Editor,
Thanks to Theresa McManus for her in depth article "Heritage New West urging council to reconsider freeze on applications". I believe this is a good decision by council, and long overdue.
Staff are extremely busy trying to manage a range of competing needs in our city. The freeze on new applications initiated in 2021 simply created a new backlog of applications that staff will have to process, and just adds to their workload.
Applicants caught in the freeze were in the process of putting their proposals together, and had incurred costs. We're not talking about big land developers, just homeowners who want to do what they consider to be the right thing – preserving heritage. They should be allowed to proceed with their applications. It is worth noting the city gets maybe three applications per year, according to planning staff.
As a resident who has gone through this process, I can say it is lengthy but thorough in terms of building the reasons to justify council's decision to approve (or not) heritage designation of buildings. The freeze has stopped the designation of heritage buildings (mostly homes). Unfreezing applications will allow residents the opportunity to choose to apply for heritage designation.
A group calling itself Heritage New West claims this makes Queens Park "a prime target for unsympathetic development." In fact Queens Park was designated a Heritage Conservation Area in 2017 which makes this impossible. HNW may not agree with every decision of city council, but the reality is that all council decisions regarding heritage designation requests are made to support heritage while managing a whole range of competing interests.
City council has a most difficult job to juggle the interests of all residents, and I think it is disrespectful of this group to suggest council members are either "unfamiliar with the issues" or not providing a "transparent and equitable decision-making process." They are well informed, and we elected them to make difficult decisions. Agree with them or not, they are working to make this a better city.
In summary, the freeze unfairly left applicants out of the process and created an unnecessary burden on staff. If every policy review required a freeze on existing processes and programs, not a lot would get done here or anywhere.
So let’s get on with it. Personally, I am excited to see more homes receive heritage designation.
Gary Holisko, New Westminster
