- Burnaby Beacon
- Posts
- What’s on Mayor-elect Hurley’s agenda for the next four years in Burnaby?
What’s on Mayor-elect Hurley’s agenda for the next four years in Burnaby?
Heading into his second term as Burnaby’s mayor, after winning this year’s election by acclamation, Mike Hurley said housing is still at the top of the agenda.
The mayor will need to work with the rest of city council and their platforms, but as a sort of figurehead for the city, the mayor does set the tone for council.
The last four years saw the city’s most significant work focus on the four town centres—particularly, protecting existing tenants from displacement from new developments and adding more affordable rental housing to all developments in the town centres.
“The four town centres, that’s pretty much set about how they’re going to go,” Hurley said.
“The other areas of the city, I think where we can, we need to work on getting more townhomes, more ground-level orientation homes so that we can have places for young families, affordable for young families.”
He said townhomes will be a “big focus” for himself, but adding more variety in housing options in more neighbourhoods could also look like duplexes and basement suites.
One argument gaining momentum in recent years is for cities to eliminate single-family exclusive zoning altogether, allowing for things like small apartment buildings and townhomes in all neighbourhoods.
Hurley said the city is “working through that with the community.”
“We’re out there talking to the community in certain areas, and we’ll see if we get there or not, but we have to do that in conjunction with our communities,” he said.
Making a downtown
Another priority over the next four years, Hurley said, will be firmly establishing Metrotown as the city’s downtown area, particularly focusing on the area directly around the SkyTrain line.
“I really want to focus on ensuring that we’re turning that into a true city centre. … I think the time has come to really focus on that,” he said.
“We already have some designers working on how we can activate those spaces, whether that is some retail and some commercial right off the tracks.”
However, to accomplish that, he said, the city needs to strike a deal with BC Hydro, which owns the space along the tracks.
He added that he’d like to see more investment into building venues for live events in the area, something he said would be key to getting people to not only come to Metrotown but to stay there.
“That’s something I really want to focus on this term,” he said.
“I think, first of all, you have to have a vision and then someone who wants to sell that vision. And that’s what we’re starting to do right now. We’re starting to work on what that vision may look like.”
North-south transit
As for TransLink, where he’ll retain a seat on the Mayor’s Council, Hurley said he’ll be advocating heavily for north-south rapid transit routes.
Currently, TransLink is planning for a rapid bus along Willingdon Avenue, which would connect Metrotown with Brentwood, but he said he’d like to see a train.
TransLink has offered a few proposals for a train route that connects the North Shore to this side of the Burrard Inlet, with one such option connecting to Hastings Street before heading to Brentwood, and down to Metrotown.
Other options see the route connecting to Hastings Street and then running either east or west along that street.
“It makes sense to tie Metrotown, Brentwood, and the North Shore,” Hurley said.
The Mayor’s Council doesn’t have much in the way of actual powers, largely being an advocacy body for local governments within TransLink. But he said he will use that position to advocate for the option that connects the North Shore to Metrotown.
And if that fails, he said he would continue pushing for some kind of rail that runs along Willingdon Avenue, be it another SkyTrain line or light rail or otherwise.
Funding the gondola
The gondola up to Burnaby Mountain has been approved by TransLink and the city. Now it just needs a funding source.
“There hasn’t been any commitment. There hasn’t been any real, I would say, positive discussions on that front,” Hurley said.
He added that there will be elections for senior levels of government within this term, and “that’s the time things like this seem to find money.”
The BC government is due for an election in two years, while the federal government, in a minority position, could see an election anytime between now and three years from now.
SFU has offered to pitch in for the project, but Hurley said it’s a “drop in the bucket” for the estimated $200-million project.
“In transit terms, [that] is not huge money, but it’s still huge money,” he said, noting that the subway to UBC is estimated in the billions of dollars.
In terms of transit, Hurley said he’s also been making a push for the electrification of TransLink’s fleet of buses.
Metro matters
Topics discussed within regional districts aren’t the most appealing to the general public, but they’re among the most important—they’re often the things we don’t want to see, like waste disposal and sewage.
At that level, Hurley said Metro Vancouver has water treatment plants that need building to clean up sewage that is drained into the ocean.
And he said some sewage pipes are leaking, while others are inadequate for the work they’re expected to do.
“That’s the big issue with Metro, is those big money projects,” Hurley said.
“And again, how do we get the other levels of government, who demand that we meet certain standards going forward, but haven’t produced any funding to assist to move those projects forward.”