Five months after the Janda Group first unveiled its 鈥淎ldergrove Town Centre鈥� for the old mall site downtown, the developers announced some major revisions to their plans last Thursday.
At a public meeting inside Aldergrove Community Secondary School鈥檚 gymnasium architects, consultants, project managers and others affiliated with the project took questions from 250 community members that showed up.
A number of Aldergrove residents expressed their concern about traffic in the already-swamped thoroughfare of Fraser Highway, adjacent to the 272 Street property.
Darryl Macdonald, a homeowner in the area since 1994, feels the new town centre will be a 鈥渢rade-off,鈥� something that will overwhelm the town鈥檚 streets but ultimately revitalize its downtown core.
鈥淸Aldergrove] is way behind,鈥� Macdonald said, noting its numerous vacant businesses.
鈥淲e needed this 25 years ago.鈥�
The Township of 91原创 provided comment cards for residents to fill out and share their input, which a third-party, the Abbotsford-based Focus Architecture, will codify and bring to the developers to address.
The redevelopment plans were envisioned on large poster boards on either side of the gym, in three phases that move westward through the property.
Lead consultant on the project, architect Colin Hogan of Focus Architecture, said the most notable change to the proposal came to the scaling down of the controversial 28-storey tower (building E) the group had planned for phase 2.
鈥淢aybe Aldergrove isn鈥檛 quite ready for that tower,鈥� Hogan theorized, noting that updated plans see the same building scaled down to a maximum of 12 storeys.
Phase 1, which in spring included three buildings with commercial bottom floors, storefronts, and five levels of residential apartments above, now includes Janda鈥檚 plans to preserve and enhance the Bertrand Creek riparian area, to the north of the buildings.
鈥淲e鈥檝e really enhanced the trail network and we鈥檝e added more green roof components on four of the buildings,鈥� explained Hogan.
The changes includes a pocket park to the east 鈥渨hich wasn鈥檛 going to happen with the [original] tower,鈥� he said.
The project鈥檚 landscape architect Rebecca Krebs hopes the park will be available for the public to use as well.
鈥淚t would be a nice, green, open breath of fresh air in a lot of hardscape,鈥� she said.
Krebs mentioned that the majority of the town centre鈥檚 amenities are inside the buildings or on its residential roof decks. This includes playgrounds, fire pits, and lounging areas.
A commercial space (Building C) was exchanged for a two-storey daycare building.
鈥淲e already have a tenant interested in the daycare,鈥� Hogan said, noting the Janda Group planned the change with the proprietors in mind.
Dedicated bike lanes will also be implemented 鈥渁ll the way from Fraser Highway鈥� and throughout the internal roadways of the centre, Hogan said.
Aldergrove resident Greg Koller was pleased to see the plans, but is concerned about a possible recession that might impact the centre鈥檚 ability to stay afloat.
鈥淭hough I鈥檓 glad to see the developer take the chance,鈥� Koller emphasized.
The property at 3100 272 St. has been more of a sore spot for Aldergrove residents, the longer it remained boarded up and decrepit.
Two long-time residents and friends, both nearing 86 years of age, expressed their desire to see the project 鈥渨ith a shovel in the ground,鈥� during their lifetimes.
鈥淚t鈥檚 felt like forever,鈥� said one of the women, that the mall has sat there, 鈥渃ollecting dust鈥� in the center of Aldergrove.
鈥淚 just hope I鈥檓 alive to see it,鈥� she said of the transformation of the site into the Aldergrove Town Centre.
鈥淭hey should hurry up,鈥� corroborated resident John Roujema, to the Aldergrove Star.
Development plans were initially submitted to the Township on March 13, and fast-tracked after an approved motion filed by Couns. Eric Woodward and Bob Long was submitted the next day.
Though the Janda Group listed its target start date for construction as fall 2020, the plans still have to be considered for approval by the Township, which is tentatively scheduled to happen this winter.
