Email to city councilors
Originally posted 10/24/06 on PersonPlaceorThing.blogspot.com
The following is an email I sent to city councilors Michelle Hooton and Stephen Chase after they were on CBC radio talking about their proposal to keep landlords for improving delapitated buildings with vinyl siding and modern windows. I decided to not try to change their opinions, but rather use them for a project in the works.
Councilors Hooton and Chase,
I heard your talk on the CBC this morning. After hearing your appeal for buildings with quality character I would encourage you to support the zoning application for Leinster Court at the corner of Leinster and Camarthen (notice in today’s Telegraph Journal).
This development will add to the character of the neighbourhood - a neighbourhood that needs improved architecture due to the intrusion of a large functional but unattractive school, a fire station with an uninspiring designed and a large vinyl sided tenement on the corner of Camarthen and King Street East (I believe it to be owned by [name since removed for privacy of owner]).
Leinster Court may not be identical to the design of some historic buildings in the neighbourhood, but it has a number of great qualities that Saint John Non-Profit Housing Inc. has tirelessly demonstrated to our citizenry.
The builders of our historic neighbourhoods would likely scoff at the idea of building using the design standards of 1600’s Saint John – and the builders of the 2000’s should not have to exactly emulate the designs of the 1800s.
The vernacular architecture of Saint John that celebrates function (housing low income citizens and demonstrating the ability to develop significant projects in the city centre, in this case) and form (quality construction).
2 comments:
Your "concern" for design guidelines requiring new structures to emulate 1800's design principles is both unfounded and incorrect. As is your classification of the proposed Leinster Court development being representative of good and sound design for the neighbourhood in which it is proposed. What Councilor Chase and Deputy Mayor Hooton are calling for is something to ensure that infill properties, or renovations to existing buildings, take the surrounding neighbourhood into account. Leinster Court fails miserably on this point.
Design guidelines must be neighbourhood specific, and are more about scope and style then actual design or building materials. Ensuring a streetscape is kept in tact is far more important then ensuring vinyl siding is not used. In fact, i would suggest vinyl siding would be more then acceptable in most neighborhoods. In addition, most people interested in Design guidelines, and even heritage preservation, would argue that developing a building in 2006 to look like it was designed in 1878 would result in a building that would standout nearly as much as one that had no design at all.
Design Guidelines are about ensuring the consistency of a size and style of building, and developing in such a way that new and old buildings seamlessly exist in a neighbouhood. A perfect example of this are the town houses being developed on Sydney Street. These buildings will fit the street, much the same as those on the corner of Carmarthen and Princess, and will blend seamlessly into the existing streetscape.
This brings us to Leinster Court. A site that needs developing and a purpose (mixed affordable and market rate apartments) that is in high demand with needs so great that the actual mix (50-50) should be reconsidered. The design, however, has missed on all fronts. Leinster Court is not an ugly building. In fact, I fully agree with the developer that it is a high quality design. It just isn't designed for this location or neighborhood.
Given the buildings in the existing neighbourhood, what is appropriate is a design that appears, at least externally, to be a series of smaller buildings, even if the intererior was connected as one large building. In addition, the height of the building is incapatible with this neighbourhood. A two and a half to three storey design would fit in to the streetscape.
Finally, the setback should be fully removed, with the building butting up to the sidewalk, and the parking lot/courtyard should be moved to the back of the building, compatible with other buildings in the uptown.
The design of the building, which the designer describes as using characteristics of other heritage building, should be more contempory. The facade could be brick, as proposed, or even wood siding, if it was cheaper, and it would fit well with the neighbourhood, but the "curved" characteristics are not required and cause the building to stand out rather then blend with the street.
Neighbours are opposed only to the size and design of the building (which, coincidentally, does not meet any existing zone that would allow it to be built without significant variances). No one is opposed to the development itself.
I have read your blog and agree with many of the points you make, but I do disagree with your concerns on Design Guidelines and your suggestion that Leinster Court represents a sound example of good design. I look forward to continuing to follow your blog.
I'm excited to see your comment, as my topics don't draw much attention.
I am going to think on what you had to say.
One point I'll make now though is in regard to zoning. While the building had to receive special allowances related to size and other zoning considerations, I often question the relevance of our zoning law that has been amended so many times over the last decades. I think at some point we need to revisit the zoning bylaw as a whole.
# posted by PersonPlaceorThing : 1:32 AM, November 03, 2006
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