Port Coquitlam residents may get a chance to weigh in on the future of their neighbourhoods sooner rather than later.
It’s been 10 years since the last Official Community Plan was updated and in the intervening years, housing prices have shot up and the city’s own housing report says 550 homes need to be built each year to keep up with demand.
The city expects to have more understanding about the scope of the project by the end of the year.
After that it will take about two years to fully complete the plan, according to city staff.
But a new OCP can’t come soon enough for some PoCo councillors.
The issue was raised this week at a committee-in-council meeting where politicians were asked to consider two housing projects that don’t conform to current zoning.
Time to get OCP ‘moving’
In one — a 20-unit development in stacked townhouses — council asked the developer to come back with a less dense proposal for the Fox Park–Westwood neighbourhood in central PoCo.
In the second, councillors agreed to allow a developer to build a duplex with two legal suites at 3431 Flint St. but they balked at creating a new zone for these type of projects without a further city-wide review of the OCP.
“I think it’s important we get this thing (OCP) moving,” said Coun. Darrell Penner.
He acknowledged that when projects come up that don’t fit into the current plan it causes a lot of turmoil.
“The residents are the ones that go through the greatest turmoil. The applicant goes through the financial turmoil and we have to make the decision,” Penner said.
Coun. Dean Washington said it could be as much as three years before the OCP is ready to guide future development decisions.
In that time, he feared, more non-conforming projects — such as duplexes with suites — will come before council as development pressures ramp up.
‘More of this is going to come’
“These are our neighbourhoods and more and more of this is going to come,” he predicted.
Mayor Brad West noted that council has been “very clear” on the need to update the OCP, and he said it may just be needed to be tweaked in certain areas, which could potentially shorten the process.
“We want to do some fine tuning in different places to address current realities,” West said.
Finding staff time to do the work is among the challenges and the city proposes to seek grants that could assist in the development of an OCP, council was told.
Meanwhile, council was unanimous in agreeing to allow the Flint duplex with legal suites to proceed to the next steps.
Good for multi-generational families
Developer Van Nguyen is seeking approval for a duplex on a single-family lot that would have a secondary suite in each basement, as well as off-street parking for six cars.
The 8,000 sq. ft. property has a 63-year-old, one-and-a-half-storey home and is located in a neighbourhood of single-family homes.
Coun. Nancy McCurrach said the duplex with suites arrangement would be ideal for multi-generational families.
“The fact that they’re legal secondary suites is a good thing. If it was for families so that grandparents could live in the same area as their grandchildren — this is the vision that I had — it could be affordable for some people.”
Coun. Glenn Pollock agreed the city needs the housing.
“Every unit we add is part of the housing spectrum and it’s much needed.”
The next step is for council to consider a site-specific rezoning for the project.
