New Westminster city council wants assurances that a developer does its best to provide opportunities for a school to be included in a massive development proposed in the downtown.
On Monday, council voted 5-2 in support of three readings of the zoning amendment bylaw for the Columbia Square site. It also endorsed the Columbia Square policy statement as a basis for developing a master plan for 88 10th St., something that will now be get underway and must be completed before council considers final adoption of the zoning amendment bylaw.
A staff report stated the New Westminster school district will be provided with an opportunity to purchase or lease property from the applicant for an urban-format public school or other facility.
At the Oct. 21 council meeting, city staff said the development is expected to house about 530 school-aged children. At the Oct. 28 follow-up meeting on the project, council members stressed the need for the developer, EDGAR Development, to work with the school district on providing space for a school on the site.
Although an urban school is outlined in the policy guidelines related to this development, Coun. Tasha Henderson said she would like the city to send a stronger message about addressing the need for a school on the site. Council unanimously passed her motion to direct staff to actively work with the applicant and the school district to secure a site for a new school.
While Henderson supported three readings of the zoning amendment bylaw, she said she will not support the project if she learns the applicant was not exploring a school on the site or was not engaging in good faith in those discussions.
“I think that this is too much of an impact to the downtown school community to not have a robust conversation about that,” she said.
Mayor Patrick Johnstone said negotiations about a school on the site would involve the school board, the province (which funds schools), and the developer.
“The message in this is that council is expecting and wants our staff to support that work,” he said.
Based on a “paper napkin calculation” of the child population of this development, Coun. Jaimie McEvoy said the children who live in this project could potentially fill most of École Qayqayt Elementary School.
“So, the discussion about a school is not just because of current need, but it's an essential reality of the population that will live there,” he said.
The New Westminster School district’s website outlines the “capacity crisis” that is being faced in the district, where the number of classroom spaces, including portables, has reached the maximum limit allowable on site, according to district standards. It stated that 11 of the 12 school sites across the district are “undersized” compared to ministry “area standards.”
Jackie Teed, the city’s director of planning and development, said the city has been having conversations with the applicant about a school throughout the application review process. She said an airspace parcel for an urban style school is being proposed.
“That work would be ongoing,” she told council Monday. “The applicant has signaled that they're very open to this.”
Coun. Ruby Campbell said a school is an important consideration in this project, but noted the city does not build schools. She said the city would consider a proposal that includes an option for the school district to purchase or lease property for a school and encouraged community members to address that at the school board level.
“At this point, if that is important to you, again, if we approve this and through the master plan process, I would encourage you to actually write the school trustees,” she said at Monday’s meeting. “We don't build schools. So, I would suggest you write to the school trustees and ask them to consider this option. That's who you need to advocate to now. It's in their hands. The offer is there.”
The Record has contacted the New Westminster School District for comment.
In an email to the Record, the district said it doesn’t have open correspondence with the City of New Westminster that it can share, but it stated that the city connected New Westminster Schools to the developer in early 2023.
Maya Russell, chair of the school board, said she was pleased to see city council show very strong support for an urban school in the Columbia Square development by requiring the developer provide an opportunity for the school district to acquire space within the development.
“This show of support is exactly the sort of collaboration and flexibility that is required to address our capacity challenges,” she said in a statement to the Record. “The district looks forward to continued conversations with the city staff and the developer as they move forward with the master plan for the area and will work with our funding partners to fully investigate the opportunity.”
According to Russell, the district’s approved five -year capital plan includes a placeholder for a school in this area which makes this opportunity timely and something that will potentially relieve capacity pressures as these large residential developments come online.
