Monday, April 24, 2023 edition — Why a small gravel parking lot costs the same as a luxury home

Monday, April 24, 2023 | 🌧 High 13C | Forecast

Good morning!

There’s nothing better than a great spring walk. The Fraser Valley obviously has a ton of great hikes. But a good walk doesn’t require going uphill. Any parent knows that there’s nothing quite as good as a nice boardwalk. They’re flat. Kids love them. And they often come with terrific view of soggy landscapes that we don’t usually get to see up close but which are so important to nature. I’ve got my own favourites—Downes Bowl in Abbotsford, Cheam Wetlands in Chilliwack—but I’m sure there are many other great ones. We’re going to put together a little story/guide and would love to hear your recommendations. So tell us (just reply to this email): what’s your favourite wetland walk and what makes it so special?

On the member front, we’ve started a new chatroom where I’m posting regularly about stories we’re exploring and fun and fascinating things we come across online. Thanks to new members: Hilda, Bruce, Ruth, and Thomas. In our Saturday members-only edition, I wrote about why we’ve informally adopted Lytton into our coverage area. Next week, I’m going to walk members through the weird story of how an FVC story seems to have led to a cap on the pay of one local government body’s board of directors.

You can support our work and get access to our Discord chat by becoming a member here.

NEWS

The $15 million question

The value of $15 million dollars isn’t what it once was. But it’s still a heck of a lot of money and can get you a decent amount of land, especially in the Fraser Valley.

But just how far those dollars will go often depends less on the quality of the land and more on decisions made by governments, bureaucrats, and politicians.

• Today, Tyler surveys eight $15 million properties around the region to get insight into how city planning decisions influence the cost of land, housing, and businesses.

Need to know

🏒 The Abbotsford Canucks advanced to the second round after a sold-out game on Saturday [Canucks Army] | We profiled the team and its players last week [FVC] | The Chilliwack Chiefs also advanced in the playoffs this weekend [Fraser Valley Today]

🐄 EcoDairy in Abbotsford has changed its name to EcoFarm to better showcase its diversity and range [Abbotsford News]

🚌 The operator of the Fraser Valley’s strike-hit transit system says it is open to arbitration to solve the labour dispute [Abbotsford News]

🍴 Yam It, a Korean snack bar, will open in Langley next week [Dished]

🗳 Agassiz Mayor Sylvia Pranger completed a walk from her community to Chilliwack’s Leisure Centre in about five hours [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

🏫 Three Mission schools will receive facility upgrades [Mission Record]

👉 Hope residents and businessowners will meet Wednesday to discuss the revitalization of Wallace Street

🖋 The Yale & District Historical Society have launched a petition to rally support after the province chose another organization to run Yale Historic Site [Change.org]

👍 A Langley woman thanked a Good Samaritan who helped her after a medical incident caused a car accident [Langley Advance Times]

❌ A Chilliwack pastor’s appeal of his COVID ticket was summarily dismissed in provincial court [Chilliwack Progress]

⛳ Chilliwack’s Meadowlands Golf Course has a long and colourful history—with appearances from both Bing Crosby and a famous hypnotist [Chilliwack History Perspectives]

🏢 A proposal to build four six-storey apartment buildings near Langley Events Centre was approved by council [Langley Advance Times]

🐎 Saddle up May 19-22 for the Cloverdale Rodeo and Country Fair. Over 40 food trucks, performances, entertainment, and animals to enjoy with friends and family.*

*Sponsored Listing

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FORT LANGLEY JAZZ FESTIVAL

Big Band Swing Dance & Silent Auction with the Dal Richards Orchestra

On Friday, May 12, the historic Fort Langley Community Hall will be transformed into a classic ballroom for the Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival 2023 Big Band Swing Dance & Silent Auction.

The night will feature the Dal Richards Orchestra, playing echoes of the big band era as well as free swing dance lessons, a silent auction, and cash bar.

Get your tickets here.

The Agenda

Multihog hits Chilliwack streets

Chilliwack cyclists are now sharing bike lanes with a vehicle. But it’s not an unwelcome change.

The “Multihog”—a bike lane sweeper machine that Chilliwack purchased for $217,000 in February—started cleaning bike lanes last week.

The machine is bike-laned sized and fits in delineated lanes where regular-sized sweepers can’t. (We wrote about it in February; you can find that story here.) This is Chilliwack’s first bike lane sweeper and will replace much of the manual labour previously required to keep the lanes free of debris. Abbotsford and Mission have been using similar machines to clear the way for cyclists for years.

Better flood maps for Coquihalla and Fraser funded

The Coquihalla and Fraser rivers will be two of the first BC rivers to get new flood hazard maps.

New flood hazard maps will be created for the Fraser between Yale and Mission, and for the Coquihalla. The Coquihalla experienced massive flooding in 2021 that wiped away bridges and threatened Hope’s hospital. Hope officials say millions are needed in town to better prepare for and avoid a more serious flood in the future.

The Fraser, meanwhile, poses a massive annual risk that experts have warned could do billions of damage across the Fraser Valley. The Fraser Basin Council has already created extensive flood maps for much of the Lower Mainland, though the areas upriver from Hope have been much less studied. The council will also be in charge of co-ordinating the new mapping projects, according to an email from the province to The Current.

“This flood hazard mapping work is more detailed than the earlier work, and will provide detailed floodplain maps suitable for use by local governments for regulatory decisions, such as zoning and development bylaws.”

Provincial and federal politicians have previously spoken about the need for better understanding of flood risks along rivers across Canada, and Ottawa has pledged more than $60 million to pay for improved flood maps. On Friday, the province announced that it would also spend $8.7 million to create better flood maps for rivers in the Fraser-Coquihalla area and four other regions.

The four other mapping areas include the Nicola and Coldwater rivers in the Merritt area, Shuswap Lake and its main tributary rivers, the Bulkley and Skeena Rivers in the Terrace area, and the Fraser and Nechako rivers in the Prince George area.

COMMUNITY PROFILE

Elizabeth Bucar

Abbotsford resident Elizabeth Bucar is our Local of the Day. Elizabeth is a retired child care worker who moved to the valley with her husband in 2009. They love the local walking trails, the proximity to parks and waterbodies.

Favourite local restaurant: Brown’s Social House

Favourite hidden gem: Horn Creek Park

How long you’ve been a local: 15 years

Know an awesome local we should spotlight? Reply back and let us know!

Don’t be shy! We want to profile you! Or someone you really, really like. Take a moment and fill this out (or tell a friend to do so) and be one of our first locals of the week.

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