Strawberry social property given heritage designation by metropolis

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An Ottawa man who needs to redevelop a property in Highland Park has been advised he can’t demolish the century-old residence as a result of it helps to “outline the character of the realm” and its sense of place.

The Ontario Land Tribunal mentioned there was no proof the two-and-a-half-storey brick residence at 501 Cole Ave. held distinctive architectural worth.

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However the residence, in one among Ottawa’s oldest suburbs, was used as a church manse, the place it served as hub of group occasions, together with strawberry socials. The tribunal mentioned the property had “contextual worth” that should be protected.

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“It’s an early twentieth century residence set on this early suburb, along with many different such residential properties,” the tribunal mentioned in a current choice. “Thus, it clearly maintains and helps the character of the realm.

“Moreover … it could effectively have helped set up or outline the character of the realm. It’s clearly part of the sense of this place.”

Ottawa’s Tony Cassone purchased the property in Could 2022 with the intention of demolishing the house and constructing two fashionable properties as a substitute.

The property was then on town’s heritage register, and the Westboro Group Affiliation had requested that or not it’s given full designation.

The Metropolis of Ottawa’s heritage employees subsequently ready a report on the property and really helpful towards its heritage designation. Within the June 2022 report, employees mentioned the Cole Avenue property “demonstrates restricted historic or architectural worth.”

Workers famous that the adjoining property at 420 Kenwood Ave., Cobble Cottage, had already been designated beneath the Ontario Heritage Act.

However the metropolis’s constructed heritage subcommittee overruled employees’s suggestion and voted to designate the Cole Avenue property — a transfer that was later endorsed by council.

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Cassone appealed that call to the Ontario Land Tribunal, the place his lawyer, Jacob Polowin, argued that the property was being designated beneath the heritage act solely to forestall redevelopment and intensification.

Leslie Collins, a heritage planner with the Metropolis of Ottawa, testified that in her view the property didn’t have sufficient significance to qualify for designation.

The tribunal heard the property was as soon as half of a giant property subdivided and offered by John Cole, the proprietor of the Highland Park Dairy Farm. The unique proprietor of the Cole Avenue residence was William Pert, a financial institution center supervisor who didn’t end highschool and failed the civil service entrance examination.

The house was acquired in 1943 by the Highland Baptist Church and for the following 20 years it was the positioning of an annual strawberry social.

In defending the heritage designation, town known as Mark Thompson Brandt, a conservation architect, who testified that demolition of the house would have a “detrimental affect” on Cobble Cottage. Brandt additionally mentioned “at size the truth that the constructing was the host of an annual strawberry social that are apparently nonetheless talked about.”

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In its current choice, the Ontario Land Tribunal conceded that the proof offered in help of a designation of the Cole Avenue property “was lower than fulsome.”

The tribunal rejected the property’s designation primarily based on the house’s worth for instance of Edwardian Classicism and rejected its designation primarily based on its affiliation with necessary occasions or folks.

The tribunal mentioned there was not sufficient proof to ascertain the “well-known” strawberry socials have been important occasions in Highland Park.

However the tribunal discovered that Highland Park had a definable character with mature bushes, beneficiant setbacks and lots of different older properties. The Cole Avenue property, the tribunal concluded, maintained and supported the realm’s distinct character and must be designated as a heritage property beneath that criterion.

The choice means Cassone won’t be able to tear down the house.

He couldn’t be reached for remark.

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