About 8,400 dump trucks loaded with soil will drive up Coast Meridian Road in Port Coquitlam over the next year or so to fill in three properties near DeBoville Slough.
Last month, Coquitlam city council unanimously granted a conservation permit to the landowner, One World Farms Inc., for the second and third phases of a development that, when finished, will be an equestrian-style neighbourhood.
Raul Allueva, Coquitlam's manager of development services, said a total of 85,000 cubic metres of soil will be loaded on the 13.5-hectare (33-acre) site at 4104 Cedar Dr., which is located in the Agricultural Land Reserve and between Devon and Fremont streets.
The trucks will access the area via Coast Meridian and the lower part of Victoria Drive in northeast Coquitlam, he said. Coquitlam city hall has retained a $10,000 damage deposit to recover any costs to repair the roads once the work is completed. The aim is to raise the site by two metres, up to the 100-year floodplain level of 4.58 m, as approved by the Agricultural Land Commission. The proposed neighbourhood, if approved, would include single-family homes, horse stables, a horse riding ring and exercise area for each property, according to a city report.
Last year, the city placed a stop-work order after fill operations started without consent.
jwarren@tricitynews.com
