Port Moody’s mayor is accusing his counterpart in Anmore of starting a “catfight” on social media.
Rob Vagramov countered John McEwen’s assertion in a Facebook post Wednesday that Anmore was not consulted about Port Moody’s plan to restrict development in its portion of the Ioco lands and remove the right-of-way for an extension of David Avenue through Bert Flinn park. He said there has been plenty of discussion between the two communities.
In fact, Vagramov said, the most recent talks occurred last week in a meeting also attended by both communities’ chief administrative officers. He said at that meeting, he provided McEwen with an update of Port Moody’s plan to remove the right-of-way and shared his concerns about the Burrard Commons project on Anmore’s portion of the 232-acre property that could more than triple the village’s population of 2,200.
“That’s consultation,” Vagramov said, adding there were other opportunities for Anmore to speak out as well.
Vagramov said those opportunities were provided “in the spirit of mutual cooperation” even though a memorandum of understanding between the two communities that was signed in 2015 states they only had to consult each other about development applications.
As yet, the owner of the Ioco lands, Gilic Global Development Management Inc. (formerly Brilliant Circle Group), hasn’t submitted any kind of application to develop its property in Port Moody even after several rounds of public consultations and open houses that began in 2015.
Vagramov said other consultations with Anmore included a solicitation last year to provide feedback about Port Moody’s plans for the Ioco lands that the village provided in a letter. As well, Anmore had to give its blessing to allow engineering consultants to assess road options in the village that could be an alternative to building the David Avenue connector for a 2018 report, which it was allowed to review.
In a letter dated May 8, 2018, and attached to the engineers’ report, McEwen outlines a number of concerns, including: the limited scope of the report to consider only alternative routes to David Avenue rather than focussing on the best approach to accommodating current and future traffic generated by all future growth in the region as well as development at the Ioco lands; the method in which community feedback was solicited; its failure to address the implications on Ioco Road as part of Metro Vancouver’s major road network if the right-of-way is removed. He also said the report contained several inaccuracies and oversights.
Vagramov said while Anmore’s concerns were considered, “they didn’t outweigh other factors” considered by Port Moody council in its vote Tuesday.
“While I have taken their concerns seriously, I answer to the people of Port Moody, not John McEwen,” Vagramov told The Tri-City News, adding he invites his neighbouring mayor and councillors to come to a meeting of PoMo council to discuss Anmore’s plans for considering the Burrard Commons development.
