Basis for city heritage registry ‘totally lost’
Penticton’s heritage registry has itself become a relic of the past, says a city councillor who wants the program polished up and reintroduced to the community.
Judy Sentes’ comments at Tuesday’s meeting came two weeks after the group voted to remove the home at 452 Lakeshore Dr. from the registry at the owners’ request due to a mix-up in notifying them about the property’s status at the time of purchase.
“I think what that proved was in spite of the fact that a previous council supported the establishing of a Penticton registry of historical interest, the basis for it has been totally lost,” said Sentes.
“Staff doesn’t seem to be clear on it. The community definitely isn’t clear. Our real estate people aren’t aware.”
Sentes received support from council mates to refer the matter to the Heritage and Museum Advisory Committee, which she said will “take this on and find ways of clarity and promotion of what should be a very wonderful thing in the community.”
Mayor John Vassilaki suggested the registry contains an inherent flaw.
“The problem with what you’re saying, Coun. Sentes, is our heritage registry actually has no teeth whatsoever. It’s not worth, if I may add, the paper it’s written on,” said Vassilaki.
“As a city council, we have no authority to stop anyone on that heritage registry to do what we don’t want them to do, unless we (create a) bylaw concerning the registry itself, or unless we pay those folks not to touch them.”
Coun. Julius Bloomfield, who works as a realtor, said there is some legitimate concern about the registry.
“The issue that the realtors have is really the issue that the buyers have: When they see a property on the registry, they want to know how that affects the property,” said Bloomfield.
“Maybe there could be a rule change in the future that could affect their property.”
He cited as an example the Agricultural Land Reserve, which was created by the B.C. government in 1973 and unilaterally imposed heavy regulations on agricultural properties meant to preserve farmland.
Penticton’s heritage registry was created by council resolutions in 2008 and 2009 and has 54 properties on it.
It does nothing more than list properties of historical value and imposes no restrictions on what owners can do with them. Sentes noted, though, that being on the registry may help owners obtain grants for renovations.