← Back to summary
Full Transcript
Three Properties Recommended for Heritage Designation - 22 Sep 26
Oakville · September 23, 2026
Okay, good morning everybody. I'd like
to call this meeting of Heritage
Oakville to order and to welcome
everybody here on this slightly cool
fall morning. Um, and welcome everybody
who's watching live stream uh from home
uh on the town uh website or the town
YouTube channel. And I would remind
people who are doing that that if they
go to the town website, they can
download the agenda and other materials
that we're using for our meeting today,
which might make it easier for them to
follow along with what we're doing. Uh
delegates are are welcome to our
meetings either in person or virtually,
but all delegates must register by noon
on the business day prior to the day of
the meeting. And there's an easy way to
do that online. Again, going back to
that town about agendas and meetings on
the town website and you can easily
register and let staff know that you're
coming and if it's going to be virtual,
they can make the necessary arrangements
for that to happen.
Um, I'll remind everybody again that we
are an advisory committee and any
recommendations to council that we might
make today will go to the council
meeting on September the 28th at 6:30
p.m. Do we have any declarations of
pecunary interest from anyone today? No.
Do we have any regrets, Madam Secretary?
>> Yes. Carrie, Emma, Bob, and Councelor
Longo are regrets.
>> Okay. Thank you. But we do have quorum.
So that's good. So the next item on the
agenda is the confirmation of the
minutes of our last meeting. These have
been circulated. Are there any comments?
Would you like to Thank you, Russ, for
giving me a motion to approve the
minutes of circulated. Um any further
discussion on that motion? Anyone
opposed to that motion? Thank you. The
minutes are approved. Uh the next item
on our agenda is our uh discussion item
4.1 which is notice of intention to
designate multiple properties and
Kristen uh you're on for that. Thank
you.
>> Thank you Mr. Chair. Good morning
everyone. Uh this should be a pretty
easy meeting this morning. Uh we're
bringing forward some designations as
part of our designation project uh under
notices of intention to designate.
So the the three properties we're
bringing forward today are 14 Timberlane
or the William and Lucy Spears House,
176 Chisum Street or the Blackwood
House, and the Hixon Morton Stone silo
that's at 3275 Rebecca Street. So staff
have completed a cultural heritage
evaluation report for each property
which are attached in the appendices and
have worked with the property owners on
these designations and the
recommendation today is to designate
them under part four of the Ontario
Heritage Act. So, I will briefly kind of
go over each of the properties. It's
been a while since we got to do one of
these. Uh, so hopefully this will be
interesting for everybody. Uh, so 14
Timberlane is located on the west side
of Timberlane, uh, just east of West
Street, uh, near Lake Ontario. It is a
circa 1920s Dutch colonial revival style
house. A few things to note about the
property is that staff have been working
with the owners over the past several
years uh, and they are actually doing
renovations on the property. So, the
designation uh, is happening once those
are complete. Uh, this includes a new
addition on the south elevation and also
a new front porch as it was determined
during work. This was not historic. And
I will also note that stucco was
initially thought to be the original
cladding, but again during work it was
determined there was horizontal wood
siding previously. So the owners have
reinstated that and this will be updated
on the official final notice of
intention to designate.
So in terms of evaluating uh the home's
heritage value according to Ontario
regulation 906 criteria, it does meet uh
design physical, historical,
associative, and contextual criteria.
Again, it is a representative example of
a 1920s Dutch colonial revival style
house. Uh this style um identified
mostly by its gamrel roof was popular
throughout parts of North America and
common in early 20th century suburbs. It
was also equally popular uh for wealthy
cottage areas which this neighborhood
was initially created for. Uh it became
more common in the inter war period as
mail order cataloges made the style more
accessible. However, after these
renovations that the owners are doing,
the house will still contain its
heritage attributes that contribute to
the heritage value of this style such as
the intersecting gamble roof, the
siding, and the multi-pane windows. The
house has uh cultural heritage value
because it is directly associated with
William and Lucy Spears who are members
of a were were members of a prominent
Bronny family who had the house
constructed. Uh William Spears developed
this residential neighborhood known as
Missaga Heights in the early 20th
century as Bronny was becoming known as
more of a kind of summer resort area.
The Spears were prominent uh
community-minded Bronny citizens. And
finally, the house has contextual value.
It is physically, functionally,
visually, and historically linked to
this historical historic, sorry,
residential neighborhood. The house
remains one of the original historic
buildings in the Missaga Heights
subdivision. As I noted, it was
developed in the early 1900s, and this
area is identified through its medium to
largesiz lots. It has a variety of homes
built during the early 20th century and
there's lots of um kind of natural
grading of the lots into the street with
few curbs and sidewalks and large mature
trees with views to the lake. So, while
the area has developed over time, the
subject house does continue to play a
role in linking the area to its past as
a kind of a more modest recreational
area. And so you can see it's kind of a
construction zone right now, so getting
more up-to-date photos is a little
tricky, but you can see that they've
added this south edition based on the um
photos that are in the cultural heritage
evaluation report. I will also note that
the north elevation remains uh there's
no new additions or anything like that
on that. Oh, and some street views.
Next is the Blackwood House, which is
located on the west side of Chism Street
between Bond and Head Streets. And this
property contains a circa 1860 one-story
frame Oakville vernacular cottage. And
again, staff have been working with the
owners who, as you can see, are
finishing up a rear edition. Um, but
there is nothing on the exterior of the
original house that will be changing.
In terms of 906 criteria, it meets
several. Uh, it has design and physical
value as one of these representative
examples of an Oakville vernacular frame
cottage built with influences from the
Regency style. This was a modest and
simplified adaptation that became
popular in Ontario in the mid 1800s. And
elements of this design that this house
has includes its symmetrical facade, the
rectangular massing with the gently
sloped hip roof, the front door surround
the um wooden multi-pane transom
windows, its fenestration and
multi-paneed wood windows.
It has a historical value. It is
associated with the theme of the
mid-19th century industrial and
residential development of this area.
Located west of Oakville Harbor, this
was first developed in the mid to late
1800s and houses were originally built
to support the rise in industrial
development along this side of the
harbor, including uh industries like the
shipyard and the tannery complex. The
property remains as one of the earliest
working-class houses uh built in this
development and contributes to the value
of the neighborhood. The property is
also associated with Christopher
Armstrong, one of the owners of the
Marlet and Armstrong tannery, uh, who
did live here for a time um, before he
was running that business. And in terms
of contextual value, the house is
important in defining, supporting, and
maintaining the character of this
neighborhood. Most of the homes in the
area are more modest in size and design
and again were built to house that local
working class. Uh, the streetscape
consists of mature trees and moderate to
small lots. Um, and again, many of these
houses are from early days of the
settlement of the town. The subject
house, while modest, is one of the older
ones in the neighborhood, and its
presence adds to that historical
character. It is physically,
functionally, visually, and historically
linked to its surroundings, and
continues to stand on its original
location. And here are just some photos
of some of those elements we just
discussed about the design and physical
value, the door, uh, the front facade,
uh, and that transom window, as well as
some of the multi-pane windows we can
see.
and a somewhat blurry street view.
Okay. And finally, uh we have the Hixon
Morton Stone Silo. So, this is located
on the southeast corner of the property
at 3275 Rebecca Street, uh the Suncor
property. Uh the silo is associated with
the farming that previously occurred
here. Uh there's also the Mortyn
farmhouse near the creek, uh which was
used by Suncor as an office. So that
farmhouse was also reviewed as part of
this designation, but it was determined
to not have enough heritage value to
designate it as it has been altered
significantly over time. So at this time
it's not being considered for
designation, but the silo is. And if you
look at the cultural heritage evaluation
report, you'll see more of those um
contextual images showing the location
of the silo and its connection to the
creek as well.
In terms of the 906 criteria, the silo
has physical value as a rare and unique
example of a stone silo in Oakville
being built of local river shale,
lakesstone, and field stone. Stone silos
uh were rare across southwestern
Ontario, and very few examples remain.
Importantly, this is the only stone silo
remaining in Oakville. So this is what
we would consider a vernacular structure
and builders would have used whatever
materials were local and free which
explains the use of the stone likely
from Bronny Creek as well as the area.
The structures uh attributes include its
massing and shape with an arched
doorway, the stone construction and its
location with within with proximity to
Bronny Creek. Uh in terms of historical
and associative value, the silo is
associated with the Hixon and Mortyn
families, both prominent families in the
area. Joseph Hixon was the first settler
who owned the land and operated a
sawmill on Bronny Creek. Uh the Hixon
family farmed the property from the
1830s to 1904 and it was then associated
with the Mortens, a significant mariner
and farmer family in the area as well
who farmed the property in the early
1900s. So at this point it's
undetermined which family built the
silo, but it is associated with both of
their farms and hence the name. Outside
of the silo, in terms of the 906
criteria, this property does have
potential to yield information about
indigenous history on the territory,
most notably the Missagas of the Credit
First Nation, who had recurring camps in
the area, as noted on maps, and a
fishing spot in the nearby Bronny Creek
near Rebecca Street. So, the property
does have high archaeological potential
as well, and also archaeological finds
related to the former mill and work,
which have been noted previously.
And finally, for contextual value, the
silo is physically and historically
linked to its surroundings. Uh it was
again part of other farm buildings on
the site, but is the only remaining
historical agricultural remnant from any
of the four historic lots that the
property now occupies. It continues to
stand in its original location and
serves as a reminder of the former
farmstead that operated here from the
1830s to the 1950s and is again linked
to that agricultural history of Bronny.
And just some photos, a close-up there
kind of showing some of those stones. It
has been kind of um reordered over time
to make sure it doesn't fall over. So
that's also part of its history. And
then just kind of a contextual aerial
showing the silo in yellow, the
farmhouse in orange, which we are not uh
designating. And then kind of the creek
and its proximity to those as well.
So in conclusion, these three properties
physical, historical, and contextual
associations establish the structures as
significant built heritage resources in
Oakville that staff believe merit
designation under part four of the
Ontario Heritage Act. And a staff report
on this matter will be presented to
planning and development council or
council in late November or early
December depending on election timelines
for the notices and then a passing of
the bylaw after that. So staff
recommendation is that a notice of
intention to designate be issued under
section 29 part 4 of the Ontario
Heritage Act for 14 Timberlane, 176
Chism Street, and 3275 Rebecca Street.
So that's it for me and I'm happy to
answer any questions.
>> Good. Thank you, Kristen. Always nice to
read the the stories and the histories
there. Uh with respect to the silo, um
when we were out on our site visit and
we we had a look at it, um the there has
been some remortaring done. Now, do we
know if it was all lime mortar that was
used or if there's cement in there,
which if it's left there untreated will
over time damage the stone and cause the
building to degrade.
>> Um through you, Mr. care. I would assume
that there is cement in there and not
just lime mortar just given the the long
history of the silo and the ownership of
it. Um so it would be something for us
to monitor and make sure that if we see
kind of degradation or the owners notice
it that in the future it would be
hopefully a lime mortar used but at this
point I'm not sure how much is which. So
it's just something to keep an eye on
unfortunately. Yeah.
>> Yeah. Because it will degrade by itself
if it just sits there with the cement.
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Thank you.
Anyway, good. Right. Any questions of
Kristen?
Nope. Good. Well, that's lovely. And I
don't see any. Oh, I do see a hand,
Jonathan. Sorry, I saw your hand.
>> No, just uh just want to answer your
next question. Happy to move it. Great.
Great to uh have a couple Bronny
properties there and uh certainly that
silo is very interesting, unique uh from
seeing it firsthand on the the site
visit. So, uh happy to move it. Chair.
>> Good. Thank you. So the the the motion
to accept the staff recommendation has
been made by councelor Mcnes. Any
further discussion on that? Anyone
opposed to that motion? Seeing none, the
motion is carried and that will go to
council um at its council meeting. I've
been asked to remind everybody on
September the 28th at 6:30 p.m. Good. So
the next item on our agenda is
information items and there are none.
And the date and time of our next
meeting is October the 20th, 2026 in the
council chamber as usual and virtually.
Um the meeting then could be adjourned.
Jerry has just given me a motion to
adjourn the meeting. Thank you. Nobody's
opposed to that. Thank you as usual
everybody for the gift of your time this
morning.