First Shaughnessy heritage designation to be decided at Vancouver city council today

Vancouver city councilors will decide on Tuesday morning whether to designate its First Shaughnessy neighbourhood as a heritage conservation area.

If passed, the new zoning bylaw would give the city power to say no to the demolition of homes built before 1940.

The neighbourhood was established by Canadian Pacific Railway in 1907 as an alternative to the city's elite downtown West End. Of the 595 houses in the area, 317 were built before 1940.

At three public hearings this summer, dozens of people voiced their concerns over the new plans for one of Vancouver's wealthiest neighbourhoods.

• Vancouver's First Shaughnessy heritage conservation plan sparks debate
• First Shaughnessy residents to weigh in on heritage designation for district
• One of Vancouver's wealthiest neighbourhoods could be protected from density, development

Under the new bylaw, some believe heritage properties could not be demolished at all. Vancouver's deputy director of planning, Jane Pickering, said that's not true.

"If they can prove the case it doesn't have heritage value for whatever reason, and there is a process for that, the property would go through the process, end up before council again and they'd make that decision," she said. 

Many homeowners in the neighbourhood say property values would drop — some speculating by as much as 30 per cent.

Pickering said city staff have responded to those concerns.

"There's a perception their property is worth more if somebody could build a new building," she said.

"We have tried to balance that with the addition of more density in some cases — additional uses on the property, a secondary suite, a coach house, an infill."

Pickering said if First Shaughnessy is designated a heritage conservation area, there's a possibility the bylaw could be extended to other neighbourhoods in the future.