A 6,780-square-foot home just above the Battery will be up for final approval by St. John’s city council on Monday, with concerns from council, residents and heritage experts all being considered.
The home was proposed by Craig and Lisa Dobbin in May, though design work by Philip Pratt — the designer of The Rooms — began more than two years ago.
City staff have recommended the project be approved, but the Newfoundland and Labrador Historic Trust issued a letter to council asking that the project be rejected, based on heritage concerns in the area. The N.L. Historic Trust raised concerns about the size of the home and concerns about obstructing neighbours’ view.
The proposed house sits in Heritage Area 3, hence the concerns of heritage advocates.
On Wednesday, council voted to reject a proposal from the Built Heritage Experts Panel, which called for the proposal to go back to the drawing board, in some regards. Council voted unanimously to reject the expert panel’s proposal, which asked for a full-scale mock-up of the building to be built before the project was approved, among other “onerous recommendations,” according to council development lead Coun. Maggie Burton.
Burton says council didn’t want to set back the developer, as work has been going on for so long.
“I didn’t want to approve the report as written. I thought the best outcome was to delay, giving the proponents and councillors a chance to think about the proposal and see if the concerns of the heritage experts panel could be addressed in some way,” Burton said.
Burton moved for deferral twice at Wednesday’s committee of the whole meeting. Both deferral motions were defeated.
Council will either approve, reject or defer the project on Monday.
“Council has no legislative authority to reject an application on subjective design, as such,” Burton said. “When we look at an application we have to consider what’s in our development regulations. I’m keeping an open mind here, keeping in mind all aspects such as the Built Heritage Experts Panel and Historic Trust.”
The proponents have said they are willing to work with council to alter their proposal to ensure heritage guidelines are fully met when construction begins.
The Dobbins purchased three homes in the area that will have to be demolished for the home to be built. An application for Crown land in the area is still awaiting approval.
In 2004, a team of architects, including Philip Pratt, wrote a Battery Development Guideline Study about the area. The report notes that homes at 180, 182 and 184 Signal Hill Road — which are slated to be demolished upon the project’s approval — were very restricted in how they could change.
Pratt says the guideline report was never adopted by council, but even if it was, a land use assessment process was conducted and submitted to council that he hopes will help the project proceed.
He says the house isn’t actually bigger than the combined square footage of the homes it will replace, so he’s hopeful the project will be approved.
“We really feel it’s a good project for the Battery. We think it’ll be good for everyone, but not everyone agrees, of course,” Pratt said.
“In terms of interesting design, it’s right up there in the top two or three. It’s a one-of-a-kind site.”
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