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Meltdown in mansionville
Meltdown in mansionville
A century after their prosperous neighbourhood was born, some Forest Hill locals worry that yesterday's stately homes are today's teardowns. JOHN LORINC reports
By JOHN LORINC
Saturday, January 7, 2006 Page M3
Special to The Globe and Mail
Like a growing number of affluent Forest Hill residents, Brett Smith, a commercial developer who trained as an urban planner, is stunned by the sheer size of the new houses sprouting up all over the tony mid-Toronto neighbourhood where spacious, stately homes dating to the 1920s and 1930s have become, amazingly, knock-down fodder for speculators.
Citing the case of a lot just north of Forest Hill Village, where the owner conjoined two ravine-side properties and wants to put up a 14,500-square-foot mega-mansion that is 75 feet wide, has three garages facing the street and a three-storey tower peering into the neighbours' backyard, Mr. Smith says: "It's the most ridiculous application I've ever seen, and it didn't raise one flag at City Hall."
Mr. Smith and about 20 of his neighbours hotly opposed the project, which was turned down at the committee of adjustment in October, and are going to the Ontario Municipal Board next month. They bring a new twist to the standard Not-In-My-Backyard argument -- the development should be opposed not only because the ersatz chateau is inappropriate, they say, but because it's an assault on the heritage character of their street.
A growing number of residents in the area want to see city council designate Forest Hill as a Heritage Conservation District -- a move several older neighbourhoods, including North and South Rosedale, Cabbagetown, Wychwood Park, the Annex and a stretch of Blythwood Road in Lawrence Park, have taken in recent years to slow the pace of the demolitions that fuel real estate speculation and threaten to erase large swaths of Toronto's historic residential architecture.
The strategy is gathering momentum as a new way to fight rampant development. Another conservation district is in the works for the nearby Casa Loma area and word is spreading to residents' groups in other desirable neighbourhoods facing speculative redevelopment activity.
Heritage expert Catherine Nasmith says a disturbing number of the Forest Hill demolitions involve historic homes built by once-prominent architects, including at least 10 of 22 homes in the area by Eden Smith, one of Toronto's most sought-after designers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. "It's a complete disaster."
"The homes have become [nothing more than] the value of the land," adds retired broadcaster Donald Duprey, president of the Village South Ratepayers Association, which was resurrected in the past three years because of mounting concerns from homeowners living west of Spadina and north of St. Clair.
Architect Richard Wengle says he has done about 50 teardowns in Forest Hill in the past eight years, with the new mansions selling for up to $4.5-million on properties that were originally acquired for less than half that price. "The house comes free with the lot. If it's an older house, it's a liability."
Two Forest Hill ratepayers groups are now ramping up to push for HCD designation, but none are yet in place.
HCD designations require residents to undertake a full inventory of the heritage features of their neighbourhood -- an archival sleuthing process that often unearths a mother lode of information about the history of an area, its architectural features, how it was developed and who lived there. Residents must then hash out a consensus on what precisely should be preserved, and that proposal goes to city council for approval.
In some cases, as in Cabbagetown, the guidelines can be quite specific (for example, dictating exterior materials and roof slopes), while in others, the guidelines are geared simply toward making it difficult for property owners to get demolition permits. Interior renovations or backyard additions are never subject to HCD rules, which focus on the streetscape and prevailing character.
Michael McClelland, an architect who advised two Rosedale ratepayer associations on their heritage designations, describes HCDs as "vision statements" that go beyond the traditional planning controls of density, height and setback, which he characterizes as "blunt instruments" when it comes to preserving heritage and ambience. "If properly constituted," he says of HCDs, "they're really a valuable tool for good city-building."
That may be true, but HCD designations require hundreds of hours of slogging by volunteers and fundraising drives to pay for studies that the city doesn't fund. If poorly managed, they can also trigger divisive battles, as was the case in February, 2005, when Beaches residents voted down an HCD proposal after months of what amounted to block-to-block combat. (The customary objection from homeowners is that an HCD designation limits their property rights and could depress resale values. But Mr. McClelland cites U.S. studies showing that property values in heritage conservation districts tend to rise, not fall, after the designation is put in place.)
Chris Sellors, executive assistant to Councillor Michael Walker, whose ward includes much of Forest Hill, admits that many homeowners are "freaking out" over outsized residential development proposals, such as a 22-unit condo on a Russell Hill Road ravine property that has been essentially a woodlot for decades. But Mr. Sellors predicts that Mr. Walker "is not going to champion something the residents aren't asking for."
David Townley, president of the South Rosedale Ratepayers Association, which obtained its HCD designation in 2003, insists that his group "doesn't want to be the taste police," but he admits that it's unlikely they would agree to demolitions of homes within the district.
Meltdown in mansionville
A century after their prosperous neighbourhood was born, some Forest Hill locals worry that yesterday's stately homes are today's teardowns. JOHN LORINC reports
By JOHN LORINC
Saturday, January 7, 2006 Page M3
Special to The Globe and Mail
Like a growing number of affluent Forest Hill residents, Brett Smith, a commercial developer who trained as an urban planner, is stunned by the sheer size of the new houses sprouting up all over the tony mid-Toronto neighbourhood where spacious, stately homes dating to the 1920s and 1930s have become, amazingly, knock-down fodder for speculators.
Citing the case of a lot just north of Forest Hill Village, where the owner conjoined two ravine-side properties and wants to put up a 14,500-square-foot mega-mansion that is 75 feet wide, has three garages facing the street and a three-storey tower peering into the neighbours' backyard, Mr. Smith says: "It's the most ridiculous application I've ever seen, and it didn't raise one flag at City Hall."
Mr. Smith and about 20 of his neighbours hotly opposed the project, which was turned down at the committee of adjustment in October, and are going to the Ontario Municipal Board next month. They bring a new twist to the standard Not-In-My-Backyard argument -- the development should be opposed not only because the ersatz chateau is inappropriate, they say, but because it's an assault on the heritage character of their street.
A growing number of residents in the area want to see city council designate Forest Hill as a Heritage Conservation District -- a move several older neighbourhoods, including North and South Rosedale, Cabbagetown, Wychwood Park, the Annex and a stretch of Blythwood Road in Lawrence Park, have taken in recent years to slow the pace of the demolitions that fuel real estate speculation and threaten to erase large swaths of Toronto's historic residential architecture.
The strategy is gathering momentum as a new way to fight rampant development. Another conservation district is in the works for the nearby Casa Loma area and word is spreading to residents' groups in other desirable neighbourhoods facing speculative redevelopment activity.
Heritage expert Catherine Nasmith says a disturbing number of the Forest Hill demolitions involve historic homes built by once-prominent architects, including at least 10 of 22 homes in the area by Eden Smith, one of Toronto's most sought-after designers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. "It's a complete disaster."
"The homes have become [nothing more than] the value of the land," adds retired broadcaster Donald Duprey, president of the Village South Ratepayers Association, which was resurrected in the past three years because of mounting concerns from homeowners living west of Spadina and north of St. Clair.
Architect Richard Wengle says he has done about 50 teardowns in Forest Hill in the past eight years, with the new mansions selling for up to $4.5-million on properties that were originally acquired for less than half that price. "The house comes free with the lot. If it's an older house, it's a liability."
Two Forest Hill ratepayers groups are now ramping up to push for HCD designation, but none are yet in place.
HCD designations require residents to undertake a full inventory of the heritage features of their neighbourhood -- an archival sleuthing process that often unearths a mother lode of information about the history of an area, its architectural features, how it was developed and who lived there. Residents must then hash out a consensus on what precisely should be preserved, and that proposal goes to city council for approval.
In some cases, as in Cabbagetown, the guidelines can be quite specific (for example, dictating exterior materials and roof slopes), while in others, the guidelines are geared simply toward making it difficult for property owners to get demolition permits. Interior renovations or backyard additions are never subject to HCD rules, which focus on the streetscape and prevailing character.
Michael McClelland, an architect who advised two Rosedale ratepayer associations on their heritage designations, describes HCDs as "vision statements" that go beyond the traditional planning controls of density, height and setback, which he characterizes as "blunt instruments" when it comes to preserving heritage and ambience. "If properly constituted," he says of HCDs, "they're really a valuable tool for good city-building."
That may be true, but HCD designations require hundreds of hours of slogging by volunteers and fundraising drives to pay for studies that the city doesn't fund. If poorly managed, they can also trigger divisive battles, as was the case in February, 2005, when Beaches residents voted down an HCD proposal after months of what amounted to block-to-block combat. (The customary objection from homeowners is that an HCD designation limits their property rights and could depress resale values. But Mr. McClelland cites U.S. studies showing that property values in heritage conservation districts tend to rise, not fall, after the designation is put in place.)
Chris Sellors, executive assistant to Councillor Michael Walker, whose ward includes much of Forest Hill, admits that many homeowners are "freaking out" over outsized residential development proposals, such as a 22-unit condo on a Russell Hill Road ravine property that has been essentially a woodlot for decades. But Mr. Sellors predicts that Mr. Walker "is not going to champion something the residents aren't asking for."
David Townley, president of the South Rosedale Ratepayers Association, which obtained its HCD designation in 2003, insists that his group "doesn't want to be the taste police," but he admits that it's unlikely they would agree to demolitions of homes within the district.