[URBAN NOTE] Frances Bula in the Globe and Mail on Vancouver homeowners and heritage properties

[rfmcdonald]

Frances Bula' takes a look at Vancouver at how heritage designations are being resisted by many homeowners.

Bruce Pearson is furious that the city is trying to tell him what he can do with his house, a modest 1921 bungalow near Hastings Park on Vancouver’s east side.

Mr. Pearson, a retired machinist who has lived in his house for 48 years, is angrily arguing with the soft-voiced city planner sitting across the table from him. They are at one of Vancouver’s recent open houses to consult the public on policies to encourage the preservation of the city’s character houses.

Planner Tanis Yarnell is trying to explain to Mr. Pearson the bonuses the city wants to offer homeowners like him who own character houses in four large swathes of Vancouver: much of the west side, Point Grey, part of the central city and a pocket in the northeast where Mr. Pearson lives.

But the proposed enticements – the opportunity to build additions to their existing houses, to create multiple suites in a house, the chance of building a laneway house that’s much bigger than rules currently allow – aren’t going over so well with Mr. Pearson.

“That’s what it’s about is to force increased density,” grumbles Mr. Pearson, who believes his property value will go down when he sells if a new owner can’t build something larger.

“It’s a conspiracy against homeowners.”