A group of Burnaby residents has served a petition to the City of Burnaby voicing opposition to details of the Burnaby Urban Village development boundaries.
Burnaby resident Liliane Mercier and other Government Road-area residents say they are vehemently opposed to the inclusion of "Bainbridge East Area" in the Bainbridge Urban Village focus area developments.
The city plan area boundary survey results in phase one saw a mix of options of the inclusion of the Bainbridge East and Broadway South areas, which now are primarily single-family residential neighbourhoods and green space.
Phase one also showed interest in including city-owned forested lands along Phillips Avenue in the plan area, and more general planning for surrounding public and private lands in a holistic way as part of the Urban Village.
The city said that, based on feedback, phase two would continue to explore and gather input on more specific options on how the plan could include direction for the Broadway South and Bainbridge East areas.
"Government Road Area residents do NOT agree with the proposal to extend the focus area of the Bainbridge Urban Village to include the Bainbridge East Area and maintain that development should be contained within, and limited to, Phase 1 of the focus area boundaries, including schools and parks," the petition started by Mercier states.
But Mercier also said Government Road area residents are generally supportive of the project as a whole within the focus area itself.
"Residents of the Government Road Area are generally supportive of the Bainbridge Urban Village development proposal within the focus area although I can't speak to how residents feel about specific aspects of the development proposals such as building height, density, etc."
Although the petition states 386 signed letters, Mercier told the NOW closer to 400 were being delivered to the city today (Sept. 3) to show what the petition claims is widespread opposition to certain aspects of the proposal.
Upwards of 500 homes were canvassed according to Mercier.
The city agreed that the survey in phase one was broad-reaching and anonymous.
"We are unable to verify if each respondent is truly in the postal code they have indicated," the city said in an email to Mercier.
They also say the majority of respondents said they are from the "northeast Burnaby area" while some of the outreach and notification methods used were wider-reaching.
"Our direct postcard notification mail-outs were concentrated on residents and property owners within and around the Bainbridge neighbourhood," the email continues.
"We feel confident that with over 500 responses to the survey, we are hearing from a good cross-section of voices from within and around the area."
But Mercier, and those included in the petition, disagree with the city's position, saying the information that was collected doesn't represent the area residents accurately.
"The number of signed letters received directly contradicts the Phase 1 survey results and clearly illustrates that there is widespread opposition to the proposal to expand the focus area development boundaries east of Bainbridge.
"We submit that these letters are a more accurate, representative and reliable reflection of the views of Government Road Area residents, since each letter contains a verifiable address.
"The same cannot be said of the Phase 1 Survey Results since, as the Bainbridge Team concedes, 'the survey was broad-reaching and anonymous, [therefore] we are unable to verify if each respondent is truly in the postal code they have indicated.'"
The petition asks that the document and letters be shared with council for information and consideration when the draft community plan is reviewed.
"City planners should undertake to gather verifiable information to ensure that any development proposal they submit to city council for approval is based on accurate, reliable data that is protected from any form of manipulation," Mercier also explained to the NOW.
In the summer of 2020, city council gave staff the go-ahead to begin public consultations on developing urban village plans for the Bainbridge and Lochdale areas – the former located around the Sperling SkyTrain station and the latter at the east end of Hastings Street.
Assistant director of current planning Jesse Dill said in August 2020 that the intention was to increase the city’s housing stock beyond the four town centres, where plans call for high-density developments – namely high- and mid-rise apartment buildings.
In the urban villages, developments would lean more on gentle density, a term for row housing, low-rise apartment buildings and duplexes.
City council gave the go-ahead on May 31 for phase two of public consultations to begin while phase three is scheduled for fall of this year and early 2022.
A survey is available on the City of Burnaby website until Sept. 5, 2021, at 11:59 p.m.
