New Westminster city council is set to consider an amendment that would remove the protective status of a Queen’s Park home.
The city has received an application to remove heritage protection from a 1908 heritage house at 318 Fourth St., a move that requires an amendment to the official community plan.
“Should the application be approved and the amendment bylaw adopted, the house would be reclassified as non-protected,” said a staff report. “The house could them be modified or demolished without further heritage-related approvals.”
According to a staff report, the house is more than 100 years old, is in good condition, is fully developed under existing zoning entitlements and contributes to the character of the neighbourhood. However, the report notes that when the house was evaluated using the Queen’s Park heritage conservation area’s evaluation checklist, which includes criteria related to heritage merit, development potential and building condition and integrity, it scored 60 per cent.
“Under current policy, this results in a recommendation to remove the house’s protection,” said the report. “Additionally, the house scored very low on the ‘heritage merit’ section of the checklist, which generally indicates that a house should not be retained as a heritage asset.”
A public hearing on the proposed official community plan amendment bylaw to remove heritage conservation area related protection from the house will be considered at an Oct. 28 public hearing.
