Amendments to Heritage Property Act Introduced

An amendment to the Heritage Property Act introduced today, May 23, will provide added protection for municipal heritage properties while the entire act is under review.

Under the Heritage Property Act, owners of municipally-registered heritage properties must apply to the municipality if they want to demolish or substantially alter the exterior of a building.

The application is reviewed by a heritage advisory committee, with municipal council making a final decision. When a request is denied, the owner must wait one year before altering or demolishing the property without approval.

The amendment will extend that waiting period from one to two years and will be in effect until September 1, 2009. A Treasured Past, a Precious Future: A Heritage Strategy for Nova Scotia, released in February, included a commitment for a comprehensive review of the act to begin this year.

"This amendment is an interim measure to offer more protection for registered municipal heritage properties while we conduct a thorough review of the act and consult with all interested parties," said Jamie Muir, Minister of Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Relations on behalf of Bill Dooks, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage.

"A two-year waiting period will allow more time to consider all the options to preserve a building with heritage value."

The Heritage Property Act allows for properties to be registered with the municipality, the province, or both. Applications to alter or demolish a provincially-registered heritage property are made to the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage following a review by the Advisory Council on Heritage Property, and cabinet makes the final binding decision.

There are about 269 provincially-registered and 1,500 municipally-registered heritage properties in Nova Scotia.

The full review of the Heritage Property Act is expected to be complete in the fall 2009.