Thursday, May 11, 2023 edition - Mission’s housing boom

Thursday, May 11, 2023 | ☀️ High 23C | Forecast

Good morning!

Growing up my family always had a large vegetable garden in our yard—courtesy of my grandparents and dad. As a kid I never quite appreciated the skill. I was only ever good at getting messy. Now I wish I had paid more attention to what they were doing. But I’m hopeful I’ll get to their level one day. My goal is to start small. I hope gardening is going well for all the rest of you green thumbs. 🌱

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NEWS

Homebuilding spikes in Mission, plunges in Abbotsford

Mission and Abbotsford’s councils and city governments both want the same thing—more housing. But over the last year, the pace of home-building in the two communities has headed in very different directions.

For the first time in decades (and possibly ever), construction started on more new homes in Mission than its neighbour to the south. The change is sudden, dramatic, and caused both by a dramatic decline in new construction in Abbotsford and a spike in development in Mission.

Other Fraser Valley communities are also seeing building trends shift. Aside from Harrison Hot Springs, each municipality’s council has declared a need to bolster their supply of housing. But housing data analyzed by The Current shows some are doing a better job than others at meeting that goal.

• Today, Tyler breaks down new home-building statistics and the trends they reveal in Langley, Abbotsford, Mission and Chilliwack.

Need to know

🌡 A Weather Channel forecaster predicts that some communities will break spring temperature records this weekend; Abbotsford's pre-May 15 record high was 32.8 C recorded in 1973 [50ShadesofVan/Twitter]

💧 Firefighters helped students at a Chilliwack school on Tuesday after a pipe burst [Fraser Valley Today]

🦌 A driver walked away with minor injuries after crashing into a tree to avoid a deer on a Mission roadway; Mounties say there have been many reports of wild animals on roads [Mission RCMP]

🤿 Langley Township spray parks are opening just in time for the heat wave [Langley Township]

💰 The Chilliwack School Board is forgiving $10,000 in rent to a local youth centre strapped for funds [Chilliwack Progress]

👮🏻‍♀️ A driver caught travelling twice the speed limit in Agassiz had their car impounded by Mounties [Fraser Valley Today]

💧 Chilliwack city staff are assessing dikes, pumps, and flood boxes ahead of the spring freshet [Chilliwack Progress]

⛳️ Abbotsford’s Ledgeview Golf Club is preparing to host the RBC Canadian Open this summer [Abbotsford News]

🅿️ Pay parking in Harrison returns for the summer beginning Monday [Agassiz Harrison Observer]

🚓 Langley Township will be responsible for the cost of splitting the shared RCMP detachment, City mayor Nathan Pachal says [Langley Advance Times]; The Current reported on the township’s reasons to separate from the city, read that story here [FVC]

😍 Abbotsford’s Gurleen Maan will star alongside four other eligible farmers in Farming For Love reality series airing May 28 [maanfarms/Instagram]

🚨 A child sex offender is facing two new child porn charges for offences that allegedly occurred in Abbotsford in 2017 [Abbotsford News]

📷 Current Cam: Wendy Leroux was the first to guess yesterday’s Current Cam of St. Joseph’s Church in Langley. We want your current cam pictures! Email your best mystery photo to us (close-ups are better than landscapes!)

🔜 The countdown is on! Only one week left to get tickets for the Cloverdale Rodeo and Country Fair. Join the fun this May long weekend!*

*Sponsored Listing

The Agenda

Central Abbotsford apartment building proposed

A proposal for a large new apartment building in central Abbotsford will head to a public hearing later this spring.

Heinrichs Development wants to construct a six-storey, 99-unit building at the intersection of Gladwin Road and Ventura Avenue. It would be adjacent to Heinrichs’ recently built Court apartment building.

The new building will replace a small office building that is home to, among other businesses, Oriental Village Chinese Restaurant. Council voted Monday to send the proposal to a public hearing at a later date.

Construction on new Mission school unlikely to start until 2026

Middle school students in Mission are unlikely to ever study in the city’s promised new high school.

Construction is unlikely to begin on a new high school in Mission for at least another three years, according to a timeline presented to Mission’s school board earlier this month.

That timeline suggests construction is likely to start in 2026. By the time construction potentially wraps in 2028, today’s Grade 7 students will be graduating

Although the provincial government has promised to fund the construction of a new school—after originally halting plans—the full financial approval has not yet been granted. A final announcement isn’t expected until next March, after which two years of design, permitting, and procurement work will be needed. Only then would construction follow.

The demolition of the existing school is being eyed for 2029.

Throwback Thursday

Construction of the Ruskin Dam began in 1929.

The development of the dam created the Hayward Lake Reservoir. Increased demand required the installation of an additional generator in 1950.

Today, the Alouette-Stave-Ruskin system provides hydroelectricity for the Lower Mainland. Water from Alouette Lake flows to the Alouette Powerhouse. It then passes through the Stave Falls Powerhouse, where it flows through the Ruskin Powerhouse and eventually to the Fraser Valley.

BC Hydro estimates the three powerhouses are capable of producing 203.6 megawatts of electricity. (The average household uses about 1.26 kilowatts--or 0.00126 megawatts--at any one time.)

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