THEVOICE | THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2022 | EDITOR LAUREN VANDERDEEN grow Neighbourhood group opposes community garden plans em ——w aha o of”. 5 > 7 d a t Sioa 4 z > ’ * r ‘ aed Z_ . 4 a 3 a “ ‘ ry 4 4 3 Z f ‘ Master organic gardener Lori Greyell imagines a new community garden in Port Moody. | AUREN VANDERDEEN PHOTO = By LAUREN VANDERDEEN lans for a community garden in Port Moody have been put on hold for the second time in two years in the face of community opposition. Port Moody city council approved the garden in early January despite public opposition. Council then paused the garden plans on Jan. 25 after the Glenayre Community Association expressed concerns about adding a 60-plot community garden to their neighbourhood park. The garden had been approved by council two weeks prior. Art Wilkinson Park in the Glenayre neighbourhood was picked as a potential location for the garden due to its good sunlight, access to water and proximity to multi-unit dwellings. The city has budgeted $39,600 for the 60 garden plots. Sean Ogilvie, president of the Glenayre Community Association, said while the neighbourhood isn't opposed to community gardens, it wants to preserve its park space. “We feel that it’s important that we retain our park space so that it can be used by the greater commu- nity for a variety of different activi- ties all year long,” Ogilvie said. “[A community garden is] a very land-intensive use. And it serves a specific and limited number of people for half of the year,” he said. Ogilvie described Art Wilkinson Park as a multi-purpose space used for family picnics, Easter egg hunts and children’s recreation like play- ing catch and sledding. The Glenayre neighbourhood is made up of primarily single-family homes. “There aren't people in this immediate area that would be in need of that [community garden] program,” Ogilvie said. Lori Greyell works for the Grow Local Society and coordinates the Port Moody Police Depart- ment community garden. She will manage the Art Wilkinson Park community garden if it gets built. Greyell said the pandemic has highlighted a desire and need for growing your own food. “(Community gardens are] for food security as well: the ability to grow your own food and have control over that,” she said. “It brings a diverse group of people together. You have all ages, all backgrounds, all ... together, which is nice, and we can learn from each other.” The garden at the police depart- ment has dedicated plots for the Share Family and Community Services food bank and the Share community kitchen. Greyell hopes to do the same at the Art Wilkin- son Park, and include wheelchair- accessible plots. Over 100 families are on the wait- list for a community garden plot in Port Moody. Elizabeth Theriault, the owner of Epicure Preserves, has been on the waitlist for three years. Theriault lives in a condo with a north-facing balcony. “I can’t grow herbs or thyme or jalapenos or habaneros,” she said. “I can’t grow anything that requires sunlight, basically.” “As a farm market vendor, this is a real community,” Theriault said. A public consultation survey showed 60.5 per cent of 119 respondents were against adding a community garden to Art Wilkin- son Park. Objections included increased traffic, residents already having their own backyards and the possibility the garden would attract bears. Councillors offered possible compromises. “A smaller garden, potentially 30 beds ... may be a solution that would make everybody at least sort of happy,” said Coun. Amy Lubik. Coun. Meghan Lahti suggested controlling access to ensure traffic wouldn't coincide with school pick- up or drop-off. Mayor Rob Vagramov did not respond to the Voice. Pickleballers in Chilliwack seek space Noise concerns quash pickleball court plans = By GRAHAM ABRAHAM he City of Chilliwack is looking for an alternate location for a new pickle- ball facility after Yarrow residents opposed a proposal to locate a court next to their community centre. Carol Bell, community centre manager and volunteer with the Yarrow Ratepayers Association, said while the city owns the land where the facility would have been located, the Ratepayers Association built, owns and maintains the commu- nity centre. Bell described the centre as a loca- tion for weddings and social gather- ings, complete with a seniors lounge and a library. She said a pickleball facility next door would have caused an increase in traffic and noise near the centre. “Tt just does not work to have your wedding going on, and a pickleball game going on 10 feet away.” After the Ratepayers Association sent “a blitz of emails to engineer- ing, planning, parks department, letting them know that we were not pleased,” Bell said the city reacted swiftly to its concerns. “We heard back from them very quickly actually, by the time the next council meeting was held. The PowerPoint presentation had been changed: they were looking for a site to put in pickleball courts,” said Bell. “T think we deafened them with our concerns, to tell you the truth.” Coun. Bud Mercer said that council approved $300,000 in capi- tal expenses to commit to building new pickleball facilities. The loca- tion in Yarrow had been earmarked as a possibility by city staff, result- ing in the conceptual drawing of the facility next to the community centre. However, that location was tentative and subject to consulta- tion. When the Ratepayers Associ- ation expressed its anxiety, the plan was updated to indicate that a search for a location was ongoing. “Through the consultation with the Yarrow residents, it was deter- mined that the fit is not good, so were still looking,” said Mercer. The councillor said Yarrow was floated as an option because the city wants to balance the volume of recreational options across neigh- bourhoods, and to ensure no neigh- bourhood is being overlooked. “There has to be a fit for the sport, there has to be a fit for the commu- nity and the neighbourhood, and there has to be a fit for the user [of facilities],” said Mercer. He added that he hoped to avoid the conflicts over pickleball that have emerged throughout B.C. “You need to be careful where you put pickleball, because it’s not welcoming everywhere.” Lyle Simpson, president of the Chilliwack Pickleball Club, isn't deterred by the change and ongoing search for an adequate location. “We support the residents. If they don't want it there, we definitely don’t want to go there,” he said. In fact, it will probably work in our favour, because we would rather have it in a more central location,” said Simpson. The club, made up of 324 members, sees around 70 people show up on a weekend to play at the city’s only current designated outdoor pickleball facility. Other locations to play include tennis courts with lines painted to mimic Bud Mercer _pickleball courts. CHILLIWACK CITY Sim pson COUNCILLOR echoed Carol Bell when he explained why the club did not feel comfort- able imposing on the Yarrow Community Centre: “Who wants to have a wedding when there’s people playing pickleball in the background?” The president has a vision for the future of pickleball in Chilliwack. “The way forward in the city is for all the racquet sports, tennis, pickle- ball, racquetball and squash, to get together and approach the city and try to build facilities that will house us all.” SPIRIT GEAR, continues from page 7 “This was a request made from students over 20 years ago and have been selling at the bookstore since the 90s,” she said. The RMT department started doing the same a couple years ago, said program coordinator Jennifer O'Sullivan. “It helps to raise awareness that there is an RMT program at Lang- ara,” O'Sullivan said. “The students will often wear them to outreach events when they are doing clinical placements in sporting events.” Dawson said a study on how selling personalized merchandise might promote Langara’s reputa- tion has never been conducted. Though only two departments are represented at the bookstore, others have created their own per- sonalized hoodies and sweatshirts. Eric Stewart, chair of the pro- fessional photography program at Langara, said his department started selling its own merchandis- ing due to students’ interest and as a fundraiser for their graduation party. “Somewhere between five and 10 years, they’ve been doing a fun- draiser with sweatshirts,” he said. “So, it’s all student driven. Faculty has nothing to do with it.” Stewart added that his depart- ment is not interested in having the bookstore sell their merchandise since not only would it cannibalize the students’ fundraising, but would also prevent students from express- ing personality in their design. Stewart said he wears his person- alized hoodie with the program’s logo during events he attends, and people often comment on it or ask him questions about the program. “As someone who is sort of responsible for getting the students in that program, it’s great to have that photography swag to wear,” he said, adding that people react to it. “Like, you’re a Langara photogra- phy person.” The Voice is pub- opinions are those lished by Langara of the staff and College's journalism independent of the department. Editorial © administration. JOURNALISM PHONE INSTRUCTOR 604-323-5396 Erica Bulman oversees The Voice. E-MAIL Email: ebulman thevoice@langara. @langara.ca ca WEBSITE PAGE EDITORS langaravoice.ca PAGE 1 MANAGING Lesia Pogorelo EDITOR PAGE 2 Lauren Vanderdeen Lauren Vanderdeen PAGE 3 Hannah Snider PAGE 4 PODCAST EDITOR Graham Abraham Hollie McGowan WEB EDITORS REPORTERS Nicolette Colosimo Aishwarya Singh Claire Wilson Corvin Vaski Daniel Johnston Jordan Copp Juan Ramirez WE WANT TO Laisa Conde HEAR FROM YOU Lauren Accili Have a news tip? Write Marilyn Reichert to us at thevoice@ Michael Su langara.ca Kenneth Wong