Patrick Penner, Tri-Cities Dispatch, Local Journalism Initiative

Port Moody’s Coronation Park development has passed the final reading of council after more than four years of negotiations with the city.

The public hearing ahead of council’s vote on Oct. 3 lasted close to three hours, and brought out 38 speakers, along with 15 letters, voicing support, concerns or opposition to the proposal.

Around 60 percent of the input fully supported the project, 25 percent were opposed and another 15 percent voiced significant concerns but not outright opposition.

Mayor Meghan Lahti said she heard many conflicting opinions at the hearing, and it reminded her of similar opposition over developments in Newport Village and Suter Brook.

“(Residents) were afraid it was going to change the feel of this neighborhood, it was going to change Port Moody. Port Moody isn’t just about buildings, it’s about people, it’s about community” Lahti said. “We don’t always have to agree. In fact, it’s not the best thing if we all agree.”

Wesgroup Properties’ 15-acre development will be the largest in Port Moody history, and notifications went out to every address in the city.

The project features six residential towers between 26 and 31 storeys, 100,000 square feet of commercial space, a four-storey office building, a grocery store and drug store, two daycares, a 2.5 acre public park, a 2,000 sq. ft. municipal-owned civic facility, and a pedestrian overpass to the Inlet Centre SkyTrain station.

The largest concerns heard at the public hearing regarded the lack of any affordable housing, lack of rental housing, and the pressure put on the city’s infrastructure and services from adding more than 4,600 new residents over the next 10 years.

Only 101 of the nearly 2,587 units slated for construction will be offered as rentals, and while there is a rent-to-own program, zero units are being offered at below market rates.

Concerns over overloading the already troubled traffic routes, Eagle Ridge Hospital, public library, recreation centre, and local schools were a common thread.

“How does the city plan to account for the influx of residents?” one speaker asked. “Why are we adding 2,800 parking spaces to a development that is directly adjacent to rapid transit?”

Supporters, on the other hand, praised the master planning of the community, the amount of amenities being provided in lieu of the affordable component.

Brad Jones, vice-president of Wesgroup, pointed to an independent review of the proposal completed in May, 2023, which showed the development is providing three-and-a-half times the required amenities.

Although the project does not meet the official community plan’s 15 percent threshold for below market units, Wesgroup has offered significant contributions in other areas.

These include $8.1 million in community amenity contributions; $4.8 million for public art; $25.8 million in developer cost charges; $43.2 million for infrastructure upgrades; $17.9 million for the construction of a new park, pedestrian overpass, civic space and greenway improvements.

Several supporters said there wasn’t enough density included, arguing more housing supply would bring prices down.

Many expressed disappointment with the length of the development process, referencing comments from the developer that occupancy wont take place until late 2028.

“We need to be careful not to make perfection the enemy of good,” said one supporter, a phase echoed by several others.

Supporters pointed to the previous council’s decision to remove 175 below market units in favour of a 12 percent reduction of density on the site.

Still, some residents insisted that affordable housing should already be on the table.

“If this development is going to be exclusively for rich and wealthy people, and people who are waiting for affordable housing need to wait another 10 years then I don’t feel that we’ve met all of the requirements, another speaker said.

Wesgroup has signed a letter of intent promising to add more affordable housing at a later stage of development in exchange for more density.

Jones highlighted their history of delivering promises for other master planned communities in Metro Vancouver, adding that Wesgroup cannot apply to the affordable housing monies offered by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) until rezoning has been approved.

“The feds are seeking shovel-ready projects and these approvals are required to even be in the conversation,” Jones said.

Mayor Meghan Lahti said while affordable housing was an important issue, “this is the best we can do.”

She said said that CHMC and BC Housing have informed the city they will not consider subsidizing projects unless rezoning is in place first

“They cannot take the risk. They’ve informed us of this on multiple occasions,” Lahti said. “This development will have affordable housing in it, and that is a fact. The truth is that the last council, with all their games and bait-and-switch tactics burnt that bridge.”

Prior to the vote, one councillor left the meeting due to an allegation levied at her colleagues, stating she was uncomfortable proceeding until an investigation took place.

During the hearing, resident Jeff Poste said he had obtained documents using the Freedom of Information Act that showed Couns. Callan Morrison, Samantha Agtarap, Diana Dilworth and Kyla Knowles had an “illegal meeting” with Jones in early November, 2022.

Poste said it showed an unlawful quorum of council took place that discussed city business.

Coun. Haven Lurbiecki — who has been the sole vote on council against moving the project forward — said she was extremely concerned about the allegation, and called for any decision to be deferred.

Lurbiecki’s motion was defeated 6-1, and she left the meeting stating she could not participate any further.

“If there was an illegal meeting, we need to know now, we can’t just continue on like everything is fine,” Lurbiecki said.

Following Lurbiecki’s exit, Dilworth said the meeting was a site tour to showcase other developments that Wesgroup had completed so councillors could get a sense of their management practices.

“There was no staff, it wasn’t a meeting, it wasn’t an agenda, there was absolutely no decisions made,” Dilworth said. “It was strictly an opportunity to see some best case scenarios about what Coronation Pak development could look like.”

Mayor Meghan Lahti said it was not a formal meeting, and there was no issue, adding it was disappointing that Lurbiecki chose to leave instead of clarifying with the city manager.

She said it would only be a problem if the council members made any decisions during the tour.

“As far as I’m concerned, and as far as my experience tells me, there’s no problem with that,” Lahti said. “There is no issue when a group of elected officials go on a tour. If that was the case, then we would have a lot of problems.”

Council voted 6-0 to approve the motion.

Learn more about our News Monitoring here.

---