A new Khalsa elementary school, post-secondary institution and daycare will proceed in Abbotsford following an almost four-hour public hearing on Tuesday night (June 18) in which the overwhelming concerns were about added traffic congestion.
Following the hearing, council voted on an amendment to the Official Community Plan, as well as rezoning and development variance permit applications, that would allow the project to proceed at the northwest corner of Downes and Gladwin roads.
The eight councillors were evenly split, with Mayor Ross Siemens casting the deciding vote in favour of the development.
The privately run Sikh-based elementary school will have a capacity of 500 students and will replace the current – and smaller – Khalsa School of the Fraser Valley on 62nd Avenue in Aldergrove.
The project will also include a childcare centre for 94 kids and a post-secondary facility that is 1,253 square metres (13,494 square feet).
School principal Japnaam Malik spoke at the public hearing, saying 90 per cent of the current students at the Aldergrove campus come from Abbotsford.
He said there has been ongoing demand to open a new school in Abbotsford, and the owners – the Satnam Education Society of B.C. – have spent the last five years searching, but were unable to find a suitable location that didn’t require rezoning.
The land at Downes and Gladwin is ideal because of its proximity to most of the school’s students, he said.
Almost 80 people spoke at the public hearing, with the majority expressing concerns about adding more traffic to an area already congested with vehicles from nearby schools such as Cornerstone Christian School, Dr. Roberta Bondar elementary and Mennonite Educational Institute (MEI).
Malik said they have worked with city staff to address traffic-safety issues, including having pedestrian count-down clocks at the intersection and dedicated left-turn lanes.
As well, transportation manager Sundeep Kaur Dhaliwal said most of the students will be bused to the school, which will help to further mitigate traffic congestion.
She said currently 90 per cent of the students are bused from Abbotsford to Aldergrove, and projections indicate that 70 per cent will continue to be bused to the new school.
“We have conducted multiple surveys, and we are confident that in our Abbotsford school, the bus culture will continue,” she said.
It was also pointed out that the Khalsa school will have different start and dismissal times than other schools in the area.
But numerous residents stated at the public hearing and in written correspondence to the city that traffic in the area is already a “nightmare.”
“I’m not against the school campus being located in our community; it’s just at this location,” one resident stated.
In discussion following the hearing prior to council's vote, Coun. Dave Loewen and Mayor Ross Siemens both remarked that a recently approved expansion of the nearby MEI campus on Downes Road drew no concerns from local residents about potential traffic issues.
They both also said that if the Khalsa school was not approved, the property would likely become a high-density residential development, which could impact traffic even more.
“This property and this development here, I think, is our best option to get some improvements along that corridor,” Siemens said.
Also in favour of the project were Couns. Patricia Ross, Dave Sidhu and Kelly Chahal.
Couns. Simon Gibson, Les Barkman, Patricia Driessen and Mark Warkentin voted against the project due to the concerns residents expressed about traffic safety.
Warkentin was also opposed for another reason.
“In light of the housing crisis that we’re in, I am reluctant to dedicate lands that are currently residential … to zone them institutional,” he said.
Khalsa School was founded in 1986 in Vancouver and opened its first permanent campus in Surrey in the early 1990s, becoming the largest independent school in B.C.
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