The fate of the three-acre piece of land next to lower Jackson Farm has been delayed until next council meeting, but it’s likely houses will be built there, to the dismay of people who wanted it left in its natural state.
“I didn’t hear one of them mention heritage or history at all,” said Stuart Pledge, who was part of the campaign to preserve the piece of land next to Jackson Farm, set to become a municipal park.
Instead, council asked staff to review the density of the proposed development, possibly reducing in number the 30 homes that the developer wants to build at 24207 – 102nd Avenue.
Staff will report back to council at its July 7 meeting.
Part of the proposal involves putting a small green space that would divert stormwater from Jackson Farm away from the new homes.
Pledge wonders why this is happening on municipal land. But according to Mayor Ernie Daykin, the drainage feature will divert any water flow that results from any district improvements when it develops Jackson Farm into a park.
The developer is paying the $80,000 for that feature, which is expected to improve the park and serve as a buffer zone.
Daykin said council wanted the property to have larger lots, about another 1.5 metres, instead of the smaller lots which characterize Albion.
Preferential parking
Maple Ridge residents can get some relief after council approved a parking policy Tuesday. From now on, neighbours having a tough finding parking near their homes can collect a petition and ask council to create resident only parking areas that would ban non residents from parking during certain hours.
That would be enforced by residents buying $10 decals which would be fixed to their cars.
Housing Action Plan
Staff have been told to work on a housing plan that will set out a plan to encourage housing accessible to all incomes.
According to Metro Vancouvers’ regional growth strategy which plots out the future of the region, Maple Ridge will get 6,600 new homes in the next decade, with only a third of those being rental units.
Council wants municipal price index
Maple Ridge has approved three resolutions to send to the Union of B.C. Municipalities for possible endorsement.
First, Maple Ridge council wants the provincial government come up with a “permanent and appropriate long-term funding model for TransLink.”
It points out the Lower Mainland comprises half of B.C.’s total population.
Council also wants the creation of a municipal price index, pointing out that municipal spending is different than the consumer price index.
The resolution points out that cities and towns deal with labour, materials and contractors whose charges increase at a different rate and calls for the municipal auditor general to create the index, “that will improve the accuracy by which municipal costs can be projected.”
A final resolution calls for the new municipal auditor general to figure out a system of setting salaries of city politicians.
