Waterloo home stuck between two derelict houses
City to order repairs of houses, one with tree growing through roof
WATERLOO — David Towler loves his home in the Mary Allen neighbourhood of Waterloo, with its stained-glass windows, historic character, wood trim and floors.
But he alternately feels frustrated, angry and worried, because the home he loves is wedged between two properties owned by absentee landlord Terry Good.
One home has been abandoned for months, some of its windows boarded over. The other still has one tenant on the ground floor, but it’s so dilapidated a small tree is growing through the roof over an entranceway. Foundations and masonry are cracked and crumbling, weed trees are growing out of window wells, trim is rotting and squirrels are living in the attic.
In the almost 12 years he has lived there, most of the tenants who have been Towler’s neighbours have been fine, but he has had to contend with thefts, rowdy parties, backyard bonfires, police calls, howling dogs, screaming and yelling, and more.
His biggest worry, though, is that the homes are deteriorating and he fears they will be demolished. He believes the old brick homes are salvageable — they still retain some of their original charm, with gingerbread trim on the gables, fancy brick detailing, arched windows and porches.
He says he’s complained to bylaw and police many times over the years, but the worsening state of the homes prompted him to contact the city again early in the new year.
“We do appreciate the frustration associated with having vacant buildings in the neighbourhood,” said Shayne Turn
er, Waterloo’s director of bylaw enforcement. Towler’s complaint has prompted the city to start preparing a property standards order, requiring the owner to carry out repairs.
“We’re going to be issuing orders for both properties ... within the next few days,” Turner said.
“We’re going to have to give (the property owner) a reasonable amount of time to do the work. The process is still going to play out over a few weeks or a couple of months.”
Good, through an intermediary, declined to comment for this story.
The situation Towler faces is unusual, Turner said. “Most properties are occupied, and one way or another the work gets done. Or if it’s a vacant building, there’s a plan for redeveloping it.”
Towler worries the homes will be razed for development and replaced with modern suburban houses.
Those fears have some basis. Under Ontario law, an owner always has the option of demolishing a building rather than carrying out repairs, Turner said. There are strict limits on demolishing a designated heritage building, but not on most other properties.
The neighbourhood is one of the oldest in the city, with most houses built in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
Waterloo last year designated it as a cultural heritage landscape. That move provides no formal protections, which will come in the next five or so years, said heritage planner Michelle Lee.
“There are not many tools we have at the moment” to control what a new build in the MaryAllen neighbourhood should look like, as long as it meets the zoning, she said.
Towler says he and his neighbours have spent time and money restoring their homes and putting in attractive gardens. He doesn’t want the homes beside him torn down.
“I hate to see these beautiful homes left to go. It just doesn’t seem right,” Towler said. “I think that’s a crime in a country that has so little heritage.”