oquitlam residents wanting to shape Burke Mountain's newest neighbourhood will have to wait until the new year to give feedback.
The city was expected to hold an open house this week on the Partington Creek Neighbourhood Plan but staff say because of additional studies related to development cost charge estimates and further preparation for options on the village core, the next public meeting will now be held early in 2012.
"We are trying to get it right," Mayor Richard Stewart said yesterday. "We are trying to make sure it's going to be the jewel of Burke Mountain. It's going to be the centre of that community."
The municipal election on Nov. 19 was not a factor in delaying the open house, he said.
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 Burke's only commercial zone.
At the last open house for Partington Creek, held in June at Leigh elementary school, the city got mixed reviews on how that zone should develop: Some people pressed for towers to protect green spaces and sensitive lands while others urged a low-compact sprawl.
Many homeowners have already moved into Burke's other, less-dense neighbourhoods in Upper Hyde Creek, Lower Hyde Creek and Smiling Creek. The city is planning 25,000 more residents on Burke over the next 20 years.
