Traffic and parking were hot topics Tuesday night during a pair of public hearings at Mission City Hall.
Council listened as members of the public came up, one by one, to voice concerns about the proposed developments.
A 58-unit townhouse project on Cherry Avenue created the largest debate. GoldEdge Developments has proposed the construction of townhomes on the properties located at 33173, 33191, 33209 and 33221 Cherry Avenue.
In order to do so, council must approve a zoning change from the current Suburban 36 (S36) Zone to the Multiple Family 52 Townhouse (MT52) Zone.
During the public hearing, residents raised concerns about increased traffic on an already busy, and often dangerous Cherry Avenue.
Many felt that adding the townhomes, and a minimum of 58 more cars in the area, would create parking issues on the street as well as adding to speeding issues that already exists along Cherry. They also noted that the intersection of Cherry and Cade Barr Street has long been a troublesome area.
Some called for the widening of Cherry Ave. to four-lanes to alleviate potential difficulties.
Other concerns included servicing and how the new proposal would impact the surrounding properties.
Council voted to delay third reading on the proposal until a staff report is completed to look at several of the issues raised.
The report should include a traffic impact study, a road design, a time line for possible improvements to Chery Avenue, ways to mitigate speeding concerns, as well as answering several questions including how the proposal would impact surrounding properties, if it meets the needs of the area and whether or not it has adequate services.
Mission Mayor Randy Hawes cautioned council about demanding more and more reports from staff.
He told his fellow council members that their job is to govern while staff’s job is to manage and he would hate to see council slip over to the management side.
“Staff doesn’t allow this stuff to go ahead unless they have completed all of that work,” said Hawes.
“Their job is to make sure that this development works from a drainage and a sewage standpoint and if our engineers are satisfied that it does, I would not have any idea how to read an engineers report and dissect it.”
He pointed to the City of Abbotsford as an example of how multi-family projects are everywhere, and new ones are constantly being built.
“We are at the very, very forefront of beginning of seeing some here and I think we are panicking. And I don’t think we need to panic. I think our staff are absolutely capable of taking a look at all of the issues we are talking about. I don’t believe for one second they would ever say ‘well let’s just push this through because we haven’t considered this stuff.’ They’ve considered all of this stuff,” said Hawes.
But Coun. Jim Hinds said it is council’s responsibility to ask questions and Coun. Pam Alexis said she needed more information before she would be comfortable allowing the project to proceed.
“Once we get through this first time, this kick at the can, in this area, we may feel a little bit more comfortable,” said Alexis.
A second public hearing raised similar traffic concerns.
The proposal, by Krahn Engineering, would create a commercial/residential mixed-use development that consists of four residential units located above retail floor space at 8778 Cedar Street.
Residents of the area said the project would increase traffic in the area and surrounding roads, including Machell Street.
Council has given third reading to the proposal, but will not give final approval until a traffic study of the area has been completed.