New elementary schools, additional Coquitlam River crossings and more than 3,000 housing units are all part of a visioning document outlining what could be the future of northwest Burke Mountain.
The draft plan, which was presented to council-in-committee last week and will go out for public consultation later this month, is expected to guide development as it moves further up the mountain over the next 30 years.
“It is meant to be a game plan for future planning and development in this area,” said Carl Johannsen, the city’s manager of community planning, later noting that the land makes up “the last greenfield area in Coquitlam — in fact, north of the Fraser.”
The document highlights four areas that will be developed in phases, provided they meet the city’s criteria of having a complete road network, accessible utilities and a proper watershed management plan.
The Hazel-Coy area, a 178-acre parcel located west of Coast Meridian Road between Hyde Creek and the Coquitlam River escarpment, is expected to be developed first. City staff said the land, which could one day contain 950 housing units and an estimated 2,750 people, currently meets all of the criteria for development.
The second phase is called Burke Mountain Creek, which is 229 acres sitting east of Hazel-Coy all the way to the boundary of Pinecone Burke Provincial Park. According to staff, the land meets most of the criteria for development.
However, the future of two other areas included in the draft plan is more uncertain.
The Riverwalk site, which makes up 131 acres on the east bank of the Coquitlam River, is slated as the third phase and could house an estimated 1,400 residents in 450 housing units. At least one new river crossing would be required to access the land — several maps in the Northwest Burke Vision document show two crossings — which complicates the development of the area.
City manager Peter Steblin said the municipality has not received assurances from Fisheries and Oceans Canada that it would be permitted to build a bridge in the area while still receiving permission for another crossing at Lincoln Street in the City Centre neighbourhood.
“The concern is that if you allow a bridge [to be built] before Lincoln Bridge, that may make Lincoln Bridge more difficult,” he said during last week’s meeting.
Goodyear Creek is the final phase, which is the 136 acres currently encompassing the gravel pits along Pipeline Road. A staff report said there is still more work to be completed before the land meets the criteria for development.
Overall, the vision document calls for a mix of housing options in the northwest Burke area.
Opportunities for single-family homes, townhouses and low-rise apartments are expected to be included in the plan, many of which will be developed depending on the topography and natural features in the area, the draft document stated. Of the 644 acres that make up northwest Burke Mountain, only 353 acres are believed to be developable.
Sites for two elementary schools will also have to be located and the draft plan notes the possibility for recreational tourism opportunities along the border with Pinecone Burke Provincial Park.
OXFORD ISSUES
A petition is circulating in northeast Coquitlam expressing opposition to city plans to extend Oxford Street as part of the future development of northwest Burke Mountain.
But several councillors said population growth makes a second route necessary, noting that the only major thoroughfare onto the mountain is Coast Meridian Road.
“You cannot build on a mountain and have one main road down,” said Coun. Mae Reid. “We have fire trucks that need to get in there.”
Reid added that the Oxford extension has been in the city’s planning documents since the late 1990s and was reaffirmed in other plans approved in the early 2000s.
Coun. Terri Towner told the committee she recently met someone living on the mountain who admitted they knew when they bought their home that Oxford Street would be extended and “They signed the petition anyways.”
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