What The Carpet Palace owner George Kanichis has described as a “stressful rollercoaster ride to get to this point” is slowly coming to an end.
Kanichis and partner Steve Klintsaris have been stymied in their bid for a new building to replace their aging structure on the southwest corner of Guelph St. at Adamson St. in Norval for the past four years.
Monday night, Halton Hills council made a series of decisions— full of compromises— that made The Carpet Palace owners happy but left Norval Community Association president Kathy Gastle with some uncertainty.
In an unanimous decision council voted:
• To not designate the 150-year-old building, where Anne of Green Gables author Lucy Maud Montgomery, who lived in the village for nine years in the 1930s, used to post her manuscripts.
• To direct staff to negotiate with The Carpet Palace owners to “deconstruct” the old building, so that historic pieces such as the timbers could be salvaged by those who want them
• To direct staff to work with the store owners to erect the new building on its existing footprint, with some minor adjustments, in order to support the intent of the Norval Secondary Plan. (The Carpet Palace had to move the building to the back of the lot to accommodate Halton Region’s plans for a northbound left turn lane on Adamson St. and a daylight traffic triangle). The Norval Secondary Plan, however, calls for buildings at that intersection to be closer to the street and corner.
• To amend the Heritage Halton Hills (HHH) bylaw to clarify that it is an advisory committee only— it will not longer hear public delegations, leaving that to the political bodies such as council.
• To change the heritage process related to demolition applications so that it refers to a complete Heritage Registry of properties— and is not based on the recommendation of one delegated HHH person, such as was the case with The Carpet Palace. Staff will come back at a future meeting with a report on how to change this process.
Kanichis said Tuesday the decision by the council was “great” and he was pleased that “after all the grief and money we’ve spent so far”, the town elders were sympathetic to the business’ position not to designate the building.
Kanichis could not understand the community’s determination in designating the building, saying in the all the years The Carpet Palace has been at that location, no one has stopped in and asked, “Is this where Lucy Maud Montgomery mailed her letters.”
“There’s nothing stopping us now,” he said optimistically.
Kanichis said Tuesday the decision by the council was “great” and he was pleased that “after all the grief and money we’ve spent so far”, the town elders were sympathetic to the business’ position not to designate the building.
Kanichis could not understand the community’s determination in designating the building, saying in the all the years The Carpet Palace has been at that location, no one has stopped in and asked, “Is this where Lucy Maud Montgomery mailed her letters?”
“There’s nothing stopping us now,” he said optimistically.
Kanichis said the duo is willing to work with Town staff to reach a compromise on the remaining issues, before the scheduled August 28 Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hearing. The Carpet Palace owners had appealed the Town’s Committee of Adjustment decision to deny variances to allow the building to be moved to the back of the lot. However, Kanichis said he would consult his lawyer before the duo consider withdrawing their OMB appeal as they were urged by members of council Monday night.
It was also a night of small victories for the residents of Norval including members of the Norval Community Association and Women’s Institute.
All along these groups stated the clauses within the Norval Secondary Plan were being ignored and feared the impact on the village if the road improvements happened.
Council recognized the Secondary Plan by requesting The Carpet Palace keep to the current footprint with minor modifications to deal with the ongoing safety issues for truck traffic, and by requesting Halton Region adhere to the Plan when planning traffic improvements on Adamson St. and at the Guelph St./Adamson St. intersection.
Council also informally directed staff to come back with a report on the potential costs of downloading Adamson St. (a regional road) to the Town. The NCA had urged that the street become a Town road to better preserve the village character.
While council refused to designate the building, and to not send the matter back to Heritage Halton Hills for a third look, council did wean a public commitment from Kanichis at Monday’s meeting, to negotiate on the design of the building to more reflect the Norval village character and to consider deconstruction instead of demolition, which would allow the salvage of heritage elements in the building for interested community members.
But Gastle said Wednesday there is “still a whole lot of uncertainty”— as risk lingers if The Carpet Palace owners don’t agree to change the new building’s location yet again— back to the existing footprint or implement design changes. As well, Gastle was unclear what deconstruction meant.
The NCA has retained its lawyer to participate in the August 28 OMB hearing. However, Gastle said the NCA is “looking for a positive outcome” on the staff negotiations with The Carpet Palace so that everyone would be spared the expense of going to the OMB.
Gastle noted the staff report admitted errors in the HHH’s handling of the designation question, and she felt that decision should have been sent back there again for another evaluation— but handled in a different manner than it was (a sole evaluator).
In its last decision on the matter Monday, council directed Chief Administrative Officer Dennis Perlin to hire a lawyer and planning staff to defend the Committee of Adjustment decision at the OMB. The Town’s own staff cannot defend the Committee’s decision as they supported The Carpet Palace’s request for the variances.
However, council was reluctant to vote on this for fear it would colour negotiations with The Carpet Palace, but Perlin said he needed the six weeks to find a lawyer and planning staff.
The OMB, if it goes ahead, will be held 10 a.m. at the Civic Centre.

(Cynthia Gamble can be reached at
cgamble@independentfreepress.com)