Prince Edward County Committee of the Whole heard from its consultants and concerned residents concerning the Wellington Heritage Conservation District Plan on Thursday, June 23.

Heritage planning consultant Dr. Carl Bray presented the plan (which was a culmination of a process which began in 2019) to committee in anticipation of final approval at council in July.

Committee then heard from concerned commercial property owners, businesses and investors who brought forth complaints about the district plan ranging from an over-emphasis on loosely defined heritage trumping economic and housing considerations, to the plan being overly restrictive and perhaps illegally intrusive on other in-force municipal plans and burdensome on the planning department.

Local Wellington residents in attendance countered by pleading for the necessity of the plan to save Wellington’s downtown amidst the wave of impending housing development on its outskirts. They submitted that council has a duty to promote the wellbeing and interests of the community as a whole, and not just those wishing for financial gain.

Committee then referred the plan back to staff with the hopes that a compromise could be made that would allow for some flexibility for extraordinary heritage permit applications that could be brought to the discretion of Council. The Wellington District Plan will come back before Council sometime this summer.

Listen to the story below: