With about 600 people calling for Quaint House in Bond Head to get a heritage designation, and the building’s owner promising to restore it to original, Bradford West Gwillimbury council voted against designation Tuesday night.
About 70 people were at the meeting at the BWG Public Library to show support for designating the 154-year-old building, located at 4240 County Rd. 88, at one entrance to the hamlet.
One resident delivered to council a petition with about 600 signatures — between a hardcopy and an online version — in favour of designation.
“The Quaint House is an important landmark in our community,” said resident David Wigglesworth, who lives next door to the property.
“Who we were helps to define who we are. We celebrate our history. Regret is a one-way street. Once torn down, what we left with?”
Frank Buda, the owner of Quaint House, was proposing to rezone the property to construct a three-storey mixed-use building with 41 residential units on the second and third floors and about 1,700 square metres of commercial space on the ground floor.
With that plan, the building — from ground level to roof peak — would stand at 19 ½ metres tall, and there would also be underground and rear parking.
A public meeting hosted by consultants for Buda late last month got heated, with dozens of residents passionately sharing their concerns about the development.
On Tuesday night, council split its vote — with Mayor Rob Keffer and councillors Peter Ferragine, Ron Orr and Gary Lamb the only ones in favour of designation — which meant the motion was defeated.
Coun. Peter Dykie Jr. did not attend the meeting due to an illness in the family.
Several councillors who voted against designation said they are in favour of saving the home, but would rather work with Buda first before forcing a designation.
“Talk is cheap, but I’m going to give it the benefit of the doubt,” said Coun. Raj Sandhu, adding he wants a specific timeframe for work on the building to be done since whether to designate Quaint House has been on the town’s radar for years.
“We can’t have it dragged another term.”
There is no threat of demolition, so the town has time before officially calling for designation, said Deputy Mayor James Leduc.
The town also needs to come up with a strategy for dealing with heritage homes, he added.
A couple councillors spoke sharply to Buda during the meeting before they voted against designation.
“I’m going to stare at the owner while I say this: ‘You (have to) deliver. If you don’t, things will be looked at different in August (when council is back in session after a summer break),” said Coun. Gary Baynes.
“If we don’t like (your plans), we can designate it. You so much as pull a brick off it, I will designate,” added Coun. Mark Contois.
Buda, who sat in the front row of the audience, responded to councillors’ comments, repeatedly saying he wants to restore the building to original and he is “willing to preserve the building and work around it.”
Drawings for new plans are almost done, he added, noting the windows and doors are not original and need replacement.
The Quaint House features a Greek neoclassical entrance and was once home to the Smith family, who helped the hamlet grow in the 1870s.
It is currently occupied by Cotto88 Italian Eatery and is on the town’s heritage registry.
Before council’s vote, Keffer urged his colleagues to vote in favour of designation.
“I think the time is now to designate this building. I don’t think there’s anything scary about designating a building. It’s something to be proud of, a designated property,” he said.
Town staff is expected to submit a report to council in August or September about potentially instituting a new 40 per cent property tax reduction for designated homes “to sweeten the pot a little bit” and entice people to move in and fix them up, Keffer said.
The County of Simcoe would also match that tax reduction, he added.
Several residents spoke during an open forum at the meeting, urging council to vote for designation.
“(Quaint House) needs to be treated with the respect it is due,” said resident Jennifer de Winter, suggesting some members of council are not big on heritage issues.
“The community of Bond Head is very sympathetic to heritage.”
