The area around Moody Centre SkyTrain station could become home to more than 3,000 people. But Port Moody council doesn’t want to see them living in 40-storey towers.
Instead, councillors endorsed a plan last week to cap future development in the 20-acre neighbourhood that runs from the Evergreen Extension tracks to St. Johns Street, and between Moody and Spring streets, to 26 storeys as part of a mix of residential and commercial buildings.
The plan for the transit-oriented development area would also include a new pedestrian and cycling overpass that connects the neighbourhood to Murray Street and Rocky Point Park at Moody Centre Station as well as a new greenway along a daylighted Dallas/Slaughterhouse Creek.
Mayor Mike Clay said the arrival of Evergreen has given the city an opportunity to create an urban focal point.
“I think there’s a really good opportunity to move this area of the city forward, an area that has been crying out for attention,” Clay said at the June 13 council meeting. “We’re not doing walking tours of the radiator repair district. This is an area where people want to develop.”
Several councillors cautioned bringing more density to the area by allowing the construction of some 40-storey towers could overwhelm the city, especially when combined with future redevelopment of the nearby Andrés Wines and Flavelle sites as well as the Coronation Park neighbourhood, which is close to the Inlet Centre SkyTrain station.
“We have to keep in mind the overall impact on the city,” said Coun. Meghan Lahti.
“We have to look at the cumulative impact of all these developments on the community,” said outgoing Coun. Rick Glumac. “How much development is too much?”
“We’re not Burquitlam, we’re not Metrotown, we’re not Brentwood,” said Coun. Barbara Junker, referring to other town centre areas around SkyTrain stations in Burnaby and Coquitlam that are burgeoning with new highrise condo towers. “We don’t want to be Brentwood.”
In his presentation to council about the proposed transit-oriented development plan, Port Moody’s senior planner, Alex Taylor, said the area’s current zoning — which allows for the construction of residential development as high as 12 storeys — isn’t economically attractive to developers and wouldn’t create the kind of density to lure commercial development such as grocery stores. As a result, there hasn’t been any redevelopment in the area since 2014. Currently it’s comprised mostly of commercial shops and light industrial spaces.
Taylor said the construction of higher towers in the area’s core and smaller six-storey residential buildings at the edges would present an opportunity for the city to leverage that new development to create more park space, a promenade along Spring Street, pedestrian walkways and plazas as well as the new pedestrian bridge.
Coun. Diana Dilworth said it could also mean the construction of new rental housing, along with homes for seniors or people who need supportive living.
“I think this is a real jewel,” said Dilworth. “If we have something similar to Newport Village or Suter Brook next to a SkyTrain station, that’s a good thing.”
Clay compared the potential of Moody Centre to New Westminster, where new developments near three of that city’s SkyTrain stations and the waterfront are revitalizing the historic downtown and Sapperton neighbourhoods.
“We need to concentrate our residential and commercial development on this site,” said Clay. “It’s very successful in other cities.”
With council’s endorsement to proceed, city staff will now begin work to draft an amendment to the area’s official community plan. It could be ready for public hearing in September, with a financial plan in place sometime later in the fall.
