Report to: Development Services Committee Report Date:
SUBJECT: Request to relocate the Thomas H. Bruels House from
12049 Hwy 48, Whitchurch-Stouffville
to
APPLICANT: Hala and Steve Palubiski
PREPARED BY: Peter Wokral, ext. 7955
Regan Hutcheson, ext 2080
RECOMMENDATION:
THAT the proposed relocation of the Thomas H. Bruels House from Whitchurch-Stouffville to Markham Heritage Estates be refused, as it does not meet the required Markham Heritage Estates eligibility requirements for the relocation of a building from outside the municipal boundaries;
THAT the Town of
AND THAT a copy of this report and
its recommendations be forwarded to the Town of
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Markham Heritage Estates is the Town of
The Bruels House is one and a half storey brick farmhouse
constructed circa 1895 located at 12049 Hwy. 48 in the Town of
A research report on the Bruels House was prepared by
Staff and Heritage Markham are of the opinion that the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville should preserve and incorporate the Bruels House into the redevelopment of the site it currently occupies.
The Palubiski’s have been encouraged to find another house
suitable for their needs within
1.
Purpose 2. Background 3. Discussion 4. Financial
5. Others
(Environmental, Accessibility,
Engage 21st, Affected Units) 6.
Attachment(s)
The purpose of this report is to consider the potential relocation of the Thomas H. Bruels House from Whitchurch-Stouffville to Markham Heritage Estates
Markham Heritage Estates is a
specially designed heritage subdivision that was established by the Town of
Mr. and Mrs.
Palubiski want to relocate a house to
The Palubiskis have approached the Town regarding the potential for relocating the Thomas H. Bruels House located at 12049 Hwy. 48 to Markham Heritage Estates.
The Bruels House is located in the Town of
The Bruels House is located on the
east side of Hwy. 48 in the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville, just south of the
crossroads community of Ringwood. (See Figures 2-5) Up until 1971 the property was in the
The house is situated immediately
north of new “Big Box” commercial development and has been vacant since April
of 2007. The property is currently zoned
rural, although the Town of
The house is identified in Whitchurch-Stouffville’s Inventory of
Heritage Buildings.
Although the house is identified
in Whitchurch-Stouffville’s Inventory of Heritage Buildings, it is not
protected through designation. A report
prepared for the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville in 2000 by
Whitchurch-Stouffville has not acted to preserve the house
The Palubiskis have been in
contact with Whitchurch-Stouffville’s Planning Department and have approached
the Town’s Municipal Heritage Committee in January 2008 about the potential of
relocating the house to Markham Heritage Estates. Their Heritage Committee supported the
relocation of the house to the Estates as a means of preserving the house and
advised the Palubiskis to seek permission from
The Palubiskis requested feedback from
At the
Heritage
The Bruels House has some historical and architectural significance
Research on this specific dwelling (see Appendix “C”) was undertaken and the following is noted:
Historical
Architectural
Overall the house appeared in excellent physical condition.
Markham Staff have formally evaluated the Bruels House
The house was evaluated using two different Town approved evaluation systems:
Evaluating Heritage Resources
in the Town of
The first evaluation system used was
approved by Council in 1991 and is designed to gauge the historical,
architectural and contextual significance of the built heritage resource from a
Eligibility of Potentially Threatened Buildings Rating System
Heritage Staff also evaluated the house using a system created
specifically for evaluating and ranking potentially threatened buildings, given
the limited number of lots remaining at the Estates. This approach was adopted by Council in 2004
as part of the Markham Heritage Estates Threatened Buildings Study. The specific evaluation criteria address the
threat of loss, the building’s significance and how it relates to buildings
already in the subdivision. The
evaluation acknowledges the building is threatened and has architectural
significance. It also noted that the
style is rare in Heritage Estates, but that a very similar building already
exists in the Estates at
The Bruels House
achieved a score of 76/100 (See Appendix ‘E’).
Buildings outside of
Council’s policy
indicates that in order for a building formerly located in
·
score 85
points or over using the Evaluation Criteria for Scoring Threatened Buildings,
·
must be
of Regional Significance; and
·
Council
must be satisfied that there are no more appropriate buildings contained within
Markham’s current boundaries that are more threatened or suitable for
relocation.
The ultimate
decision on relocation will continue to be at the discretion of Markham
Council, having regard for recommendations of staff and Heritage Markham.
Heritage
Based on a review of the
eligibility criteria for Markham Heritage Estates, and the results of the
evaluations, Heritage Markham did not support the potential relocation of the
Bruels House to the Estates at its
The Palubiskis wish to pursue the relocation of the house
The Palubiskis wish to continue to pursue the potential relocation of the Bruels house to Markham Heritage Estates to ensure its preservation. They have requested the opportunity to address Council on this issue. In response, staff prepared this report.
The Town of
Markham Council has also provided
a substantial financial commitment to both initially develop Markham Heritage
Estates and to subsidize the individual lot prices.
There remain approximately 85 potentially threatened buildings
contained within
The 2004 Markham Heritage Estates
Subdivision Study of Potentially Threatened Buildings identified approximately
130 potentially threatened buildings within
Heritage resources are threatened outside
Although the objective of the Estates is to preserve significant and threatened buildings within the present day boundaries of Markham, in the late 1990s, Council made two exceptions for houses located in Richmond Hill, which were once located in the former Markham Township. In both cases, the houses were considered to possess regional historical significance and Council deviated from its ‘Markham-only’ policy.
The 2004 study of threatened
buildings found 32 potentially threatened buildings outside of
There are only 13 lots remaining in
If the Bruels House is permitted
to be relocated to the Estates it will take a building lot away from one of the
approximately 85 or so potentially threatened buildings contained within
The Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville has the ability to protect the house
Given that Belt Line Investments Ltd. has submitted a demolition permit application for the Bruels house, it is likely to disappear in the next few months unless the Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville designates it under Part IV of the Ontario Heritage Act, or it is relocated. The Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville has the ability to protect this heritage resource and incorporate it into the re-development of Ringwood and it should be urged to do so.
The Bruels House should not be relocated to Markham Heritage Estates
Although Staff and Heritage
Markham concluded that the Bruels House is an important heritage resource in
terms of its architecture and its association with the former
If relocation is approved, a specific lot should allocated
Should Council wish to permit the
relocation of the Bruels House to the Estates, final lot selection should be
delegated to Heritage Section Staff. Due
to the significant number of potentially threatened buildings remaining in the
Town of
Conclusion
The relocation of the Bruels House from Whitchurch-Stouffville to Markham Heritage Estates does not meet the required Markham Heritage Estates eligibility requirements for the relocation of a building from outside the municipal boundaries and should not be supported. Specifically:
The Town of
The conservation of heritage structures is environmentally sustainable in that it preserves embodied energy, prevents the diversion of construction waste into landfills, and reduces the need to expend energy to build new dwellings.
Not applicable
The preservation of
Not applicable
RECOMMENDED BY:
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|
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Valerie Shuttleworth, M.C.I.P., R.P.P. Director of |
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Jim
Baird, M.C.I.P., R.P.P. Commissioner of Development Services |
Q:\Development\Heritage\PROPERTY\HWY48\12049\Revised
April 15 2008 report to DSC.doc
Figure 1: Owner Information and Location Map
Figures 2-5: Photographs of the Thomas H. Bruels House
Figure 6: Photographs comparing
Appendix ‘A’ Whitchurch-Stooffville Demolition Permit Application
Appendix ‘B’ Information on development potential of 12049 Hwy. 48
Appendix ‘C’
Appendix ‘D’
Appendix ‘E’ Evaluation Criteria for relocation of buildings to Markham Heritage
Estates
Appendix ‘F’ Heritage
FIGURE 1
FILE PATH: Q:\Development\Heritage\PROPERTY\HWY48\12049\Revised
April 15 2008 report to DSC.doc
OWNER: Belt
Line Investments Ltd.
M5H 3M7
(416)
346-5633 Tel
AGENT: Dale & Lessmann LLP
(416) 520-2267 Tel
OTHER INTEREST: Mr. and Mrs. Palubiski
L3S
1E1
LOCATION MAP: