The Royal City hasn’t exactly rolled out the welcome mat for a family wanting to make a home for themselves in New West.
Ravinder Johal and his family recently moved across the country from Oakville, Ont. to be closer to family, buying a house in the Queen’s Park neighbourhood in May 2016 and taking possession in August. They’ve determined the house “is not in livable condition” and doesn’t meet their family’s needs from a safety or financial perspective.
“The house in a number of ways is unsafe,” Johal told council Oct. 3. “There is asbestos and mould throughout. We will not put bedrooms in the basement with small windows, which to us is a major safety concern if there is ever a fire. The house as constructed is not safe for a family with young children.”
Because they don’t feel the home is safe, the couple wants to demolish their 1937 two-bedroom house at 222 Fifth Ave. and build a new home.
“We are really looking to build a quaint family residence that complements the character of the community. We are not looking to build a home that looks out of place,” Johal said. “The process that has come into place has been quite discouraging, frustrating and upsetting. We are questioning whether this is a very fair process.”
In June, city council approved a one-year heritage control period that requires owners of all single-family homes built before Dec. 31, 1966 to apply for a heritage alteration permit (HAP) for demolitions or renovations. Last month, council approved a number of recommendations related to the Queen’s Park heritage control period, including approving new criteria for evaluating demolitions, new building and renovation heritage alteration permits, requiring a heritage assessment for these projects and convening a review panel to consider the demolition applications and new building heritage alteration permit applications.
That process, said Johal, has a financial, emotional and logistical impact on a family that’s hoping to make a home in New West. He noted the family is now carrying a mortgage on a house where it cannot live and renting another property.
Johal, who said he bought the house when prices were at an “all-time high,” said newer homes have been built in the neighbourhood in recent years, but his family is facing significant obstacles in doing the same thing.
“We respect the homes in the area and the heritage character of many. We also believe that we have rights as property owners, particularly as this process was not known to us or in place prior to the time of purchase,” he said. “The Realtor was not aware of the HAP process and we bought well before the HAP process came into play. The hope was that we would be able to commence the building process toward the end of the calendar year, potentially moving in time for fall 2017.”
With a daughter going into kindergarten in the fall and a son going into daycare, the couple is anxious to move into the neighbourhood where their kids will attend school.
“It is not just developers and greedy people who are purchasing in the area,” he said.
Council approved a heritage control period in June to give the city one year to consult with residents about the creation of a heritage conservation area for the Queen’s Park neighbourhood. Some council members believed that meant a one-year moratorium was in place regarding demolitions of heritage houses in the neighbourhood, but staff said council legally needs to consider each application.
“We will comply and follow the new process, but based on what I’ve heard at council meetings I’m not sure how much faith I have in the process to give fair consideration to each heritage alteration permit on its own merits and circumstances,” Johal told council. “It seems to us as though the rules keep changing. There seems to be roadblock after roadblock. We do not see this as a demolition, but building a home; not a house being developed or flipped, not building any suites, but a home that will be ours for many years to come.”
Council referred Johal’s concerns to staff.
