Port Moody council wants an earlier look at development proposals.
At its Sept. 17 committee of the whole meeting, council directed staff to prepare bylaws that would allow it to get a first look at projects before a developer makes a formal application to the city.
Council would then get an additional opportunity to provide its feedback following a briefing of staff’s review of the application, along with input from the community planning advisory committee (CPAC).
Proposals could then proceed to a public information meeting, a second submission review and then on to first and second reading by council.
Currently, development proposals don’t come before council until after they’ve been evaluated by staff and CPAC.
Mayor Rob Vagramov said council needs an early look at a developer’s concept for its project to determine whether its density, location, unit count and form factor fit in with the city’s needs and development goals.
Coun. Hunter Madsen likened the first look to a negotiation. He said such early feedback would be helpful to developers.
“It will point them in the direction of improving their offer so they won’t get blindsided because we haven’t told them what we’re looking for,” Madsen said.
In a report, Port Moody’s general manager of planning and development, André Boel, said pre-applications for development proposals are usually lacking in detail.
“They sometimes just have a tentative idea they want to run past staff,” he told council, adding about a quarter of such inquiries never make it to the formal application stage.
In Port Coquitlam, city council gets its first look at development applications after submission requirements have been addressed and staff has filed a report. Coquitlam follows a similar process.
Madsen said a change earlier this year to reduce the number of councillors and have more representatives from the community on CPAC — which is usually the first public consideration of development applications — means those applications can be far along before the full council gets a close look at them.
Boel said an early presentation to council by a developer of its project’s concept would generate considerable public interest. But Vagramov suggested developers might not want public scrutiny so soon, and their presentation could be considered by a new committee of council in another venue away from council chambers.
More rental units proposed for Port Moody
Another rental building could be coming to Port Moody.
W. Laidler Sales Corp. is proposing to build a 64-unit, six-storey rental complex on James Road, across from the playing fields at Moody middle school.
The building would be just around the corner from another new 142-unit market rental building by Woodbridge Properties that is in the early stages of construction on St. Johns Street. PC Urban Properties is also building a 230-unit rental project on Dewdney Trunk Road.
This latest project would comprise 20 one-bedroom units, 26 two-bedroom units and 18 three-bedroom apartments. The developer is proposing 10% of the units be rented at below-market rates, or less than 30% of the median household income in the area. A staff report said that would equate to a monthly rent for those units of about $2,250.
And while the applicant is proposing 10 fewer parking stalls than the required minimum of 68 for residents, all of them will have the infrastructure to allow the installation of electric vehicle charging stations.
