'Abominable infill': Old North neighbours frustrated by approved massive home
CBC
In the spring of 2022, Elizabeth Smith and her neighbour Lise Blokker came to city hall with a concern.
The two seniors, along with a handful of their neighbours in London's Old North neighbourhood, were worried about a new house proposed to be built on the lot that lies between their houses.
The current owners had bought the house at 65 Victoria St. in 2015 for $645,000. For a few years it was rented out but then the house was eventually demolished to make way for the new house now under construction.
Like Smith and Blokker's properties, the lot backs onto Gibbons Park in the neighbourhood close to Western University known for its mature trees and single-family homes.
The house taking shape at 65 Victoria St., however, will be much different most of the other houses in Old North.
It's 7,400 square feet in size, spread over three levels, and includes a walk-out basement. Plans submitted to the city show seven bathrooms, six bedrooms and parking for six vehicles, including four underground parking spaces. It's the kind of single-family residence some would refer to as a "monster home," though Blokker has another term for it.
"We call in an indomitable infill," she said. "It's totally overshadowing everything else. This is an extraordinarily big footprint for a single-family dwelling."
The house's roof line will be about 15 feet above Smith and Blokker's houses. A balcony on the house's second floor will tower above Smith's rear balcony, reducing her privacy.
"We're concerned about the size of the house, the runoff, whether the hill is stable," said Smith, who said a number of trees on the lot have also been removed to make way for the house.
Blokker has lived on the street since 1981, Smith since 1960.
To get approval for the build, the house's owners had to get the city's committee of adjustment to approve increasing the allowable maximum floor area on the property from just over 4,000 square feet to 7,400.
CBC News reached out to the house's owner for comment but did not receive a reply on Friday.
Blokker, Smith and other neighbours on the street went to the committee of adjustment hearing in April 2022 to oppose the owner's application.
They didn't win, and were left frustrated with the process.
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