More than three years after a fire reduced the historic Grouse Mountain chalet to a smouldering ruin, District of North Vancouver council removed the property from its heritage register earlier this month.
Prior to the blaze that razed the three-storey log home, the 1948-era Grouse Mountain chalet initially served skiers who rode up the nearby chairlift.
During a March 2 meeting, council also expunged the Fred Hollingsworth-designed Neoteric House at 2895 Newmarket Dr. due to the fact that a demolition permit was issued for the Edgemont home in 2013 and it was subsequently torn down.
The March 2 meeting represented the first major update of the heritage register since its adoption in 2012. “The District knew these two properties had been demolished but wanted to bring forward a group of amendments at the same time for council’s consideration,” stated district communications officer Courtenay Rannard in an email.
The last property to fall from the register was a 107-year-old bungalow at 360 Windsor Road. The homeowners previously offered permanent protection for the Carisbrooke house in exchange for subdividing the lot and adding a new 3,100 square foot home. However, many neighbours opposed the agreement due to a desire to maintain 100-foot lots throughout the neighbourhood.
“I think the main thrust of [the opposition] was the lots in that area are as important as the dwellings in the area. And there had to be other options going forward in regards to the preservation of our heritage,” Coun. Lisa Muri said at the time.
Over the objections of Couns. Mathew Bond and Jim Hanson, council voted to scrap the proposal. The homeowner subsequently applied for a building permit to add a major addition to the house, according to a district staff report.
The addition and subsequent renovations “significantly reduced” the home’s heritage value, according to an assessment the district’s Community Heritage Advisory Committee.
Hanson reiterated support for heritage at the March 2 meeting, suggesting he would support allocating more resources toward preserving “some of these treasures in our community.”
While Mayor Mike Little also noted the value of maintaining the community’s history, he also discussed a “dark side” of heritage retention, suggesting homeowners sometimes come into conflict with the municipality’s rules.
“I know a family that went through a divorce because they really could not get through a heritage renovation,” he said, calling on council to be flexible.
When a house is listed on the heritage register, the district can delay – but not deny – demolition, by temporarily withholding permits while discussing options to preserve the house, often by adding density or subdividing the property. There are 136 homes on the district’s heritage register.
