Facility neighbour seeks support

By Dan Hilborn
Published Aug. 26, 2006


The rezoning of one of the last remaining undeveloped parcels of the BCIT Discovery Park site is an opportunity to reduce noise, enhance safety and provide more green space for area residents, says a former Burnaby city council candidate.

Parvin Chami, who lives just half a block from the proposed five-storey 'advanced technology research and office facility,' said she wants her neighbours to speak up about the plan at a public hearing in the city council chambers on Tuesday night.

"We want people to come to the public hearing and raise their concerns," said Chami, who has been a constant critic of the Discovery Park plan over the past decade.

Chami said the rezoning of 'parcel A' at the southwest corner of Canada Way and Gilmore Avenue should only be approved if the developers agree to a series of improvements.

Chief among her concerns is green space. Chami is calling for an expanded buffer zone between the property and nearby homes because the new building will be two storeys taller than the three-storey maximum for the majority of the buildings on the Discovery Park site.

Another concern is safety on a tree-lined walking path connecting Kalyk Avenue - the street where Chami lives - with Canada Way. "There have been some incidents of people attacking girls," she said. "We want a safer pathway. A path where you can see from one end to the other."

She also wants the developer to put more noise-abatement equipment around the mechanical room that will be located on the roof of proposed building. "We don't want to hear the noise when we're sleeping at night," she said.

Chami also wants assurances that the development, which includes three levels of underground parking, will not alter drainage patterns and cause damage to a small creek that runs through the treed buffer zone on the western property line of the site.

According to a rezoning report that was given first reading at the July 17 council meeting, the redevelopment plan will upgrade the Gilmore Avenue sidewalk to 'urban trail' standards and provide shower facilities and storage lockers for people who choose to bike to work at the site.

The proposal will also preserve a small vegetable garden on the site that is currently being maintained by residents of the neighbouring Finnish Manor rest home. The rezoning report states that if the garden is not used or maintained for a period of one year, the property owner will be required to replant the area as part of the natural buffer zone.

The rezoning report also notes that the Discovery Parks community plan would have allowed for a six-storey building on this parcel of land.