Construction of an affordable housing project in downtown New Westminster is getting underway.
The City of New Westminster and the Community Living Housing Society recently broke ground at 43 Hasting St., where an affordable housing project is being constructed. The society was the successful proponent of the project, after the city released a request for proposals for innovative housing projects at two city-owned sites, including the downtown site.
“The start of the 43 Hastings St. project is a major milestone in the city’s commitment to housing affordability,” said Mayor Jonathan Cote. “We’re thrilled to have CLHS on board and look forward to the development of this project to help address housing challenges that many in our city face.”
The Community Living Housing Society, with support from the provincial government, will own and operate the development that will include three fully accessible one-bedroom units for people with developmental disabilities, rented at income-assistance shelter rate, and three below-market rental three-bedroom townhouses.
“CLHS is excited to undertake this innovative housing project with the support of the Community Living Society, the City of New Westminster, B.C. Housing and Vancity,” said Ross Chilton, chief executive officer of the Community Living Society and the Community Living Housing Society. “The project is small in scale but will prove to be large in its social impact.”
Fire calls up
Calls to the New Westminster Fire and Rescue Service increased in 2017 when compared to the previous year.
During a presentation about the city’s achievements in 2017, Fire Chief Tim Armstrong said the department saw a 10 per cent increase in call volumes in 2017. He said the department responded to just over 6,000 calls last year.
“Out of those 6,000 calls, 3,200 of them were medical calls,” he recently told city council. “With the opioid crisis in all communities, our crews responded to 31 overdoses, where they resuscitated 29 of the 31.”
Chat about cannabis
A townhall meeting is being held to get public input regarding the retail sale of cannabis in the Royal City.
The city is hosting an open council workshop on Monday, June 18 at 6 p.m. to get public input regarding the future regulatory framework for the sale of cannabis in New Westminster. The sale of cannabis is currently prohibited in New West, but will become legal when the federal Cannabis Act is implemented this summer.
Banquet hall in Boro?
A banquet hall is being proposed in Queensborough.
Council has directed staff to proceed with the rezoning and development permit application concerning a three-storey banquet hall at 1084 Tanaka Crt., which is near Queensborough Landing shopping centre. In addition to the banquet hall, the project would include a four-storey above-ground parkade.
“Staff would work with the applicant regarding the proposed parkade design as well as the form and character of the overall development, with input from the public and the New Westminster design panel,” said a staff report.
Before the project is approved, it will be reviewed by all city departments and the city’s advisory planning commission, and the applicant will hold a public open house. Council is expected to consider the zoning amendment bylaw, which would rezone the site from heavy industrial districts to a comprehensive development district zone, and hold a public hearing in April and consider issuance of a development permit in May or June.
Fleet considers new technology
The City of New Westminster will keep an eye on emerging technologies and industry trends as it replaces vehicles in its fleet.
Staff recently updated city council regarding the city’s use of alternative fuels and electric vehicles. The city’s fleet includes electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles and biodiesel- and propane-fueled vehicles.
“Over the next two years, there are 39 vehicles and motorized equipment scheduled for replacement. The city will continue to monitor and assess emerging technologies and industry trends, and as technology becomes market-ready, will take advantage of these opportunities to transition to a more efficient and low-carbon fleet,” said a staff report.
Focusing on economic development
The City of New Westminster is making headway on a new economic development plan.
Blair Fryer, the city’s manager of communications and economic development, said work on the plan has been underway since 2016. When complete, the plan will guide the city’s economic delveopment initiatives for several years.
“Lots of work has gone into this over the last couple of years. Lots of consultation, lots of outreach and tremendous input from all areas of the business community. We are pleased with the way we have been progressing,” he recently told council. “We look forward to bringing that to council for final adoption later this spring.
Coun. Bill Harper said it will be a “big boon” for the city to get complete the economic development plan.
“At the same time this is going on, in the Intelligent City committee, we are actually looking at upgrading our strategy there. Part of that strategy – it’s quite an inclusive strategy – is an economic development component,” said Harper, who chairs the economic development and Intelligent City committees. “That is to make sure we can attract the best and the brightest kind of industries with the kind of niche that we have as a city. We are not a Surrey, we are not a Burnaby. We don’t have the greenspace in order to develop those wide open light-industrial parks that you find these kind of industries going in, but we do have a niche.”
Mayor Jonathan Cote said the strategy is “really crucial” work for the City of New Westminster and allows the city to focus on providing a strong local economy.
“We all recognize over the past number of decades that some of the more traditional industries that have dominated our local economy have disappeared for a variety of reasons, and have not only left New Westminster but are really leaving the Metro Vancouver area. I think we had to do some soul searching as a community; do we just want to be a residential bedroom community or do we think there is a role to have a strong local economy? I think the decisions we have made over the last number of years have really indicated that this is an important role for New Westminster to have its own local economic base and to make sure that we have jobs in our community.”
A dream come true
New Westminster city council has fulfilled a Brow of the Hill resident’s dream.
Council recently considered an application for a variance for an Ash Street residence so the owners could create a basement suite without providing a second bylaw-compliant parking space on their property. A notice about the application stated that the creation of two bylaw-compliant parking spaces would require demolition of a relatively new single-car garage and the conversion of the backyard greenspace into a two-car parking pad and turn-around area, due to the existing lot shape and location of the house.
Following a Feb. 19 opportunity to be heard, council approved the variance.
“I just wanted to say thanks for the opportunity to be heard. I am fulfilling a lifelong dream renovating this house,” the homeowner told council.
Planning for a disaster
New Westminster is on the hunt for emergency funding from the Union of B.C. Municipalities.
The city has applied for a grant to the UBCM’s community emergency preparedness fund, emergency operation centres and training. Applicants can apply for funds to support the purchase of equipment and supplies required to maintain or improve emergency operations centres and to enhance emergency operations centre’s capacity through training and exercises.
“This came forward through UBCM,” said Fire Chief Tim Armstrong. “It’s a $25,000 grant to the city to enhance our emergency operations centre and also provide training to staff for emergency operations.”
Mural mending
Two murals installed in New Westminster as part of the 2017 Capture Photography Festival will be mended.
Last spring, Matthew Brooks’ The Telephone Salesman was erected on a wall at 350 Columbia St., while James Nizam’s Heliographic Scale was installed at 611 Sixth St. The large-scale installations were intended to be on display for at least a year.
Biliana Velkova, the city’s arts coordinator, recently told council the city is working with the installer and the Capture festival to reinstall the installations.
“When they were installed in April of last year, you will remember we had 61 consecutive days of rain, which is hopefully not going to be the same this year. When they were installed, unfortunately in this wet environment, it wasn’t able to hold,” she said. “So we are learning from our mistakes. We are working with the installer. They are going to be fixing it at no cost to the city.”
As part of this year’s festival, a public art installation will be installed on a chain link fence on the East Columbia Street frontage of Sapperton Park. Council approved up to $20,000 from the city's public art reserve fund to support this year’s project.
Residents’ association concerned about renovictions
The Queen’s Park Residents’ Association doesn’t want to see any more of its friends and neighbours pushed out of the city by renovictions.
Kathleen Langstroth, the residents’ association’s president, appeared before city council to voice concerns about renovictions taking place in the neighbourhood. The group is concerned about the displacement of people who have lived in apartments in the neighbourhood.
“Whether you own or whether you rent in the neighbourhood, they are still very much part of our neighbourhood,” she said.
Although the province is responsible for the Residential Tenancy Act, the residents’ association hopes the city can help in some way so neighbours don’t lose their homes in this manner.
“We fear this might just be the second of several renovictions to happen in our neighbourhood,” Langstroth said. “We are well aware it is happening in other neighbourhoods.”
Making Massey accessible
The City of New Westminster is taking steps to improve the accessibility of Massey Theatre.
The theatre, which opened in 1949, will transfer ownership from the school district to the city in 2020/2021. A staff report states the city has committed to a “renewal of the theatre’s exterior and major internal building systems” at that time.
“Built in an era that did not contemplate universal access and incision, this upcoming renovation provides an opportunity to move the theatre into a more inclusive and engaged relationship with the community,” said the report. “Presently, backstage, the dressing rooms, the balcony and meeting rooms located on the second floor of the building are not fully accessible to those with disabilities.”
Council has approve a staff recommendation that a universal design review and plan be funded as a component of the Massey Theatre renewal project before the building improvements are finalized.
