When the Bainbridge Urban Village proposal was first unveiled by the City of Burnaby, I wrote down a note that asked, “How long until NIMBYs start protesting it?”
Well, it actually took a little longer than I expected, but the opposition has arrived in the form of a petition of about 400 area residents.
The urban village proposal covers an area that surrounds the Sperling-Burnaby Lake SkyTrain station. Most development in Burnaby is happening around the four “city centres” – Metrotown, Edmonds, Brentwood and Lougheed – but the Bainbridge and Lochdale areas are being pitched by the city for a gentler kind of density through the urban village plan. Bainbridge is an especially good area to build in because it's right on a transit line.
Adding density to areas in order to provide more housing is critical in order to tackle the affordability crisis and was a key plank in Mayor Mike Hurley’s housing task force.
But a group of Government Road-area residents say they are vehemently opposed to the inclusion of "Bainbridge East Area" in the Bainbridge Urban Village focus area developments. You can read more about their opposition here. You can also scroll through the images above for a map of the area in question.
"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 states.
The Phase 1 focus area is more directly around the SkyTrain station while Bainbridge East is just past it and is filled with single-family houses.
The petition makes a fair claim about how the city collected feedback on the proposals, but overall, their point is that there is “widespread opposition” to Bainbridge East being included and therefore the city should drop it.
Which begs the questions about if there is widespread opposition to something, does that automatically mean those folks should get their way?
It’s one thing if someone wanted to put in a chemical plant in the area, but that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about adding new forms of housing – something that is critically needed since we’re in a housing crisis.
And, once again, we have single-family homeowners opposing this and saying, “not in our backyard.”
I have an issue with this because it’s opposing an effort to add more housing at a time when we really need it.
We’ll see how council reacts to this, but based on past history of watching various city councils, the single-family house owners will likely get their way.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
