Mitchel Mansion
The Mitchell Mansion
The owners of the Mitchell Mansion requested for a permit from the Halifax city council to demolish the mansion and make a high rise development on the land. A citizens’ group is formed in the neighbourhood to try to interfere and save the mansion because they feel it has great historical value.
A development of this nature would bring more business to the area so there are economical advantages to allowing for such a project to proceed. Also, as owners of the property, they have the right to do whatever they want with it as long as it is within the bylaws of the city.
It is very costly to maintain an old estate as the Mitchell Mansion and it’s not very beneficial to the neighbourhood other than its historical value. City hall issues a permit for the owner to demolish the mansion considering the advantages of the development plans for high rise buildings. Although there was opposition from the city initially and a citizens group, the owners of the Mitchell property also gathered support for their development plans and rezoning to allow high rise buildings. If we kept every house because of “historical value” then we probably wouldn’t have half of the businesses or schools we have today.
Trying to come up with a logical solution for such a problem we have to consider that even within a democracy, where everyone’s rights are protected, opposing groups have to work together, for the benefit of the community. In this case, the owner of the estate and the developer have rights over their property but they must develop it respecting the city council building laws and codes as well as looking to improve the community as a whole, not just for pure
The owners of the Mitchell Mansion requested for a permit from the Halifax city council to demolish the mansion and make a high rise development on the land. A citizens’ group is formed in the neighbourhood to try to interfere and save the mansion because they feel it has great historical value.
A development of this nature would bring more business to the area so there are economical advantages to allowing for such a project to proceed. Also, as owners of the property, they have the right to do whatever they want with it as long as it is within the bylaws of the city.
It is very costly to maintain an old estate as the Mitchell Mansion and it’s not very beneficial to the neighbourhood other than its historical value. City hall issues a permit for the owner to demolish the mansion considering the advantages of the development plans for high rise buildings. Although there was opposition from the city initially and a citizens group, the owners of the Mitchell property also gathered support for their development plans and rezoning to allow high rise buildings. If we kept every house because of “historical value” then we probably wouldn’t have half of the businesses or schools we have today.
Trying to come up with a logical solution for such a problem we have to consider that even within a democracy, where everyone’s rights are protected, opposing groups have to work together, for the benefit of the community. In this case, the owner of the estate and the developer have rights over their property but they must develop it respecting the city council building laws and codes as well as looking to improve the community as a whole, not just for pure