An open letter to Surrey council.
When you approved a development permit for the strip of land across the street from The Residence at Morgan Heights, assisted living and complex care at 15955 27 Ave., most of us who live at the facility were disappointed.
You came to our house before the last election; we listened to you and chose you as our leaders. We have now come to your house to listen to us and to act on our behalf.
When you decreed there would be a moratorium on new homes until there were sufficient school rooms available for a new population, we believed you. We were quite sure that strip of land would not be developed because at each end of the short street is a school – one private, one public. Both are full – no room for new students.
The developer – who by the way has torn down the trees already – will introduce approximately 450 people onto the street and at least 200 cars. It is not a very large strip of land.
Approximately 200 residents live at Morgan Heights. Approximately 100 people work here and park on the street, and many, many visitors who come daily park on the street.
Since the destruction of our small urban forest started this month, some of our staff have received parking tickets – the construction workers do a good job of blocking our street; huge service and delivery trucks come to this building almost daily. The street is narrow and some trucks barely make the turn. Fire trucks and ambulances come to this building almost daily – our residents are old and many are quite fragile.
There is no room on the street for a lot more homes and cars.
The traffic congestion during construction and after the homes are occupied will be huge. Where will our visitors and staff park?
Tantamount to all this, those seniors who daily go out with their walking aids – walkers and electric scooters – will be at risk, especially during construction, with all the huge trucks on the street.
Driving through South Surrey, one sees many, many construction sites for home construction – some just starting, others being sold off.
It would make several generations of Surrey residents very happy if the city could exchange a comparable piece of land in Surrey for the one mentioned above. One would hope that the owner of the land would be amenable to this suggestion.
Then this one could be returned to its original rural look or maybe it could become a community garden.
Dorothy Grad, Surrey
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Editor:
Re: Landowner defends highrise proposal, Oct. 19.
I have lived in this area for only three years and have noticed the constant construction and terrible traffic congestion that is getting worse every month.
The idea of adding three highrise condominiums and one commercial highrise in addition to all the townhouses that are being built in the area is absolutely unbelievable.
With the landowner’s estimate of 600 units, that’s 600 more cars in the area, not to mention the cars coming to the commercial building.
There is no guarantee that only empty-nesters, retirees and baby boomers will purchase those condos.
The intersection of 28 Avenue and 156 Street is a four-way stop and is extremely congested in the morning and afternoon rush hours. Because this is the nearest access to Highway 99, we have to deal with cars coming from every area of South Surrey, not just our own neighbourhood.
There is no street parking available, no sidewalks and the streets are extremely narrow for the current traffic. Contrary to the landowner’s belief, this development would definitely impact our neighbourhood.
L.J. Town, Surrey