The City of Kingston is to expand the support it offers owners of heritage properties.

City council voted Tuesday night to double the heritage property grant program from $100,000 to $200,000 and develop a zero-interest loan program for conservation and restoration projects on heritage designated properties.

In the past year, owners of municipally designated heritage properties complained that the designations were followed by hefty increases in property insurance.

For months, the insurance companies, heritage organizations and municipal governments did not link heritage designations to higher insurance costs.

Starting in 2023, Ontario municipalities began increasing the number of addresses they designated because provincial rules changed so that properties listed for designation would

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