Editor:
The City of Burnaby and, perhaps, the province are pleased with themselves as the ground is broken for a new 125-unit “affordable” 14-storey housing project near Metrotown.
The new estimated rents in the project start at $886 for a studio and reach $2,503 for three bedrooms.But wait, there is another unaffordable tower coming for East Burnaby. The city is rezoning/selling a piece of public land just south of Edmonds SkyTrain station at 6438 Byrnepark Dr.
This proposed four-storey condo apartment building, and some townhouses, will have a total of 102 luxury strata condo units, with 194 vehicle storage spaces. These units are being built for families who own multiple cars, thus adding to Burnaby’s transportation nightmare. The city is selling this public land to Polygon for development.
This property was put up for sale in 2017 and, according to the report by city staff, "The sale of the property is subject to achieving Final Adoption of the subject rezoning," which means Burnabyites can have a say before this land is sold. The city does not need the money. Remember, we have more than $1 billion in the bank, a staggering amount. We need to spend this money on the citizens, not make more.
This is a beautiful piece of property that is being sold. I have ridden my bike in this area many times. The land is currently second-growth forest, just across the street from Byrne Creek Ravine Park. But there is zero rental, non-market, or affordable housing for this project, yet we are in the midst of a housing affordability and rental crisis.
City land should be a valuable tool to be part of the solution to this crisis, yet here is city property being sold for more unneeded luxury condos when we need more rental, co-op, non-market and other affordable housing instead.
When will the City of Burnaby say no to unnecessary “luxury” townhouses/towers and provide affordable homes for everyone who needs one?
Those making nominal wages and living on small pensions cannot afford these unaffordable prices. If we cannot provide homes for these individuals now, we all pay more in the longer run for higher social and medical services that could have been avoided.
Please write a letter opposing this rezoning and sale of city land. Send it to: [email protected], referencing 6438 Byrnepark Dr, Rezoning# 18-09, and include your address. Let Mayor Mike Hurley and Councillors Pietro Calendino, Sav Dhaliwal, Paul McDonell, Joe Keithley, Dan Johnston, Colleen Jordan, Nick Volkow and James Wang, know how you feel about the lack of affordable housing in our City. Let's stop the sale of our public lands to this or any other private developer.
Cathy Griffin, Burnaby
Editor’s note: Coun. Joe Keithley, the only Green Party member elected to council, tried to send the proposal back to staff but his motion was not seconded. Keithley had wanted staff “to see if some accommodation can be made with the developer to include some non-market housing.”
