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Our association contacted the Light Rail Links Coalition requesting a delegate from their group to present to our membership explaining pros and cons. Paul Lee from the City of Surrey and Anita Huberman from Surrey Board of Trade provided a snapshot and answered our members’ questions.

President Mike Bola met with Don Luymes from the City of Surrey Planning Department to discuss the revised off-street parking requirements and driveway lengths as proposed by our association. The draft review was very promising and because of the approval from many stakeholders, a new zone was created called RF13 which would supersede the RF12 zone. The requirement to provide 4 cars off the street vs the old bylaw which only required 3 cars off the street was another improvement which was accepted.

President Mike Bola contacted the Chair of Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Councillor Tom Gill requesting an update as to when 64 Avenue would be widened based on our 2012 official request. Transportation Manager Jaime Boan responded to our email on behalf of Councillor Tom Gill informing us that due to funding issues Translink is having and the defeated referendum, the widening of 64 Avenue was going to be delayed. Here are the timelines for the widening of 64 Avenue in Cloverdale:

From        To                    Estimate      Time Frame
177B St     184 St             $10.5 M        7-10 years
184 St       188 St             $6.0M           7-10 years
188 St       Fraser Hwy   $4.0M           7-10 years
192 St       196 St             $4.5M           4-6 years

Today, the Mayor and City Council approved our request to implement a cap on the number of tandem garage townhouse units vs side-by-side garage townhouse units for any new developments moving forward. This cap is now 50% tandem garage and 50% side-by-side garage vs no-cap at all. The Cloverdale Community Association has been a strong advocate with regards to creating a balanced, sustainable and livable neighbourhood in Cloverdale. President Mike Bola presented the issue to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee (TIC) which is chaired by Councillor Tom Gill and had asked for a cap of 25% tandem units and 75% side-by-side. The reason for this was because most tandem townhouse owners never parked both of their cars in the garages because of inconvenience it caused when one had to leave. This would then push these cars to be parked on the street reducing the parking for guests. The city staff consulted with other stakeholders and came back with a proposal to put a cap of 50% instead. With the support of the Chair, Councillor Tom Gill, the TIC committee approved the proposal and forwarded to the rest of council to review and approve or deny. All current applications would be able to go forward “as is” however any new applications would have to follow this new bylaw. Furthermore, any development which is being built on the transit corridor can ask for an amendment to increase the tandem ratio which would in turn increase the housing densification. This is great news for our community as we have seen many developers maximize densification to increase their bottom line and not consider the problems which could arise after they sell and leave.

As many of you are aware, there was a fatal shooting which occurred in Cloverdale around 165 Street and 64 Avenue on July 12/15 at around 11:30pm. An innocent man was shot defending his home and family. The suspect has been charged with 2nd degree murder but this will not bring back this kind, loving husband and father as some have told us. The association is very heartbroken to hear such sad news and we can’t imagine what the family is going through at the moment. As a community, we must come together and support each other in these difficult times and work together to help keep such crimes and criminals out of Cloverdale including the rest of Surrey.

The Cloverdale Community Association appeared in the Cloverdale Reporter and the Leader newspaper raising concerns about a possible amendment to a bylaw which would allow the developer for Joi Townhomes located in East Cloverdale (aka Clayton Heights) to reduce the potential 3 on-site parking spaces to the 2 minimum as per the current bylaw. The developer already poured the concrete for the foundation on the assumption this amendment would go through after consulting with the city staff prior to bringing this forward to council to review. So the question is, why wait this long to ask for an amendment after all the framing and rough-ins are pretty much completed? This loophole is a big problem because no one can remember what the original site layout looked like for this development back in 2012 when it received its approval and now 3 years later the developer wants to modify it. These types of changes could have a negative impact on the neighbourhood considering that Clayton is already having parking issues. Just because there is on-street parking today, doesn’t mean it will be available when the land across 188 Street from this project is developed since they would be able to use the same on-street parking. Instead of making this issue somebody else’s problem later on, why not fix it now? While the developer is following the bylaws to do everything legally, our request to the developer was to keep the 3rd additional parking spot for each townhouse unit rather than only providing the minimum of two as per the bylaw.

Furthermore, the association sent an official letter to the Mayor, Council members and Bylaw Manager requesting that they increase the penalties for the illegal secondary suites so landlords would stop adding to the parking problems and making sure there is compliance. Please click on this link to view the whole article: http://www.cloverdalereporter.com/news/298973621.html?mobile=true

Please be advised that the Surrey RCMP will be holding a Clayton Neighbourhood Safety Campaign Presentation on February 5, 2015. Please visit this link to pre-register. Hope to see you there! http://surrey.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ViewPage.action?siteNodeId=1483&languageId=1&contentId=40363

President Mike Bola received confirmation from Councillor Tom Gill and the Parks and Rec. committee that the George Greenaway outdoor pool’s hours of operation and early opening and late closing of the season will be permanent as the budget was approved to accommodate the demand. The Cloverdale Community Association is glad that everything worked out for the community and hopes everyone will enjoy the cool water during the hot summer months! The association would also like to thank the City of Surrey for their efforts and understanding.

On October 3, 2014, President Mike Bola sent an urgent email to Councillor Tom Gill, Chair of the Finance Committee and Councillor Linda Hepner, Chair of the Finance Committee regarding safety concerns raised by residents using the walk way in the Bill Reid Amphitheatre Park along 176 Street. The walk way did not have adequate lighting during the night when in use by the pedestrians. After bringing this matter to the attention of Councillor Gill and Hepner, we are happy to say that they acted quickly and had staff speak to the Province of BC and BC Hydro to get the current street lights replaced with double davit poles. As of October 24, 2014, these street light poles have been changed and are fully operating. In addition, the Parks Division will be trimming the shrubbery and branches to allow consistent level of illumination along 176 Street. We would like to thank the City of Surrey and the Province of BC for looking after our residents’ concerns in Cloverdale.

In the late Fall of 2013, President Mike Bola contacted the Chair of Finance, Councillor Tom Gill and the Chair of the Parks Recreation and Tourism Committee about requests he received from parents and swim clubs who utilized the outdoor George Greenway Pool to extend the season operations and to have it coincide with the Bear Creek outdoor pool. The city implemented a pilot project for the 2014 season to see if indeed there was usage as per the association’s info and request. Councillor Gill and Councillor Hepner advised President Mike Bola today that the utilization of the George Greenway Outdoor Pool during the pilot project was really high and that they support the permanent extension of the season however they will not be able to amend the Capital Budget Plan for 2015 until November 2014 which will be after the 2014 municipal election. If the same council is re-elected then the amendments could be made December of 2014 but if new council members are elected, the extension of the season may not occur. Stay tuned…

President Mike Bola was advised by the Parking Manager, Dave Harkness that the City plans on starting the project in October/November of 2014. Residents will have the option of providing feedback to the City however residents must keep in mind that it is impossible to please everyone and the City has to considering the overall outcome based on the issues. “No Parking” signs have been installed in various locations and bylaws is enforcing them. The locations is based on the complaints received and site visits.

Jaime Boan, City of Surrey, Transportation Dept., along with Terry Sampietro and Dave Harkness made a presentation and led a discussion regarding parking issues in East Clayton. They told us they are guided by the “three E’s”, namely, Engineering, Enforcement and Education. From an Engineering standpoint they explained the options available to them. Before trying expensive solutions such as street widening they would like to try a pilot experiment called “Queuing” and would like to proceed as soon as possible in 2014 exploiting this least expensive option which would add 140 parking spots. The City has also stepped up enforcement of by-laws on parking and illegal suites. By-law amendments are being proposed and new enforcement strategies will be tried starting in late July 2014. In 2014 to date, in Cloverdale (including Clayton), the City has ticketed 9200 parking violations (1850 in May); and answered 750 complaints about illegal suite by-law violations (120 in May). Educational bulletins have been distributed advising residents of best practices in parking and advising them of their regular enforcement program and of fines and penalties applied in cases of non-compliance. Mr. Boan asked for our support so that they can implement the pilot project and get it started right away. The association supported the City’s plans on tackling the parking issue in East Clayton.

President Mike Bola attending the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meeting today as a delegate to speak about the ongoing issues with Clayton’s parking, the usage of the RF-10 lot layout and a recommendation on how to implement permit parking. With regards to RF-10 layouts, Mr. Bola recommended to the committee that any new RF-10 houses be built with 6 car parking spots to reduce the number of potential cars being parked on the city streets. The layout would allow two cars in the garage, two cars in the full driveway behind the garage and then two cars parked in tandem along the side of the garage which would be automatically created by having the full driveway. Mr. Bola was informed by the committee that research was done to obtain information on how other municipalities handled permit parking if one was implemented and the result was that most parking permits were for residents vs commercial vehicles and not resident vs. resident as in the case for East Clayton. Mr. Bola presented a possible permit parking solution based on the feedback received from the East Clayton residents and the Chair, Councillor Tom Gill asked the Transportation Manager to review it and come back with a response for the May 2014 meeting to see if it could be implemented. The Committee also indicated that after during a further review of East Clayton’s residential streets, they will be considering the option of implementing queuing traffic so instead of having one-sided street parking, there would be double-sided street parking which should increase the on-street parking by 200+ and they also advised that they are in the process of possibly setting up an agreement with the school district to allow the residents/guests to park in the school parking lot even though it may not be practical for everyone who does not live nearby. Furthermore, the request to install “No Parking” signs in every back lane was denied and the staff would like residents to file complaints with regards to parking violations. Mr. Bola disagreed with this and later spoke to one of the staff members to see if they would reconsider it but wasn’t given a concrete decision. Mr. Bola will speak to the Chair directly to see if this decision can be overridden. Bylaws has advised that secondary suite enforcement is in full force and letters have gone out to houses for which they received complaints about and which the Cloverdale Community Association forwarded on behalf of the residents. After the inspection, fines will be assessed against the homeowners if multiple suites are found. The Chair also asked Bylaws to review the parking fines as they seem to low and do not prevent abusers from reoffending again. There might be a substantial increase to the parking fine which could deter parking violators. Next update will be in May 2014.

President Mike Bola met with Councillor Tom Gill, Planning and Development, Transportation/Engineering and the Bylaws departments to push for a solution on how to tackle the parking and multiple suite issues in the East Clayton neighborhood in Cloverdale. Planning and Development have advised that no new RF-9 and RF-9C (coach home) lots will be allowed unless the developer had an application in progress prior to this new change taking place. They have also advised that a new RF-10 zone has been created which would allow up to 6 off-street parking which would in turn free up more parking space on the street. This includes providing a full length driveway and a side parking pad. President Bola suggested to the Transportation and Engineering department to look at the possibility of installing “NO PARKING” signs in all the back lanes in East Clayton to help eliminate the garage accessibility issues in addition to pushing out multiple suite tenants. President Bola has also asked the Bylaws department to provide daily parking enforcement in East Clayton until a precedence has been set. President Bola suggested to start with a dedicated team of parking enforcement officers who would drive through East Clayton once during the day and once in the evening around 7pm or so to ensure everyone is following the parking regulations. Bylaws has also reassured me that multiple suites issues are being addressed and fines and letters of removal are being delivered. Unfortunately, due to the fact that some tenants have children and are attending the school nearby, it is hard to ask them to leave until the end of the school year which is the end of June. Finally, permit parking was discussed based on residents recommendations and city staff will have a report ready on April 7 at the next Transportation Committee Meeting to advise what the options are, if any. The biggest concern was how the city was going to enforce the permit parking and how they were going to manage and administer the permit parking system from a cost effectiveness point of view.

Surrey City Council approved plans for the development of Hazelgrove Park at Monday evening’s Council meeting. The new 3.5 hectare park will be located in the Cloverdale neighbourhood of East Clayton and will be East Clayton’s largest park when completed. The approved concept plan for the park includes a regulation sized soccer field, playground, water spray park, two tennis courts, a basketball and ball hockey court, a parkour course and a washroom building. The concept also provides lots of open green space for picnicking, and a naturalized area around an existing tree grove. – See more at: http://surrey.ca/city-government/14890.aspx#sthash.Syh9nb4c.dpuf

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Click here to view the newspaper article: http://www.cloverdalereporter.com/news/248590631.html

President Mike Bola sent a letter to the editor of the Cloverdale Reporter expressing the association’s disappointment with the lack of planning and commitment for Cloverdale from the Mayor and Council. Click on this link to view the letter: http://www.cloverdalereporter.com/opinion/letters/247146681.html

President Mike Bola appeared as a delegate in front of the Finance Committee requesting again that the City consider allocating money to build a 50 metre pool and 3 sheet ice skating arena.

President Mike Bola will be appearing before the Transportation Committee requesting that the City of Surrey improve the traffic flow on 64th Avenue headed east and west between 177B Street and 196 Street by doubling the lanes with the possibility of reducing the incline/decline around 180 Street.

We will be holding our Annual General Meeting on this date. Elections will be held for our executive positions in addition to our regular agenda topic discussions.

President Ken Krasnikoff and Vice President Mike Bola appeared in the Cloverdale Reporter and The Surrey Leader. Click on this link to view the article: http://www.cloverdalereporter.com/news/214930461.html

President Ken Krasnikoff appeared before the parks committee requesting that Mound Park in Cloverdale be developed for park use so residents of Cloverdale and other Surrey communities can enjoy this unused land. Some are already calling it Cloverdale’s future Stanley Park.

Vice President Mike Bola and Treasurer, Jim Labelle attended a stakeholders meeting with the Province of BC regarding the future of Massey Tunnel.

Vice President Mike Bola appeared before the parks committee requesting on behalf of the residents of Cloverdale that a 3 rink skating arena and 50 metre FINA pool be included in their 2013-2017 Financial Plan.

A proposal was submitted to the Mayor and Council requesting that the By-law 12000 be amended to allow RF-12 lots to be widened to add a 4-6 feet wide parking pad (either concrete or gravel) so a tenant can park in his/her own designated spot and leave the on-street parking for guests/visitors. This will also extend the length of the driveway which would provide more off-street parking for the landlord’s guests. The RF-9C houses in Clayton Heights have a similar type of setup where there is a gravel parking pad beside the coach/garage and we believe the RF-12 and RF-9 lots should have this requirement/setup as well.

Neighbourhood Enhancement Fund Application Form was submitted to the City of Surrey. Requests included the expansion/installation of sidewalks, additional benches in Downtown Cloverdale and a Gateway sign for every point of entry into Cloverdale welcoming visitors.