The following article appeared in the November 16 edition of the Guelph Mercury:
There is a home in the north end of the city that’s in clear violation of Guelph’s property standards bylaw.
The porch is crumbling, shingles have blown off the roof onto the surrounding grass, there are cracks in exterior walls and missing fascia has allowed critters to take up occupancy in the long-vacant farmhouse.
“We have come up with a list of concerns,” Rob Renyen, the city’s manager of inspection services, said Tuesday.
These concerns have been brought to the attention of the owner — the City of Guelph.
Reynen said the city’s building department recently received a written complaint “signed by a number of neighbours in the area” asking them to have a look at the old Wilson farmhouse from a property standards perspective.
City building staff inspected the home on Simmonds Drive and concluded it is, in fact, in need of some repairs.
Reynen said within a couple of days of that inspection, other city staff went to the site and painted the boards which cover the home’s windows. But he said that was coincidental to the property standards complaint.
“It’s unsightly,” said neighbour Mike Lackowicz, whose Kinlock Street home faces the farmhouse. “Even with the boards painted it’s still been like that for eight years. They wouldn’t let a private citizen keep their property like that.”
The city took over the house in 2002, when a plan to convert the surrounding farmland to a subdivision was approved. The parcel was designed as parkland, although nothing like that has taken place as the city continues to debate the future of the building.
The city initially intended to use it for community purposes, such as a library or community centre. But when an appropriate use could not be found — and with renovations estimated at more than $350,000 — councillors opted instead to consider severing the parcel around the house and then selling it.
At first councillors voted to pursue a heritage designation for the property so the city could have some control over its future use.
Neighbours have resisted this, arguing the home should not be sold and should either be put to community use or removed.
This summer, council voted to reconsider an earlier motion to sell the farmhouse, however staff could still recommend a sale.
A hearing has been set in early January with the Conservation Review Board to determine the heritage value of the property.
But in the interim, the house is showing signs of years of inattention.
“I believe there hasn’t been much maintenance on the property” in the eight years the city has owned it, Reynen confirmed. “It’s strictly an aesthetics issue at this point … and I don’t disagree. It doesn’t look good.”
Coun. Ian Findlay, who represents the north-end Ward 2, agrees.
“I don’t think it’s falling apart, but I don’t think it helps that we’re neglecting it,” Findlay said. “It’s essentially demolition by neglect.”
Findlay said part of the problem is that the house remains a focal point on the large parcel of land, which is otherwise vacant.
“If we had built out the park with playgrounds and trees and sports fields, that parcel wouldn’t be such a focal point,” the councillor said. “We should have done a better job with the planning.”
Findlay said options for the home are still being considered. These could include moving the home to another location or having a replica of the farmhouse built somewhere else, although Findlay said Heritage Guelph is reluctant to approve either option.
While the home has not been designated a heritage property “we want to be collaborative in all our discussions about the property, and clearly Heritage Guelph has expressed an interest in it,” Findlay said.
But Lackowicz argues the home has little, if any, heritage value.
“This city has gone heritage crazy,” he said.