The proponent for a redevelopment of the old Andrés Wine site in Port Moody’s western end is in town hopeful a legal opinion will work in his company’s favour and save the project at the corner of Clarke Street and the Barnet Highway.
John Peller, the chair and CEO of Andrew Peller Ltd. that ran the winery on the five-acre property since 1961 until it closed in 2005, told the Tri-City News he was “surprised and disappointed” when council turned down his company’s request for a year’s extension to complete work required to receive fourth and final reading of amendments to the city’s official community plan and zoning bylaws that would allow construction to proceed.
A subsequent effort at last week’s council meeting to reconsider that decision failed to receive full support from councillors but a motion to refer the matter to the city’s lawyers carried.
That opinion is expect to be ready for Tuesday's meeting — the last before council adjourns for the rest of the summer.
The proposal to turn the property — now known at Westport Village — into a mixed-use community with 418 residential units, artists’ live/work studios, galleries, light industrial spaces, a grocery store, offices, a performance venue and even a boutique hotel had been approved by council in 2019 after more than 15 years of planning.
Peller said since then the company has been hard at work behind the scenes with architects, engineers and city staff to bring together all the complex components of such a major endeavour.
He said the request for an extension had been viewed as a procedural formality.
But some councillors thought otherwise.
Coun. Hunter Madsen said when he voted for the development three years ago, he was convinced Peller was “raring to go.”
But three years later, he’s wondering about the company’s intentions.
“My worry is the proponent might be trying to buy more time to resell this project to another developer,” Madsen said. “I’m just afraid we’d end up getting snookered.”
In its request for the extension beyond the three-year limit Port Moody has between third and fourth readings of bylaw amendments, Peller cited the project’s complexity, variety of amenities and delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a report, Kate Zanon, Port Moody’s general manager of community development, said despite those issues, the company had demonstrated significant progress on the project, including a draft development agreement that is currently undergoing legal review, as well as submission of development permit applications and a subdivision plan application.
Peller, who’s now based in Burlington, Ont., said the company that was started by his grandfather is committed to creating a project that will leave a lasting and positive legacy of the winery’s long tenure in Port Moody.
“It transcends being in business,” he said. “You’re part of the community. That’s always been part of our company’s sense of purpose — to improve the lives of all the people we work with.”
Peller said the development’s components will create an “integrated community full of culture, a village where people would want to live and amenities would serve to support each other.”
To that end, he added, there will be more job opportunities created in the project than residents, minimizing its impact on traffic in the city.
And connection to the Moody Centre SkyTrain station 1.3 km away would be provided by a shuttle bus service, an improved bikeway along Clarke Street as well as bike and car share programs.
Peller said the goal is to attain LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for the entire project, not just a building or two.
However, Mayor Rob Vagramov, who was on leave as he dealt with a charge of sexual assault when the project received third reading in July 2019, said council’s subsequent approvals of nearby projects including the massive 23.4-acre Woodlands redevelopment off Clarke Road are an invitation to create an “on-purpose traffic jam” without a comprehensive plan for transit service to the city’s west end, including construction of a third SkyTrain station.
“The idea that we’ll put that much density there with no transportation solution whatsoever, that doesn’t seem like good community planning,” he said.
Last April, council voted against spending up to $150,000 for a feasibility study and engineering assessment of an additional station on the Evergreen line, between Moody Centre and the Barnet Highway, after a consultant’s report estimated it could cost $100 million to build.
An effort by Vagramov to take another, less costly, look at a possible new station was pulled from the agenda of council’s meeting July 19 after the mayor suggested more information would soon be forthcoming.
Meanwhile, Peller said he’ll continue to plug away.
“All projects that are great go through their challenges,” he said. “We’re confident the city of Port Moody is overwhelmingly supportive of our project.”
