Municipal: Maple Ridge holds off on backyard chickens. 10
Edu Education: From river mud to clean electricity. 3
Sports: West Coast teams up for B.C. titles. 33 Friday, April 24, 2015 · mapleridgenews.com · est. 1978 · (office) 604-467-1122 · (del iver y) 60 4- 4 66 - 63 97
Council cool on riverfront modulars Didn’t even want to listen to applicant By Phil M elnyc h u k pmelnychuk@mapleridgnews.com
A proposal to build modular homes along the South Alouette River was back on Monday, with some modifications. But Maple Ridge council didn’t want to hear about it. Four property owners want to build the homes on five properties at 240th Street and 124th Avenue and first made their proposal last September. While the application was rejected last year by staff, council of the day asked the developers to revise the proposal, and come up with ideas for creating parks, in return for allowing high densities in a rural area. See Riverfront, 5
Tim Fitzgerald/THE NEWS
My home The Maple Ridge public art steering committee sponsored a sidewalk poetry contest as part of the city’s 140th anniversary. See story, 13.
Shopping proposal would ‘hurt core’ City staff want to tone down commercial part By Phil M elnyc h u k pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com
Plans for a housing project on a large chunk of property owned by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure at the eastern entrance to downtown Maple Ridge have too much shopping space, according to city staff. Qualico Developments made the
application for 285 housing units, including detached homes, townhomes and rowhomes, on the property straddling Lougheed Highway. An April 20 report says the residential portion fits with long-term plans, but the 38,750-sq. feet proposed for shopping, including a grocery store similar in size to Cooper’s Foods on 240th Street, would threaten the economic viability of the town centre and should be reduced. The commercial portion proposed for Lougheed Highway, “could be a
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threat to the growth, momentum and well-being of the town centre area,” the report says. “Success of the commercial centre on the subject site could be at the expense of town centre sustainability,” it notes. The property, which totals 45 acres between the Haney Bypass and highway, is listed in the Commercial and Industrial Strategy as a possible site for a business park, or for a postsecondary institute. But a consultant’s report says the area isn’t suitable for industrial use
because of slopes and ravines in the area and because parcel sizes are too small, while commercial use is incompatible with the homes to the west. G.P. Rollo and Associates, another consultant often used by the city, supports that conclusion. Building 38,750 sq. feet of commercial space would be almost four times the amount of area allowed under the official community plan. Instead, staff offer up options for developing the site. The proposal could be reworked to remove the shopping centre and
have only residential; or a smaller portion of either 10,000 sq. feet or 20,000 sq. feet could be allotted for shopping, the former in accordance with the official community plan, the latter requiring a plan amendment. Or the entire property could be considered for business park use. If council decides to accept the proposal as is, it could order a report to study the impact of commercial development on the downtown, Albion flats or other commercial areas. See Bypass, 14
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