With the major landowner SmartCentres now walking away from developing the west side of Albion flats, the focus has turned to east of Jim Robson Way.
And it’s now time for action on 130 hectares of farm area that lies alongside Lougheed Highway, say two Maple Ridge city councillors.
“It’s been studied repeatedly. I’m happy to see that the current mayor and council have an appetite to simply make things happen, to move forward and to get it done,” said Coun. Ahmed Yousef.
One more study is needed, however.
The Albion flats area plan, currently underway at city hall, has yet to go to council.
Once that goes out for public consultation, Yousef said he’d support whatever the public would like to see for the area. “
It’s for all of us, not for me.”
Council, in 2010, undertook an extensive consultation process for the future of the area, but ignored the recommendations and instead filed an application for exclusion to the Agricultural Land Commission that focused on mall development. That was rejected by the commission.
A few weeks ago, SmartCentres property development company put its 25 acres on the west side of Albion flats up for sale for $8 million.
SmartCentres vice-president Sandra Kaiser said the company had bought the property in anticipation of developing a shopping centre there.
“With our acquisition of Haney Place Mall and the changing retail landscape, plus the reluctance to remove these lands from the Agricultural Land Reserve, we have listed these lands for sale,” Kaiser said earlier.
She added, though, that SmartCentres is “very willing to consider alternate development opportunities, should they arise.”
Maple Ridge Coun. Gordy Robson wants transportation and transit to be part of the Albion area plan that’s currently being written by city staff.
He sees a mixture of light industrial, commercial, private recreational and limited residential uses in the area to create a village. He also sees a change from big box stores to more of a community.
“I think we want a village. But, again, nothing’s been decided,” Robson said.
“I want plans for transit in there before we do anything.”
READ MORE: Smart Centre’s Albion flats lots up for sale
Once an area plan is completed, the city and file a block exclusion application with the Agricultural Land Commission to allow development of the east side of Jim Robson Way.
Before that happens, though, drainage must be improved to enhance growing conditions on the west side of Jim Robson Way, a condition required by the Agricultural Land Commission in return for excluding the east side from the farm reserve to allow development.
“Council wants to resolve the Albion flats and the first step in doing that is a drainage plan. The preliminaries have been done on that,” Robson said.
The cost for those drainage improvements is estimated at $2.5 million. Previously, it was thought to be more than $10 million.
Robson would like the area plan and exclusion application to be done within a year.
A report to council more than a decade ago suggested stalling development in Albion flats for 10 years to allow the downtown to grow.
“We’ve got downtown on the recovery road, finally. It’s been a long stretch. We now have plans that are going to bring us density that is going to bring us life,” Robson said.
He added that it’s not certain how long it will take the commission to approve an exclusion application.
“This council is very aggressive,” he said. “That’s all I can tell you.”
Read more: New plans on their way for Albion flats
The city met recently with property owners to discuss the future of the area, as part of the Albion flats area plan.
Gaetan Royer, an urban planner with CityState, shares the view that Albion flats should be a mix of light industry, small-scale commercial and some residential, with the condition that the residential component be limited.
A decade ago, people thought big malls and big box stores would be where people would always shop.
But online retailers are chipping away at the market. “Those big box retail are dying and if a community is going to maintain its ability to raise taxes and service its people, it has to open the door to more of the smaller businesses people are looking for,” Royer said.
In Albion flats, the focus should be on creating a smaller scale commercial “and start thinking of something that can office space above it.”
However, while there’s good highway access, there’s no residential density on the flats so will be hard to make it a village. If land is developed it shouldn’t be for big box stores or single storey warehouses but instead allow more intense uses. Other uses such as commercial or office can be stacked on top of larger industrial buildings, he added.
Residential use, “should definitely not be dominant,” Royer said, adding he hasn’t studied the area.
Royer has also made a submission to Pitt Meadows council calling for “gentle densification” of Hammond Road, allowing for commercial and higher density housing for the arterial route.
pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com
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