After checking out the results of a recent Optimist online opinion poll, it’s clear, much work remains to figure out Tsawwassen’s future.
Our online opinion poll in December, shows only 38 percent favour more bike lanes on 56th Street, while 62 percent oppose the idea for the main road that leads into the sleepy suburb.
But how do you not support bike lanes, or multi-use pathways, that shelter cyclists from SUVs, keep moms and kids safe, and lets slowpoke seniors amble along?
What kind of thinking is that?
It seems to be the kind of thinking that sees bike lanes, as the beginning of the end of traditional Tsawwassen.
Cycle lanes likely will be part of a new Tsawwassen that will be more dense and more modern, as will hundreds of other B.C. neighbourhoods, as they respond to the housing crisis.
The keystone project that will set the trend is the redevelopment of Tsawwassen Town Centre Mall.
After years of planning and listening, and readjusting and more listening, Century Group is expected to make a pitch to council soon for a project that will include four towers, averaging 20 storeys, plus six-storey buildings, for a total of 1,250 new homes.
Residents are right to have reservations. The proposal is a dramatic one under an ancient OCP that hasn’t been fully updated since 2005.
The current Tsawwassen area plan, only 12 years old, says buildings can’t exceed six storeys, with a maximum of 1,000 multi-family units in the town centre. That shows the magnitude of change that is upon us.
But Tsawwassen residents are not alone. Even areas zoned single family, will now have to allow three or four units on a lot, across B.C.
The pace of change won’t relent as the province demands that Delta do its part to provide housing.
There must be a way to build enough badly needed new homes, in a financially viable development, that will reassure all residents, old timers and newcomers, they will have a place in a new Tsawwassen.
Staff, council, community members and the developer need to find a plan that displeases many, yet reassures many, a sure sign that it’s a good plan.
