A former Port Moody chief administrator is going for another job at city hall: the mayor's.
Gaetan Royer announced Wednesday he plans to seek the top chair in the Nov. 15 civic election, stating he'll offer PoMo residents a "better plan" for the future by revamping the official community plan.
"Port Moody is approaching a critical time, with a lot of things that are going to be happening in the next few years once the Evergreen Line is completed," Royer said.
He'll be up against current PoMo Mayor Mike Clay, who has held the job since 2011 (he was also elected as a councillor in 2005 and 2008).
"There's still a lot of work that needs to be done in this city," Clay told The Tri-City News yesterday, confirming his intention to seek the top office again. "We've spent a long time talking about our OCP and we've had stuff backing up behind that that needs to get done, particularly in advance of the Evergreen Line."
Among the to-do list items are updating the zoning bylaw and planning for densification around the SkyTrain stations that will be operating by the summer of 2016.
Royer, who is married to Zoë Royer, a current PoMo councillor who has not yet formally announced whether she will seek re-election, expressed concern the OCP does not contain measurable numbers that would "protect taxpayers" and that too many decisions appear to have been improvised.
"My record is one of analyzing situations and making sure we connect all the dots before making decisions," Royer said. "We were very close to a vision that the community would be able to support... but there are numbers missing in the plan. There are words but no numbers."
Changes made to the draft OCP earlier this year include removing references to building density and height limits for the city's waterfront, and reverting it back to a special study area. As well, Coronation Park will undergo a neighbourhood plan process to determine the appropriate density for that area.
Royer wants to see an OCP that sets "clear limits" and would protect environmentally sensitive lands, provide better transportation and an expanded Rocky Point Park.
"We need access to the waterfront at the same time that any development takes place in any proximity to Rocky Point Park, and that would be on the Mill and Timber site," Royer said.
The nearly 15-acre site is in a sort of limbo; PoMo council has asked that it remain industrial but be designated a special study area that could be up for development sometime in the future. Metro Vancouver, however, wants the city to change the land's designation from industrial to general urban because of the mixed-use "oceanfront district" description in the draft OCP.
Clay, who grew up in Port Moody and is an IT consultant, said there is little appetite among Port Moody residents to revamp the OCP.
"I think there are about 10 people who want to do that and the other 32,000 people are saying eight years is long enough. We need to get on with implementing the visions in the OCP and not endlessly talking about a plan."
Royer has a background in architecture and held management positions in Surrey and Whitehorse before moving to Port Moody in 2000 as the director of community services, eventually becoming city manager. He left in 2011 to work for Metro Vancouver's parks department before leaving in early 2013 work as a consultant.
