A Maillardville house may soon be the third home in Coquitlam with a heritage designation stamp.
On Monday, city council granted first reading to Pattison Architecture for a Heritage Revitalization Agreement (HRA) to update Maison Velay, located at 1313 Cartier Ave. in Laval Square - the city's oldest neighbourhood.
Two other Laval Square homes - one on Cartier Avenue, the other on Begin Street - have HRA designations, as does Our Lady of Lourdes Church, also in Laval Square.
According to a heritage conservation plan by Pattison, Paul Joseph Velay, a native of France, was a longtime Maillardville resident and the first private owner of Maison Velay, which was built as a rental home in 1910 by Canadian Western Lumber Co. Ltd. for its Fraser Mills and other forestry workers of francophone descent.
Velay arrived in Maillardville in 1911 with the second contingent of French-Canadian workers and bought the home (which he had previously rented with his wife, Marie Lucie, and their two children, Charlie and Paulette) in 1943.
The two-storey, wood-framed house has many of its original features still intact.
Jim McIntyre, Coquitlam's general manager of planning and development, told council the company is "sincere about retaining the heritage" value of the home, which is slated to be restored and raised 11 inches. In total, the home - as well as two new buildings on the lot - will have five townhouses and secondary suite.
Coun. Brent Asmundson said the eight parking spots for the new multi-family development won't be enough, and residents and their visitors will be forced to park on the street.
The HRA application is expected to go to public hearing on Oct. 22.
