?Port Coquitlam is considering a host of minor changes to its official community plan the city hopes will make it policies and regulations more environmentally friendly.
A report is circulating at the committee level that includes everything from improving the city's sustainability checklist for new buildings to requiring recycling and compost facilities at all multi-family developments.
"It puts together all the different kinds of things that have come to us over the last little while," said Laura Lee Richard, the city's director of development services.
One of the things the city is looking at is requirements surrounding recycling facilities at multi-family developments. Richard said the city has always encouraged developers to include a dedicated area for waste separation but the new changes would formalize the process. Existing multi-family buildings would be permitted to use an empty parking space for a recycling and composting area without violating the city's parking requirements, she said.
Staff is also looking at ways of making new buildings more bicycle-friendly. PoCo already requires a bicycle room at most multi-family developments but the city wants to see bike racks located on the exterior portions of the properties.
City staff will continue to encourage developers to include end-of-trip facilities, such as showers and change rooms, but will not require those amenities, Richard said.
Rain-water drainage is another issue PoCo is hoping to tackle with the proposed OCP changes. She said the city wants to be able to regulate the amount of impervious surface single-family homeowners can have on their property. Concrete patios, rooftops and other impervious surfaces make drainage difficult, washing away rain quickly without allowing it to seep into pervious surfaces - lawns, gravel and soil.
Richard said the city will also make changes to its sustainability checklist, which rates new developments and their environmental impact, so that the list is more user-friendly.
The smart growth committee will consider the report at its meeting April 4. If members approve the report, it will be taken out for public consultation before being forwarded to the full council.
