A Port Moody councillor says he’s “alarmed” by a new proposal by Gilic Global Development Management Inc. to develop the Anmore portion of its 253-acre Ioco lands into a dense mixed-use neighbourhood that could be home to 4,200 new residents by the time it’s completed.
Another says it shouldn’t come as a surprise.
But neither thinks dense development on the north shore is a good idea.
Coun. Hunter Madsen said nothing about the proposal by Gilic — formerly Brilliant Circle Group — which was presented to Anmore council Nov. 19, “makes much sense to me.”
Coun. Meghan Lahti said while the project would bring much-needed new tax revenue to the village, dense development on the north shore amounts to urban sprawl.
“We don’t need it,” she said. “We have no idea what the increase in development out there will mean for our ability to move people in and out of there.”
Tuesday, Port Moody council was scheduled to give first and second readings to amendments to its official community plan that would limit development of Port Moody’s part of the Ioco lands to its current zoning, which allows only single-family homes. But that was put on hold after the meeting was adjourned at midnight, before council had a chance to deal with the item.
The amendments would also remove city policies that would require construction of an extension to David Avenue through Bert Flinn Park for any future development of the Ioco lands.
In her report to council, Port Moody’s manager of policy planning, Mary De Paoli, said current zoning of the site allows for 112 houses and six duplexes, although the permitted addition of secondary suites could raise the potential number of homes to 253.
That’s in marked contrast to the proposed Burrard Commons project in Anmore, which is comprised of a series of 12-storey apartments, along with 500,000 sq. ft. of retail and commercial space that could provide jobs for up to 1,100 people.
Madsen said such a development in “the most remote, most car-dependent and least well-serviced area of the north shore would probably be a flat-out quality-of-life disaster for everyone else in the area.”
Gilic CEO Tony Cai acknowledged in the proposal to Anmore that there are challenges to achieving a “bold vision” for the site. But he also suggested it presents “opportunities to find the solutions that benefit the region.”
Madsen said since the developer conducted a series of public workshops it held after acquiring the Ioco lands from Imperial Oil in 2015 to discuss its plans to turn the property into a dense “interactive community with recreational, social and educational opportunities for residents,” the city has heard nothing. It also hasn’t received a formal proposal to develop the Port Moody portion of the site.
Currently, the iocolands.ca website the company created to promote the project is “under maintenance.”
It was the proposed scope of the development and the need to improve access to it through a possible extension of David Avenue that sparked a community effort — co-founded by Madsen — to prevent such a road from being ever being built through Bert Flinn park.
Madsen said Port Moody, Anmore and Belcarra need to start talking with one another about the future of the north shore.
“We must all become more realistic about how much additional residential density that ecologically fragile area can handle,” he said.
Lahti said such an understanding already exists.
In April 2015, Port Moody and Anmore signed a memorandum of understanding the two communities would “work together and exchange information and communicate on a timely basis” about development applications for the Ioco lands. Those discussions would include dealing with regional traffic, the Mossom Creek watershed, environmental protection, amenities, neighbourhood concerns and heritage protection.
— with files from Diane Strandberg
