Port Moody is getting ready to recommence work on its new official community plan (OCP).
The project to chart the city’s future growth and development was put on hold last February — two months after a draft of the 175-page document had been presented to council in December 2023 — because new provincial legislation to encourage the construction of housing necessitated updates to the city’s zoning bylaws as well as the preparation of a new housing needs report.
Tonight, Jan. 14., council will consider a new timeline for residents to learn about the impacts of the legislation and provide input into the new plan.
In a report, Mary De Paoli, Port Moody’s manager of police planning, recommends several information and feedback opportunities through the spring to advise residents about the impacts the provincial legislation will have on the city and the original draft plan that was completed in December 2023.
They would be followed by a town hall meeting with councillors in attendance, a youth engagement session, an online survey and a further opportunity to collect feedback at a community event like the farmers market.
De Paoli proposes the information about the legislation be provided through videos, walking tours of impacted neighbourhoods like Moody Centre and Inlet Centre, in-person sessions involving members of council committees as well as the city’s citizen advisory group, along with in-person and virtual meetings for the general public.
“The purpose of the informing components is to communicate the impacts of provincial legislation and key changes to the draft 2023 OCP and lay the groundwork for informed engagement,” she said in her report.
De Paoli said following up that information process with one town hall meeting would provide more time for staff to gather feedback at the other engagement sessions with an eye to having a new draft of the OCP ready by June or July.
Additional costs beyond the $50,000 already approved by council in January 2024, to pay for the public engagement process and $21,000 remaining in the original budget to produce the OCP would be eligible for provincial funding to cover the expense of implementing the housing legislation changes, De Paoli said in her report.
Port Moody’s current OCP was adopted in 2014 and it’s typically updated every five to 10 years.
The draft OCP presented to council in December 2023 was already three years in the making, following workshops, surveys and community engagement.
It envisions Port Moody as a safe waterfront community of connected, complete neighbourhoods that values its natural surroundings, heritage character, arts and culture. It also contemplates increased density in areas like the north part of Coronation Park, Westport Village, the former Flavelle cedar mill property on the waterfront as well as the downtown area around the Moody Centre SkyTrain station and the south side of Murray Street.
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