History of the Building Project

Year 2000

Due to our main building (8611 Armstrong Ave) running out of space, in the 2000 General Membership Meeting members agreed to look for a bigger site. However, the church was not able find a suitable site in the following years.

 

Year 2003

A potential property (8595 Armstrong Ave) for church expansion was found in 2003. Inquiries to the City of Burnaby were made regarding the possibility of rezoning 8601 and 8595 Armstrong Avenue from a residential site to a P5 Community Institutional District zone. As well, a request was made to consolidate with the existing 8611 lot in order to expand the church building and increase the number of parking spaces. The City of Burnaby Planning Department supported the rezoning proposal.

 

Year 2004

The Church purchased the 8595 Armstrong Ave property in 2004. There was also intention to purchase the 8601 Armstrong Ave property, but at that time the owner of the property had no intention to sell his house.

Later in the year, the 8585 Armstrong Ave property (currently the Annex building) became available for purchase.

 

Year 2005

In the 2005 Special Members Meeting, BAC members agreed to purchase the 8585 Armstrong Ave property (currently the Annex building). The plan was to consolidate the Annex building with the 8595 Armstrong Ave lot.

 

Year 2006

In preparation for the Building Expansion Master Plan statistics on church growth and existing church facility utilization, as well as a capacity analysis was gathered. A number of different building options were recommended and the Master Plan was completed in 2007.

 

Year 2007

1.         We hired PGA (Pierre Guimond Architect) to carryout a feasibility study on the new church building development on the 8585 and 8595 Armstrong Ave lots. PGA provided new building layout plans according to our requirements. However, when consulting the City of Burnaby Planning Department on the consolidation of 8585 (Annex building) with the adjacent lot, 8595 Armstrong Ave. The City of Burnaby decided that they would not support the rezoning of 8595 lot. The reasons are as follows:

-        They did not want to have a regional size church in a single-family neighborhood

-        There will be an increase of traffic in the area

-        It will isolate the single-family dwelling at 8601 Armstrong Ave.

2.         In light of the decline to rezone, we looked into whether the property at 8595 Armstrong Ave could be rezoned to become more parking for our 8611 main building. The City of Burnaby rejected this new rezoning application.

3.         Due to the inability to rezone the lot 8595 Armstrong Ave for expanded parking, the elder board decided to develop the Annex site independently. The 8595 Armstrong Ave lot for the time being will be left as is. The church will also check if the owner of 8601 Armstrong Ave is willing to sell his property.

4.         The church hired Isaac Renton as our architect to provide drawings of our new building plans.  

 

Year 2008

1.         Vision 3:15 was introduced.

2.         The design of the new building on the 8585 Annex lot was based on Vision 3:15 and the facilities will be shared by other ministries. The new building plan includes two floors with a basement and an underground parking lot. A total floor area of 18310 ft² with 101 parking spaces. The total cost of this building project would be about CAD$6.1 million.

3.         In early March, the building layout drawings and facility details were posted on the bulletin board at the BAC entrance for information and comments.

4.         On March 30 the whole congregation voted for whether or not to go ahead with the new building plan. The percentage that voted YES was 74%, which did not meet the required 75% majority criteria set by the Elder Board. Thus the Board was not authorized to proceed with the building plan.

5.         In late April, the owner of 8601 Armstrong Ave. contacted the BAC office and indicated their intention to sell the property.

6.         A special Elder Board meeting was held on May 03. The Elder Board came up with the following plan: 

-     Explore the possibility of purchasing the 8601 Armstrong Ave property, consolidate it with the 8595 property and apply for re-zoning (8595 & 8601 lots) as a community centre that offers daycare, youth outreach programs and other community services

-     Build a combined sanctuary/gym on the 8585 Annex site with no underground parking facility

-     This plan would keep the three different properties as three separate buildings:

-       A combined sanctuary/gym on the 8585 lot (the current Annex lot)

-       A community centre on the 8595 and 8601 lots

-       The current main building, 8611 Armstrong Ave, which will remain unchanged

 

Whether or not we can build a community centre in the 8595 and 8601 lots depended on:

-     Support from the Burnaby City Planner on the issue of re-zoning

-     Approval from the Fraser Health Department on building a childcare centre

-     Approval from both the City of Burnaby and the Fraser Health Department for BAC to use the community centre facilities during night time and on weekends

-     BAC members' support for the new building plan and the purchase of the 8601 property

-     Successful re-zoning through the public hearing processes

 

Advantages of the proposed plan

- The project can be divided into two separate building phases:

*   Phase 1: The combined sanctuary/gym building in the 8585 lot

*   Phase 2: The community centre building in the 8595 and 8601 lots

We can start the design of the sanctuary/gym building (8585 lot) while continuing to apply for the 8595 and 8601 re-zoning approval

- Support our church's vision of "Vision 3:15", which is to out reach to the community

- Use of the community centre facilities such (classrooms, nurseries, parking spaces, etc.) for the church and the Awana program on weekends, pending approval by the City of Burnaby and the Fraser Health Department

- Overall building cost will be lowered, as there will be no underground parking facilities in the sanctuary/gym building site

7.         This plan was reported to the congregation in June via the Building Project News Letter and in the November Annual General Meeting.

8.         The Building Committee met with the Burnaby City planners and submitted a conceptual building plan to them. They supported the proposal of consolidating lots 8595 and 8601 together to build a community centre for the neighborhood.

 

Year 2009

1.         Negotiated with the Burnaby City Planners on some of their stringent requirements applied on our building plan.

2.         The Building Committee was instructed by the board to start the design of the Annex site building. However, without a clear picture (or at least some confirmation) from the Burnaby City planner on the community centre configurations, it is difficult for the committee to decide what facilities will be needed in the new Annex building. Thus the design of the building in the Annex lot was put on hold.

3.         In the February Elder Board meeting, it was decided that the daycare/community centre project on the 8595/8601 properties would be halted.

This decision was made due to the fact that

-         The Burnaby City Planner had negative comments on the submitted plan:

* Did not support our design of rear building parking via back lane access

* Did not permit the use of the front yard as children outdoor play space (this is a requirement of a childcare centre)

-         The proposed new building (CD P1 zoning) property tax would be costly

-         The Burnaby City planner also was not able to guaranteed that BAC would be granted use of the building facilities in the evenings and weekends

This decision was announced to BAC brothers and sisters in the February 22 AGM as well as through Building Project Update News Letter on March 01.

4.         A prayer gathering for the Annex building was held on April 5 in the Annex Building. Through our prayers, we sought after God's direction for the Building Project regarding the Annex Building.

5.         In order to have a more comprehensive understanding of congregation's opinion on how the building project should be proceed, the Building Committee sent out questionnaires and held a series of Question and Answer sessions in the month of May. The results of the questionnaire showed that 67% of the congregation supported the idea to have a new building. It was also suggested that the new facilities should include more classrooms, a sanctuary and a gymnasium. The Building Committee will base on the survey results to draft the building plan.

6.         In early July, Mr. Roy Naidu, owner of the 8601 property, contacted Pastor Tim and indicated his intention to sell his house to BAC.

7.         In the July Elder Board meeting, the board recommended the Building Committee to inquire with the City of Burnaby whether lots 8595 and 8601 can be combined and rezoned as a parking lot for BAC lot 8611's usage. The Building Committee inquired the Burnaby City planner about the possibility of rezoning 8595 & 8601 into a parking lot via email. The proposal for rezoning was rejected.

8.         In the October Elder Board meeting, it was resolved that the final decision of whether or not to purchase the 8601 Armstrong Ave. property shall be reached by the end of 2009.

9.         The Building Committee had a face-to-face meeting with the City planner in November and presented a proposal stating the reasons behind the rezoning of both the 8595 & 8601 lots for parking purposes. The City planner agreed to bring our proposal to his department director for reconsideration.

10.      In the October 25 General Membership Meeting, the Building Committee presented to brothers and sisters the following:

-     In early July, our neighbor, Mr. Roy Naidu called the church office and showed his interest in selling his 8601 Armstrong Ave. property to BAC. Mr. Roy was asking for CAD $900,000 to sell his property. Our reply to Roy as follows:

* The church is interested in acquiring his property

* But the purchase will be subjected to price, the church members' approval, the possibility of re-zoning through the approval of the City of Burnaby, and the result of the public hearing on the change of land use

* This whole process will take a considerable length of time

-     The Building Committee will talk to the Burnaby City Planner on whether the 8595 and 8601 lots can be combined and rezoned as a parking lot

-     If the City of Burnaby supports the rezoning of 8595 & 8601 to a parking lot, then we will negotiate with Mr. Roy Naidu on the price of the property at 8601 Armstrong Ave.

-     The Elder Board agreed to make a final decision on whether or not to purchase the 8601 Armstrong Ave. property by the end of 2009

 

Year 2010

1.         Since the November 2009 meeting with Burnaby City Planner on the re-zoning proposal of 8595 & 8601 lots into a parking lot, there was no reply from the City. Therefore, in the January Elder Board meeting, the board decided not to consider the 8601 lot as a part of the building project plan. The reasons being:

-     To wait for the City's reply will only further delay the Annex project development

-     The asking price of the 8601 property is much higher than the market value

-     If we purchase Roy's property, the building fund will be used on the purchase of the 8601 lot and the Annex building project will be delayed

It is also a possibility that the final decision of the City as well as the Council will be to not approve our rezoning application. If this happens and we have purchased the 8601 property, then we will have two residential lots which will not solve our existing parking needs.

2.         On April 14, we received an official letter from the Burnaby City Planner stating that they do not support our proposal of rezoning the 8595 & 8601 properties into a parking lot.

3.         This update on the building project was communicated to the congregation on May 23^rd

-     Specifically the reasons for not pursuing the purchase of the 8601 Armstrong Ave property

4.         From May to August, Building committee was concentrated on the design of the new Annex building.

5.         The conceptual design of the Annex new building is completed in August.

6.         Elder Board approved the conceptual design in the September Board meeting and based on the conceptual design, Building Committee will work with the architect to produce the detail design layout.

7. Based on our conceptual design, architect proposed the detail design layout by end of September and the revised version was completed by mid October.

8. The detail design layout together with the 3D sketches was approved by the Elder Board and was presented to the congregation on October 24th AGM.

9. Building project information and drawings were posted on the Church bulletin board on October 29th.

10. Setup BAC web page to display Building History and Pastor's View on new building on November 11th.

11. Prayer gathering in Annex for the building project was held on November 28th.

12. On December 5th the whole congregation voted for whether or not to go ahead with the proposed building plan. The percentage that voted YES was 62.4%, which did not meet the required 75% majority criteria set by the Elder Board.

 

Pastoral Staff's Views & Thoughts on the New Annex Building

 

I think the vision of this building is that our young people will be able to encounter Jesus. By young people it will include the youth and children of our church community and those in our neighbourhood.

- Pastor Joan Fong