A task force will ask business leaders and others
The City of St. Catharines is doing more digging before deciding what downtown areas are designated as heritage.
Councillor Jackie Lindal tells us a task force will meet with businesses and community leaders.
She says some business concerns include the high cost of insurance of maintaining a heritage building. "Permits that would be needed to do any renovations on the building, because it would have to go through the Heritage Committee... the lengthy process it would take to make sure that everything on the building complied with the heritage designation."
Council turned down a staff recommendation to make certain areas of the downtown heritage, before further consultation.
"It's getting business, which has a very huge vested interest in it, because they're the ones buying and taking care of the buildings. And, it has the Heritage District, who are trying to maintain that heritage district, to try and make the best informed decision."
She does not like the idea of tearing down a centuries old building, to replace it with a new glass one.
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