A Coquitlam neighbourhood that has seen little change over the past three decades is expected next week to have a new plan for the future that features plenty of change.
But while many residents and business owners welcome a modernization of Austin Heights, some retailers worry what will happen to Ridgeway Avenue - a small commercial street that runs parallel to Austin Avenue, where most of the improvements will happen.
Under the draft 20-year neighbourhood plan, which will go to public hearing Monday - and later that night, a decision by council - Ridgeway between Marmont and Nelson streets will become Ridgeway Avenue Walk, providing what Coquitlam planning general manager Jim McIntyre calls "an intimate street experience and a distinctive public space."
"Through redevelopment, this area will evolve into a place where shoppers can stroll, shop, sit and linger, and will also provide a location for street festivals and activities that will also draw people from outside the Austin Heights neighbourhood," McIntyre said yesterday.
The proposal sounds nice but Rosemarie Bella of Rosemarie's Treasures, one of about a dozen shops along the stretch, is concerned what will happen to the commercial rents once the neighbourhood upgrades start.
Bella has been at her location for 27 years while Mike Douhlani has been at Austin Heights Dry Cleaning for about 20 years.
He has heard some Ridgeway businesses will move a block south to Austin to attract more shoppers.
The revitalization is needed but "I wonder what kind of affect it will have on Ridgeway because we are mostly in the service industry," he said, adding, "If they do construction like they did along Cambie Street for SkyTrain, then it will be a major nuisance for us."
Linda Park, a co-owner of Inno Bakery, said she is unsure what will happen to her 22-year-old business. She and her husband own the building and have plans to expand. Overall, the neighbourhood revitalization "is going to make things better," she said, but retailers are also paying close attention to how development will unfold over the next few years.
At top of discussion is the Beedie Group's proposal to build a highrise at the corner of Blue Mountain Street and Austin Avenue - a gateway to Austin Heights. Beedie officials last December brought drawings before council showing a 24-storey tower on the former Shell gas station site. They intend to make a formal proposal once the neighbourhood plan is adopted.
Also paramount are Safeway's plans to redevelop its aging store on Austin Avenue (a call to Safeway Canada was not immediately returned). Mayor Richard Stewart has said the catalyst for Austin Height's redevelopment will be the large retailers.
The city's visioning document has been a hot topic over the past three years. In January, more than 400 people attended an open house at the Royal Canadian Legion to get a final look at the plans; the event generated nearly 100 comment sheets for city planners.
The plan includes highrises along Austin, roads closed off for pedestrian walkways and, in the south part, carriage homes, triplexes and fourplexes on big single-family lots.
The goal is to add about 5,000 more residents in another 2,500 homes in the area between Blue Mountain to Linton streets and Foster to Rochester avenues.
The public hearing for the draft Austin Heights Neighbourhood Plan will be held on Monday, March 28 at 7 p.m. at city hall (3000 Guildford Way, Coquitlam).
