Reprinted from Cambridge Times
The group, called the Cambridge Core Planning Advisory Committee, was recently formed by longtime architect Patrick Simmons.
Simmons has worked in planning and architecture for more than 35 years and has lived in Cambridge for just as long.
Over time, he says he began to notice something wasn’t right.
“Something is missing in our downtown,” he said. “It’s becoming increasingly a concern for me and others.”
He says many people don’t fully understand what makes a downtown successful.
“People see a downtown and think it’s either doing well or it’s not,” he said. “But they don’t know what it takes for businesses to thrive.”
Why the group formed
Simmons and a few others came together after feeling there was a gap in how planning decisions were being discussed.
“We said, if the city’s not going to have a public advisory committee, let’s create our own.”
The group now has six members, including property owners, a lawyer, an architect, and other community members.
Their main focus right now is the city’s plan to create a Heritage Conservation District (HCD) across much of the downtown. These districts are meant to protect historic buildings and areas.
Concerns raised
Simmons says while protecting heritage buildings is important, he believes the current plan goes too far.
“There are huge areas of the Cambridge core that simply shouldn’t be part of it,” he said.
He worries the plan could discourage even small projects.
“When people think of development, they think of big towers,” he said. “I’m talking about small-scale projects — housing, renovations — the kind of things we’re not seeing.”
He says there has been very little new development in the downtown core in recent years.
“There has been none over the last 10 years,” he said.
“HCD will eliminate the few who would even bother trying,” he said.
Simmons also questioned how the city has handled public feedback.
At a recent open meeting, he said people were not able to ask questions openly.
“That’s really not a public meeting,” he said. “People weren’t able to hear each other’s concerns.”
He also said many residents may not understand the full impact of the plan.
“Everybody thinks, ‘heritage, that’s great,’” he said. “Well, it is — but an empty downtown is problematic.”
Group member Terry Polyak owns six buildings downtown, four of which will be directly impacted by the new HCD rules. Polyak said he loves heritage buildings, but he doesn’t like this plan.
“Heritage itself is great,” he said. “But the way this HCD is being applied could make it too hard for developers.”
He gave examples of places where heritage and new development worked well: City Hall, the Cambridge library, and the Gaslight District.
“These are examples of buildings brought back to life while keeping their history,” he said. “We can do that. But this HCD, with its rules and boundaries, might stop other people from trying.”
Polyak’s love for buildings began when he was 10, building miniature houses in his basement and racing to see new homes in his neighbourhood.
He now buys and renovates heritage buildings in downtown Cambridge.
“There should be others following in my footsteps, but I don’t really know anybody anymore who’s into this.”
Polyak also pointed out that maintaining heritage properties is expensive.
The city gives about $5,000 a year for upkeep, but Polyak says that’s not nearly enough.
“If a house needs new windows, a porch, posts — all made with real wood like it was built originally,” he said. “$5,000 doesn’t even cover the coffee for the workers.”
The group will also share their concerns at the council meeting March 24.
Simmons says he wishes the city would take more time, listen carefully, and let the new council weigh in before approving such a big plan.
“This isn’t about tearing down heritage buildings,” he said.
“It’s about making sure the downtown stays alive, with people living, working, and enjoying these buildings. Heritage only matters if there’s life around it.”
Cambridge has the potential to be an amazing city — with the right plan for its downtown.
I grew up in Cambridge within walking distance of what many still call the historic Galt downtown. When I was in high school at GCI, I walked home through the core every day. Even then, people were talking about what downtown Cambridge used to be like and how important it was to bring more businesses and activity back to the area.
That early interest in cities and how they grow eventually led me to study Urban Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University. One class discussion that stayed with me focused on the unique planning challenges Cambridge faces. Because our city was formed through the amalgamation of three historic communities, its growth patterns evolved differently than many other municipalities.
But the takeaway from that discussion was not criticism — it was possibility. Cambridge has tremendous potential. With thoughtful planning, our historic downtown could become one of the most vibrant and distinctive urban centres in the region.
Realizing that potential requires a clear vision. Many successful cities create detailed secondary plans and urban design guidelines for their downtowns and key corridors.
These frameworks help ensure that new development, heritage protection, and public investment all work together to strengthen the core over time.
Equally important is recognizing that heritage conservation and economic vitality are closely linked.
Protecting historic buildings matters, but so does ensuring that property owners feel confident investing in them and that the downtown continues to attract residents, businesses, and visitors.
That is why the current discussion about establishing a Heritage Conservation District in downtown Cambridge raises an important question of sequencing.
Before introducing a broad new regulatory framework, it may make sense to first establish a comprehensive plan for how the downtown should evolve — one that balances preservation, reinvestment, and long-term growth.
Cambridge’s historic core is one of the city’s greatest assets. With the right planning framework in place, it has the potential to thrive for generations. The goal should be to ensure that the tools we use today support both heritage conservation and the long-term vitality of our downtown.
Amanda Maxwell, Cambridge
Over the past decade, Downtown Cambridge has not been threatened by a wave of reckless demolition. It has been threatened by something far more damaging: stagnation.
At Council this last week, five delegations raised serious concerns about expanding the proposed Heritage Conservation District (HCD) footprint across most of the downtown core. Council wisely deferred the motion and requested an economic impact assessment. That was the right decision.
But before we debate the size of an HCD, we should ask a more fundamental question: Do we need one at all?
The HCD concept emerged during a period of intense development pressure years ago. That pressure never materialized in Downtown Galt. In fact, the opposite occurred.
During the largest economic expansion in modern Canadian history, Downtown Cambridge saw relatively little new housing and limited private investment. While other municipalities grew rapidly, our core remained underbuilt and underpopulated.
It is often said that more people lived in Downtown Galt 100 years ago than live there today. Whether exact or not, the sentiment captures a truth: vibrant downtowns depend on residents. Shops, cafés, and services cannot survive on nostalgia alone.
Importantly, the modest development that has occurred demonstrates that heritage and growth are not enemies.
Projects like the Gaslight District, 20 Park Hill Road, and sensitive renovations along Hobson Street, Main Street, and Water Street North have shown that thoughtful developers can respect and enhance historic character.
No wave of “predatory developers” descended upon our city. Instead, careful, heritage-conscious investment has been the norm.
So what problem is an expanded HCD trying to solve?
An HCD is a blunt regulatory tool. Applied across most of the downtown, it risks adding another layer of cost, delay, and uncertainty at precisely the moment when investment confidence is fragile.
We are entering a period of economic uncertainty.
Downtown businesses are vulnerable. Housing supply remains inadequate. Now is not the time to introduce unpredictable bureaucracy that could deter exactly the kind of sensitive, thoughtful growth we say we want.
No one is proposing to demolish our most valuable heritage assets. The question is whether freezing large swaths of the core in amber will protect the past, or undermine the future.
Instead of fearing development, we should be asking:
How do we attract visionary city builders?
How do we increase downtown housing supply?
How do we create predictable, fair, and transparent planning processes?
How do we strengthen our core so it thrives like Hespeler Village and Preston Towne Centre aspire to do?
Heritage matters. But so do residents. So do jobs. So do small businesses.
The biggest risk to our downtown is not the wrecking ball.
It is emptiness.
Terry Polyak, Cambridge
I support protecting Cambridge’s truly significant heritage buildings. However, the proposed Galt Core Heritage Conservation District (HCD) risks undermining downtown revitalization by layering broad and inflexible controls over properties that have little or no genuine heritage value.
The effect of heritage designation on property values is difficult to quantify. Advocates often claim values increase, but in practice any additional restriction or approval process narrows the pool of potential buyers. This is particularly true for larger commercial properties, where investors are highly sensitive to regulatory risk, delay, and cost.
Downtown Cambridge already presents unique challenges and competition from neighbouring municipalities with more predictable approval processes. Adding another discretionary layer such as requiring heritage impact assessments and subjecting routine renovations or redevelopment to heritage staff approval, increases uncertainty. In an already fragile investment environment, that uncertainty drives buyers elsewhere and depresses pricing.
Cambridge does have extraordinary heritage buildings worthy of protection, and several are already designated. More can and should be protected on a targeted basis. But sweeping large areas of downtown into an HCD - including many buildings of marginal or no heritage significance, makes little sense.
These are precisely the properties that could support new housing, adaptive reuse, and business growth.
Recent experience shows that collaboration works. Developers and property owners have demonstrated creativity and respect for heritage without excessive regulation.
City Hall should be encouraging that approach, not discouraging investment through blanket designation.
Heritage conservation must be precise, flexible, and realistic - or it risks preserving stagnation instead of history.
Max Shiffman, Cambridge
Does Cambridge city hall understand how downtowns grow and thrive? It is a fair question. How else are we to explain why Downtown Cambridge has attracted so little new housing, business activity, or private investment in recent years, even as downtowns in comparable communities have prospered?
And how else are we to understand the city’s proposal to impose a Heritage Conservation District (HCD) across virtually the entire downtown?
For years, Cambridge city council has struggled to articulate a coherent strategy for its core areas, particularly Downtown Cambridge, formerly known as Galt.
Whether this stems from a fragmented council, shifting priorities, or a planning approach disconnected from how downtowns actually function, the outcome has been the same: stagnation.
There is no question that Downtown Cambridge possesses an extraordinary collection of historic buildings and landscapes. These assets are real and valuable, and many deserve strong protection. But protection without a parallel strategy for growth carries real risk.
Downtown Cambridge needs more housing, more investment, and more economic activity to address housing affordability and revive a languishing core.
The record to date should give council pause.
Over the past several years, Downtown Cambridge has seen only a handful of net new residential units approved or built, while nearby downtowns such as Kitchener and Guelph have added hundreds of units through midrise infill, adaptive reuse, and mixed-use redevelopment. This is not a market failure; it is a policy failure.
Investors, new businesses, and developers have largely avoided Downtown Cambridge, not because it lacks potential, but because it is perceived as uncertain and difficult. Lengthy approvals, unclear expectations, and inconsistent signals from city hall have made capital cautious.
Meanwhile, nearby cities have demonstrated what is possible when municipal policy aligns heritage conservation with housing, economic development, and predictable approvals.
The fragile downtown economy that does exist has been sustained largely through the efforts of the BIA leadership and a small number of committed property owners and small-scale developers who believe in Cambridge and understand how downtowns evolve. That goodwill, however, is finite.
City hall has an essential role to play in creating the conditions for success, rather than inadvertently discouraging it.
Downtowns are complex ecosystems. They are difficult to revitalize and easy to damage, particularly when decisions are made without close engagement with those most affected - small businesses, property owners, and investors.
At a moment when economic uncertainty is rising and investment capital is increasingly cautious, the city’s response has been to propose an additional layer of cost, delay, and risk.
A downtown-wide HCD would require more studies, longer approval timelines, additional professional reports, and tighter constraints for even modest renovations or adaptive reuse projects. Each requirement may appear reasonable in isolation, but together they discourage precisely the kind of incremental, private investment that successful downtowns depend on. The cumulative effect risks locking Downtown Cambridge into another decade or more of underperformance.
Cambridge’s heritage should be a foundation for renewal, not a barrier to it. The question is not whether to protect heritage, but how. A blanket HCD is a blunt instrument. A more effective approach would be targeted and strategic: identifying the most significant heritage assets, protecting them rigorously, and allowing greater flexibility elsewhere to encourage housing, adaptive reuse, and sensitive new development.
Successful cities also recognize that not all development is the same. They distinguish between short-term, speculative proposals and long-term investors committed to building complete, resilient downtowns. Developing constructive, transparent relationships with the latter group is not a concession, it is a prerequisite for revitalization.
Downtowns matter to everyone. A strong core supports the tax base, attracts tourism, improves walkability and safety, expands housing choice, and enhances civic pride. Weak downtowns do the opposite, placing greater long-term strain on municipal finances and services.
Rather than proceeding with a large-scale HCD that risks freezing Downtown Cambridge in place, city council should pause and recalibrate.
A stakeholder-led mapping of heritage assets, direct engagement with experienced property owners and investors, clear criteria and timelines for approvals, and a publicly available economic impact assessment would represent a far more responsible path forward.
Cambridge deserves a made-in-Cambridge solution, one that protects what is truly special about its downtown while also enabling the investment and housing growth essential to its future.
Patrick Simmons, Cambridge
Following Council’s decision to defer consideration of the proposed Heritage Conservation District boundary expansion, to undertake additional stakeholder consultation, and to request an economic impact review, we appreciate Council’s willingness to seek additional information before proceeding.
Given that the proposed expansion affects approximately three city blocks, we are not suggesting an extensive or costly study. However, for the review to carry credibility with both Council and affected property owners, it is important that its scope be clear, proportionate, and transparent.
The lands under consideration form part of the broader downtown area, within proximity to a Major Transit Station Area and Urban Growth Centre designation. As Council is aware, these designations reflect long-term objectives related to reinvestment, economic vitality, and the health of the urban core.
Ensuring that heritage conservation tools operate in a way that supports these broader objectives is therefore an important part of the policy discussion.
For that reason, it may be helpful for the economic review to consider not only administrative impacts, but also how designation could influence ongoing investment confidence, property liquidity, and reinvestment activity in this part of the city.
This observation is not intended to question the value of heritage conservation.
Rather, where an area is expected to support both conservation and revitalization objectives, it is important to understand how those goals interact in practice — particularly in a downtown context that continues to work toward sustained economic recovery and renewed activity.
In particular, we believe the review should include:
A factual baseline snapshot of current property conditions within the affected area;
An estimate of potential regulatory and financial impacts associated with HCD review requirements;
A focused assessment of property value trends, resale conditions, and marketability;
Consideration of how designation may influence reinvestment timing, redevelopment feasibility, and long-term economic vitality;
A brief comparison with a small number of similar Ontario HCDs in comparable downtown contexts;
Clear disclosure of methodology and assumptions, and, ideally, independent preparation or peer review.
For many property owners, questions around value stability, liquidity, and the practical ability to reinvest are central considerations. Addressing these factors directly will help ensure that Council’s eventual decision supports not only heritage conservation, but also the continued economic health and resilience of the core.
More broadly, if the review proves useful in clarifying the economic and market considerations associated with heritage designation in this area, the findings may also provide helpful insight for future heritage planning exercises elsewhere in the downtown. Understanding these dynamics early can assist Council, staff, and property owners in aligning conservation objectives with the long-term economic vitality of the core.
Our intention is not to predetermine the outcome, but to support a process that is balanced, evidence-based, and attentive to the long-term vitality of this important part of the city.
Thank you for your consideration.
Why Cambridge Planning Matters
Urban planning isn’t just about buildings or zoning. It shapes how we live, work, shop, and move through our city. Done well, it creates vibrant, resilient communities. Done poorly, it can leave downtowns struggling, storefronts boarded up, investment stalled, and neighbourhoods less safe.
What may surprise many residents is that Cambridge does not have a standing, arms-length citizen Planning Advisory Committee - something that is the norm rather than the exception in comparable municipalities. As a result, major planning decisions can move forward without a consistent, independent forum for informed public input.
The Cambridge Core Planning Advisory Committee (CCPAC) was formed to help fill that gap.
Right now, Cambridge is at a crossroads, and how planning decisions are made - and timed - matters.
Why Planning Is Complicated
Successful cities depend on many elements working together:
• Experienced, well-trained planning staff
• Administrators balancing priorities within tight budgets
• Elected officials who understand where planning ends and politics begins
• An informed public engaged early
• Transparent, trusted decision-making
Running a strong planning department in a mid-sized city is never easy. Pressures change quickly, resources are limited, and even small missteps can ripple across the entire community.
The HCD Example: Why This Matters Now
The proposed Heritage Conservation District (HCD) would cover most of Downtown Cambridge. Protecting heritage is important, but this initiative is moving forward without:
• A clear downtown planning blueprint
• An economic impact assessment
• Meaningful consultation with those most directly affected, including property owners, investors, and downtown businesses
Timing also matters.
Municipal elections are less than a year away, and Cambridge has a new Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Planner who have been in their roles for only a short time.
These key leaders need the opportunity to fully understand the long-term implications of such a far-reaching policy and to provide Council with their professional assessment.
Rushing an initiative of this scale risks locking the city into a framework that a new Council and new senior staff had no role in shaping - yet would be responsible for managing, defending, and correcting.
The potential consequences are real:
• Vacant or boarded-up storefronts
• Reduced private investment and stalled redevelopment
• Business closures and declining foot traffic
• Increased vulnerability to petty crime
• A downtown frozen in time rather than able to adapt and grow
CCPAC: A Citizen Planning Voice
CCPAC was formed to provide constructive, informed public input on planning issues affecting Downtown Cambridge. We aim to:
• Analyze planning proposals, from heritage and zoning to transportation and policy
• Offer evidence-based recommendations
• Act as a transparent bridge between residents and decision-makers
• Help demystify planning so more people can participate meaningfully
While the HCD is our first focus, future topics will include form-based zoning, downtown mobility, redevelopment strategy, and coordination with regional planning.
Our Recommendation
We believe any HCD should proceed only after:
• A comprehensive downtown planning blueprint is in place
• An independent economic impact assessment is completed
• Meaningful consultation occurs with affected stakeholders
• New senior staff have had adequate time to evaluate and advise Council
• A newly elected Council has the opportunity to consider the initiative
Only then can Cambridge balance heritage conservation with a vibrant, economically healthy downtown.
How You Can Participate
Urban planning shapes your city - and your daily life. You can help by:
• Staying informed at www.cambridgecorepac.ca
• Signing up for updates
• Participating in planning meetings and consultations
• Engaging with CCPAC to ensure community voices are heard
Together, we can help ensure Downtown Cambridge remains vibrant, prosperous, and reflective of the people who live, work, and invest here.