The owners of Maple Ridge Pool and Spa, beside which the Cliff Avenue tent city was located three years ago, have been given demolition notice for the building by the provincial government to make room for improvements to the Haney Bypass.
Joanne Pinkney, whose family owns Maple Ridge Pool and Spa, confirmed the demolition notice for the building, which served as her home and business.
As part of that bypass project, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure bought the property for $1.7 million.
“What was proposed to us was that a retaining wall would be blocking our parking lot and because our residence is upstairs, we couldn’t run a business without parking, and we couldn’t even get into the parking lot, so that finished it,” Pinkney said.
She said the family was unable to find an alternate building for the business.
“The problem with Maple Ridge is there is nothing here to accommodate the type of business we have with the overhead doors and parking, unless you’re paying $8,000 a month.”
Pinkney found a home two blocks away, where she will run an office out of the basement.
The business won’t have customers coming in for retail purchases or water testing anymore, but will continue to take calls for service work.
Pinkney’s other issue was that the bypass building has been located to the Salvation Army Ridge Meadows Ministries, which operates a homeless shelter, for more than a decade.
She said the shelter attracts issues related to homelessness.
“I can look out here and see [people] pee on the fence, see them taking their shoes and socks off and giving themselves a needle in the leg or arm. There’s no laws for them to have to abide by,” she said of people she sees near the building.
Pinkney expects her future home to be a quieter than the current location.
The transportation ministry announced last spring that upgrades to the Haney Bypass would cost $22.3 million.
As part of the current bypass improvement plans, the Salvation Army property does not have to be demolished, despite the wishes of Maple Ridge council to have it removed and the property incorporated into a better design.
“I don’t wholly understand it, because the Salvation Army creates a lot of foot traffic across Lougheed. So if it wasn’t there, and we didn’t have the foot traffic, I think the design for the intersection becomes more efficient,” Mayor Nicole Read said in February.
Pinkney is also concerned about people crossing the street to and from the Salvation Army.
“They don’t watch the traffic lights or anything.”
A ministry representative said that it passed a 90 per cent detailed design of the Haney Bypass improvements to Maple Ridge city staff for review last week.
The design plans are to be made public after being reviewed and supported by staff.
The ministry is planning to deliver a full detailed design by the end of June.
In a statement, the ministry said it will continue to work with city staff on design details.
“We’re confident the final design will meet all safety and technical requirements,” says the ministry.