Heritage-zone home under threat

A modest 82-year-old home in an historic Kelowna neighbourhood could be demolished and replaced with two houses.

Owners of an 844-square-foot house at 360 Burne Ave. in the Abbott Street Heritage Conservation Area have filed a rezoning application with the City of Kelowna.

Plans indicate the two-bedroom, one-bathroom house, built in 1938, would be demolished. In its place would be a 2,300 square-foot main residence and a 560-square-foot carriage house.

The rezoning application, to be considered at an as-yet unscheduled public hearing, seems to set the stage for another community debate about the evolving nature of the Abbott Street Conservation Area, which encompasses hundreds of homes between Pandosy Street and Okanagan Lake.

Critics say the city has been too willing to let property owners demolish old homes in favour of larger structures without any historic qualities. But property owners have sometimes argued the old homes are in poor condition, with upkeep expensive and renovation unfeasible.

The conservation area is intended to provide some long-term protection to a distinctive neighbourhood with a significant amount of heritage resources, according to the city’s website.

Unlike in other areas of the city, a home in the conservation area cannot be demolished until the owner obtains a heritage alteration permit from the city.

But the intent is to “manage natural change, not prevent it”, the website states. As a result, homes can be demolished with city approval, while planners work with owners to ensure redevelopment is “compatible with the form and character of the existing neighbourhood,” the website says.

For example, consideration is given to design details such as roof lines, window forms, and exterior finishes in proposed new homes.

Heritage advocates say the city’s policies are eroding the architectural appeal of the Abbott Street area, with too many modest but still historically significant homes being knocked down.

“The rezoning to smaller lots and subsequent

subdivision of these properties will spell the death knell for the Abbott Street Heritage Conservation Area, as our heritage homes will disappear,” the Friends of the Abbott Street Heritage Conservation Area and the Kelowna South Central Association of Neighborhoods wrote in a joint letter to the city in August, when the groups unsuccessfully opposed a demolition permit for a home on another street in the conservation area.

Information on the B.C. Assessment website indicates the property at 360 Burne Ave. was most recently sold in December 2019, for $665,000.

Contributed One of Kelowna’s oldest neighbourhoods is at risk of having many homes that only appear historic, heritage advocates say. On the left is the proposed look of a new home in the Abbott Street area. The home that’s there now is seen on the right in from Google Street View.