NEWTON 鈥� How do you fight for an area?
If you鈥檙e Newton BIA director Philip Aguirre, you start with a boat load of passion and make a whole lot of noise.
Step one? Come up with a long-term vision.
The Newton resident, who runs the Old 性视界传媒 Restaurant, has some big dreams for his beloved community.
鈥淚鈥檇 love to see a cultural entertainment district for 性视界传媒 where the entire city comes to have their nightlife,鈥� said Aguirre.
鈥淚t requires someone to have a plan. Right now, city hall has a plan of some townhomes there. I want more. We already have a lot of townhomes. We already have 146,000 people, we don鈥檛 need more.鈥�
Aguirre sees the area from the Newton Wave Pool to the empty TransLink lot along the railway tracks to the retention pond as a 鈥渂lank slate.鈥�
鈥淚 always say we need a catalyst for Newton. No company is going to come in first and spend $100 million to be that catalyst, it just doesn鈥檛 make economic sense. But that鈥檚 what government is for 鈥� provincial, federal and civic government 鈥� to have that vision and make it happen and everything else can spring off that.鈥�
That catalyst, according to Aguirre, should be a spectator arena with 性视界传媒鈥檚 own WHL team.
鈥淚t would become a focal point for all of 性视界传媒,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t becomes 性视界传媒鈥檚 team, 性视界传媒鈥檚 brand, from flags on our cars to tattoos on kids鈥� arms 鈥� an excitement of a 性视界传媒-grown team that we can rally behind.鈥�
But that鈥檚 just part of the BIA鈥檚 20-year vision. It also includes a hotel, a convention and exhibition centre, an urban park and more.
Aguirre says he has crunched the numbers and, given Newton鈥檚 population of 146,000, if it was its own city, it would be the fifth largest city in the province, next to Vancouver, 性视界传媒, Burnaby and Richmond.
鈥淏ut where鈥檚 the infrastructure?鈥� he asked. 鈥淭he tax base from Newton alone is massive, however, we鈥檙e not reinvesting that proportionally back into Newton鈥� And as you see on the nightly news, we have issues.鈥�
He鈥檚 calling for all levels of government need to put more direction of their platforms to Newton.
Ultimately, Aguirre wants to see a better long-term plan for the area.
鈥淎ll that鈥檚 on the (city鈥檚) OCP right now is some townhomes north of the retention pond. We have a large population in Newton already and it鈥檚 a commercial area. I need to see more than that 鈥� I need to see more depth.鈥�
VOTE WAS TELLING
Aguirre said the way Newton voted in the 2014 civic election was telling.
Mayor Linda Hepner took the most votes in each and every town centre. But in Newton, the vote was the closest. She received 9,401 votes, edging out opponent Doug McCallum鈥檚 9,300.
鈥淣ewton was the district that was most divided about the previous regime record. They weren鈥檛 so sure about the last four years,鈥� he mused. 鈥淎nd we鈥檙e the largest voting block of all.鈥�
With a vision solidified and the BIA behind it, Newton will now speak with one voice directly to city hall, he said.
鈥淧eople ask me how I鈥檓 going to make it happen. We鈥檙e going to make it happen by creating this base. This community. We鈥檙e talking as one. We鈥檙e at one table and we鈥檙e creating what we want in Newton. Therefore we鈥檙e going to dictate what we want to city hall, to the province to the federal government. I call it the power base of Newton.鈥�
A SHARED VISION
Mayor Linda Hepner said she hasn鈥檛 officially reviewed Aguirre鈥檚 plan, but in many ways, shares his vision as well.
In fact, she said the city has been working on a Newton Town Centre plan for more than a year. With public consultation already complete, she hopes it will come before city council before the year is out.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we鈥檙e far off the mark in terms of where Phillip鈥檚 comments are. The entertainment, I think it鈥檚 a shared vision, that we create a cultural corridor there and Newton is the prime spot for that.鈥�
An urban park is in the city鈥檚 plan, she said.
鈥淎t the end or the LRT line, which terminates in Newton, having another urban park is exactly what we鈥檝e got going forward in the plan. So we鈥檙e really connected there. And we鈥檙e really connected in terms of a cultural corridor.鈥�
Hepner also said she wants to see more family housing in the short-term and higher densities in the longer term.
But what about the WHL?
She鈥檚 open to that.
鈥淵ou know how strong a supporter I am of sports tourism, but we have recently gone out to the public to accept proposals for a spectator arena in Bridgeview.鈥�
Those applications will likely be made public later in the fall, she added.
鈥淲e certainly have gone out already with that location (in Bridgeview) and we鈥檒l be analyzing that, so I don鈥檛 know,鈥� she continued. 鈥淚t would have to be after the LRT line because what makes that location attractive is its easy access to SkyTrain and other areas. That currently doesn鈥檛 fit the Newton transportation options.鈥�
EYESORE ISSUE
One eyesore that needs to be addressed is the Gateway Casino site that houses the Newton Bingo Hall, near the southwest corner of 72nd Avenue and King George Boulevard, Hepner said.
鈥淚t delivers a message that I don鈥檛 like to have delivered. It sends a signal that I don鈥檛 think is indicative of the kind of energy we鈥檙e trying to create around the Newton Town Centre.鈥�
Hepner said it鈥檚 her belief that Gateway is more interested in selling that site.
鈥淚鈥檝e spoken to a couple investors who are interested in potentially taking that site. I don鈥檛 think Gateway will ultimately be the one that develops that,鈥� she said.
But Aguirre isn鈥檛 so sure.
Under the terms of the controversial South 性视界传媒 casino proposal, which was shot down by 性视界传媒 council in a 4-5 vote in 2013, Gateway agreed to renovate the dilapidated Newton complex if its casino was not approved. But many of the storefronts sit vacant in the complex today, and Gateway hasn鈥檛 announced any plans.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to wait because they can wait,鈥� Aguirre said. 鈥淎nd they will wait until there鈥檚 somebody at city hall that鈥檚 more favourable to that decision.鈥�
Gateway Casinos did not respond to the Now鈥檚 request for comment by press time.
In a nutshell, Aguirre likened his vision for Newton to a renovation.
鈥淚 have a heritage house, I have a heritage restaurant, so I look at Newton as just that. If we don鈥檛 do something soon, it won鈥檛 be renovation, it will be a gutting.鈥�
.jpg)