Highrise proposal draws concerns
'Enough is enough' message from public meeting
Leneen Robb, Coquitlam NOW
Published: Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Highrises and the building activity that goes along with their construction have become hot-button issues in the Tri-Cities.
Photograph by : NOW file photo
A proposal to redevelop the Heritage Mountain shopping village in Port Moody is attracting intense interest -- even though it's at such an early stage in the approval process that council hasn't formally discussed it yet.
Key Choi owns the site, considered the last undeveloped parcel in NewPort Village. It's located next to the NewPort Village Market Square shopping complex on Ioco Road at Ungless Way, and contains an IGA grocery store.
Choi has applied to the city for an official community plan amendment and rezoning to allow for the construction of two highrise towers and amenities ranging from retail and office space to a daycare and pocket park.
He's also hired Romses Architects to design the proposed development and, as part of the approval process, the firm held an open house last Thursday.
Of those who attended, 224 signed in and 160 filled out feedback forms.
Scott Romses said he knew the proposal would attract a lot of interest.
"We knew it was going to be a very strong turnout because it's obviously a very important part of the community and a very high profile site," he said, adding that he wasn't expecting quite as many people to show up as did.
Staff at the firm has been going through feedback forms during the past few days, and Romses said two key concerns stand out: density and highrise towers.
"I think a lot of people don't want to see more highrise towers and a lot of people would like to see that site remain zoned lowrise," he said, "but our point of view is that it should be of a similar nature to the rest of NewPort Village."
Former Port Moody councillor Ann Hulbert, however, disagrees.
She called The NOW after attending the open house, and said there was a lineup to get inside the meeting room at the Social Recreation Centre.
"I think everybody was honestly saying the same thing, and that is, 'Enough is enough. No more highrises in that area,'" she said, adding that she originally thought the proposal was for a 28-storey tower, and was disappointed to learn that both 19- and 31-storey buildings are planned.
Hulbert said her late husband spent 19 days living at the nearby hospice, and she's concerned the noise of such a large construction project would disturb patients.
She's also worried about the impact the proposed 304 residential units could have on traffic. While she lives on the city's north shore, she already encounters traffic snarls as she drives past the site each day.
She doesn't oppose all highrises -- she was on council when the area's first towers were approved -- but says she'd prefer to see the site rebuilt with lowrise residential on top of commercial.
"The thing that really stood out to me was how angry the people were," she said of last Thursday's meeting.
"I have never, in all my 35 odd years of living in this city, ever, ever been to an open house where there were so many people in a far-too-small room getting very upset."
Whenever major developments are proposed, traffic concerns top the list.
Romses, however, said the proposed development is designed to reduce the use of cars.
"We've worked very hard to try and create a walkable, sustainable development and predicating that is that a good proportion of the people will take access to transit, buses, the Evergreen Line when it's there -- so we're trying to create a development where people can live, work and play onsite," he said.
"They don't have to get into their car to get groceries. They don't have to get into their car to visit their dentist ... it's a complete community where we get away from this very suburban mentality where everything is predicated on the car."
His firm plans to approach the city sometime in May to proceed to the next step in the approval process, which involves presenting the project to a land use committee consisting of council and private citizens.
If the project gains preliminary approval, a public hearing would be scheduled before it could receive the final OK.
"We're talking three to four years for Phase 1," Romses said, explaining that the first phase of the project would consist of the highrises, while the second would comprise mixed-use development and the pocket park.
The plan is to allow the IGA to stay onsite, by moving it into a new location built during Phase 1.
"A lot of people thought it was a done deal and that this is just a formality," Romses said of the open house, "but I just want to emphasize that this is Step 1. Council, mayor hasn't even seen this. There's a long way to go."
http://www.canada.com/coquitlamnow/news/story.html?id=cdd5db8c-72cb-4652-98bd-7ecf67cb669b&k=33681
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