Oak Bay ponders incentives to help save older homes

In an effort to save older homes, Oak Bay council is considering tax breaks for renovations, higher demolition fees and density incentives.

They’re among the ideas in a 10-page report going to council from Oak Bay’s Housing Retention Working Group, set up in April by Mayor Nils Jensen.

Coun. Eric Zhelka, a working group member, said, “There is great interest in the community around this issue.”

Oak Bay already recognizes the importance of preserving heritage, Jensen said Friday.

“We now have to widen that perspective to include more non-heritage homes and look at policies that can support that.”

A number of communities are examining ways to preserve housing stock in the wake of a booming real estate market that is prompting owners to rebuild and subdivide.

In some cases, houses are demolished and in others they are trucked or barged to a new location.

Because of the municipality’s proximity to water, a number of Oak Bay houses have been hauled by barge to the San Juan Islands in Washington state.

Muhammad Ali's wife, Lonnie Ali, speaks during his three-hour memorial service on Friday in Louisville, Kentucky, capping a full day of mourning for the three-time heavyweight champion of the world who died last week at 74. An estimated 100,000 people holding signs and chanting, “Ali! Ali!” lined the streets as a hearse carrying his cherry-red casket made its way past his childhood home to Louisville’s Cave Hill Cemetery, where a private burial service was held. The memorial was packed with luminaries, including former U.S. president Bill Clinton, comedian Billy Crystal, Sen. Orrin Hatch, movie director Spike Lee, NFL great Jim Brown, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, soccer star David Beckham, actor Whoopi Goldberg and basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.