Surrey city council approved another lofty highrise tower proposal for the city centre Monday night, following a public hearing.
The applicant, Tien Sher Whalley Fortuna Gateway Ltd., plans to build a 54-storey residential tower with a seven-storey office podium and retail space on the ground floor on a 1.88-acre site at 10761 King George Boulevard. The tower’s 479 residential units are expected to be ready for occupancy by early 2026.
According to documents before council, the Surrey School District advises 15 school-age children will be “generated” by the development with 10 of them expected to attend K.B. Woodward elementary school and five to attend Kwantlen Park secondary.
The city’s fire department and Parks, Recreation & Culture expressed no concerns with the proposed development, which went to a public hearing Monday, April 12 and was given third-reading approval by council later in the night.
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During the public hearing, Fleetwood resident Richard Landale noted 22 mature trees will be destroyed to accommodate the project. “That is a clearcut, 100 per cent, to the ground,” he said, “with no compensation to the Green City Fund.”
No comprehensive traffic assessment has been done, he noted, and the school report, “as usual,” he said, is “out of whack.”
“Only 15 children out of 479 units.”
Deb Jack, president of Surrey Environmental Partners, voiced concern about enough nearby green space being available to these new residents.
Speaker Annie Kaps told council she cannot see how “such a small population” of children will be living in “that many units.”
“I don’t know what the people in the units, where they will recreate, other than the bricked-over plaza at the city hall between the library. There really isn’t that much green space in that.”
Linda Joyce Ypenburg, of Fleetwood, said she is “adamantly opposed” to the development, saying it will bring more traffic congestion. “It will attract more people to move here and we don’t have enough resources, such as another hospital, more schools, rec centres, more RCMP officers and firefighters,” she said.
A look at the proposed plaza. (Chris Dikeakos Architects Inc., surrey.ca)
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