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Heritage Permits Approved for Trafalgar Road - 23 Jun 26

Oakville · June 24, 2026

Good morning everyone. I now call this meeting of Heritage Oakville to order and welcome to everybody here at Town Hall and those who are watching us from home on our live live stream which is on oakville.ca or the town's YouTube channel. For those who are watching from home who wish to follow the agenda today, the agenda and materials are available at oakville.ca under Town Hall agendas and meetings and you can download all the materials that we're working with today. Uh we have the opportunity for delegates to present either in person or online and to do so delegates have to register by noon on the business day prior to the meeting. And on the town website there's a an easy process to enable you to do that. Uh we are I remind everybody an advisory committee and any advice that we give to council today will be dealt with by the council at its meeting on July the 7th at 6:30 p.m. Um we have two discussion items on the agenda today so let's get moving. Do we have any regrets uh Madam Secretary? >> Yes Mr. Chair, Emma, Bob, and George are regrets. >> Okay, thank you. Uh do we have any declarations of pecuniary interest with respect to anything on the agenda today? Nope, good. Moving on. The minutes of our last meeting were distributed and are there any comments on those uh minutes? Would somebody like to give me a motion? Jason, thank you. A motion to approve has been made by Jason. Any further discussion on that? Anyone opposed? The minutes are approved. Thank you. So our first discussion item, in fact 4.1 and 4.2 are somewhat linked. Uh the first one deals with the garage which is now on a neighboring lot. So I I guess that sets the scene for it. Uh so okay Kristen, you us through that one. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee. Uh, so, as uh, Drew just said, I'm today I am speaking to two properties that are kind of related to each other. So, the first one I'm talking about is 397 Trafalgar Road, uh, which is located in the Trafalgar Road Heritage Conservation District. Here we go. So, it's located on the east side of Trafalgar Road on a prominent corner lot, uh, with Spruce Street to the south there. Um, and here today we are talking about the garage on this property. And historically, recently this property just went through a severance process at the Committee of Adjustment. So, the north, the larger thick line outlines the original lot, and then the yellow is what we are speaking to today. So, a bit of background on the permit application. Uh, this property is designated part five under the Trafalgar Road HCD. Uh, it has a contributing house on the property, uh, from circa 1900. It is a two and a half story brick dwelling built in the Queen Anne style, and it's known as the Doughty House. The garage, uh, is from around 1910 with a 1960s carport addition. So, the owner has, as part of the process to sever the north and east portions of the property, submitted two separate heritage permits for work on the severed lot and work on the retained lot. So, this heritage permit I'm talking about right now is for work being done on the retained lot. And that, uh, includes demolishing the existing detached garage, constructing a new one and a half story frame detached garage, and installing new landscaping elements. So, just a few photos to kind of give us some context. Uh, the property from Spruce Street is on the top with the garage behind, and then the photo on the left at the bottom, uh, is more the older structure, and on the right there is the carport. Um, and as I said, it contains currently the heritage house and the and the garage. Uh, the historic coach house, uh, is in very poor condition as was noted on a staff site visit and could not be restored without substantial replacement of materials. I don't have interior photos in this presentation, but in your package there are photos of the interior of the garage. And here is the west elevation and then the east elevation as well. And here we just have a street elevation drawing of the house with the proposed new garage. The design of the new garage has a more traditional steep roof aligned with the roof slope of the heritage house as we can see here and is designed with traditional coach house architecture and here on the elevations of it we can see proposed horizontal wood cladding with aluminum clad wood windows and doors and all the glass will be multi-plane multi-pane glass, sorry, as we can see here. The siding windows and doors are proposed to be painted white to complement the house and the garage would also have wood trim. Along with the garage are some proposed landscaping elements such as here we can see the proposed flagstone walk just on the south coming off of the porch and some flagstone at the back as well and with that is a proposed black metal fencing which has some gates there at the back and also will separate the two lots. There [snorts] is also here we can see the garage is proposed to be moving a bit further south as Drew mentioned the current garage is on the new lot so it has to be built on the retained lot and so the driveway will be shortened which is a positive overall for the greenery in the space but that does mean the driveway is widened a little but it will be made with brick paving stones as well. And for this demolition and construction of the new garage there's no proposed trees to be removed. And I will just note that as part of that severance process through the committee of adjustment that was approved. It was also approved for a minor variance for this garage, and that was a height variance because of heritage planning staff and heritage committee feedback at the time uh was that they preferred the steep slope roof, which required the variance. So, that was done in February and was approved. So, in terms of the heritage assessment, the Doughty house and this lot, it is a prominent corner lot within the district, and it does contribute to the character of the Trafalgar Road Heritage Conservation District and particularly along Trafalgar Road. So, the proposed garage is actually on the Spruce Street elevation and set back from both the heritage house and the street. So, the proposed garage is detached, uh which is the preferred approach within the HCD, and has been designed using traditional forms and architectural elements uh with complementary materials that go with the heritage property on the lot. Its location and setback maintain the character of the district and ensure that this uh new garage does not detract from or dominate the Spruce Street streetscape. In terms of the design itself, it has been designed to reflect the form and character of the historic coach house that is currently on the property. Uh it has that sloped roof, uh some with the dormers, horizontal wood siding, and traditional single coach house style garage doors. >> [snorts] >> It is modest in scale. It's subordinate in height to the heritage house, and so it does have compatibility with that heritage house while meeting the HCD plan and guidelines. In terms of the landscaping, the hardscaping materials are consistent with those found elsewhere in the district and comply with the guidelines. As I noted before, relocating the detached garage slightly closer to Spruce Street allows the driveway to remain in its existing general location, but significantly reduces its overall length, which allows for some more greenery on the lot. And the proposed fencing option is also consistent with the plan and guidelines. So, based on this assessment, staff recommend that this heritage permit application for the demolition of the existing garage and construction of a new garage at 397 Trafalgar Road be approved subject to the approval of final details on new cladding, trim, windows, doors, and landscaping by heritage planning staff. And that the permit expire 2 years from the date of final approval by council. So, that's it for me and I'm happy to answer any questions. >> Thank you, Kristen. Any questions of Kristen? Nope. Nope. Good. Thank you. Now, we do have Terry Radigan for both. I don't know if you want to add anything at this stage. Um would >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Committee, my name is Terry Martino and I am the agent, Weis Architect, for the owners who are present this morning. Uh I want to thank Kristen for her uh comprehensive presentation and I really don't have anything additional to add, but I'd be happy to answer any questions the committee may have. >> Okay. Okay. Are there any questions of the representative of the applicant? Nope. No questions at this stage. Thank you, Terry. >> Thank you. >> Okay. And there are no other delegates registered, so we're confined to the board. Any discussion on this item, Jerry? >> Uh thank you, Mr. Chair. Um I think it's a it's a lovely, quiet, well-proportioned and designed building. It is complimentary to the adjacent original heritage structure, so uh I think it's uh nicely done. I support staff recommendation. >> Good. Would you like to move that, Jerry? Fine. Jerry has then moved the motion that the staff recommendation be accepted. Any further discussion on that? Anyone opposed to that motion? Nope. The motion is carried. Thank you. So, we move on now to item 4.2, um which is the building of the new house and garage on the severed portion of this lot and Kristen lead us into that. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and Committee. I'm back. And next I'm speaking to the north and east portion of the severed lot I previously discussed here. It does not have an address yet, so we're just calling it the severed portion of the lot. So hopefully that's clear. So here I just wanted to highlight now we're talking about the rest of the traditional lot here and you can see it's the northern portion and also a sliver on the side and that is for the driveway for the new property which will be coming off of or is proposed to be coming off of Spruce Street. >> [snorts] >> So even though there's currently no structure on the property, it is still designated part five under the Trafalgar Road Heritage Conservation District. And again, it was recently severed as part of that consent process approved in February of 2026. And this is the second heritage permit the owners have submitted for work on the severed portion of the lot. And this application consists of constructing a new two-story detached brick house and construct Sorry, constructing a new one-story frame detached garage with carport and also installing some new landscaping elements as well. So just a few photos kind of of the what is what was historically the side yard of the of 397 Trafalgar Road. We can see the current garage at the back. So that would be demolished as part of the previous permit and the house built here and just a view of some of the trees there of the on the property from Trafalgar Road itself. And you can kind of see 397 Trafalgar in that space there. And this is a streetscape drawing just to kind of show the height of the proposed building between the two neighbors. While it is it will sit a little forward of the two adjacent homes, that's to accommodate the detached garage in the back. Uh but it is lower in height than both of these houses. So, it allows that two heritage homes to kind of maintain their prominence on the streetscape. There will also be no driveway on the Trafalgar Road side, and instead the house will be connected to the road with a proposed flagstone path. Here we can just see some of the elevations of the proposed building. Uh it is built with influences from the Arts and Crafts era. Again, in new construction in a heritage conservation district, we don't necessarily want overt copies or replications of styles, but well-designed houses influenced by styles that already exist in the district. And there are examples of Arts and Crafts houses in this district already. So, the front facade is the top left picture there. It has an asymmetrical gable roof with the large overhang that covers has a covered porch. And that's a well-known kind of Tudor Revival Arts and Crafts era style. Uh it has proposed to have red brick cladding with wood shingles as accents on dormers and gables, as we can see. It also is proposed to have a red brick chimney, the dormers, multi-paned wood windows, and these are all again kind of elements of Arts and Crafts style buildings. In terms of the new garage, uh this is a proposed detached garage and carport at the rear of the property. And that's to be accessed by the new driveway from Spruce Street. It is just one story. Also has a little asymmetrical roof. And has a traditional coach house style wood garage door on the east elevation. And again, it is located at the rear and will not be readily visible from the public realm. Okay, this is kind of fuzzy once it's on a presentation slide, but I wanted to kind of zoom in on the landscape plan for this one just so that we can see kind of some of the proposed tree removals that will be happening as part of this application. Uh so, with the new driveway, uh it will be paved in brick paving stones, and it does include a parking turnaround area east of the garage. So, this new driveway requires the removal of a Norway spruce, which I've circled, and then three catalpa trees along the driveway. So, the maple is at the rear and does not contribute to the streetscape, so it's removal is not a concern. The catalpas do contribute to the streetscape, but not significantly. So, that's why there is a proposed beech hedge to kind of replace them in the in the new build and and provide that screening and that privacy and that greenery as well. The new house itself does require the removal of five trees on the severed lot. Two larger mulberry trees, two smaller yew, and one larger birch tree. So, three out of the five are in poor condition. And as you can kind of see from my circles, most of them are in the center of the property and their removal would have a limited impact on the Trafalgar Road streetscape. If you remember the photo I shared earlier, it showed quite a few deciduous trees are to remain on the Trafalgar Road side. And then finally, as I mentioned, a new flagstone path will connect to the house to the Trafalgar Road Trafalgar Road itself, I should say. And I will note that as part of that severance and consent in February of 2026, there was a minor variance that was approved for this and it was just changing the the legal front lot line from the Spruce Street side to the Trafalgar Road side. So, just a small property line variance. >> [clears throat] >> So, in terms of the heritage assessment, the setback and height for the new house does maintain the overall character of the district and the house will not proposed house, I should say, will not negatively impact the streetscape along Trafalgar Road or Spruce Street. As I mentioned, the house has been designed with influences from the Arts and Crafts era. These other kinds of styles can be seen in the district, so this build will support and continue that character in the district. The overall scale and massing of the house along with its composition, its roofline, and its materials are appropriate for the site and the district. The proposed new garage is detached and in the rear yard, which is preferred in heritage conservation districts, and has been designed with again those kinds of traditional materials and is complementary to the district. And the proposed landscape elements are compatible with the heritage character of the property and its neighbors, and the tree removals will not significantly affect the district streetscape. So, in summary, the proposed new house, new garage, and landscaping all meet the requirements of the HCD plan and guidelines. So, based on that assessment, staff recommendation is that this heritage permit be for the construction of a new house and garage on the severed lot be approved subject to the final details on new cladding, trim, windows, doors, and landscaping, and that the permit expire 2 years from final approval of council. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Kristen. Okay, any questions of Kristen? Nope. Nope, good. Okay. Um Terry, would you like to uh add anything to that? >> Again, uh Mr. Chair, members of the committee, I'd like to thank Kristen for her thorough Yeah. >> Okay. Any questions of the applicant's representative? Nope. Nope, good. >> Thank you. >> Good. And the counselors are happy. I don't see any yellow hands. Sure, you're on my screen now, so at least I can see you. Okay, good, super. Okay, so we're confined to the board now. Any discussion on this? Jerry, would you like to start us off? >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um I wanted to ask um page 189, is that a a delightful sketch by Grand Muise that we see here in this package? Mr. Martino, just nod. >> [laughter] >> Well, it's nice to see a sketch from Grand. Um I wanted to say this is a again a delightful uh uh uh vernacular. It's um a vernacular [clears throat] of the Oakville Heritage Design. It's a a well-designed and a good fit for an infill. Um it is contextual. Um it has whimsy and it has detail. Um the mannered asymmetrical roofs um coming down to uh the ground are a lovely uh way to bridge the height of the ridge to the uh pedestrian actually uh engaging uh with the house. I think it's a it's a lovely addition I to um it's a lovely addition to the downtown core and it uh respects the values and uh keeps the Oakville vernacular vernacular alive in new design. Thank you. >> Thank you, Johnny. Any other comments? [snorts] Okay. So, if discussion's over, would somebody like to give me a motion to approve the staff recommendations? Thank you, Susan. Susan has moved that the staff recommendation be approved. Any further discussion? Anyone opposed to that motion? The motion is carried. Thank you very much. And I'd remind everybody that our recommendations go to council at its next meeting. And I don't remember when that next meeting is, but I'm sure it will come to us um in a moment. Okay, good. So, the next item on the agenda is information items and there apparently are no information items. Uh the date of time of and time of our next meeting is July the 28th at 9:30 here at the town hall. Uh so, can I have a motion to adjourn? Russ, thank you. A motion to adjourn. No one opposed to that motion. The motion is adjourned. Thank you, everyone, as usual for the gift of your time this morning and the meeting is now adjourned.