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‘Heritage wall’ stays put

There’s no question that the short beige wall on the south side of Kevin Crawford’s driveway sticks out like a sore thumb.
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Kevin Crawford’s request to remove this small segment of heritage wall from his property was denied by Saanich council.

There’s no question that the short beige wall on the south side of Kevin Crawford’s driveway sticks out like a sore thumb.

The three-metre-long, curved concrete wall sits essentially in the middle of his lawn, fencing nothing in. There’s a much longer identical-looking fence that runs some 50 metres north of the driveway, though – and council feels the two walls need to stay together.

The entire wall was years ago designated a heritage structure by the property owners at 3921 Blenkinsop Rd.

But the property was subdivided in 2010, and Crawford, who now lives in a new house at 3919 Blenkinsop, has a hard time manoeuvring his vehicle into the shared driveway with the small, standalone wall in the way.

Crawford successfully convinced the Saanich heritage foundation to support the removal of the wall, but Saanich councillors overruled that decision last Monday night (July 23).

“When we put covenants on, I like to think twice before we put them on, and we should think twice when we take them off. We need to balance reasonableness and common sense,” said Coun. Leif Wergeland, who was one of three councillors who supported removing the wall.

“I’m not persuaded that there’s a big enough issue here for this wall to be taken down just for a larger truck to get in,” Coun. Judy Brownoff said.

The mayor and council voted 6-3 to keep the wall erect, but supported the notion of moving the wall, rather than demolishing it.

Crawford said the finances and logistics of moving it aren’t worth it, as that one segment of wall is an estimated 5,000 pounds of concrete.

kslavin@saanichnews.com