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HomeMy WebLinkAbout306"Article copied from the New Advertiser, Sunday, February 9, 1992, page 4, Witten by JUDI BOBBITT, Staff Reporter. PICKERING - The town is taking on the federal government in an effort to preserve a ""remarkable"" house in Brougham. In a previously unheard-of move, Pickering's Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee (LACAC) is attempting to designate a property as historically significant without the owner's consent. The property is the eye-catching Bentley House at the corner of Brock Rd. and Hwy. 7, built in the 1850s and now owned by a seemingly disinterested Ottawa. ""In our opinion, if the house burned down tomorrow night they'd be relieved,"" says LACAC chairman Anna Willson. The four-acre Bentley House property, currently rented to tenants, is part of land the government has designated for a possible airport. For the past few years, LACAC has been nagging Ottawa to take action on preserving the house, described by a restoration architect as ""certainly (being) of provincial, if not of national significance."" But Ottawa doesn't see it that way, according to Ontario Riding MP Rene Soetens, who says the home doesn't meet federal criteria for heritage designation. That status is reserved for homes with ""unique architecture"" or where historically-important people lived, he says. However, he assures the government is ""supportive of retaining the Bentley House."" But, says Mrs. Willson, ""We haven't been getting anywhere with the federal government at all."" Nearly two years ago government officials toured the house with LACAC and ""raved over how great it is,"" says Mrs. Willson. Months later, the government informed LACAC there was no Federal Heritage Board funding available for the Bentley House. Since then, further correspondence from LACAC has been ignored. ""If they were interested, I bet things could happen,"" says Mrs. Willson. ""We seem to have come up against a brick wall. We don't know how to get over this barrier."" LACAC took matters into its own hands Jan. 13, requesting town council to prepare a bylaw designating the Bentley House as historically and/or architecturally significant. The move is unusual since LACAC's standard procedure is to designate homes at the request of owners. Mrs. Willson says LACAC's action is an attention-getting tactic. ""We'll see how far we get. I don't know if it will work, but we'll give it a try."" The proposed bylaw must be advertised for three weeks, with a 30-day objection period. If no objection are received, a notice of the passing of the bylaw must also be advertised for three weeks with a 30-day appeal period. Ottawa will likely object to the designation, says Mr. Soetens. ""I'm not sure, but I can't see where the federal government would allow that designation,"" he says, pointing out Ottawa is not subject to the provincial laws LACAC operates under. ""If it impacts land use, they would simply oppose it and that would end it."" Ironically, if LACAC's designation was passed, Ottawa could apply to the provincial government for financial aid in preserving the house. ""It's sort of a funny scenario,"" admits Mrs. Willson. Without LACAC's designation, a number of unpleasant fates could conceivably befall the Bentley House. The federal government could demolish it after deciding repairs are too costly. It could be sold and removed from the site, or, if maintenance is neglected, it could be declared a fire hazard, boarded up and vandalized. "