Heritage society members huddled around an antique iPod, firing off 45,585 word emails

I have stumbled across more real-life EsNoWriMo gold. Actually it was Scott.

In every small town romance that my main character Serena creates, she builds a new house to give to the happy new couple. In this story, she is building a house on William St, a real life street in Stratford with a historic designation. There is a real new house being built on an old lot there, which was the inspiration for this part of my novel; and includes what I thought was manufactured opposition by the Heritage Society. What I did not know was that there is a real life controversy about this new house being built. Scott sent me a treasure trove of public record complaint emails from neighbours, sent to City Counsel, trying to get them to sue their own planning committee for variances they had allowed in this new property. Those emails only required very light editing, and a few hilarious additions by me to make perfect sense in my novel. Because of this find, I was able to write almost 4,000 words today, laughing uproariously the entire time.

It's a longer excerpt today tried to not include any emails, but then the excerpt made no sense. So you will find one email, added for context.

~~~

July 22, 7:52 AM

From: christine.fleming@yahoo.ca

To: planningcommittee@cityofstratford.ca

Subject: Comments/concerns and a request

In general, I am very concerned about allowing a sideyard setback variance on William street. Being so close to the river provides a unique opportunity in the town of Stratford. Access and enjoyment of the River and all of the nature surrounding it should be enhanced by opening it up and the building surrounding it should comply with regulations to protect the heritage nature of it for the continued growth and prosperity of the town. We should welcome people to enjoy the water. If y’all building are allowed to be raised around it then we begin to seal in the access to the water. We should assure that the sight lines for folks not be obscured as much as possible.

Part of the charm of William street is the heritage buildings that exist. Most properties do not have garages. This is by historical design and the integrity of it should be preserved otherwise why call it a heritage street?  Most properties have a strip of clear view of the lake between them. People walking in the street and enjoying the town can see the lake by glancing between the houses. While I recognize that just behind our majestic homes is a well maintained path owned by the city that is immediately adjacent to the river and provides completely unobstructed views, the huddled masses are simply unable to be this close to the beauty of our Avon River; it’s too much for them to handle! William street, with it’s historic mansions and quick glimpses of the river between them, provides a unique opportunity for commoners to see the river in a safer fashion.

The width of the proposed dwelling together with the proposed adjustment to the set back for the garage will create an almost total blockage to view the lake from the street. It will appear as a wall of structure stretching from one end of the property to the other!  Blocking all view, which is not how most of the rest of the street is. The set back must be upheld for functional and practical reasons of maintenance, grading and drainage but also to stay in line with the houses historical significance on the south side of William street. 

We strongly insist that you work with the Stratford Heritage Society to ensure that this building complies with the historical nature of the neighbourhood, and we can keep that past alive.

Thank you,

Christine

Sent from my iPod

There were about 10 more emails, all very similar to this. And all ending with the exact same sentence. All opposed the garage. Many referred to the home as a McMansion or a Monster home. Many referred to a non-existent CTV news article that included pictures of the property and the plans which had been submitted to the Stratford Development Committee for approval. 

While I had not been involved in every detail of the planning, I knew that no exception had been granted for our house. We were in compliance with all existing building codes, and we had not applied for any variances. I was familiar with the street, and walked down it many times over the past few months. At least 50% of the homes had garages. Many of the homes were extremely close to each other, completely obstructing views of the river. There were houses representing the architectural trends of every decade from the late 1800s to the present. It is a beautiful street, to be sure, but to suggest that people visit Stratford just to walk down a street and look at the river between their homes is nonsense.

I looked at the time stamp of the emails, and noticed that they were all sent on the same day and very close to the same time. I pictured all of these neighbours, gathered in the living room of the house on the adjacent lot to ours, huddled around their iPads and iPhones and an antique iPod, setting aside their relentless RRSP balance-checking to fire off emails to city counsel. Perhaps wearing capri pants with chambray shirts. Perhaps drinking lattes with fancy latte art. Perhaps listening to Celine Dion to get pumped up. With Agatha as the leader of the band. Agatha had succeeded where many had failed. She had radicalized a group that many had thought would be impossible to radicalize. The wealthy, white Boomer. I shuddered.

(Pictured above, Baby Boomer Santa)