A proposal to build a 35-hectare park at the south end of Pitt Meadows is already meeting stiff opposition from nearby residents who believe the city is using green space as a guise to hide drainage problems.
Manager of parks Bruce McLeod presented a preliminary proposal to council last week, detailing a plan to extend an existing community garden as well as enhance wetland and wildlife habitat on the property located at Bonson Road and Airport Way.
McLeod showed a sketch with an undulating water course which would eventually connect with the Katzie Slough.
Ken Joyner, who lives nearby, isn’t enthused by the scenic vistas and water features.
“This is a cover-up for mismanagement of drainage in the area,” he said following a meeting July 16.
Joyner points to the soggy backyards behind homes on Wildwood Crescent and a broken culvert under Airport Way that has yet to be fixed.
He bristles at another “aqua” area built in 2011 to alleviate drainage problems and add fish habitat, which is adjacent to the proposed park that features a 260-metre-long (853 feet) channel, which connects to Katzie Slough. He claims that water feature is a haven for mosquitoes and has done little to attract wildlife or birds.
“The problem with the new park is they are going to create two more stagnant water ponds. They are going to breed mosquitos. They are going to kill off the wildlife that’s already there,” he says.
Joyner rather have the area, currently zoned agricultural and green space, left as is.
“The people are enjoying it now. It’s wonderful,” he added.
“To destroy over 33 [hectares] is the wrong thing to do.”
The city and parks department assure residents that the park is only at the proposal stage and that nothing is set in stone.
Mayor Deb Walters said right now is a good opportunity to explore ideas for the area. The community garden is already pegged for expansion sometime in 2015.
“We are sensitive about the drainage,” she added, acknowledging the issues voiced by several residents of the surrounding neighbourhood.
“Basically, it’s a brainstorming. There is nothing on paper. It’s just what would the community like to see.”
The city intends to form a design group comprised of residents, and once plans are drawn up, they will be shared with the public.
No money has been set aside for the project and the parks department did not respond to a query about the price of it. There may be federal or provincial grants that the city can apply for.
Mike Stark, a resident who continues to lobby city hall to fix drainage issues along Wildwood Crescent, expressed his concern about the park during a televised council meeting July 16.
Stark does not want the proposed park to have paved areas or compressed asphalt trails, similar to a bike and walking path off Wildwood Crescent built behind his home. He and his neighbours believe the paved trail is trapping water behind their homes, although a city suggested, the flooding was most likely being caused by “natural ponding” due to an undulating or rolling terrain.
“Is it already a done deal that there is going to be a park there?, Stark asked council, adding he’d prefer the area to remain natural.
“Forgive me if I get a little nervous when people mention trails.”
