Here’s what’s on the agenda at Burnaby’s Feb 28 council meeting

Ah, ah, ah, ah it’s council night, council night!

I’ve been waiting to use that line for a while. And, if you don’t get it, all I request is you sing the above line to the tune of Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees in order to understand what I’m trying to get at.

You know what? I’ll just throw the song in here for good measure to make this more fun.

Anyways, it’s time for another council meeting and if you’re wondering what’s going down at Burnaby City Hall tonight, we’ve got you covered.

Here’s what’s on the agenda for Monday, Feb 28. You can watch tonight’s council meeting live starting at 5pm here. 

Response to abortion rights coalition of Canada

A report prepared by the city’s general manager of community safety, Dave Critchley, responds to council’s request for staff to further research around the feasibility to enact a bylaw addressing concerns raised by the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada (ARCC)  regarding the distribution of graphic fetus imagery materials. A letter from ARCC to council was initially presented in the March 4, 2021, council correspondence package and was in response to media stories and social media posts regarding graphic fetus imagery pamphlets that were being delivered to Burnaby residences and similar graphic signs being displayed in the Metrotown area. ARCC noted that anti-abortion group, the Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform was reportedly responsible for the signs and pamphlets and asked council to enact a bylaw “banning delivery of unwanted flyers to homes with ‘no flyers’ or similar notice,” and enact or amended a bylaw “limiting public signage.” Council directed staff to conduct further research regarding enacting or amending bylaws to address concerns around the distribution around graphic fetus imagery materials. In its review, staff said they were “unable to locate any history of any complaints every being related to citizens concerns over unaddressed advertising information” and determined that, “without broad-based complaints from the community, the implementation of  a bylaw regulating unaddressed advertising is not needed at this time.”

Municipal single-use plastic reduction bylaws

As the Beacon reported earlier, the environment committee met last week and adopted a report in relation to a notice of motion submitted by Coun Pietro Calendino and Coun James Wang regarding a single-use plastic reduction bylaw. The bylaw would look to implement a ban on plastic items such as plastic check-out bags, plastic stir sticks, plastic straws (other than ones used for accessibility needs in hospitals and care homes, and for those living with disabilities), plastic cutlery, foam cups, and possibly foam food containers. The environment committee determined that a regional standard approach that aligns with Metro Vancouver’s framework would be the best route for Burnaby and recommends council direct staff to begin expedited development of the bylaw.

Potential change to the Royal Oak Community Plan

A proposal to allow the BC Government and Services Employees’ Union to develop five lots on Palm Avenue in the Royal Oak area into its new Lower Mainland office, that would also include two residential towers with 146 market and 146 non-market rental housing, as well as an “affordable” child care facility is back on the docket for Monday’s meeting. The proposal has been developed into a “more detailed report” according to the city’s general manager of planning and development, Ed Kozak, and also includes a proposed rezoning amendment to the Royal Oak community plan. Discussions around the proposal have been ongoing since December 2020, when council received a report from the planning and development committee regarding the rezoning of the subject site. As the Burnaby Now previously reported, two independent councillors, Colleen Jordan and Dan Johnston, voted against the proposal. However, council went ahead and voted to direct staff to work with the BCGEU to rework the proposal to be brought forward as a zoning amendment. The proposed building site is located about a block east of Royal Oak Ave and a block south of Imperial St and falls within the area of the Royal Oak community plan. The Royal Oak plan allows for RM3 zoning (medium-density residential) at the proposed building site but an amendment to the Royal Oak plan is being proposed in the rezoning application to add C2 Commercial and PI Institutional District uses to the site as well as RM5r. Coun Jordan previously expressed her issue with spot zoning (where the city determines zoning on a lot-by-lot basis, going outside of what’s in the community plan) with the Burnaby Now noting that the City of Burnaby consistently chooses to stick to its community plans. Mayor Mike Hurley, however, disagreed that the proposal involved spot zoning, aside from the commercial aspect of the proposal.  The application is seeking council authorization in order to move forward to a public hearing on March 29.

Second reading of proposed townhouses at Wayburne Dr

The proposed 130-townhouse development at 3550 Wayburne Drive is up for its second reading. This comes after the developer, Symphony Homes, promised several changes to design after community feedback regarding the project. In November 2021, speakers at a public hearing voiced concerns about how many units were being built. Originally there were 208 units planned, then that changed to 130, and most recently a report to council noted 150 units. In the hearing, some residents said they were concerned about their neighbourhood becoming too dense and noisy. They also said there was not enough parking proposed. In response, Symphony Homes said it would reduce the number of units, add additional off-street parking, relocate site access from Woodsworth to Wayburn Dr, and shift the waste and recycling area from Woodsworth to Westminster Ave.

With files from Dustin Godfrey and Srushti Gangdev.