The Editor:
Re: First towers for Port Moody's downtown move a step closer to reality (July 24, 2024)
A recent news report noted, with regard to a proposed three high rise development, that:
"Bita Jamalpour, Port Moody’s senior development planner, said the project would be home to about 1,800 new residents. She said the developer has indicated it will exceed the city’s zoning requirement that at least 25 per cent of the strata units have two bedrooms and 10 per cent have three bedrooms or more.
"As well, Jamalpour said, Beedie is working with the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem) First Nation to allocate about 20 units for non-market housing.
"That pleased Coun. Diana Dilworth who lauded the proposal for meeting Port Moody’s policy to encourage the construction of family-friendly housing."
It is time councillors throughout the Lower Mainland consider the wider implications of the rapid population growth that is taking place.
The construction of family-friendly housing is important, but not if it comes at the cost of an additional 1,800 Port Moody residents.
We are already experiencing a deterioration in the quality of life in Metro Vancouver.
Traffic congestion, a shortage of family doctors and hospital wait times can be directly linked to the rate of population growth exceeding the development of infrastructures and support systems.
We need councillors and planners who are capable of looking beyond the immediate and obvious, and consider the implications and consequences of their decisions.
- E. Michael Coles, Port Moody
