Pemberton residents received more details on a proposed French-language school and community hub in the Tiyata development during an information session held via Zoom on Nov. 12.
The project first appeared at Village of Pemberton (VOP) council last month, as it needs an Official Community Plan (OCP) amendment and rezoning to proceed. Council voted to notify its stakeholders and request the applicant, Conseil Scolaire Francophone (SD93), to hold the information session.
SD93 superintendent Michel St-Amant noted that, through École La Vallée, the division has been active in the community since 2004. However, the current school is housed in portables near Signal Hill Elementary School and only offers classes for those from Kindergarten to Grade 8. The proposed school would go from Kindergarten to Grade 12.
“We need more space. We need the expansion,” St-Amant said. “We’re looking forward to having our own site and a home school.”
Project architect Craig Burns noted the school would be situated on a 10-acre (four-hectare) parcel near Pemberton Creek and Highway 99. The building would feature 7,000 square metres of floor space over three storeys while housing 390 students and nearly 40 childcare spaces.
Other amenities include a gymnasium, a playing field, a hard outdoor playing surface and playground equipment. There may also be a community garden on the property.
Vehicle access would be from Highway 99 itself, as the private strata roads dead-end at the property line. The connection to Highway 99 would be located halfway between the Portage Road intersection and Park Street intersection in Creekside.
“The road would be connected to, but not open to, the private strata road of the Tiyata development. Currently, these are strata roads and are not rated for public use,” he said. “The assumption, currently, is that there would be a gate between the two properties and that that would be accessible only for emergencies or possibly for an evacuation.”
While Burns didn’t have a timeline for Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure approval, he said the ministry is responding quickly and is supportive thus far, while his team has provided some level of design and analysis to keep the project moving.
“We were concerned that this would potentially derail the project, but we had a really positive response from the ministry,” he said. “They have indicated that provided we do all the correct design work and study and prove that it is a safe and viable place to add an intersection, then they would support it.”
Burns noted that a site map shown as part of the presentation was only a concept, but added that the school building will be set back from Pemberton Creek to minimize flood risk while the playing field would be in lower-lying areas.
Burns hesitated to put a timeline on the school opening, noting the primary focus right now is to secure the site. He noted, however, that construction timelines are more predictable, settling in the range of 20 to 24 months.
“That would be 18 busy months and then a buffer on the end,” he said.
Burns said the Village of Pemberton has been helpful in the rezoning process, noting the initial timeline estimate was five to eight months.
“We have learned that it’s possible to speed that up as long as we have all our answers ready, we do our homework and we work well with the Village and staff in order to get them the information they need ... for the various readings,” he said. “Five to eight months was the window, but I think we’ll be at the lower end of that, if not even shorter.”
All told, the project is early in the planning stages, Burns stressed. Should the Official Community Plan amendment and rezoning applications receive Village of Pemberton approval, further dominoes to fall include purchasing the property, receiving funding approval and completing design work before construction begins.
Burns encouraged interested parents to write to the Village to make their position known.
“This is a great idea, a great site and a great opportunity, but it would be really helpful if there was support from the community to help this along,” Burns said.
As the existing school currently operates in portables, St-Amant hopes to see the project move along quickly.
“We’ve got to make sure we have our new building as soon as possible,” he said.
