The building of mega homes in Port Moody could be coming to a quick end after an epic meeting Tuesday in which council members debated a slew of resolutions and amendments to the zoning bylaw.
Eventually, the special committee of the whole meeting resulted in a clear direction to staff:
create area-specific zones for Ioco, Moody Centre and Glenayre;
analyze 10 potential changes to the RS1 zone;
and report back with results at the Sept. 9 council meeting.
"Staff has been given direction from council to take the items we've identified and they're going to develop a consultation process to talk to residents about that," said Coun. Diana Dilworth, who chaired the committee of the whole meeting.
Potential changes to the zoning bylaw include:
including all basements (finished or unfinished) in floor area ratio (FAR) calculations;
including garages and carports in FAR calculations;
limiting podium height (regardless of slope) to no higher than 0.5 m above grade (a podium will be defined as any structure, such as exposed foundation walls, columns, stilts, retaining walls, fill or other means of elevating a building above grade);
limiting the height of retaining walls that are required for house construction to a maximum of eight feet;
measuring the full height of a building with a peaked roof to the top of the peak and capping it at a maximum of 34.5 feet;
counting double-height/lofted entrances as twice the floor area in FAR calculations.
limiting the eave height to that of the existing or previous house on the lot based on measurements from sea level;
and adopting a new grade calculation based on the average of the lowest elevation of the front and rear of the property.
Staff will also review the potential to increase front and rear yard setbacks and provide options to address the problem of blocked view corridors.
Tuesday's discussion focused mainly on the building of mega homes in the Ioco corridor, with council and staff expected to focus on that area as a priority.
City manager Kevin Ramsay said staff will need additional resources for the public consultation process and to complete the work in an expedited fashion.
Once area-specific zones are created for Ioco, Moody Centre and Glenayre, staff will be investigating other neighbourhoods as well, including Coronation Park, Noons Creek, Westport and College Park.
