Hamilton councillors to approve demolition permit for 15 Church St. in Ancaster

Thestar.com
July 11, 2022
Kevin Werner

The two-storey house at 15 Church St. in Ancaster will be demolished to make way for six three-bedroom townhouses.

The July 5 planning committee approved a motion introduced by Ancaster Coun. Lloyd Ferguson to demolition the building that has been abandoned. The Ancaster Village Heritage Committee appealed council’s approval of the development application, arguing it was too intense for the neighbourhood and will create parking and traffic problems.

Ferguson said the Ontario Land Tribunal approved in May a decision that upheld council’s approval in January 2021 of the residential development project for Veloce Luxury Homes.

The owners are in the final preparation to acquire a building permit for the property, along with a site plan, and they need to install outside services, he said. There has also been a problem with people breaking into the building, causing a safety hazard, he said.

Heritage advocates have stated the building is a 200-year-old historical home on the city’s Hamilton Built Heritage Inventory and featured on historicalhamilton.com, but it is not a heritage designated structure.

The building, say heritage officials, was once part of a property that included a 19th century barn, carriage works, and blacksmith’s forge. A woodworking shop on the site was established around 1820.

Meanwhile, the planning committee approved another demolition permit for the buildings at 179, 183 and 187 Wilson St. W.

Councillors approved in January 2020, a three-storey, 88-room retirement home on behalf of the developer Sunrise Senior Living. There are expected to be about 134 residents living at the facility.

Ferguson said the buildings have been a magnet for people to break into and “they could get hurt” and the owners need to install services for the development.

Councillors are scheduled to vote on the recommendations at their July 8 meeting.