A plant nursery that’s proposing to have pop-up garden centres in Port Moody, Vancouver and the township of Langley is also eyeing a high-profile site in Coquitlam.
Monday night, city council will have a public hearing to consider a temporary use permit for Urban Roots, the retail side of Canadian Valley Growers that is converting a total of seven empty lots to sell flower baskets, seedlings, annuals, shrubs and gardening accessories.
In Coquitlam, the store is proposed for the vacant property east of Coquitlam Centre mall by Walmart; the Morguard land at 1150 The High will be leased until Nov. 30.
In Port Moody, council OK’d the temporary use permit by CityState Consulting last month for a pop-up garden facility at the corner of Clarke and Kyle streets, for two years.
Other Urban Roots Garden Market locations in the works are at:
• 1755 Cottrell St., Vancouver
• 2901 East Hastings St., Vancouver
• 4506 Rupert St., Vancouver
• 6191 West Boulevard, Vancouver
• 20090 91A Ave., township of Langley
CityState’s Carola Alder told the Tri-City News that the seven centres are in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as more people work remotely and want to update their homes. “People are also outside more and spending more time in their gardens,” she said on Tuesday.
If approved after the public hearing, the Coquitlam site would start operating in late March, under three steel-frame peak tents, seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (11 a.m. on Sundays). As well, CityState is working with the parks department to tie in a pop-up parklet.
There will be on-site parking for 20 vehicles and two accessible spaces, with access off Baldwin Street, said Edison Ting, a development planner with the city of Coquitlam; the current chain-link fence around the gravel-surface property will stay in place, he said.
Founded 30 years ago, Canadian Valley Growers Ltd. is an independently owned company in B.C. that supplies plants to big box retailers.
The Metro Vancouver pop-up garden centres also come after the closure last year of Art Knapp, a longtime business in Port Coquitlam that was owned by Wim Vander Zalm; his wife, Rose, plans to open a gardening lifestyle shop called Art Knapp Living, in the Dominion Triangle.
• The public hearing on March 15 starts at 7 p.m. and is held via Zoom. To comment on the bid for the temporary use permit, call 604-927-3010 or visit coquitlam.ca/publichearing. To watch the hearing online, go to coquitlam.ca/webcasts.
— with files from Mario Bartel and Diane Strandberg
