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Today’s roundup includes action from the Bronze Boot tournament in Surrey
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Education
New schools help Surrey play ‘catch up’ as city grows
Surrey condos
Owners caught in crossfire of permit tussle Lack of occupancy permits leaves owners in legal limbo
Projects mean more than 1,800 new student spaces
Jacob Zinn Now contributor Twitter @jacobzinn
has 16 portables. Goldstone will provide 555 student spaces. Katzie Elementary, located in the Clayton area, is expected to alleviate overcrowding at neighbouring Hazelgrove Elementary. Hazelgrove opened a few years ago with portables on its grounds and currently has 19 portables. Katzie will provide 605 new student spaces.
Residents looking to move out of a Surrey condominium complex are stuck in legal limbo over the site’s missing occupancy permit. Terrane, a 191-townhouse complex on the corner of Scott Road and 68th Avenue, was granted a temporary occupancy permit upon completion in 2006, allowing buyers to move in. However, it was never issued a permanent occupancy permit, and because of that, banks have refused mortgages to prospective homeowners. “Technically speaking, from a bank perspective, what we have is a building that is not legally habitable,” said Tony Gioventu, executive director of the Condominium Home Owners Association of B.C. “Nobody wants to stick a mortgage on that.” Gioventu said the city wouldn’t have issued a temporary permit if it didn’t meet building codes, but because that permit is no longer in place, banks won’t take the risk. He added that a lack of an occupancy permit can jeopardize the strata’s insurance coverage. “As it stands right now, the homeowners in the units cannot sell their units or get any other access to credit or finance because they have units that do not have occupancy permits,” he said.
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The Surrey school district will have 1,840 new student spaces by next spring. The $59-million projects include the construction of three schools and two high school additions. District spokesperson Doug Strachan said the projects will help alleviate overcrowding in a number of schools. “We are still playing catch up in the key high-growth areas of the city, which is the Clayton area and the Grandview area,” Strachan said. “Certainly these schools are helping a great deal and they’ll reduce the number of portables we have at the schools that are in the
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Doug Strachan visits Goldstone Park Elementary on Monday. The school is one of many new projects in the district aimed at alleviating overcrowding in schools. (Photo: AMY REID) neighbourhood of the new schools.” There were 265 portables used at Surrey schools last year. “It certainly goes a long way. That’s more than 1,800 more students accommodated. But we continue to still have some catch up in those high-growth areas and we continue to grow,” Strachan said. The projects include the construction of Sunnyside, Goldstone Park and Katzie
elementaries, as well as additions to Fraser Heights and Panorama Ridge secondary schools. Sunnyside Elementary, which replaces the old Sunnyside, will have 450 spaces, 180 more than its predecessor. The school will open its doors this September. Goldstone Park Elementary, located in South Newton, is expected to alleviate overcrowding at neighbouring Cambridge Elementary, which
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