Philippe Aubert says a new house to be built at 310 Côte St. Antoine would destroy the view from his home next door and the demolition process would have consequences on the health of his wife and himself.

Westmount's demolition committee, which began hearing the case three years ago, had previously rejected a demolition permit application from Yuri Arutyunov, when an initial design for the new house failed to meet Westmount's exacting architectural standards.

But now, with the help of new architect Adam Borowczyk, Arutyunov has submitted substantially revised plans — including a number of concessions to neighbours' demands — and the City gave the go-ahead last week.

During the hearing, a resident of Arlington Avenue, just around the corner from the site, asked "why a perfectly good house … you should allow it to be torn down … To me the people who are moving in know nothing about the neighbourhood."

Borowczyk later commented, "I must say I'm a little bit surprised with all these comments about newcomers. There is some kind of concept that if somebody is 10 or 20 or 30 years on the street that somehow he has more rights than the guy who is a newcomer. It's very un-Canadian, I think, because we are all somehow newcomers …

"It's very unpleasant,” Borowczyk continued. “It seems to say, 'I know, he's a newcomer, we don't know where he's coming from' … Comments about how come he has money and maybe he doesn't have money."

After being interrupted by Mayor Karin Marks, who said, "Can I suggest we get to the point?" Borowczyk added, "These comments have nothing to do with architecture, I agree."

Borowczyk argued that the original house on the lot, a 1960s-era contractor-grade bungalow, would have been very difficult to preserve because too many alterations would have been necessary.

"A house like that has to be practically demolished once you remove the roof," he said.

"The zoning in Westmount is such that once we touch more than 50 per cent of the building envelope it's considered a demolition." Borowczyk also claimed that the new house wouldn't be occupying substantially more room than its predecessor. "It's not a really dramatic increase in footprint," he said, adding that its coverage is well below the maximum allowed. He also insisted it wouldn't substantially block the neighbour's view.