The list will be created by the volunteers on the city's heritage advisory committee, who will start with an existing heritage resource inventory created in 1996, and see if any of those properties have since received heritage designation.

City planning director Paul Chapman said the registry will be of buildings that have not yet been designated.

Under powers recently granted by the province, council has the ability to prevent heritage properties from being demolished for redevelopment. However, in 2006, the same provincial body, the Ministry of Culture, also granted municipalities the right to create a list of non-designated properties. The city will not have the right to prevent demolition, but will be able to delay it for 60 days.

Chapman said this "cooling off period" will give the committee and council time to decide whether the property should indeed receive heritage protection. The city will then be able to work with the owner and/or developer to find out if they can come up with a way to renovate the property without demolishing it.

The city has the ability to designate a property without the owner's consent.

However, Chapman said it has not been council's practice in the past to do so.

The committee also plans to consult property owners before adding any building to the registry.

Port Dalhousie Ward Coun. Len Stack did not support the creation of the registry and asked several questions about the impact on property owners.

"I really question whether or not we should continue setting up situations where property owners are asked to forfeit their right to develop their properties," he said.

He said he was concerned the list would "open the floodgates" to further restrictions on property owners.

All other councillors who spoke disagreed, saying the list is a necessary step to protect the city's history.

Coun. Greg Washuta said it was "long overdue" and noted re-using properties helps the environment by not sending materials to the landfill.

Coun. Bruce Williamson said the city has already lost much of its historical buildings, including the Carnegie Library and the former YMCA on Queen Street.

"My heart sinks a little bit," he said of driving by the site of the latter. "The thought that we lost that building for no good reason is sad."

Coun. Mark Elliott noted the registry will not hinder the city's efforts to revitalize its downtown, saying if a proposal comes along to tear down a heritage building taking up a great deal of space, the city will weigh the pros and cons of demolition.

He said the registry will confirm what many visitors to the downtown notice but residents often overlook: the area is blessed with significant architecture.

"It's important we get them on the registry and understand what we have," he said.

Coun. Heather Foss brought forward a motion asking for policies encouraging adaptive re-use be included in the official plan review and that all demolition permits be forwarded to the planning department for comment in the interim.

She noted that currently, important buildings such as Rodman Hall, do not have heritage designation and can be demolished quickly without council's knowledge.