Project proposed south of Lougheed House

Status of new or continuing risks to heritage sites

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Project proposed south of Lougheed House

Postby newsposter » Tue Jan 31, 2006 2:33 pm

On January 23, 2006 City Council approved a change of land use for a major condo project immediately across the avenue south of the historic Lougheed House. The project would remove two houses of newly discovered historic interest, the Samuel Blair and Bulshin-Belzberg residences, cast shadow on the park area around Lougheed House, and at times may shadow the Lougheed House itself, depending on the final design (the design is not 'tied' to this land use).

Information more photos about the Blair and Bulshin-Belzberg houses are here: http://www.calgaryheritage.org/CHIForum/vi ... .php?t=144

Thank you to 'entheos fog' http://www.flickr.com/photos/entheos_fog/ for this photo:

Image


A change of land use is a change in the ‘rules’ under which land is developed, and needs to be approved by City Council. The land use change for this project was opposed by city planners. The Calgary Planning Commission discussed the proposal and voted against it 7-3 on December 15, 2005. The CPC forwarded their recommendation to reject the proposal to City Council. However, a majority of aldermen, led by Ward Alderman Madeleine King, voted against this advice and supported the land use change by an 8-6 margin on January 23, 2006. (See below for a link to the Council minutes and relevant CPC reports.)

The proposal called for a significant increase in density on the site, to a level higher than currently allowed, and also higher than contemplated in the draft Beltline Area Redevelopment Plan (which is nearing completion). The main reasons expressed for opposition to the proposal included shadowing of the park, related concerns about the size of the project, and perceived inadequacy of the ‘bonus’ items offered by the developer to justify the density increase. Reasons for supporting the proposal included making the park safer and more vital by adding more homeowners around the park, and fairness to the developer given precedents and the incompleteness of city policy in the area.

A financial contribution to the Lougheed House was one of the items offered by the developer as a public benefit to support the increase in density. As this related to density bonusing, city planners said “[I]t was determined that the Lougheed House is protected under provincial legislation as a Historic Resource, the Province is responsible for maintenance, and that a financial contribution to the Lougheed House Society, although laudable from a ‘good neighbour’ perspective, cannot be considered a public benefit for the purposes of heritage preservation.” (Source: the supplementary report to CPC, December 15, 2005)

Other heritage concerns were not discussed at CPC or in the Council Chambers, although they were presented by the Calgary Heritage Initiative. The developer, Properties Plus Ltd., said in a handout for the Aldermen that the Blair and Bulshin-Belzberg houses were not ‘heritage houses.’ It is unfortunate that the residences had not been assessed for the Municipal Inventory of Potential Historic Sites prior to the land use application being submitted to the City in April 2005. The Beltline Heritage Group nonetheless researched the two houses over the course of summer 2005 in the hope they could be saved and added to the Inventory.

Community feedback included the following: The land use change was opposed by the Beltline Community Association primarily on the issue of shadowing. The Calgary Heritage Initiative expressed a number of concerns as noted below. The Lougheed House and the Ranchmen’s Club were among those who provided letters of support for the project.

CHI COMMENT TO COUNCIL ON THE SOUTH OF LOUGHEED PROJECT

The Calgary Heritage Initiative wrote to Alderman King, city planners, Calgary Planning Commission, the community association and the Applicant regarding the project in November and December 2005. The major points of CHI’s position were presented by a member of CHI (Bob van Wegen) to City Council on January 23, 2006. \
Here are those comments:

“Your Worship, Members of Council,

We very much appreciate the efforts of the City and the Applicant to come to a resolution. However, this is a tough site, with a rare park to the south, in a location that has rare value as a heritage area.

The Lougheed House area provides important sunny green space, and the house and park constitute a major public investment. (The shadow impact is something we know you will consider.) It also frames a collection of heritage buildings including the Ranchmen’s Club, the Berkinshaw house, the Moxam and Congress apartments, and other buildings.

The project site includes two high-quality contributions to the heritage character of this area, which we would like to see preserved somewhere on the site. The house at 715 15th Ave SW was for many decades home of Samuel Blair, an Alberta pioneer and a founder of the Order of the Eastern Star. 717 14th Ave SW was the home of businessman Max Bulshin, and later Max Belzberg, of the well-known Belzberg family. It is unfortunate that these buildings had not previously been researched for the heritage inventory.

Houses of this type were once typical in the Beltline, but are now rare. From the vantage point of the Lougheed House – together with the Ranchmen’s Club, Moxam-Congress and Berkinshaw – the Blair and Bulshin-Belzberg houses contribute to this heritage area, and help tell a story of early Calgary that will be less complete if they are lost.

We propose that this project contribute to the vision of the Lougheed House area as a heritage character area. Specifically:

1. We have provided the Applicants with many ideas of how the houses might be included on the project site, perhaps in a new configuration and with different uses. We see the potential for density bonusing related to municipal designation. To allow excavation for parking, the houses could be temporarily moved into the park or another nearby empty lot, and then re-placed. Preservation somewhere on the site is our first choice.

2. We also see the potential, if the project proceeds at high density and the houses are demolished, for the developers to participate in heritage density transfers with other historically valuable, yet unprotected, buildings in the area, such as the Moxam and Congress. This would require the participation of other landowners.

3. Finally, whatever happens on this site, we would like to see it contribute to the heritage character of the area by, for example, contributing the interpretation of other buildings in the vicinity through plaques or other means.

The draft Beltline ARP contains many recommendations and tools related to heritage that would be useful in this regard, that could be applied in the next iteration of whatever is proposed for this site.

If you choose to support this land use, we will continue to work on the heritage issues as best we can in the development permit process. However, we ask you to support the recommendation of CPC and the administration, to reject this land use change, so that these opportunities can be more fully explored: The opportunity for a sunny heart in the centre of the Beltline, and the opportunity to enhance this heritage area.

Thank you.”

WHAT COMES NEXT?

Now that the land use has been approved, the project will presumably move to development permit stage where individuals and groups have an opportunity to provide commentary on the design of the project, within the framework of the land use that was approved on January 23. While a number of design concepts were proposed by the developer (see below), the land use was not ‘tied to plans’, so the design is not settled. The project will again be addressed by city planners and the Calgary Planning Commission, but will not go to City Council.

REFERENCES AND FURTHER INFORMATION

Here are the minutes from the Public Hearing of City Council, January 23, 2006 (word document)
http://www.calgary.ca/portal/server.pt/ ... %2D01%2D23

Here is CPC’s recommendation to Council on January 23, 2006: http://www.calgary.ca/portal/server.pt/ ... 3D23308817

Below is the detailed report to CPC from city planners for their December 15, 2005 meeting, including design concepts. While the design is not tied to the land use, the concept most likely to proceed is 'option 3', on page 12 of the above PDF document, a 31 storey tower on the corner of 6th Street and 14th Avenue SW, with a 4 storey podium to the west.
http://www.calgary.ca/docgallery/BU/pla ... 5_0030.pdf

Here is a link to information on the draft Beltline Area Redevelopment Plan:
http://www.calgaryheritage.org/CHIForum/vi ... .php?t=109
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