Daycare operator fails to win reprieve
Peace Arch News
Jul 16 2009 
By: Tracy Holmes

Parents with children attending P.. C.. D. Centre are scrambling to find new daycare for their kids, following unsuccessful efforts to negotiate an extension of the centre's contract on Peace Arch Hospital and Community Health Foundation land….

Daycare operators … were given formal notice May 1 their facility had four months left at the site. They have leased the space ... on a month-to-month basis since 2003.

Informal notice that those days were numbered was given in January, noting the site was needed to create temporary additional parking spots to replace those that would be lost in the upcoming expansion of the hospital's emergency department.

While negotiations at one point indicated the daycare could likely remain until May 2010, disagreements on wording of the contract quashed those hopes. The space must be vacant by 6 p.m. Sept. 7.

… A July 7 letter signed by foundation executive director … confirms all deals are off. It also confirms the foundation has seen no evidence to suggest the building or property is unsafe or otherwise unsuited for use as a daycare.

Statements as to the building's condition refer to the fact it is aging and the foundation is not prepared to make any investment in its upkeep ….

At the end of the day... we're not able to make an agreement."

… parents are angry and frustrated with the outcome. …Meanwhile, City of Surrey planner Nicholas Lai said he is awaiting official word from the foundation as to whether it has reached a resolution with the daycare and if not, if it still wants to proceed with its parking-lot application.

If the foundation does want to move ahead  … "then we'll move on."

Lai does not expect it to go before council before the summer break.