The City of Surrey is updating the Cloverdale Town Centre Plan and Scott Wheatley is urging Cloverdalians to “have their say.”
Wheatley, the executive director of the Cloverdale District Chamber of Commerce, is promoting a new survey sent out by the City of Surrey.
“With massive changes coming this way, the city needs to update the town plan,” said Wheatley. “There are new projects, such as the hospital, that are occurring here and that’s what is necessitating this new update.”
According to info contained in the survey, the plan update will “guide the growth of the Cloverdale Town Centre, transforming it into a community hub for health and wellness, education, and entertainment.”
Along with Wheatley, Paul Orazietti, the executive director of the Cloverdale BIA, is also encouraging everyone to go online and fill out the survey.
“Everyone should have a comment,” said Orazietti. “Right now the city has made some assumptions on what they want to do. And our group, basically, is going to challenge them because what they've done is really minor.”
He said the city wants to create a new “medical and research” district in what was once a light industrial area to the west of the coming hospital. He noted the new medical district will be mixed use with businesses at street level, one level of underground parking, and about three to four storeys above.
“The problem with the plan is that they want to take a piece of Clover Square Village to create connectivity, but it's longer term,” he said. “They want to run a road through at the end of 177B Street. But we need changes sooner than that.
Orazietti said the plan needs a “broader picture.” He explained the city needs to add in supportive housing and a wider range of housing types. He also said the city needs to rezone the area north of Highway 10 along 177B Street to allow for mixed-use buildings. That is multi-storey residential buildings with commercial-use space at street level.
“In doing all of that, we’re trying to tell the city this one block [176th Street between 57th and 58th Avenues] is not enough to be a downtown,” explained Orazietti. “But (the city’s) idea now is to say, “Okay, we’ll take the second block and we’ll force the owners to make it heritage looking.” So then we’d have two blocks that have a heritage look.”
But Orazietti said that isn’t what Cloverdale needs. He said the town needs to be rezoned for more density with the aforementioned mixed-use residential buildings at the top of that list. He said the city needs to go back to square one and that’s where citizens can help out by answering the survey.
“We want to get the whole area rezoned for mixed-use. We want the highest and best use of what we have available.”
Orazietti explained that he’s talked to many property owners and most are on the same page. They want buildings that have commercial opportunities at street level. He added all of the buildings on Highway 10 should be much like the buildings on Broadway in Vancouver.
“We’re saying we are looking for more diversity,” Orazietti explained. “We want a few more shops. We want to encourage a few more restaurants to open up. And we want the town to stay open a little later at night.”
The survey highlights several new projects in Cloverdale that are driving the need for the town plan’s revision: 1.) The new Cloverdale hospital and cancer centre, 2.) Incorporating the new provincial housing legislation into the plan, 3.) KPU 2050 Tech campus concept plan, and 4.) A re-energizing of the Cloverdale Fairgrounds.
Wheatley said people should “definitely” take the online survey, available by visiting engage.surrey.ca, scrolling down to Featured Projects, and clicking on Cloverdale Town Centre Plan Update. "You will have an impact and your voice will be heard," he said.
“The Chamber is interested in the Fairgrounds and the possible development of a new hotel and convention centre,” he added. “We are encouraging the mayor, if a new stadium is built, to build it on the Fairgrounds. The whole area needs to be redeveloped.”
Wheatley said the Chamber is aligned with the BIA in supporting mixed-use buildings with retail and commercial units at street level with residential above.
“We’re also in support of bringing a lot of medical and professional services offices to the area,” said Wheatley. “And the services to support them.”
Orazietti added the resurgent Cloverdale Community Association—which saw its numbers drop during COVID, but has had a revival as of late—is also championing the survey as a way for citizens to have their voices heard.
“They are on board too. The city needs to hear from everyone.”
The survey closes June 30.
