Port Moody residents can catch a glimpse of what the future holds for the community at a town hall meeting later this month.
The draft official community plan will be put before the community at the meeting set for Nov. 27 at the Inlet Theatre.
"We've been talking about it an awful lot at council but not an awful lot with the residents. I've been eagerly wanting to get this document in front of the people so we can get their feedback on what they think about the plan," said Port Moody Mayor Mike Clay.
The mayor said he will leave it to the residents to identify what the big issues are with the OCP but he does have some concerns of his own.
"I think we've got too little density at the Moody Centre Skytrain station and I think we have too much density at the western end of town. That's what I heard from a lot of people but we'll let the public tell us what they think about it."
One of the major changes coming for the community is the Evergreen Line scheduled to bring rapid transit to Moody Centre by 2016 and with it a surge in the community's population.
"When you have a transit line you need to do the density to support that and accept that's sort of the role around the transit that that's where people are going to live," said Clay. "For me I'm looking to see concentrating the density around the line where people can live a car-free lifestyle if they want to."
The OCP projects steady growth, with Port Moody's population going from 34,509 in 2011 to an estimated 42,660 in 2021 and 59,000 by 2041.
The expected swell in population has brought with it concerns from at least one group, with the Moody Centre Community Association suggesting the only area that could accommodate that type of development would be a two-square-kilometre area between the ocean and Chines forest. The association says that area has been identified as a high risk of soil liquefaction in the event of an earthquake.
"If you look hard enough everybody's at risk of something," said Clay. "Port Moody is 5 km by 5 km so if you take 2 km out of the middle of it you don't have much city left."
