Neighbours fear the 15 buildings are too dense and would set a bad precedent in the historic area
John Mackie
Sun
A model shows the proposed townhouse development in the 1400-block McRae in Shaughnessy, which will feature 15 townhouses.
Some Shaughnessy residents are seeing red over a proposed townhouse development near 16th and Granville.
Protest signs have popped up around the wealthy enclave reading “McRae Development Sets Bad Precedent.” It’s the latest wrinkle in a four-year fight between some residents and developer Brian Bell, who wants to build 15 townhouses in an empty lot on the edge of Shaughnessy.
Bell struck a deal with the City of Vancouver to save the historic Nichol mansion and its lush gardens at 1402 McRae. In return, the city rezoned some land below the mansion to allow for townhouses.
The Nichol house sits on two lots, and was sold along with the empty lot. The rezoning split the middle lot, so that the Nichol house remains in situ on the top lot-and-a-half, the townhouses will be built on the lower lot-and-a-half.
Bell beat back a legal challenge to his development and expects to get the final approval to proceed from Vancouver council in July. But Shaughnessy resident Angela Woo is not going to let it happen without a fight.
Woo argues the townhouse development is far too dense for the neighbourhood, which is traditionally reserved for single-family homes, albeit big ones.
“This is the iconic gate to First Shaughnessy,” said Woo.
“It’s a treed lot, with over 100 trees, and they are going to [knock down] 96 mature trees. They are saying they are going to preserve the house and the garden, but they are going to build right beside the house in the back garden, which is detrimental to the heritage character of the site.”
Woo argues that the 49 parking spaces in the development will mean a big increase in traffic, that the entrance on McRae could be a problem in wintertime because it’s such a steep street, and that the rezoning sets a bad precedent for the neighbourhood.
She said she isn’t against densification per se, but this development is too big.”We are not against densification, we are for densification in a responsible way,” she said. “The [current Shaughnessy zoning] bylaw allows for densification, but by infills, and also by conversion.”
Don Luxton of Heritage Vancouver has a far different take.
Luxton likes Bell‘s plan because it retains the 1912 Nichol mansion on its site, with its gardens. The home sits at the corner of McRae and the Crescent, the heart of the historic neighbourhood. It was built by former Province owner and B.C. Lt.-Gov. Walter Nichol, and was owned by Canfor founder Poldi Bentley and his family from 1941 to 2005.
“It’s one of the most important buildings in the city from the point of view of its architecture, its history, its associations with people,” said Luxton.
“It’s a work by [the legendary architect] Samuel Maclure, it’s one of the primo buildings in Shaughnessy and the city. What is really interesting about the building is that it does have its intact garden setting at the front…which is a really important part of the building, because it’s the whole arts and crafts esthetic.”
Luxton argues that the rezoning of the empty lot below the mansion is an “exceptionally unusual circumstance” that doesn’t bear any relation to Shaughnessy’s heritage character.
“They keep saying it’s a precedent, and it’s not, it’s a one-off HRA [Heritage Revitalization Agreement],” he said. “It’s the very edge [of Shaughnessy], it doesn’t impact anything. I have never understood the opposition to this project.”
Luxton also doesn’t think the current Shaughnessy zoning protects the neighbourhood’s heritage because it has a loophole that allows developers to tear down old homes and replace them with “faux heritage” homes that are much bigger.
Heritage Vancouver named the neighbourhood First Shaughnessy one of the 10 most endangered heritage sites in Vancouver in 2009; it said 50 of the 369 “character” homes in the neighbourhood have been torn down since 1982.
“Shaughnessy is under siege right now, it’s not being well-protected at all,” said Luxton.
“Often the neighbours don’t seem to see the value of some of these really exceptional buildings. They’re more interested in preserving property value than in preserving heritage.”
Vancouver Coun. Suzanne Anton admits the previous Non-Partisan Association council took a lot of heat from Shaughnessy residents when it agreed to rezone the site for townhouses. But she said it was the best of the options that were presented.
“There were three choices,” she said. “Tear the house down and build three single-family [homes], completely unacceptable. Another was move the house and build three more single-family, which I think was going to be the reward for moving the house, you’d get three [houses] instead of two. To me that was not acceptable either.
“The third [option] was to leave the house in place and allow the townhouse development.”
She also said the location at 16th and Granville was also key.
“It’s a pretty obvious location for a slightly higher density,” she said.
“The builder always could have a house on that bottom property there. The people who say you’ve got to leave it as a park, or spare land, none of them showed up with the several million dollars it would have required to purchase the lot. If you want it as a park, you need to go out and start doing some fundraising.”
Bell wouldn’t speculate on how much the 15 townhouses will sell for, but they will range in size from 1,500 to 3,500 square feet. He paid $7 million for the three lots on the property in 2005. He has just listed the 10,000 square foot Nichol mansion for $6.2 million.
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