This is just plain insulting.
A number of us living in the downtown area in London, Ontario, recently tried to object to a rezoning application for county land overlooking the Fork of the Thames River and adjoining the heritage-designated Middlesex County Courthouse [see this and this]. We lost.
My own, personal objection raised at the planning committee meeting was that during much of every day the proposed 28-story and 8-story buildings, joined by an atrium, would cast shadows over the best-known heritage building in London, Ontario: the Middlesex County Courthouse.
Not only did the presenters to the planning commission waffle (likely prevaricate) about the shadow effects of the proposed building over the heritage courthouse, they also neatly sidestepped the fact that (to the best of my knowledge) they did not do a heritage assessment of their proposal, as would be required of anyone else, nor did they hold open, public consultations with local residents, as would be required of anyone else.
I've written about those issues before.
Here is what really adds insult to injury
Today the residents of our building (and, I presume, thousands of other residents in the designated areas) received this postcard, sent out at a likely cost of $2 or so per card, to cover design, printing, postage, personnel work, etc.
I live downtown in the yellow area, the same area where the rezoning was approved by City Council and where the proposed high-rise building(s) would be erected.
Here is the back of the postcard:
I received this card because we own a unit in 30-year-old condo building; I doubt if our building is a "heritage property".
Apparently, though, one group of folks at City Hall is all about heritage, and anyone who wants to alter their property must get a "Heritage Alteration Permit".
Meanwhile, Middlesex County, which owns the property under discussion (yes, the county owns land inside the City of London) and which was just rezoned, has proposed alterations to their heritage-designated property. Where were the folks in the Heritage Permit office when all the rezoning proposals were being discussed?
I have strong doubts that they obtained a Heritage Alteration Permit. And if they didn't, I expect the entire rezoning process was bogus.