Heritage Preservation and Trees: Municipal Heritage Committees and
Heritage Trees' Protection
by Bob Saunders, Past President Community Heritage Ontario

This article explains what municipal heritage committees are, the responsibilities they have under law, and how they can be used to protect heritage trees.

Community Heritage Ontario (CHO) is the association of municipal heritage committees established under the Ontario Heritage Act. A municipal council may appoint such a committee to advise it on the establishment of an inventory of heritage properties, the designation of properties of cultural heritage interest, the creation of heritage conservation districts and such other related matters as the council might assign through its by-law. There are approximately 125 municipal heritage committees in Ontario . Some are moribund but the vast majority are actively involved in identifying and trying to protect the properties of cultural heritage interest in their communities. 110 municipal heritage committees are members of CHO.

The key word in identifying and preserving our cultural heritage is "property". The property should in some way be identified with the culture, the society and the history of a community. There should be meaning to the property in terms of the cultural values of the community. There should be meaning to the property in terms of the cultural values of the community. In the early years of the Ontario Heritage Act and the work of local architectural conservation advisory committees (LACACs), the focus of the effort was on architecture and other structures i.e., the built and visible heritage. But the language of the Act was "property". Buildings and structures are simply improvements to the property.

As interest in natural heritage grew through the 1990s, some committees and councils began to look at the identification and possible protection of cultural heritage landscapes. Interest in heritage conservation districts increased because of the realization that individual properties are best protected within a sympathetic context and that tools under the Planning Act do not deal with design and aesthetic concerns as neighbourhoods and communities change. Both of these factors increased awareness of the importance of the streetscape and the landscape and within these the role that trees play. Several property designations in their statements of reasons for the designation mention the trees on a property as part of its importance.

The most notable of these was in Scarborough where in 1996 the council, on the advice of its LACAC, decided to designate a property which had been the site of a well known country inn in the 1920s and early 1930s. On the property were a number of old black walnut trees which had grown in the Carolinian environment of the area, the watershed of the Highland Creek and these were identified in the statement. The inn itself had burned down many years ago. The owner, a developer looking to build large homes on the property, objected and the issue was brought to a Conservation Review Board hearing.

The advisory ruling of the tribunal supported the Scarborough council and committee and the Council designated the property specifically protecting the trees. This decision made it clear that trees could be included in a designation as important to the heritage of the property. The property is now under development but the developer is working with the city's forestry department to protect the root system.

With an increasing number of heritage conservation districts being established, the character of the landscape in those areas is an important element in the districts, particularly in residential and small community settings. The plans and guidelines for districts in most cases now address the quality of the landscape noting the type and age of the trees. A plan such as that for Whitevale specifically mentions the trees and canopy along the main street. The plans for the Cabbagetown districts ( Toronto ) also speak of the importance of the trees to the area.

The recently issued (2005) Provincial Policy Statement under The Planning Act states "Significant built heritage resources and significant cultural heritage landscapes shall be conserved". The definition of cultural heritage landscapes is clear that natural features of such landscapes are integral to the landscape.

In other words, with the direction that heritage preservation is now moving in Ontario , the interest in heritage conservation districts and cultural heritage landscapes is leading towards greater concern for natural heritage as part of the cultural heritage. And more and more municipal heritage committees are thinking this way ~ a community's visible heritage is more than its buildings and other structures.


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