Dear Editor:
Good news for Urban Academy is bad news for the neighbourhood. As you are aware, Urban Academy has a proposed expansion at their current site, 101 Third St., New Westminster. Their vision is to almost triple their school population to 400-plus students. They are to be congratulated for their vision and current success.
But their good news, is bad news for the neighbourhood for the following reasons that all stem from that well-known phrase: “Location, Location, Location.” The “bad news” for the neighbourhood involves the following issues:
1. Safety: the increased volume of traffic as children are dropped off and picked up in a residential area that is already on the route for children of the newly built Qayqayt Elementary School will decrease the safety of all involved. Qayqayt parents are already calling the dropoff/pickup chaos there “zoo central.” Do we want to replicate that chaos two blocks away?
2. Parking: even though the proposed redevelopment includes the provision of an additional 20 parking spaces, the proposed expansion will exacerbate the existing parking problems in what is still a residential neighbourhood.
3. Zoning: a simple walk from the current Urban Academy site across “low traffic” Royal Avenue to the new Qayqayt Elementary School very quickly illustrates the difference in site areas. The current B.C. Ministry of Education area standards (www.bced.gov.bc.ca/capitalplanning/resources/areast
andards.pdf, p. 32) recommends a site area of 2.5 to 2.8 hectares (25,000 to 28,000 metres squared) for a school with a nominal capacity of 400 to 450 students. Theconsolidated property in the Urban Academy proposal is 3,341 metres squared (from Committee of the Whole Council Agenda, June 23, p. 56) This is eight times smaller than the B.C. Ministry of Education Area Standards. Even though we need to be flexible, council should ensure that standards for private school facilities should be similar to those of public school facilities.
4. Affordable housing: Urban Academy has already purchased the eight-unit apartment building at 228 Manitoba St. There is real risk that the affordable housing and long-term community enjoyed by those residents will be displaced/eliminated. This is not in keeping with the spirit of the city’s affordable housing initiative.
5. Heritage: the proposed, creative architectural plan wraps the current heritage building inside a modern school envelope and degrades the heritage value of the existing site. Is this in keeping with the intention of the Heritage Revitalization Agreement initiative?
Good news for Urban Academy is indeed bad news for the neighbourhood. I hope the city can work with Urban Academy to enable them to achieve their vision in the right location.
Mark Fox, New Westminster
