A proposed six-storey condo building at the corner of Clarke and Moody streets was rejected by Port Moody council this week even though it adhered to policies set out in the city's official community plan.
All but two council members — Mayor Mike Clay and Coun. Diana Dilworth — voted against the rezoning application after a public hearing at which about 20 people spoke against the proposed development.
"The proposed building is out of scope with the rest of the neighbourhood," said Nick Haltigin, who suggested buildings should cascade from St. Johns down to the waterfront instead of some being higher than those behind them.
Other speakers noted they'd paid a premium for their view from the fifth and sixth floors of the Station building and were "promised" that nothing higher would be built in front of them.
Aragon Properties' proposed four- and six-storey development at 2713-2725 Clarke St., which would be located less than 250 m from the Moody Centre SkyTrain station, required a zoning change to allow an additional storey but meets the six storeys allowed in the OCP, which aims to create pockets of higher-density developments close to the Evergreen Line. A parking variance was also requested to reduce the required residential parking stalls from 156 to 130 (8.3%), with the caveat that policies in the OCP allow the city to consider such decreases for developments close to transit nodes.
Mayor Clay said he was frustrated with the result, saying the proposal was in keeping with the goals set out in the OCP.
"I don't know what we're supposed to do when somebody comes in with an application that meets everything we've described in the OCP and council turns it down," he said.
And while he acknowledged that residents of the neighbouring buildings — the four- and five-storey Station building on Spring Street and the four-storey Lighthouse to the west — objected to the potential loss of views, Clay said people can't expect a vacant lot to stay that way or that city policies won't evolve and change over the years.
"What are they going to do if the [Flavelle] mill is redeveloped and something there blocks their view?" he told The Tri-City News. "Twenty people came to the public hearing, all but one lived in one of the two buildings that touch this building. The other 34,980 people of the city don't seem to be objecting to this."
He fears the decision will add to challenges the city is already facing in attracting the kind of new growth that council seemed to want out of the OCP — a vibrant play to live, work, shop and recreate.
"We have a lot of developers out there who won't deal with Port Moody because they don't understand what we're doing," Clay said. "We say one thing and then we do another."
The proposal had received support from the city's advisory design panel in September 2015 and the land use committee in February 2016. A staff report presented in March supported the application, noting it would meet the city's objectives of enhancing Spring Street, providing open public space and improving the pedestrian environment.
"We thought we had a successful project that met the criteria of the OCP so we're disappointed council didn't see it that way," said Aragon's David Roppel. "We thought we were following the rules and following the directions from staff and all the policies that council has endorsed in the past, including the OCP."
Roppel said his team would be studying comments from the community, council and city staff and would take those back to the drawing board.
