Hello Duranders,
Hopefully you had a safe and fun Halloween and aren’t too candied out! We have a few updates this week on the Heritage file. If you haven’t already, please mark your calendars for our Annual General Meeting on Nov. 17th.
1 St. James Update
The property at 1 St James Place is again under threat of demolition. The owner Victor Veri appeared before the Permit Review Committee on October 27, 2015. He is now claiming “that this house must come down as it is filled with mould, moisture and dampness.” Following a lengthy hearing, Permit Review recommended that the permit be denied. Thank you to all those Duranders who joined us to show their support both for denying the demolition and for the support of the residents living on St James Place who have had their quality of life disrupted.
This is just the beginning of the process. Please continue your support in denying this application to demolish. The next 2 meetings where we can have delegations are :
- Nov 26, 12 Noon – Heritage staff will report their recommendations to Hamilton Municipal Heritage Committee
- Dec 1 – Hamilton Municipal Heritage Committee will then report to Planning Committee for ratification.
I will provide information on the process to present or send your delegation the week before the scheduled meetings.
Should this demolition be denied, the applicant Victor Veri can then proceed to the OMB.
It is important for all Duranders and heritage advocates to send a clear message that this behaviour to destroy the fabric of our neighbourhood will not be tolerated. The Durand Neighbourhood Association is committed to preserving and conserving the Durand. At our upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) we will introduce a project that we hope that you can support to move us forward in protecting the character of our neighbourhood. Please make sure to attend the AGM on Tuesday November 17th, 7pm YWCA Seniors Auditorium, MacNab Street South.
St. Marks Heritage Update
The Durand Neighbourhood Association Annual General Meeting will be held November 17th 2015, from 7-9pm at the YWCA in the Seniors Auditorium. Our feature presentation is a must attend as we are engaging in a very important project for our Durand Neighbourhood. It is called Character Zoning. This is an approach that will help us to protect and conserve our neighbourhood. This is new for Hamilton; it will be groundbreaking for not only Durand but other neighbourhoods such as ours both in Hamilton and across the province. We need your support and your engagement.
I attended the recent meeting and was surprised that the owner was not held to account for the reason he originally bought the building which was to tear it down for parking! The estimate to bring it up to standard are greatly exaggerated based on my experience with renovations. The building sits quite high and the basement is actually almost at the same level as the main floor of the property on Markland right behind it so waterproofing of the basement and related drainage would not be a huge issue and should be considered as standard maintenance for such a structure. I am also concerned if the heritage designation would prohibit interior repairs such as stripping the walls and installing new insulation. vapour barrier and new drywall throughout to bring it up to current codes.This is commonly done in older structures.