It took some persistence but Riverside residents could soon be getting what they want from the city – a safer community.
For more than a year, residents of Burnaby's quiet Riverside neighbourhood have been asking the city to step up and address several safety concerns in the area, including a lack of lighting and the condition of the roads.
A petition is now circulating among the residents of Riverside to determine how many would be onboard with a cost-sharing initiative to install more lights in the area.
If approved, the city would lease additional electrical poles from B.C. Hydro and install the lights on those.
Coun. Paul McDonell said the ballpark cost is somewhere between $140 and $150 a year for every property owner.
"They seemed to think that was all right so they're out getting signatures and we've got hydro working on it, and hopefully we'll have something in the next couple of weeks," McDonell said.
If enough property owners sign the petition, the city and B.C. Hydro will price out exactly how much each owner would be required to pay and a second petition will be circulated.
"The neighbours seem to want enhanced lighting and I think this is the best deal that we've had yet so I'm happy with it on that perspective," Riverside resident Shawn Wade told the NOW.
There are some residents, however, that feel the city should be paying to improve lighting in the neighbourhood because it's a necessity and Wade fears this could jeopardize the initiative.
He's especially concerned about landlords who won't agree to the proposal even if their tenants would benefit from the added lighting because it would mean another expense.
"It's a concern," Wade said. "If you have a certain amount of your housing stock rented out and the person doesn't live on site, they don't really care what it's like down here."
Improvements in the area come from an outcry by residents following a recent string of fires, including one that destroyed the Burnaby Marine Pub in January.
Residents met with Raj Chouhan, MLA for Burnaby-Edmonds, last month to voice their frustration with the municipality, in hopes he could pressure the city to get the safety concerns dealt with sooner rather than later.
"They contacted my office saying they were not getting any answers on various different issues and I said, 'Well look, sometimes it does happen so why don't you come to my office,'" Chouhan said.
Chouhan invited the Burnaby RCMP, the Burnaby Fire Department, city staff, the mayor and residents of Riverside to a meeting at his office. About 40 people turned up for the meeting.
"In addition to talking about the fires in the area ... they were concerned about safety in general, ie: the lighting, the ditches, lack of police patrolling, things like that," he said.
Chouhan and several other city officials were invited to Riverside at night to experience first hand the residents' concerns.
McDonell, who joined Chouhan for the walk through Riverside, agrees there are safety concerns in the neighbourhood and it would benefit from additional lighting, but said concerns such as the ditches are not such an easy fix.
The ditches in the neighbourhood feed into streams inhabited by fish, which means any changes to those ditches would likely have to be approved by the fisheries and environment ministries.
McDonell added the condition of Willard Street, which was another concern for residents, is already slated to be repaved this spring. The repaving work will also widen the road a bit and add bus pullouts and more shoulder to make the road safer for pedestrians.
"I think ... that Raj Chouhan has successfully lobbied, and I think they (the city) decided to do something about this finally," Wade said.
The fire department and RCMP also recently provided a report to residents on the recent fires in the neighbourhood.
According to Burnaby RCMP Staff Sgt. Maj. John Buis, the RCMP and fire department have compiled a list of 14 fires in the area since 2010. These are fires that, at the time, the fire department may not have considered suspicious so the police might not have been called.
Buis said investigators are looking at these incidents to determine if they can pinpoint a cause or suspect.
Assistant fire chief Greg Mervin told the NOW that while not every fire on the list is suspicious on its own, the fact that there have been so many fires within the area whose causes couldn't be determined makes them suspicious.
Mervin also said it's unlikely the fires are the result of an arsonist but rather someone (or someones) taking advantage of timing and the cover of darkness to cause mischief.
"It's more of a nuisance kind of a situation here. Whether it's just one person, we don't know," Mervin added.
Most of the fires the police and fire department are reexamining have taken at abandoned or vacant properties, and no injuries have been reported.
But whatever the cause or motivation behind the fires, Wade is simply glad the city is finally taking the concerns of Riverside residents seriously.
"Let's hope this trend continues, and let's hope that the people decide that they want the lighting," Wade added.
