City representatives voted 7-1 in favour of moving the draft Official Community Plan (OCP) forward to a second reading set for Nov. 12, before ending an extended session of the Tuesday night’s Port Moody council meeting. Coun. Haven Lurbiecki was the lone voice of opposition, saying the majority of residents don’t support the OCP in its current form.
Soon after the meeting was called to order by Port Moody Mayor Meghan Lahti, residents had an opportunity to address council with their concerns over the proposed draft OCP.
David Unglis, a Port Moody resident, addressed council with his concerns. “I kept thinking, is this the best we can do? And is this what citizens really want? For example, by deliberately replacing commercially zoned land in Moody Centre with towers, we are narrowing our tax base. Instead of using the land as an employment hub, to make our city truly viable, we’re putting in towers of mainly people who will further burden our infrastructure. I feel that’s so shortsighted.”
Steve Milani, who is often in opposition of this council, said, “Port Moody currently has 12 towers. There are 22 more already approved in Moody Centre, Coronation Park, Westport, Woodland Park and Inlet Centre. That’s 34 towers total. If this new OCP is approved, that number climbs to an astonishing 64 towers in a city that’s barely 10 square miles.”
Of those who spoke, all but one were opposed to the city’s revised plan to grow the city in areas such as Moody Centre and Inlet Station neighbourhoods with potentially rezoning Rocky Point Park to allow for the expansion of the park space and keeping the zoning of the land at 2717 St. Johns St. as public institutional instead of rezoning as parkland.
John Grasty spoke in support of the document, “I’d like to congratulate council, staff and all of the residents of Port Moody who participated in the process. It’s very, very comprehensive, and it can be seen throughout the report — and I’d like to thank you for going to UBCM (Union of British Columbia Municipalities) and trying to get some much-needed help from the province.”
In 2023, the previous BC NDP government introduced Bill 47, which requires local governments to designate areas within 800 metres of “a rapid transit station (e.g., SkyTrain station) and 400 metres of a bus exchange and West Coast Express,” as stated on the government website. It added that these new transit-oriented developments (TODs) are “designed to designate high-density, mixed-use development within walking distance from frequent transit services.”
An updated draft OCP was introduced by city staff in July and revised again in September after almost 18 months of reworking a nearly completed draft document, said Coun. Diana Dilworth. Under new provincial legislation, cities must now update the OCP every five years. A welcome change, said Coun. Callan Morrison.
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