Rockcliffe Park resident uses Instagram to shame ‘dilapidated’ ambassadors’ residences

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Rockcliffe Park residents say they’re increasingly concerned about the dilapidated state of at least eight ambassadors’ residences and foreign missions, some of which have sat empty and neglected for years.

Four of the properties have been on the City of Ottawa’s heritage watch list – a compilation of designated heritage buildings that are vacant or “at risk.” Those properties belong to the foreign embassies of Uganda, Iraq, Bulgaria and Ivory Coast.

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“In what other G7 capital would this be tolerated?” asked David Henderson, a Rockcliffe resident who has launched an Instagram page to catalogue what he calls “the state of shame.” The page also features pictures of properties owned by Burundi, Nigeria, Benin and Iran.

Henderson, who grew up in Rockcliffe and returned a few years ago to assist his aging mother, said he was upset to see the condition of some of the properties.

“It’s not just one or two residences: it’s a lot,” he said. “I find it deeply troubling. People can get used to anything, good and bad, but I think there’s a contagion of decrepitude.”

The Rockcliffe Park Residents Association shares some of Henderson’s concern about the properties – and the damage being done to the heritage value of others, such as the home at 235 Mariposa Avenue.

The property, owned by the High Commissioner of Uganda, had been on the city’s heritage watch list since 2018.

Properties on the watch list are inspected twice a year by city officials, who can issue work orders under the property standards bylaw.

The two-and-a-half storey, stucco-clad house, built in the 1950s, was demolished in October 2023 without the appropriate permits – a violation of both the Ontario Heritage Act and the Ontario Building Code Act.

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The city received a letter from the Uganda High Commissioner that acknowledged the mistake and committed to working with city staff to “move towards compliance.”

Uganda’s high commission did not return a request for comment.

While the city launched an enforcement action against the offending contractor under the building code, it also approved the owners’ application for the construction of a new residence on the same site with an increased mass and height.

In a letter to the city, the Rockcliffe Park Residents Association said the illegal demolition shocked the community and was “an unacceptable affront to the heritage of our city.”

“There has to be consequences beyond fines,” the association argued. “To approve this design contributes to the impunity of the applicant’s actions.”

Scott Heatherington, president of the Rockcliffe Park Residents Association, said the neighbourhood plays host to more than 60 ambassadors and foreign missions. The vast majority of their properties are well-maintained, he said, and many are thoughtful guardians of some of Rockcliffe’s most historic homes.

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Norway, for instance, has since 1949 carefully maintained Rockcliffe’s oldest surviving residence: Crichton Lodge on Lisgar Road, built in the 1880s.

“In general, it’s a very positive situation,” Heatherington said. “However, some of the neighbours have noticed some properties in disrepair, and raised concerns about demolition by neglect.”

The association has encouraged residents to report such issues to the City of Ottawa.

“We’re not here to harass people,” Heatherington said. “We just want them to be respectful of their neighbours and look after the properties.”

Last month, the federal government declared Rockcliffe Park a national historic site. The designation covers the old village of Rockcliffe Park and encompasses about 785 homes on 440 acres of land.

Rockcliffe Park was designated a heritage conservation district under the Ontario Heritage Act in 1997. The accompanying Rockcliffe Park Heritage Plan imposes restrictions on homeowners, and requires them to obtain city approval to demolish a house, change its exterior, sever a property, build a new house, or add new outbuildings.

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Demolition of houses with high heritage value is only permitted “in extraordinary circumstances such as fire or natural disaster.”

Henderson and others contend that some property owners are using purposeful neglect to circumvent those rules.

Earlier this year, a privately owned, 100-year-old heritage home on Maple Lane across from Rideau Hall was demolished after engineers concluded that years of neglect meant it could not be salvaged due to mould and water damage. The home at 1 Maple Lane sat vacant for years before it was demolished.

A new duplex has been approved for the site.

In an interview, Rideau-Rockcliffe Coun. Rawlson King, chair of the city’s built heritage committee, calls demolition by neglect “a continuing challenge.”

“It’s one of my main concerns for that neighbourhood,” he said. “We don’t want wonderful, historic properties falling down.”

To be sure, he said, Rockcliffe Park remains a charming and gifted place, but like all neighbourhoods, it has a small number of problematic properties, and the residents’ association is rightfully concerned about their maintenance.

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The city, he said, is committed to battling demolition by neglect and introduced the 2022 vacant property bylaw to forestall such decay. The bylaw requires owners of lots and buildings that have been unoccupied for 120 days to buy a $1,703 vacant property permit.

That money, King said, finances property inspections by two dedicated bylaw officers.

The city cannot compel a landowner to develop a property, but it does have the power to ensure an empty building remains in a good state of repair. If a property owner does not comply with a work order, the city can repair the building and add the cost of the work to the owner’s property tax bill.

“The city is trying to emphasize prevention rather than being reactive,” King said.

The measures apply to embassies and foreign-owned missions, he said, but a different process must be followed when they’re involved, and the city “has to move in concert” with Global Affairs Canada and the city’s Office of Protocol to gain compliance.

King said the city has open files on the eight embassy-owned properties that Henderson has highlighted on his Instagram account. Some of those files have been open for more than a decade.

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“The neighbours are rightfully frustrated because they’re paying very high property taxes as you can imagine there, and their expectation is that the properties next to them will be maintained properly,” King said.

The foreign missions involved, he said, face different challenges, such as domestic politics, international conflict or financial constraints. It means, King said, that getting properties cared for can be a “protracted affair,” especially when foreign governments use bureaucracy as a delay tactic.

“It creates a real issue,” King said. “It’s frustrating for us because it means files remain open for years and years.”

John Babcock, a spokesman for Global Affairs Canada, said foreign states are responsible for ensuring that their lots and buildings meet all municipal standards. It is the duty of foreign states, he said, to respect Canadian laws and regulations.

Although the federal government does not have a mandate to enforce municipal property standards, Babcock said, “we strongly support the efforts of municipalities to work with foreign states in the event there are unkempt properties or any instances of non-compliance.”  

Benin’s embassy residence at 488 Acacia Avenue.

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