I have been a member of the Queen's Park Neighborhood heritage study working group since its 2014 inception. The group's formation and its on-going mandate to engage and educate our neighbours has been entirely community driven. The motivation to deter the further loss of valued heritage properties comes from a pure desire to retain our community's distinguishing characteristics for future generations. Active political measures must be taken to combat the development pressures facing much of the Lower Mainland with devastating cultural and environmental effects. At stake now are homes that embody Queen’s Park and the broader city’s history and legacy. This rich fabric is at risk of becoming landfill only to be replaced by often unthoughtful houses that are unlikely to last even a quarter as long as the homes which they replaced.
As property owners who support the heritage conservation area, we also do not want measures being taken that might negatively impact our property values. We have consulted countless North American studies which demonstrate that conservation areas do not impact property values negatively; in fact they help keep values buoyant through periods of market correction and dips.
As property owners who support the heritage conservation area, we also do not want measures that unduly restrict our development rights. The proposed measures only involve the front and sides of the home's exterior. The measures are in place to ensure construction is complimentary to the existing neighbourhood fabric to everyone's mutual benefit.
The structure of a conservation area necessitates that it cast a wide net. However, if a homeowner believes their property is not worthy of such protection, they may apply to be exempted. Does this imply more red tape? Yes. The message we need to send the real estate and development community is that it is not business-as-usual in Queen’s Park. The tear-it-down and slap-it-up cycle is not acceptable here. Future development must respect the existing architectural legacy, and new houses must demonstrate conformance with mandatory design guidelines.
We've heard newcomers to Queen’s Park expressing their desire to move here because they love the old homes and large beautiful trees, but then they proceed to demolish their older home and cut down their trees. This one-sided appreciation for the neighbourhood’s distinguishing characteristics is unsustainable. As property owners within this small corner of the city, we must all be in it together if this historical and aesthetic gem is to survive into the next generations. Our group's hope is that the work down here can be exported to other parts of New Westminster where many other heritage assets exist.
In Richmond, agricultural land is one of their prime assets. Just the other week, Richmond city council placed a moratorium preventing massive houses from being built on agriculturally zoned land in order to protect this asset. In New Westminster, heritage is our asset, and it needs to be proactively protected.
Robert Toth is a Queen’s Park resident
