The planned district would cover the \u201cold village\u201d core of Russell, and would include both residential and commercial areas on both sides of the Castor River. According to a proposal document, the district\u2019s creation would help with \u201cprotecting key views, streetscapes and first impressions when entering this part of the village\u201d. <\/p>\n
Planning for the district began after the municipality retained MTBA Associates to prepare a report on heritage evaluations for properties in both Embrun and Russell. The preliminary report recommended the creation of a heritage conservation district in the centre of Russell village, due to \u201ca concentration of potential heritage resources that might be worth consideration for protection\u201d.<\/p>\n
The designation of an HCD allows a municipality to protect the character of an area and guide future changes and development,\u201d the report said. \u201cThis protection is not meant to thwart change, but to manage change in ways that are positive for the district and for the wider community.\u201d<\/p>\n
The proposal attracted a number of questions from members of the public watching the meeting in what mayor Pierre Leroux estimated was the greatest number of queries in the time council meetings had been conducted virtually. The questions covered topics such as interior renovations of buildings, fees for developments, and whether other sites\u2019 heritage listings had been downgraded.<\/p>\n
Planning, Building and Economic Development director Dominique Tremblay said a number of public consultations had been held during the development of the district plan to ensure the community\u2019s wishes were respected. \u201cWe felt this [district] is something that is really important, it\u2019s a tool for the community,\u201d she said. \u201cIf the community does not want to preserve this area, the heritage conservation district offers no value. We\u2019re not doing this for the township, we\u2019re doing it for the people of Russell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councillors approved the first reading of the bylaw. The plan and guidelines will be revised ahead of the second and third readings of the bylaw later this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A heritage district for the village core of Russell is one step closer to reality, after councillors approved a first reading of a bylaw.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":17330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-habitation"],"acf":[],"featured_media_global":[],"yoast_head":"\n