First Shaughnessy residents to weigh in on heritage designation for district
Proposed bylaw would protect homes from demolition that were built pre-1940
Residents of First Shaughnessy are getting another chance to weigh in on the future of their neighbourhood. The City of Vancouver is holding its second public hearing about its proposal to turn the neighbourhood into the city's first heritage conservation district at city hall Tuesday morning.
One of Vancouver's wealthiest neighbourhoods, First Shaughnessy would become the first district recognized as a heritage conservation district if the proposal passed.
"For well over 30 years the neighbourhood has been managed as a historic area. This is just a refined and better framework for protecting the heritage character," says Don Luxton, the lead consultant on the city of Vancouver's Heritage Action Plan.
Luxton says so far he's noticed varied reaction amongst residents.
"There are certainly some homeowners who don't like the idea of more control and intervention in the area to protect heritage character. Surprisingly many residents support this."
First Shaughnessy a 'special case'
The proposal for a new zoning bylaw would also give the city power to say no to any tear downs or demolitions of homes built before 1940.
Heritage homes are not isolated to the Shaughnessy area as there are also houses that fit the description in other districts such as Dunbar, Kitsilano and Grandview-Woodlands.
Brian Jackson, the city's general manager of planning development, says the city put forward the proposal because it was getting an overwhelming amount of requests to tear down heritage homes in the area.
"First Shaughnessy is the one of the preeminent and important houses built for major figures in Vancouver's history. Built by architects, who were major architects in Vancouver's history and they contain a treasure trove of Vancouver's history."
Luxton recognizes that heritage homeowners living in other districts may want a similar title given to their properties, but he says there's no rush on extending it to other neighbourhoods just yet.
"We have other heritage areas that might or might not be managed this way… it's not something on our radar to look at every neighbourhood to see if it's an heritage conservation area. Shaughnessy is an extremely special case that already has heritage controls in place."
To hear more, click the audio labelled: Heritage title for one of Vancouver's wealthiest neighbourhood up for discussion.