A non-profit U.S. organization has bought five older houses from Oak Bay and barged them to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island to provide affordable housing for low-income residents.
These and other moves of single-family houses have raised the issue of how Oak Bay is protecting its housing stock and how it should approach density and development at a time when the real estate market is red hot.
Oak Bay Coun. Eric Zhelka gave council notice this week that he will seek a review by the municipality’s heritage commission and advisory planning commission, asking them to develop recommendations to “proactively improve the retention of heritage houses and houses of heritage value.”
Zhelka said he wants to “slow down this destruction of our heritage.”
One possibility is finding green space to relocate older houses, he said.
A house at Beach Drive and St. Patrick Street was barged to a farm in Campbell River last month. The lot owner plans to build two single-family houses in its place.
Seven Greater Victoria houses, built in the early 1900s, were relocated to the San Juan Community Home Trust’s five-acre development last year. As well as the five from Oak Bay, one was from Victoria and another from View Royal.
The organization is hoping to raise more money this summer to buy another five Greater Victoria houses, executive director Nancy DeVaux said Wednesday. Wealthy sponsors have been helping cover transportation costs of about $75,000 per house.
“We feel we are getting houses with a lot more character and we feel good about saving them from demolition,” she said. “They are beautiful … There are a lot of unique little features in these homes.”
Former Oak Bay resident and Home Trust board member Chary Caren lives on San Juan Island and inspired the organization when members visited her house, originally from Gordon Head.
The 1923 house was “not in great condition,” but Caren has transformed it. It is “lovely,” she said. “I would do it again in a flash.”
Oak Bay has seen houses demolished or moved because property owners either wanted a newer and larger house or they want to increase density on a site.
Another option is retaining an existing home and building more houses on a property.
For example, a four-lot subdivision application has been submitted for 1101 Beach Dr. in Oak Bay where a single-family house sits on 2.5 acres. The proposal is to keep the 1913 manor and build three additional houses on the waterfront property. It has not been approved.
The house was listed for sale at the same time. An offer for $6.2 million has been accepted and is due to close at the end of July, said listing agent Leslee Farrell, of Macdonald Realty. The sale price is the highest reported locally this year.
“Now under contract, the owners will wait to see what Oak Bay has to say. The new owner has no wish to subdivide anytime in the future,” Farrell said.
Oak Bay Mayor Nils Jensen said that last year, 23 houses were demolished or dismantled, and six were moved. The pace continues at a similar rate so far this year. “My concern is that we have a lot of well-built heritage houses. They add an ambience to our community that is unparalleled. I would certainly hate to see the loss of many of these homes.”
Jensen said one idea would be to permit additional density on a property in return for an owner agreeing to heritage designation on an original house.
Oak Bay has between 5,500 and 6,000 single-family houses, he said. Of those, 100 are on the heritage registry and another 29 are heritage-designated, which bestows a higher level of protection. Heritage properties are eligible for grants.
Municipalities can move on their own to designate a house, but then would face the risk of liability and responsibility for a change in its value, he said. This authority is used sparingly.
Some houses are not sufficiently valuable to protect, Jensen said.
Typically, it is the homeowner who applies to have their home considered a heritage property. This week, council approved an owner’s request to add 2671 Margate Ave. on the registry.
