Heritage home views aren’t historic: ruling
Panel unanimously OKs severance, saying it met all policies for preservation, development
KITCHENER — Two differing views of heritage preservation clashed at Kitchener City Hall on Tuesday.
On one side, hundreds of residents signed a petition opposing a proposal to sever four lots from a heritage property at 883 Doon Village Rd., at the corner of Bechtel Drive. They argued that putting up four suburban homes along Bechtel will harm the view of the 1863 heritage home and degrade the rural feel of the property and the Doon village area.
On the other side, owners of heritage properties argued that they should be allowed to carry out alterations to their property, so long as they don’t harm the heritage that makes the property special.
More than 50 people came to the city’s committee of adjustment meeting on Tuesday, forcing it to be moved from its usual small committee room to the main council chamber.
They came over concern about plans for the 1.3-acre property where the 1863 brick house is located. The house was built by Benjamin Burkholder, an early teacher, and is considered “a fine example of the Waterloo County Georgian style,” the city said in designating it as a heritage property in 1984.
The proposal would sever four lots along Bechtel Drive, each about 60 feet (18 metres) wide, and would move a stone outbuilding, known as the hog and hen house, closer to the heritage home to make way for the severed lots.
Opponents argue that severing the lots alters the historical look and feel of the property.
“The land gives meaning and a sense of place that tell a story of the early agricultural life” of the area, said Irene Hoffman, who lives near the site. “But if you move the barn closer to the house ... if you decrease the size of the land, you alter the story.”
The committee heard a different perspective from Beth Hanson, who owns a heritage house on Joseph Schoerg Crescent, near the Pioneer Tower.
She argued that owners of heritage sites spend a lot of money and time preserving and maintaining their historic property, but “do so because they want to own a piece of history,” Hanson said.
Owners of heritage properties accept that other people care about the property and its future, she said. But members of the public can have unrealistic expectations, she said.
“We pay the bills. The public does not,” she said. Proceeds from the severance will help pay for the ongoing preservation of the historic Burkholder house, she said.
Tim Keller said he asked the city in 2006 about getting a similar severance, on the same property, which his parents once owned. But heritage planners told him they wouldn’t support his request, saying the stone outbuilding, the curved, treelined drive and the views of the property would be harmed by such a severance.
City planners say Keller never put in a formal severance application, so there was no precedent.
Heritage planner Michelle Drake said the views from Bechtel Drive aren’t historic, since Bechtel Drive wasn’t built until the 1980s. The three-person committee unanimously approved the severance application, saying it met city, regional and provincial policies for heritage preservation and development.