500 turn out to see vision of Semiahmoo
By Tracy Holmes - Peace Arch News - May 23, 2008
| | | |
[IMG]
[/IMG]
Michael Burton-Brown, a founding principal of Abbarch Architecture, answers questions with the aid of a laser pointer on a scale model of Bosa Development Corp.’s plans for Semiahmoo Town Centre. Burton-Brown’s other Lower Mainland projects include Lansdowne Park Mall, Oakridge Centre and Park Royal South.
Brian Giebelhaus photo
Too big for White Rock.
Better up than out.
I hope I live long enough to see it.
Comments collected at Thursday’s information meeting on expansive plans for the Semiahmoo Shopping Centre site were as varied as those who came to peruse them.
More than 500 residents and merchants wanted a closer look at what the future holds for the Surrey site bordered by 16 Avenue, 152 Street, 18 Avenue and Martin Drive.
Bosa Development Corp. wants to add 1,160 dwelling units in six 18- to 36-storey towers on the site. Preliminary plans also include an eight-storey office building, new roadways, a controlled-climate food court, and underground parking.
Many attendees at the information meeting – at least in the first half of the four-hour session – arrived with curiosity and concern:
When will it be built? Why is there no enclosed mall? How much attention will be given to the aesthetics of the highrises? Has consideration been given for potential impact on surrounding schools, Peace Arch Hospital and the already-busy roadways?
“It’s too big for the area,” said Gladys Hawley. “It’s too much, too soon, for all the aging people that are here.”
Hawley is a member of a walking group that meets at the mall. Bosa’s plans are a hot topic, the White Rock senior said.
“We’re all elderly and we’re kind of worried about it – what is going to be in it for us?” Hawley said. “We just don’t see that it’s going to be good unless things change.”
Hawley retired to the Peninsula 19 years ago, but has memories of the quaint seaside town from decades earlier. She said she’s not opposed to change, and was “really excited” to hear a plan was in the works. That changed when she saw the plans.
“We need change, but not drastic,” Hawley said. “I was hoping for a nice community centre, which we need so badly.”
Richard Weir, Bosa’s vice-president of real estate development, said he heard from many residents concerned about losing the enclosed mall, but said city requirements for new roadways diverting traffic flow off 152 Street and 16 Avenue eliminate that option.
“When you do that, you cut the site into small parcels, which means you can’t have an enclosed mall,” Weir said.
Asked how much leeway there is for adjusting the plan based on residents concerns, Weir said aspects such as density, road patterns and amenities are basically fixed. There is wriggle room to shift tower heights.
Mass opposition to things like losing the indoor mall, or the project as a whole, would not be ignored, he said.
“This exercise is about gauging the community’s level of support for this proposal. If the public is overwhelmingly opposed to it, it’s not going to proceed,” Weir said.
If approved, construction of the first phase would get underway in about three years. The entire project – figured worth about $1 billion – would take at least 10 years to complete, over approximately seven phases.
South Surrey’s Phil Embley wants assurance that due attention will be given to building design.
“I hope you’ll spend some money on real architecture here. That stuff there looks pretty bland,” he told one Bosa rep, referring to a model of the project.
Embley later said many Peninsula projects are “really not up to community standards.”
“I would really like to see them do something really outstanding with the architecture,” he said, noting designs south of the border are generally better than local ones.
Embley said he is not concerned about heights of the proposed towers, and that he likes the overall plan.
“I’d rather have high density going up with some open spaces rather than a big footprint,” he said. “I’m in favour of towers rather than scrawl.
“I like the idea of what they’re doing here. The community is changing. There’s a lot more density, but I think it’s better.”
The next morning, Weir said comments on the plans were increasingly positive as the information meeting wore on, and included “a lot of constructive feedback.”
Regarding concerns infrastructure won’t support the influx of traffic and people the development will draw, Weir noted Bosa will be paying about $30 million in development cost charges and other fees associated with services, including police, fire and library. How those fees are used is up to Surrey, he said, noting comments collected at the meeting will be forwarded to the city.
Another public meeting has not been scheduled yet, however, Weir said there will be “many, many more” meetings as things move along, including before every phase. The developer may try to meet with Surrey council in July, Weir said, “for approval in principle, not approval.”
The display and design details shared Thursday, Weir noted, will be available on Bosa’s website,
www.bosadev.com, within two weeks.
Prev
Linear Mode
