The ongoing frustration by Port Coquitlam council with neighbouring Coquitlam's mega-development north of the city came to a head this week.
On Tuesday, PoCo city council voted unanimously to send a stinging letter to Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart about the ongoing changes on Burke Mountain, where Coquitlam plans to build a community the size of Port Moody over the next 20 years.
The letter from Mayor Greg Moore was penned after Coquitlam called for comment on a proposed townhouse complex at the base of Burke, at the corner of Upper and Lower Victoria drives — close to the the PoCo border — and as Coquitlam finalizes its Northwest Burke Vision, a blueprint for four more residential neighbourhoods at the top of mountain and down the ravine to Pipeline Road.
That vision calls for 11,000 additional residents on Burke on top of the 25,000 people planned for the Upper Hyde Creek, Lower Hyde Creek, Smiling Creek and Partington Creek neighbourhoods.
Mayor Moore's letter to Stewart cites the impact the uphill growth has had on PoCo infrastructure and schools as well as the watercourses below.
"We're planning a livable community," Moore told PoCo council Tuesday. "It's hard to plan that when you've got potentially 38,000 people living above you using your streets to exit their community through ours."
But the tipping point for PoCo council was a The Tri-City News story last month that quoted Coquitlam's parks manager telling council it would wait to see how PoCo's new $132-million recreation complex would affect service levels in Coquitlam before it committed to a major rec facility in the northeast.
Coun. Mike Forrest, chair of PoCo's smart growth committee, told The Tri-City News today (Thursday) that while PoCo knows it can't stop Coquitlam's building boom on Burke, "we hope they will take more consideration with their planning… not just build and the consequences fall where they may."
Coun. Brad West said PoCo doesn't want to play nice any longer.
"There's a lot of frustration in PoCo about how our community has borne the brunt of development on Burke Mountain," he said. "It's time for us to take a forceful stand. It's not about being difficult. This is about being honest about what we're seeing in our community."
Kathleen Vincent, Coquitlam's manager of corporate communications, said Moore's letter will come before Coquitlam councillors Monday, when they're expected to adopt the final version of the Northwest Coquitlam Vision.
At that meeting, Coquitlam council will consider a staff recommendation for an inter-municipal senior staff working group made up of planning, engineering and parks staff from both cities. And staff will suggest the Burke concerns be addressed at the next Coquitlam/PoCo joint council meeting, set for Oct. 18.
Jim McIntyre, Coquitlam's general manager of planning and development, said news of the Northwest Burke Vision shouldn't come as a shock to PoCo. He said by building out Burke, Coquitlam is meeting the city's obligations for the Regional Growth Strategy, a collective plan for how Metro Vancouver will accommodate one million more people by 2040.
It's also meeting its obligations by asking neighbouring cities for comment on future developments in Coquitlam, McIntyre said.
"We're following proper protocol in terms of consultation and information," he said, noting PoCo has a right to oppose. "I think Coquitlam, though, would rather take a more constructive approach and let's look at the issues.
"Again, these are not new issues and these are not new discussions. From our staff people, they would like to hear more from Port Coquitlam but they think some of their statements and accusations are unfounded."
As for the flow of traffic — especially along Coast Meridian Road — McIntyre said PoCo needs to think regionally, saying, "We are not little island states so we need to plan together."
McIntyre also pointed out PoCo has benefitted economically from Burke's growth, with extra shoppers patronizing big box stores in the growing Dominion Triangle.
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MOORE'S LETTER
July 11, 2017
Mayor Richard Stewart
City of Coquitlam
3000 Guildford Way
Coquitlam, BC V3B 7N2
Dear Mayor Stewart:
Re: Draft Northwest Burke Vision
The City of Port Coquitlam has reviewed a request for comment on the draft Northwest Burke Vision that was submitted to our Director of Development Services by Steve Gauley, Acting Manager Community Planning.
This letter conveys our comments on the draft document.
We understand that the Northwest Burke Vision has been prepared to guide future planning and growth of an area adjacent to the planned Burke Mountain neighbourhoods and north of Port Coquitlam. As described in the draft document, the undeveloped area is located on the southwest slopes of Burke Mountain, is bounded by Coquitlam River and includes steep slopes, wetlands and creeks containing sensitive habitat.
We also understand this document is intended to act as a high level planning vision with respect to the area’s future accommodation of over 11,000 people and matters such as specific land uses, services and infrastructure, along with the creation of natural and environmentally sensitive areas, will be determined through detailed neighbourhood planning.
It is Port Coquitlam Council’s opinion that implementation of this vision must adequately recognize the substantial impact that the creation of four new neighbourhoods will have on Port Coquitlam, particularly in terms of our infrastructure, services and shared river watersheds.
This concern must be adequately addressed at this early stage to mitigate impacts to our community.
Furthermore, we wish to take this opportunity to reiterate our concern with respect to the substantial impacts on Port Coquitlam that are already being created by ongoing development of Burke Mountain neighbourhoods.
Port Coquitlam has invested significantly in transportation improvements that serve Burke Mountain neighbourhoods, including our construction of the $132M Coast Meridian Overpass and enhancements to our collector and arterial traffic corridors. We are concerned that our Council’s decision to locate our future alignment of a connecting route along the existing alignments of Burns Road and Devon Road is not reflected in the Burke Mountain Vision, and further concerned that the Burke Mountain Vision does not indicate how roads in Coquitlam will connect with this alignment.
Traffic volumes in Port Coquitlam continue to increase as a result of growth in Coquitlam and this will be exacerbated with the development of the Northwest Burke area unless the necessary connections and improvements to minimize impacts to our road network are constructed in a timely manner.
We have observed downstream watershed impacts of development in Coquitlam including increased water volumes, changed flow patterns and longer drought periods. We have also heard expressions of concern from local stewardship groups, including the concern that Coquitlam’s reliance on the Province’s Riparian Areas Regulations is insufficient.
As I believe you are aware, the City of Port Coquitlam continues to implement the Streamside Protection Area Regulations to achieve a higher level of protection. Addressing downstream impacts related to stormwater management is a critical matter which must be adequately addressed to avoid further impacts to our sensitive ecological systems prior to any further development being contemplated.
Developments in Burke Mountain are also resulting in considerable pressure on schools in Port Coquitlam. New school facilities to accommodate students must be built prior to initiating growth in the Northwest Burke area, and funding, timing and location commitments need to be in place to accommodate for elementary, middle and high school students.
Council was dismayed to read recently in the local newspaper that Coquitlam is planning to delay the construction of a new community recreation facility, in part because the new facility we are building in our downtown will accommodate demand from Coquitlam residents. Our Hyde Creek facility is well used by Coquitlam residents and our capacity to serve our residents’ needs is impacted by the heavy level of use. While we recognize and support the expectation that our residents share in park and recreation opportunities, Port Coquitlam facilities are not being designed to accommodate the recreation needs of your future residents and inadequate facilities impacts the ability of our residents to enjoy program offerings in their community.
The City of Coquitlam must plan appropriately to accommodate future residents’ recreation needs. We request that the City of Coquitlam work to mitigate the potential impacts of its developments on the City of Port Coquitlam and would welcome an opportunity to further discuss this request at our next joint meeting.
We look forward to working with the City of Coquitlam to address these major concerns.
Sincerely,
Greg Moore, Mayor
City of Port Coquitlam
Cc: Steve Gauley, Acting Manager Community Planning, City of Coquitlam
Laura Lee Richard, Director of Development Services, City of Port Coquitlam
