How to handle new growth around Coquitlam's upcoming rapid transit stations for the Evergreen Line is now the subject of a high-level study.
The city has hired Calgary consultant Bruce Irvine - a former planning manager with Coquitlam - to develop a transit-oriented development strategy (TDS) that would look at big picture topics like density, design, employment, rental housing replacement and amenities around the stations in Burquitlam and City Centre.
The aim of the TDS, Irvine told Coquitlam city council on Monday, is to give residents and developers more certainty "so they know what to expect in these areas."
The Evergreen project, he said, is creating "a great time for Coquitlam. What we have, of course, is an opportunity - a very exciting opportunity and a very challenging opportunity, the chance for Coquitlam to establish a number of high-level policy pieces that will support the vibrant, urban nodes around the stations."
Irvine said the city has been inundated with queries and bids from developers wanting to build within a five- to 10-minute walking distance from the stations. Recently, council has approved a number of multi-family residential projects close to Como Lake Avenue and Clarke Road, around the Burquitlam Plaza strip mall.
And with Evergreen scheduled to run by 2016 from Lougheed to Coquitlam town centres via Port Moody, changes in residential and commercial building will undoubtedly change the Evergreen corridor over the next four years.
"For a long time, Evergreen felt on again, off again," Irvine said. "With the certainty we have now, opportunities are coming in much faster than we really would have imagined and we need to correspond our policy applications and goals."
As part of the TDS, which is expected to be complete by July, the city will host a public open house in late June to gain community feedback on the early plans.
