A proposed development in the Town of Amherstburg needed approval from the Heritage Committee to move forward.
The developer is looking to construct a four-storey multi-residential building at 261 Wolfe Street.
This parcel of land, which is currently vacant, lies within the boundary of the Amherstburg Heritage Conservation District, meaning the applicant must apply for a Heritage Alteration Permit to construct the condos.
The purpose of the Heritage Conservation District is to ensure that any new developments, or alters to current builds, fit the characteristics of the town to respect the cultural heritage values.
The Heritage Planner has asked the applicant to ensure the design of the building is similar to nearby builds, such as incorporating stone, having it be a light colour, and incorporating accent headers and crown moudling.
Chris Gibb, Amherstburg deputy mayor and Heritage Board committee member, says the building has to be complimentary to the neighbourhood.
"It's right next door to a historic building, it's the St. Anthony Lofts, everybody from Amherstburg will know it as the old House of Shalom building. It's near St. John the Baptist Church, so because of that it had to come to the Heritage Committee for approval - just to make sure that the look and feel was complimentary to the area."
He says it's great to have developers who are willing to match the neighbourhood characteristics.
"Can you match the colour of the stone, or can you have the stone rather than just go up 8-feet, can you have it go up 12-feet, and can you change the windows a little bit to be more complimentary to the building next door. So it's really all about working with developers to get something that adds to the neighbourhood rather than something that looks like a sore thumb."
Gibb says it's difficult when you're building in a historic town.
"When you're building a four-storey building... just to the other side of this building there's single-family homes, so those are always issues. But, you know, we're still in a housing crisis, we need these extra apartments, we need these extra places for people to live."
If the applicant has not completed the work, and fulfilled the conditions within two years from approval, the Heritage Alteration Permit will be revoked.
Amherstburg council will need to provide final approval before the development can move forward.