Oak Bay residents ask for neighbourhood heritage status
In what is being touted as a community first, Oak Bay residents have asked council to designate their neighbourhood a heritage conservation area.
Intended to provide long-term protection to a specified area, it would give the municipality authority to regulate things such as design of new construction along with alterations to existing buildings and landscape features.
The idea would “absolutely not” be to forever freeze the neighbourhood in time, Mayor Nils Jensen said.
“But it does put in design guidelines and a process for anyone who wants to either develop or redevelop properties,” Jensen said.
The application came from residents of Oak Bay Avenue, Beach Drive, Prospect Place, York Place, and San Carlos Place who want the municipality to hire a heritage consultant to assist in the process. Staff estimate the cost of developing a heritage conservation area between $50,000 and $75,000.
In pitching the concept, Oak Bay resident Michael Prince told councillors the neighbourhood is home to 11 of the 28 heritagedesignated houses in the municipality.
“We’re just a group of neighbours on about four streets who decided we wanted to protect about 50 houses,” Prince said in an interview.
“Despite being seen as the tweed curtain with all these lovely old homes, there’s a very modest number of homes that are actually registered and designated as heritage in Oak Bay.”
Between 1899 and 1931, about 20 architecturally significant houses were added to the five streets — a grouping of architectdesigned houses unparalleled in the municipality, Prince said.
Francis Rattenbury built his residence in 1899 on Beach Drive. The neighbourhood also boasts homes by Samuel Maclure, Ralph Berill, Percy Leonard James, John Tiarks and Karl B. Spurgin.
“It’s not just about protecting our little paradise for a privileged small group. It’s to preserve some wonderful history and the rural nature of the streets … it’s kind of iconic Oak Bay.”
Mike Miller, president of Abstract Developments, has acquired property on York Place and plans to build a home for his family there.
He has met with the group and said he generally supports the initiative but added that all the parameters are not yet known.
“While I’m definitely interested and open-minded and I think it’s a great initiative, I’m eagerly looking forward to seeing it progress and some of the details fleshed out,” Miller said.
Jensen said if the proposal is to move ahead there will have to be “a rigorous and robust public engagement process.”
“Because we’re all in agreement that this would affect people’s property rights, we have to listen to all sides of the argument,” Jensen said.
Oak Bay staff say establishing a heritage conservation area would require an amendment to the Official Community Plan in a process similar to establishing a development permit area. Councillors referred the application to a session in January, where its overall priorities will be set.
Jensen called Prince’s presentation “absolutely persuasive” in outlining “the natural and the built heritage and the beauty of the shoreline and the need to protect that.”
“This is not something that Oak Bay has ever done before. But if we move forward and see the success of this approach it may well be something we’ll see spread to other communities that have similar need to protect the heritage value,” he said.