the City Planner was delegated the approval authority to approve minor changes to the heritage alterations for this property (See Appendix ‘B’ for the approved drawings).

As part of the Heritage Alteration Permit, a Conservation Plan is required. Given that the property is within the Sandwich CIP area Site Plan Review is also required for small-scale low profile residential developments. The application was approved on January 19, 2020. The applicant will not receive any grants until the requirements of the Heritage Alteration Permit, Conservation Plan and the Site Plan Control Agreement are resolved.

Delegation of Authority

In recent months, Administration has received several inquiries about the Neighbourhood Residential Rehabilitation Grant Program. It is expected that this high level of interest will continue and there will be several new applications made to this program that have not been included in this report. In addition, often when applying for this program building permits may be required for the proposed improvements making applicants also eligible for the Development and Building fees Grant Program.

Planning and Building Department staff have the planning, architectural, and engineering experience to evaluate applications for eligibility under the Sandwich Town CIP, all city by-laws, the building code, and other municipal policies. In addition, many of the proposed improvements are small (i.e. replacement of a doors and windows, siding, or improvements to an existing porch), and maintenance related, and something that Planning and Building Staff are trained to provide expert review in. When improvements include properties that are designated under Part of the Heritage Act or within the Sandwich HCD applicants are required to apply to a Heritage Alteration Permit where improvements are vetted through the Development and Heritage Standing Committee and City Council. Disbursements also get reviewed by Finance Department staff and require the approval of the City Treasurer.

Given the volume of inquiries and applications received to date, and what is expected to be made under this program in the future, Administration believes that delegating the authority to approve the Neighbourhood Residential Rehabilitation Grant program will help streamline this process and allow homeowners to complete improvements to their properties in a timely manner. It also makes sense to delegate the authority to approve the Development and Building fees Grant Program when applicants are also applying to the Neighbourhood Residential Rehabilitation Grant program only.

In all cases the delegation of authority approval can only be granted where sufficient uncommitted budget funding is in place and has been previously approved by City Council.