Part of Burnaby family’s lawn being paved to improve safety, walkability, city says

A Burnaby man says his family is feeling stressed and out of options, after learning a good chunk of their front yard is going to be dug up and paved.

The portion of Ethan Zhang’s property is slated to be paved over by the City of Burnaby for a concrete pad meant to “improve walkability and safety” in the area.

Zhang claims he only found out about the plan when a contractor started marking his lawn.

“We have two kids — four and six years old — two daughters. And they play on the lawn all the time. That’s another reason that we are so upset, because part of their play area is being [destroyed], and my wife’s so upset,” he explained.

While he understands the need for accessible spaces, Zhang says he worries about how increased traffic will affect safety, particularly for his young family.

“It’s like putting a huge Band-Aid on your beautiful lawn and you’ve got to watch it every day. It’s just bad visually and impacts my family and everybody,” he said.

The father says he reached out to the city’s engineering department to try and negotiate a new layout, noting the concrete pad would go right in the middle of his lawn. However, he says he was told all the plans had been finalized.

In a statement, the city tells CityNews “the work is being within the City’s right of way and not on private property.”

“Additionally, all residents in the area received notification about the project two weeks prior to construction starting,” an email explains.

“The resident’s property is located directly at the intersection of Parkwood and Pinewood Crescent, which currently does not have a formal crossing for pedestrians. This project will establish the crossing and improve walkability and safety in the neighbourhood.”