After the Labour Day long weekend, Peterborough city council will consider a formal notice from the board of trustees of Mark Street United Church to demolish a building on a portion of the church’s East City property, which will be required to allow the construction of a 17-storey mixed-use development to proceed.
On Monday (August 25), after a five-hour public meeting where 13 community members presented their objections to the proposed development, Peterborough city council meeting as general committee voted 7-4 to approve a zoning by-law amendment to allow the development at 90 Hunter Street East to proceed to the site planning stage.
That decision will be up for final approval during a city council meeting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday (September 3). The afternoon before, city council will meet as general committee at 5 p.m. as a continuation of the August 25th meeting to consider agenda items that council did not deal with due to the length of the meeting.
During the general committee on September 2, council will also consider and vote on a report about the demolition notice for the church addition, known as the Christian Education Centre. That vote will then be considered for final approval at the council meeting that follows.
On August 21, the city received formal notice from the board of trustees of Mark Street United Church of its intent to demolish the Christian Education Centre. Although this was three business days before the August 25 general committee meeting, the notice was not brought forward to general committee at that time or discussed during the meeting.
Located west of the church, the Christian Education Centre was built in 1957 as an addition to the main church building, which was designed by Peterborough architect W.R.L. Blackwell between 1928 and 1929. Mark Street United Church is currently listed on the city’s heritage register as a property that has demonstrated cultural heritage value or interest but is not yet legally protected under the Ontario Heritage Act through the official designation process.
While listing on the register does not prevent demolition, it imposes a 60-day waiting period to allow city council time to consider official designation, ensuring a pause before potentially losing a historically significant building.
A report from Blair Nelson, the city’s commissioner of infrastructure, planning and growth management, is recommending that city council advise the board of trustees of Mark Street United Church “that it has no objection to the proposed demolition of the Christian Education Centre portion of Mark Street United Church.”
“Given that the Christian Education Centre building addition is not an identified heritage attribute on the property and that the proposed demolition will not alter the original church building, staff have no objection to the proposed demolition subject to Council approval of the related Zoning By-law amendment,” the report reads. “The proposed Zoning By-law Amendment includes provisions to implement mitigation strategies recommended in the Heritage Impact Assessment to support conservation of the heritage attributes on the property.”
The other two options would be to take no action during the 60-day waiting period, which would allow the property owner to seek a demolition permit from the city following the waiting period, or to ask city staff to consult with the Peterborough Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee (PACAC) on whether the property should be designated. City staff are not recommending either of these two options.
On March 17, council received a report providing an update on the work of the city’s heritage resources office for the designation of properties listed on the city’s heritage register. At that time, 90 Hunter Street East was included in a shortlist of 56 properties that were prioritized by PACAC for heritage designation.
At that meeting, council approved a motion to remove 90 Hunter Street East from the shortlist due to the pending application for a development at the location. While the property was subsequently removed from the priority shortlist, it was not removed from the heritage register itself as that process requires consultation with PACAC under the Heritage Act.
The city staff report notes that, if council allows the demolition to proceed, “90 Hunter Street East would remain on the City’s Heritage Register. The City would still be able to designate the property under Part IV of the Act and any future proposed demolition on the property would still be required to give 60-days’ notice.”
Although the city staff report indicates that the board of trustees of Mark Street United Church is still the official owner of the portion of the property that contains the Christian Education Centre, Toronto-based developer TVM Group has agreed to acquire the property from the board of trustees is exchange for four rental condominium units in TVM Group’s nearby East City Condos development valued at $2 million.
As part of the agreement, TVM Group will also construct a new addition on the north side of the church building as a smaller replacement for the Christian Education Centre, at no cost to Mark Street United Church.
TVM Group’s proposed 17-storey high-rise would be built on a site of around 3,350 square metres (less than one acre). Located in a largely residential neighbourhood with some low-rise commercial and recent mixed-use developments, it would be the tallest building ever constructed in Peterborough with 205 market-rent apartments with 201 parking spaces.
This story has been updated to correct the date of the city council meeting, which is at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, September 3, and not directly following the general committee meeting at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, September 2.
