlog of high priority study areas, staff assignments have been adjusted, and a sequenced RFP process has been developed for the high priority HCD Studies to allow for these five studies to be undertaken on an urgent basis.