Massive growth in Coquitlam is prompting city hall to tweak its design criteria for new subdivisions in upcoming - and gentrifying - neighbourhoods.
This month, city council is expected to tighten its subdivision bylaw in an effort to make new subdivisions more walkable, and give more clarity and flexibility to developers when building infrastructure like roads, sidewalks and curbs.
The city's planning and engineering staff are recommending changes that would include:
wider sidewalks around schools, transit stations and high-density areas;
sidewalks in cul-de-sacs where there are trails and other pedestrian links;
bigger local roads (from 8 m to 8.5 m, curb to curb);
improved water and sewer standards for single-family homeowners wanting to build carriage houses on their lots;
and defining language around driveway letdowns in geographically challenging neighbourhoods.
The latter came to light last year when several new Burke Mountain residents complained to The Tri-City News about their driveway accesses, saying 3.5 m was too narrow for their double-car garages. The city then asked the builders to add a concrete triangle to extend the driveways - at the builders' cost.
In their report to council last month, when city council granted three readings to the bylaw amendments, planning GM Jim McIntyre and engineering GM Bill Susak acknowledged there have been problems with the driveway policy, which was designed to allow more on-street parking on the auto-oriented Burke Mountain.
The criteria for driveway letdowns "has created confusion to designers and the building/development community," they wrote in their report, dated Nov. 21, adding they suggest clarity to the bylaw to allow more flexibility with driveway letdowns, depending on lot size and location.
Still, the bylaw "will continue to allow a driveway width of between 3.5 m and 6.0 m," they wrote.
The proposed amendments to the subdivision bylaw come after a recent review by staff to update the policy.
They also come as Coquitlam is in the midst of a building boom, especially with the Evergreen Line rapid transit due to start construction this year. Old neighbourhoods like Maillardville, Austin Heights and Burquitlam - where a SkyTrain station is planned - will likely see the biggest rejuvenations; city staff are also preparing for the next phase of growth in City Centre - where the Evergreen Line is to end - and on Burke Mountain, where the city plans to accommodate up to 24,000 more people over the next 20 years or so.
