Porch Predicament: Should Vinyl Replace Wood?

Recently an Old South home owner replaced an older front porch with new vinyl railings and posts. The reason? The original porch on the 1893 cottage at left was unsafe and the contractor recommended replacement. Unfortunately, the homeowner didn't get a heritage alteration permit before work began and he ran into trouble with the City of London.

Now, homeowners should do a little thinking before starting renovations. Like, "Hmm ... I live in an older neighbourhood. Could it be a Heritage Conservation District? Maybe I'd better find that out." In this case, the home is in the Wortley Village - Old South HCD. And there are guidelines in an HCD that are meant to preserve the neighbourhood's historic look. Bylaws are bylaws. The homeowner - and his contractor - should have known about them. Or done some research. 

The city originally offered a compromise, telling the owner he could just cap the posts in wood and replace the vinyl railings and spindles with wood and he could have his permit retroactively. To be fair, that sounds like most of the porch, and the homeowner had already spent a pile of money. So, after a bit more wrangling, City Council decided the owner could keep his new porch. 

Wood can last a long time if properly maintained. But if you're a new home owner, you may get to deal with the last owner's lack of maintenance. You may hope to repair a porch but you learn it has to be replaced. So now what? Well, you can try to replace it in wood. Problem: it's getting difficult and expensive to replace wood with wood. New wood products don't match the quality of the old growth timber our ancestors had access to back in the 1800s. 

Vinyl may last a long time, depending on what you read. And it can look a lot like wood, depending on what you buy. In this case above, the vinyl product has been made to match the original look. Not all new porches on older homes do that, as these examples from my own neighbourhood (not an HCD) indicate:

Preserving our heritage is rarely a black and white situation. There are many shades of grey in between. In the Old South case, I'm OK with the look of the vinyl porch. It would certainly fool anyone into thinking it's wood from a distance. Heck, if vinyl can be made to look like original materials, it could be an ideal replacement solution for decaying porches. Maybe the city could even encourage this.

A bigger problem is replacement windows, most of which don't look like the originals:  

But, ultimately, I want building owners to work with the city and obey its bylaws. Yes, rules can be expensive but cost should be an expected part of buying an older home, especially in a neighbourhood with character. HCDs are an important way to ensure neighbourhoods don't lose their historic charm. 

The question now is, has the city set a precedent? Will other property owners think they can pick and choose what rules they'd like to follow? And get away with it?