N1 plan handed over to municipal council

The environment and the area’s history are two major focuses surrounding the Neighourhood One development in Southwest Mission.

A draft of the entire plan, which took almost a year to complete, was handed over to council Monday night by Silverdale Urban Reserve Area planner Terry Lyster in a short ceremony.

“Plans are beginning in the Silverdale area,” Lyster told The Record Tuesday morning. According to Lyster, the most unique aspect of the plan is the way settlement is integrated with the land form, creating a very green plan.

“It’s a difficult site,” said Lyster, noting the average slope on the hillside is about 18 per cent, and some areas are too steep to be developed.

Watercourses in the area total about 8,800 metres, and less than 100 metres of it will be affected by settlement. The area where it will be affected is where the central village site will be, said Lyster. “The rest will have appropriate setbacks, and crossings [over the watercourses] have been minimized.”

There is a large environmentally sensitive area and a network of trails. This is the most environmentally conscious and aware plan the District of Mission has created, said Dennis Clark, Mission’s director of corporate administration. “This is truly an historical turning point in Mission.”

Clark noted millions of dollars have been spent on studies in the area, which has been ongoing for several years. A total of 38 technical studies were conducted and used when developing Neighbourhood One, but there are still a couple of studies which need to be signed off on by the district.

Neighbourhood One consists of about 440 acres with 1,400 dwelling units and a village centre. There are 11 kinds of housing structures proposed for the area, but people at all levels on the hill will have a view, said Lyster.

“The site has magnificent views.”

The site is not suitable for manufacturing and industry type of work because of the slope. The only flat area, according to Lyster, is the children’s playground where the school is located.

Instead, for the first phase, home-based businesses will be encouraged, noted the planner.

“There will be a village there ... it will be a central hub for the neighbourhood,” said Lyster, adding economic development will be a focus when other areas are developed in the future.

The new development will be an extension of the settlement already in place there, and will also pay tribute to pioneers by naming streets after them.

“The area has a rich, rich history that’s very well documented,” said Lyster, noting it was a unique experience in his professional career working with the direct descendants of pioneer families.

One of the main focuses was creating a community feeling in the neighourhood, said Clark.

“People will feel like they’re moving into a closely knit community where people can get to know each other easily because of the way it’s designed,” Clark stated. “The Silverdale area in Mission is known as a tight-knit community, and part of the objective is to continue on with that.”

The trails will connect homes in different areas, and houses will feature things like front porches to create a welcoming and friendly environment.

The draft plan, which council reviewed Wednesday night after The Record’s press time, included details on land use and density, environment and recreation, housing and residential density, economic development and jobs, transportation, buildings and infrastructure, community facilities and social issues, and history, culture and identity.

After council reviews the draft plan in detail, it will be presented to the public at a public information meeting.

The timeframe that follows will depend on when council adopts the plan, according to Clark.

In addition, discussions surrounding the phased development agreement also need to be concluded, which will come forward in the bylaw. The district is close on all these things, said Clark, who suspects the public information meeting could take place in mid-August and public hearings will begin shortly thereafter.

The draft plan and studies are available on www.mission.ca.