John Jensen

I am writing with regard to the proposed Heritage Conservation Area and Heritage Design Guidelines for the city's Ottawa Gardens neighbourhood. I wish to voice my support for these measures and address some of the comments made by Council members in recent discussions on the matter.

Role of government in heritage preservation
I don't think any Council member would disagree that there is a role for government to exercise its powers to provide broader cultural goods for its citizens. That is why, for example, the City uses its taxing powers to raise funds from homeowners and businesses to direct to institutions like the North Vancouver Museum and a number of other cultural organizations in the city. In its own way, the proposed small Heritage Conservation Area is a similar -- the government's power is being used to ensure the continued provision of a broader cultural good embedded in the built environment around Ottawa Gardens. In my view one can make an argument that a particular area is not suitable for heritage designation, but one cannot on the one hand vote in favour of other cultural / historical spending while on the other oppose the creation of such areas per se.

Historical relevance
Some Council members who were opposed to the measures felt that that since most of the homes that have been identified as Heritage were reflective of the Arts and Crafts movement, that somehow they were not deserving of protection because that movement was associated with spread of British imperial power at the time. While that may or may not be true, the buildings in the Ottawa Gardens area are a still-honest representation of the style of much of the construction in the City at the time, and as such deserve some degree of protection. While some may bristle at the "imperial" connotations of some of the designs, one cannot argue that they are historically relevant. I have read that in many of former Soviet countries, local governments are having similar discussions about preserving some examples of the Soviet brutalist architecture that was inflicted on them by external oppressors. Surely if they can take the time to preserve some of the architecture of that period we can stoop to saving a few of houses in which many of the modern founders of our community lived.

Similarly, while it is certainly true and lamentable that the City has in the past not done an adequate job of saving architecture of the many non-British cultures that are part of our history, that does not mean that nothing should be done at all. Indeed, one could make the argument that a historical designation of this area will spur greater interest and action in preserving other assets.

Property rights
It is true that the property rights of homeowners will be affected. However, for many of them it will be in a direction toward which they were predisposed anyways -- otherwise they would not have bought their homes. Even if not, however, they, and their immediate neighbours, will be reimbursed by a likely increase in their property values. Heritage Conservation areas can bring broader value to the community by stabilizing areas, adding prestige or maintaining the "charm" of a neighborhood, and other positive spillovers. That's why virtually every academic review of the effect of Heritage Conservation Areas reveals that there is a significant increase in property values for the affected individual buildings (anywhere from 3% to 20%), and even for those that are just close by. See below for some references. Property values are of course not important for their own sake but they are indicative of the broader value that community members place on heritage conservation of the built environment.

Paint
One last point regarding paint. If the issue regarding paint colours for homes is so contentious, I would suggest just dropping it. The most important aspect to be preserved is the built facade. All things being equal, I would rather have a purple heritage home in Ottawa Gardens than an official Weathered Shingle Grey stucco walk-up.

Another possibility is to use a carrot rather than a stick. Drop the formal requirement for staff review of paint choices, but offer to pay a token amount, say $100, if designated homeowners use paint from an approved palette.

Thanks for reviewing my comments; I hope Council does the right thing here and vote to preserve Ottawa Gardens.

Some references:

"Finding an Impact of Preservation Policies:Price Effects of Historic Landmarks on Attached Homes in Chicago 1990-1999"
Douglas S. Noonan
Economic Development Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 1, 17-33 (2007)

"Making or Picking Winners: Evidence of Internal and External Price Effects in Historic Preservation Policies"
Douglas S. Noonan and Douglas J. Krupka
IZA Discussion Paper No. 4110, April 2009

"An Impact Study of Local Historic District Overlays on Property Values in Fayette County, KY"
Master's Thesis submitted by Suzann Vogel
April 12, 2007
Martin School of Public Policy and Administration, University of Kentucky

"Historic Preservation and Residential Property Values: An Analysis of Texas Cities"
Robin M. Leichenko, N. Edward Coulson and David Listokin
Urban Studies, Vol. 38, No. 11, 1973 - 1987, 2001

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John Jensen