The city council has approved the use of a new heritage tool to protect the houses

City Council recently approved the rezoning of seven heritage homes in the southwest community of Bankview.

New zoning, called Direct Control Heritage Areas, will help preserve the historic character of 25th Avenue SW.

The city government cooperated with the property owners. It ensures that if alterations are made to the houses in the future, some elements of the buildings must be retained or incorporated into any new construction on the estate.

Josh Traptow, CEO of Heritage Calgary, said by changing the zoning, the city can ensure the historic look and feel of the street is preserved, even if the properties change over time.

He said the zoning applies only to urban areas where heritage assets make up more than 50 percent of a street block. In this case, seven houses make up the entire block.

All of them belong to the period of 1912-13. Three of the houses are on the city's heritage list, and the remaining four are expected to be added to the list soon.

None of the seven houses are currently designated as municipal heritage resources, so the new zoning would not prevent their demolition.

However, according to Traptow, the main elements of the houses must now be preserved or, if the buildings are demolished, they must be redone.

“What they can't change is they can't add a third floor. The roof line and the first floor are now adjustable in height, and the porch length is now adjustable in length. The setback is the same. (from the street),” he said.

The design of their windows and doors should also have the same similarity in the future.

Unlike receiving a municipal or provincial heritage designation, property owners are not eligible for any new zoning grants. Why does the owner want this change?

“It's really (that) they value the look and feel of their block enough to go into direct control,” Traptow said.

The tool has had some success in preserving elements of historic districts in Vancouver, Traptow added. He says 25th Avenue SW is a great first use case in Calgary.

“You get the whole block, which is very rare.

“There are still not many blocks that are 100 percent covered by heritage assets.”

Courtney Walcott, the area's city councillor, said the key to this situation was getting all the homeowners on board.

“If one of those property owners had backed out, we wouldn't have gotten this far because we put so many restrictions on what could be developed on their property. Fortunately, they all saw the value in their property and they all agreed.”

Under the new zoning, Walcott homeowners can apply for a change of use or add accessory and backyard suites. They can also demolish and build a new house or duplex, but must meet the same heritage specifications as the existing structures.

No other applications for rezoning within heritage areas under direct control are currently being processed.