The David Avenue right-of-way through Port Moody’s Bert Flinn Park could be officially off the books by summer.
But dedicating the gravel and dirt path, and consolidating the various parcels of land that comprise the 311-acre park will take a little longer.
At its meeting Tuesday, Port Moody council passed three readings of a bylaw to remove the right-of-way that has been part of the city’s official community plan for decades, ending any possibility it could be constructed into a paved roadway to connect David Avenue to the Ioco lands.
In a timeline proposed by project manager Chad Siemens, the city’s intention to remove the right-of-way would be publicized in two newspaper ads in March, and the public would get a chance to weigh in later that month or early April. The road closure bylaw would then have to be submitted to the provincial Land Title and Survey Authority before it can be adopted by council, likely at a meeting in the summer.
But Jeff Moi, Port Moody’s general manager of engineering and operations, said consolidating the land parcels into one giant park will be a little more complicated. He told council a small portion of additional right-of-way that was created prior to the construction of David Avenue was discovered on another survey plan of the park and will also have to be removed.
Moi suggested unifying the parcels into one park could then happen “anytime in the future,” adding the city was able to use existing surveys of the park to save money from the $75,000 council allocated to complete the process.
Port Moody’s city manager, Tim Savoie, said consolidating the now four land parcels that comprise Bert Flinn Park should be a piece of cake compared to the creation of Rocky Point Park, which is made up of several land parcels that have never been officially consolidated.
Although only Coun. Diana Dilworth voted against the removal of the right-of-way Tuesday (Coun. Meghan Lahti was absent), Coun. Zoe Royer said now that the decision has moved into its home stretch, councillors must work to heal the divide the issue caused in the community.
“This has become a wedge issue,” she said, adding there should have been more dialogue with other stakeholders, like the neighbouring communities of Anmore and Belcarra, which contend the right-of-way through the park is an important access route in case of an emergency like a wildfire.
“What I’d really like to see happen here is that we can somehow do a better job consulting the community and have some kind of reconciliation around this,” Royer said.
