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Chilliwack Council – Paisley House Still Standing For Now, City Financial Plan Passes

Chilliwack – The Paisley House on Wellington won’t be torn down anytime soon. However, the writing is on the wall.

At the Tuesday Evening Public Council meeting, in a 3-2 vote, Mayor Popove, Councilor Lum and Shields in favour of third reading for the zoning of a 4 storey apartment building, on the site of Paisley House on Wellington. Council Kloot and Mercer voted against the motion. Councilor Attrill and Westeringh were not in attendance.

OTG Developments will be able to move to the next phase which is the Development permit process and eventually the design process, while still looking for a solution for Paisley House. The offer still stands that OTG will try to assist a new owner to take the house of their hands and a new owner would spend at least $48-54K to move the home to another site.NOTE the timeline to come. It will take at least another 4-6 months to go through the development permit process, followed by the design approval with the City. After that, a year’s worth of construction. There is still time for ol’ Paisley, but the grains of sand are running through the hourglass.d

If that fails, parts of the home could be folded into the new development, much to the chagrin of those with Heritage Chilliwack and other interested parties that want to preserve the home. Salvaging pieces of Paisley House were in the heated discussion. OTG currently has an on site handyman living in the home and doing basic maintenance. Concern was brought up over salvaging material that in the worst case scenario, would go to the dump. recycler or perhaps Habitat for Humanities

OTG could have demolished the building when this process first started, however Ryan Anderson with OTG said their company would like to hold off on the wrecking ball as long as possible.

Head of City Engineering David Blain noted that there are no bylaws to salvage anything from this home that currently does not have Heritage status. Parking and traffic issues were also brought up.

The 125 year old house is not doomed at present, but unless someone steps up to the plate with the financial and physical resources to move the home to another site, the building’s future looks bleak.

FVN has reached out to Heritage Chilliwack for further comment.

The discussion from City Council can be found here. Look through the Video archives for January 22, 2019 – 7PM.

The 2019 City Financial Plan was a smoother ride for Council as it passed with little controversy. The property tax rate will rise to 3.43% with plenty of discussion on funding for new cycling routes, in particular a north-south route either on Broadway or Mary.

The agenda for the entire day , both afternoon and evening sessions can be found here.

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