New waterfront entertainment district in Surrey, B.C., could be gateway to city, supporters say

Akshay Kulkarni · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 19, 2025 10:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

The City of Surrey is undertaking a feasibility survey connected a caller waterfront amusement territory adjacent the entranceway to the metropolis by the Pattullo Bridge. 

Currently, a tiny country adjacent the span linking Surrey and New Westminster, B.C., has 2 metropolis parks, a trailer park, and concern areas — with landowners that see the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority and CN Rail.

A metropolis unit report asked for a advisor to look astatine the feasibility of a waterfront amusement territory there, including restaurants, shops, parkland and plaza areas "to make a memorable gateway into Surrey." It passed assembly past Monday.

Proponents of the program accidental the waterfront territory would beryllium fitting for the rapidly increasing city, B.C.'s second-largest by population, which is acceptable to outpace Vancouver successful colonisation implicit the adjacent decade.

"Surrey volition soon beryllium the biggest metropolis successful British Columbia ... and we don't person immoderate truly iconic spot for radical to spell and to, you know, walk their leisure time, and this volition beryllium that," said Coun. Linda Annis.

Annis said the feasibility survey would look to talk to each the stakeholders involved, including residents of the RV parkland and the national and provincial governments, but called the connection "great quality for the City of Surrey."

A metropolis spokesperson says the broad feasibility survey would look to properly define the geographic country of the waterfront district, and is expected to beryllium implicit adjacent year.

"Surrey has immoderate large parks and nationalist spaces," the spokesperson wrote.

"A waterfront territory could complement these existing amenities with a landmark benignant waterfront destination that could blend with progressive manufacture specified arsenic Granville Island oregon North Vancouver Shipyards, creating a much memorable gateway into Surrey from crossed the Fraser River."

Plan could look opposition

The program could look opposition, with the larboard authorization indicating successful the unit study that it would similar onshore adjacent to the larboard to beryllium designated for concern usage only.

In addition, hundreds of radical unrecorded astatine the trailer parkland wrong the survey area, which is adjacent to the Scott Road SkyTrain presumption and betwixt Brownsville Bar and Tannery parks.

The metropolis spokesperson said that the trailer parkland tract was presently zoned for tourer accommodation, and immoderate changes would necessitate rezoning connected the portion of the landowner.

It said the nationalist would person an accidental to measurement successful connected immoderate rezoning of the tract astatine council, and residents determination whitethorn person rights nether the provincial Manufactured Home Park Tenancy Act erstwhile it comes to tenant compensation.

Andy Yan, manager of Simon Fraser University's City Program, said that Surrey was a metropolis that could spend to person respective much nationalist spaces, and the connection spoke to the "urban ambitions" of the city's residents and council.

However, helium cautioned that determination were already issues successful the country regarding flooding and said it was important for the metropolis to prosecute with residents before proceeding.

"With the latest provincial guidelines, determination are immoderate sizeable, I think, challenges towards ... developing infrastructure, processing a roadworthy web that is, I think, truly meant to determination the magnitude of radical that would not beryllium imaginable now," helium said. 

"And then, of people ... h2o and sewage and servicing for the country that is presently truly mostly concern and [an] undeveloped portion of the City of Surrey."