If you were given a blank slate to design a new neighbourhood shopping area, what would it look like?
How high would the buildings climb? And would the homes have backyards large enough for kids and dogs to play? Would there be any private outdoor space at all?
Those are some of the questions Coquitlam planners will pose next month as they gauge public opinion on the development of a commercial core for Partington Creek, the fourth and largest neighbourhood proposed for the lower slopes on the east side of Burke Mountain.
Up to 15,000 more residents are expected to call the Partington Creek neighbourhood home over the next 20 to 25 years, and it will have the mountain's only commercial zone.
Jim McIntyre, Coquitlam's general manager of planning and development, said the October open house will zero in on the commercial district, an area that generated a lot of discussion when the city hosted an open house in June at Leigh elementary school.
Then, attendees gave mixed views on the growth planned: Some pressed for towers to protect green spaces and sensitive lands while others urged a low-compact sprawl.
McIntyre said the city needs to explore "the whole range of ideas and opportunities that are out there. Since the city owns the majority of land - and we have certain needs that we'll be trying to provide for - it gives us a little more latitude to be more innovative.
"We don't want to create a strip mall with apartments surrounding it," he said. "Right now, we need to scan the dial and come up with solutions. Not all of them may stick."
Some of the more creative projects include district energy (i.e., central geothermal), a system being used in Lower Lonsdale in North Vancouver, and a fibre optic network.
Much has changed for the village since the public was first surveyed in 2007, McIntyre said. The housing market is different and many Burke homeowners have moved in to the other three neighbourhoods: Upper Hyde Creek, Lower Hyde Creek and Smiling Creek.
Coun. Mae Reid, chair of the city's land use committee, said she favours high density housing in the commercial core - à la Whistler or Port Moody's Newport Village - to attract boutique businesses.
"It's going to have to be high density because that's how you achieve a vibrant core," she said. Housing "will have to be innovative. We want to have a nice mountainside village."
Greg Moore, mayor of Port Coquitlam, which will see an influx of Burke shoppers especially in the big-box Dominion Triangle, said the Partington core needs to be easily accessible for pedestrians or transit riders. His city's concern is building the infrastructure to support Coquitlam's growth on Burke, where 24,000 people will eventually live.
The extra roads needed for another city's boom is a reality "of just living in the Lower Mainland," Moore said. "The municipal boundaries are blurred between who uses services."
He added: "We have no choice. We've also had to build up our roads to accommodate growth in Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge over the years, and our residents leave Port Coquitlam and go through Coquitlam. It's part of all of us in the region working together."
Moore said his city hasn't been briefed by Coquitlam city staff specifically on Partington Creek but the two municipalities are now taking part in a joint study on the future Fremont connector that will tie Dominion Triangle with the Partington. Once that study is done, a public open house will be held to gauge residents' opinions on the alignment.
