This part is Introduced
This part was produced by the editorial division. The shopper was not given the chance to place restrictions on the content material or evaluation it previous to publication.
by HAVEN HOME HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING
Kingston has paused any new heritage designation amid fears about insurance coverage
Revealed Jan 27, 2025 • 2 minute learn
Kingston metropolis council voted in opposition to heritage designation for a Boundary Highway farm home in Kingston, Ont. Photograph by Elliot Ferguson /The Whig-Commonplace
Article content material
KINGSTON — Considerations about insurance coverage saved a pair of rural properties from receiving heritage designation.
This commercial has not loaded but, however your article continues beneath.
THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS
Subscribe now to learn the newest information in your neighborhood.
Limitless on-line entry to all articles on thewhig.com.Entry to subscriber-only content material, together with Historical past: As We Noticed It, a weekly publication that rips historical past from our archives, which span virtually 190 years.Get pleasure from insights and behind-the-scenes evaluation from our award-winning journalists.Assist native journalism and the subsequent technology of journalists.
Subscribe now to learn the newest information in your neighborhood.
Limitless on-line entry to all articles on thewhig.com.Entry to subscriber-only content material, together with Historical past: As We Noticed It, a weekly publication that rips historical past from our archives, which span virtually 190 years.Get pleasure from insights and behind-the-scenes evaluation from our award-winning journalists.Assist native journalism and the subsequent technology of journalists.
Create an account or sign up to maintain studying.
Entry extra articles from thewhig.com..Get e-mail updates out of your favorite journalists.
.
.
Entry articles from throughout Canada with one accountShare your ideas and be part of the dialog within the commentsEnjoy further articles per monthGet e-mail updates out of your favorite authors
or
Article content material
The properties, that are each on the sting of town limits on Orser Highway and Boundary Highway, had been amongst greater than 300 properties for which town was searching for heritage designation.
However council unanimously voted in opposition to the designations after issues, and a few confusion, about their impact on insurance coverage charges.
“I realized heritage is a big part of the city of Kingston, but it also comes with a lot of extra costs to certain residents,” stated Bradley Knowles, who owns a 120-acre money crop farm on Boundary Highway.
“If I get this, if this designation goes through, that could either be dropped by my insurance company or have no insurance at all.”
Knowles stated the heritage designation would additionally vastly improve the price of renovations.
The Kingston Whig-Commonplace’s Midday Information Roundup
!
Article content material
This commercial has not loaded but, however your article continues beneath.
Article content material
Insurance coverage on a farm with a home that’s greater than 100 years outdated is already a problem and Knowles stated he was involved he might be unable to get coated.
Likewise, Countryside Dist. Coun. Gary Oosterhof stated the proprietor of what’s now an equestrian centre on Orser Highway was additionally anxious what a heritage designation would do to their annual insurance coverage renewal.
“If they check off the box that it’s a heritage property, they literally could lose protection insurance protection right there,” Oosterhof stated. “There’s amazing stress right now for that family.”
“This doesn’t feel legal,” stated Lakeside Dist. Coun. Wendy Stephen.
It will not be, stated Jennifer Campbell, town’s commissioner of neighborhood companies.
Campbell stated metropolis employees are to fulfill with insurance coverage trade representatives later this month and she or he added that in line with the Ontario Heritage Act such designations will not be alleged to have an effect on insurance coverage.
This commercial has not loaded but, however your article continues beneath.
Article content material
“There is a lot of misinformation, but also a lot of contradictory information being shared with property owners,” Campbell stated.
“We’ve actually been calling insurance companies and having conversations with them relative to some of these properties, and there is something in particular going around with farmland.”
Heritage designation for the 2 rural properties was already being processed however the metropolis has halted any new heritage designations till their impacts are clearer.
Sydenham Dist. Coun. Conny Glenn, chair of the Kingston Heritage Properties Committee, acknowledged the issues the property homeowners have however stated the precedence have to be to maintain the properties viable as residences and companies.
“I absolutely feel like I’m doing a disservice to heritage, but at the same time, you know, my greater concern is always about making sure that people can remain living in their homes and operating their businesses,” she stated.
Article content material
Share this text in your social community
