Residents of Kanata's Beaverbrook seek heritage district designation

Efforts are underway to officially designate the Beaverbrook neighbourhood in Kanata North as a "heritage conservation district," a process which has been in discussion since 2014.

Kanata North Coun. Cathy Curry said that when she moved to Kanata from Toronto in 1988, she was struck by Beaverbrook's design and natural beauty.

"This is nothing I've ever seen before," she told CBC's Ottawa Morning. "This is very unique."

Beaverbrook was designed and built in the 1960s by Bill Teron, who is known as the "father of Kanata."

Neil Thompson, a long-time resident and president of the local community association, described Teron's vision as "a 15-minute walkable, multi-density satellite city," created through careful planning and vision.

The city first reached out to the community association about a heritage designation in 2014, according to Thompson. The topic has since come up several times, including last year when it was floated as a way to preserve the iconic local hedges.

Now, the community association is working with city staff and Curry's office to determine which heritage criteria the neighbourhood fills to become a "heritage conservation district" under the Ontario Heritage Act.

The process will also determine what parts of the neighbourhood will be included under the designation, while addressing the questions and concerns of local homeowners.

Preserving the 'character of the neighbourhood'

Curry said she's in favour of a heritage designation as "recognition of the design of this community," noting that other parts of the city, such as Rockcliffe Park, already have such a designation.

"It's the entire district that is unique and rare," Curry said.

But Curry and Thompson noted some community members have concerns about how the designation could affect their homes.

"Certainly if you mention the word 'heritage' to a lot of people, they immediately assume that their house will be locked down and they won't be able to do anything with it [and] their property value will drop," Thompson said.

But a heritage designation for a building is different than one for a district, he explained. It would be fine for a local homeowner to build an addition to their house, for example, so long as it's "in the spirit of the original intent" and fits a "modern interpretation."

Curry said checking with the city before renovating isn't a difficult process and ensures homes "keep with the character of the neighbourhood."

She added that those in the area who renovate their homes keep the local character in mind anyway, and that she thinks a designation would actually raise property values, not the other way around.

"It is one extra step for sure, but pretty much everything has to go through a process at the city to make sure it's approved and safe and everything else," Curry said. "So it would just be another lens."

A heritage district designation would also allow the city to preserve some beloved features, she said, like old globe street lights which otherwise might need to be modernized.

Curry noted homeowners would like clarity on more than just lighting — such as whether they can get rid of hedges or add vegetable gardens.

With this designation, Curry said, "I think the city would finally say, 'Okay, this is a unique neighbourhood, we'll stop trying to make it standardized to everything else' and we will actually get some clarity for ... the property owners so they can know what to expect."

Ottawa Morning10:47Kanata Beaverbrook community seeks heritage status

Efforts are underway to make Beaverbrook, Kanata’s oldest neighborhood, a ‘heritage conservation district.' We’ll hear from long-time resident and president of the local community association, Neil Thompson, and Councillor Cathy Curry about why they think it’s about time.