CBPOA - Nov 4, 2020 - General Meeting Minutes

 

Crescent Beach Property Owners’ Association

Wednesday November 4, 2020 General Meeting Minutes

Directors Present: Jim, Beryl, Liz, Henri, Bob

Held via Zoom with approximately 20 members and Councillor Linda Annis present.

 

1.     Call to order 7:30

2.     Adoption of Sept 9, 2020 General Meeting Minutes, as circulated. Proposer, Beryl.

3.     Matters arising from the minutes: none

4.     Presentation by City of Surrey Planner Keith Broersma

·       The proposed new zone for Crescent Beach comes out of the recommendations of the 2019 Coastal Flood Adaptation Strategy, which developed a range of actions to help Surrey’s coastal communities address the challenges posed by future rising sea levels and climate related storms surges. Changes to the Provincial Emergency Insurance program have also forced a change.

·       Hence Variance Permits to build habitable space below the 3.3 Flood Construction Level (FCL) will no longer be possible and to prepare for future sea level rises and storm surges habitable space will be on the 2nd and 3rd stories. Setbacks, floor area ratio (FAR) and height restrictions are relaxed to accommodate the construction changes.

·        This proposed zone allows for flood-proof houses to be built, and streamlines the process for new construction.  At present, three pilot projects are proceeding under a Comprehensive Development (CD) application. With the new zone in place new construction will just follow the Building Permit process.

·        Keith’s slide presentation ran for about 20 minutes and was followed by a question period.   The City will be setting up a website that will have information on the proposed zoning change, and will also have a feedback component (likely a survey).  They hope to have this website up by December 1 and to receive feedback by December 31.

·        Please refer back to CBPOA Notice of General Meeting Nov 4 sent out Oct 20 for links to the proposed zone and explanatory notes.

·        The Nov 4 presentation can be viewed at ..\Downloads\Nov Presentation to CBPOA 2020-10-30 - FINAL.pdf

 

5.     Correspondence and Updates

a.     Membership: Henri Wendel reported that there are 365 current members, plus a few still to come in.  Canvassers will continue their personal visits.  Henri broached the subject of offering gift certificates to local businesses as an incentive to join the CBPOA.

b.     Church Property Working Group: Beryl Kirk reviewed that the Holy Cross Church Property and parking lot is in the process of being purchased by All Saints Community Church (White Rock). This is the same group that has leased the church in past years.  The purchasers have a fundraising goal they must meet by the end of December to complete the sale.  Brochures from the group will be dropped into resident’s mailboxes this month.  For more information, click  ..\Downloads\3. Crescent Beach Presentation.pdf.

c.      Blackie Spit Working Group: Updates were circulated to the membership on Oct 25.  Ron Sorensen reviewed the process by which this Working Group is talking with the City to improve the parking hours at Blackie Spit Park, with the goal of keeping the parking area calm, quiet and safe after dark.

d.     Transportation and Traffic Calming Working Group:

                                                    i.     In response to the observations of a concerned CBPOA member regarding cyclists falling at the railway crossing at Beecher, the City of Surrey’s Traffic Management Section replied that it monitors the railway crossing with CCTV cameras. Signage at this crossing advises cyclist to dismount before crossing.  Images from this camera and others can be viewed by going to www.surrey.ca/tmc and selecting Traffic Data Portal.

                                                   ii.     The City recently installed a 270° CCTV camera at the BNSF McBride crossing to be able to capture a wider view of the crossing for Traffic Management purposes. In concert with that, they piloted the use of Artificial Intelligence to receive alerts of pedestrian trespassing along the tracks. During the pilot, June 26 to July 21 (25 days) the system captured 297 trespass events. Each individual event may have more than one person involved. The information gained from this pilot was shared with BNSF Police and Transport Canada in the hopes of improving rail and road safety.

                                                 iii.     Residents can report any hazardous incidents to the City and they may be able to use recorded video footage to better understand contributing factors to road safety issues and how best to respond to them.  Service requests can be sent to the City at www.surrey.ca/report.

 

e.     AED installation at Beecher Place: The St John Ambulance have been working with the City of Surrey for the past month or so towards the installation of a stand-up unit at Beecher Place. CBPOA have submitted a grant request to the City of Surrey to support the installation of more AED units.  The City will get back to us in December. 

f.       Whistle Cessation: Councillor Linda Annis reported that one month ago, the City approved a legal agreement with BNSP regarding fencing, whereby the City will lease space from BNSF to erect fencing; this would pave the way for whistle cessation.   

 

6.     New Business

a.     Moved by Beryl Kirk, seconded by Henri, that the CBPOA write the City with appreciation for the new playground equipment on Agar St.

b.     Members wishing to contribute to the City’s recommendations on zoning should email crescentbeachbc@gmail.com with their comments and questions and their interest in joining the Working Group studying the proposed new zone.

c.      A motion to allocate funds to update our website was tabled until the January meeting and until more information has been collected.  Several members have indicated this would be an excellent tool for the CBPOA.

 

7.     Motion to adjourn at 8:45. (David Grant, Henri Wendel)