The Changing Face of The Historic Downtown Abbotsford

When the municipalities of Abbotsford and Matsqui amalgamated in the mid-1990s, the historic downtown area was a place few were attracted to for establishing a business or for shopping. Fast-forward 20 years and the demand for space is high, and the arrival of new business establishments is clearly evident, with names like ‘Montrose & George’, ‘Yes, Chef’, ‘Bureaux’, ‘Polly Fox’, and ‘Field House Brewing’, to name only a small number.

Essendene Ave Shop

The growth over the last four years has been both exciting and encouraging. A quick survey of the owners quickly reveals a young demographic; one that brings with it an atmosphere/culture that sets it apart as unique from other parts of our city. These entrepreneurs are also unique in that they bring a collaborative spirit, rather than a competitive one. If one can share a business practice that has proven successful, he/she is quick to do so with others in this business community.

Josh Vanderheide of Fieldhouse Brewing is one such entrepreneur. His vision for Abbotsford extends beyond the boundaries of the historic downtown, however, that may be the subject of a future article. Josh has been an integral part of mobilizing fellow entrepreneurs into breathing new life into the historic downtown. An exciting part of his vision revolves around the newly-established Valley Food and Farm Collective’s Rail District Community Market, which is open every Thursday late afternoon and evening.

  

Josh Vanderheide

Rail District Community Market

One of the keys for continued growth in this part of Abbotsford will be residential development. Such development is presently under construction on South Montrose and on George Ferguson Way & McCallum and will soon begin at the north end of Montrose, on the former Clayburn Brick Factory property. The completion of these properties will mean that additional hundreds of residents will consider the Historic Downtown as their ‘Go To’ place for shopping and eating.  

The annual ‘Wine & Art Walk’ is harbinger of great and exciting things to come for the Historic Downtown. Within days, the event sells out; this year 450 tickets were sold. On a nice day, this is where people want to come to browse, shop, and socialize. And come they will.

South Fraser Way 

The City of Abbotsford is now in Stage 4 (Final) of adopting a plan for reshaping the Historic Downtown to reflect the input of thousands who responded to the City’s surveys. The residents of Abbotsford put people-friendly streetscapes and the preservation of its historic character at the top of their list of priorities, with respect to any future development. The top three projects the public would like to see the city embark on are: Gateway Plazas (people places), the redesign of Essendene Avenue, and Trails & Paths.

One Gateway Plaza now under construction is the reconstruction of Jubilee Park. Once completed, it will mark a southwest entrance into the downtown, as well as allow for a more efficient use of that green space. Once the Centennial Library is rebuilt, including a park-side bistro, this plaza will become a hub of activity, year-round. Reconfiguring Essendene will provide for more people-friendly sidewalk spaces, will slow down the traffic, and will draw even more people into the Historic Downtown.

The Historic Downtown is described in the City’s literature as “…the soul of Abbotsford. The historic buildings and streets offer a glimpse into the past, reinforcing a sense of shared history, identity, and civic pride.” We want to make it into a place that will be best experienced on foot that includes unique experiences for residents.

One of the best things that could happen would be for the repatriation of this C.P. Rail Station to its original location, along the tracks on Railway Street in Abbotsford.

Ad Hoc Planning or Master Planning?

A city's OCP is a 30,000 ft view that lays out, in broad strokes, how the city is intended to grow or develop. It identifies land use and density. Master Plans are ground-level views that lay out in detail how that OCP will be executed. From water and sewer to transit, transportation, and parks, these plans prioritize action plans based on a number of factors, including needs, wants, and costs. 

The Parks, Recreation, and Culture Master Plan is a good example. Through extensive public engagement at two stages in the 4-stage process, staff learned what was important to the residents of Abbotsford, and the final draft reflected that to a great extent. Priorities were set accordingly, but not overlooking ongoing maintenance, population growth demands, and certainly financial feasibility. Priorities were organized into "Short", "Medium", and "Long-Term" action plans.

The master plan includes a 25-year financial plan that charts a path that can deliver an affordable plan that does not become a financial burden for taxpayers. As mentioned in the plans, if at any time grant funds become available, certain projects may be advanced more quickly. It must also be noted that master plans are always open for review and revision.

In the same way, each of the other eight master plans have been designed to facilitate more certainty and stability in how the city manages the financial and physical resources for its residents.

When candidates promise that upon election, they will deliver certain capital projects or programs, you need to ask them if and how it fits in the Master Plan, and how they propose to finance it. With respect to Parks, Recreation, and Culture, they also need to be asked how they will defend their decision before the public, whose input has greatly determined the priorities as set out in the master plan. And if they are willing to do this with one of the master plans, will they also apply that to the other eight? 

Will it be Ad Hoc Planning or Master Planning?

City Growth, Urban Infill, & Hard Choices

This week, Council had two applications, on their agenda, for subdividing existing lots into three and two lots respectively. The petitioning from existing neighbours in one of the applications was delivered with conviction and passion. Their fear is that these changes will change the character and stability of their neighbourhood in substantial ways, and a large number of residents from that street were in attendance at Council, to deliver that message. They urged Council to deny the application; to leave their neighbourhood as is. Several added that should the subdividing be approved, that Council not approve a secondary suite in these new houses. 

As one Councillor faced with the sincere requests not to approve, I take no enjoyment in making a decision that may not agree with the request. My response to them was:

1. Abbotsford is growing at an increasingly fast rate. This year our city has experienced a record level of building permits (roughly $400M), and next year looks to surpass that mark.

2. Abbotsford is surrounded by agricultural land, which is protected by provincial legislation against future development.

3. Abbotsford has very little greenfield remaining for new development, and much of our non-agricultural land is comprised of slopes too steep for developing.

4. In light of these factors and the expectation of a growing population, our City adopted the Official Community Plan, 2016, which lays out a strategy for absorbing the next 60,000 people that move into our community. The Plan will drive 45,000 of those new residents into the existing urban core, and to that end, existing neighbourhoods with large-sized lots, need to be densified. One of the tools for accomplishing this is the subdividing of these large lots, and providing secondary suites wherever a minimum lot size is available, and assuming other conditions exist. (see figure below)

According to the policy adopted, one of the lots is large enough to subdivide into two lots, and with secondary suites on each.

To date, Council has approved numerous similar subdivisions throughout the city. Land owners are responding to market forces and to the flexibility that this new OCP policy provides them. The OCP went through vigourous community examination and input, and followed by careful staff and Council scrutiny, before adoption. 

To arbitrarily allow one, while denying another, both of which qualify under the new guidelines, is not in the best interests of our community, and would bring the integrity of Council's decisions into question, unless of course, if making an exception could be defended for sound reasons. Making an exception in this case, could not be defended, in my opinion.

See earlier article on 'Renewing With Urban Infill':