The Editor,
Re. "Second meeting needed for OCP draft discussion" (The Tri-City News, Sept. 13).
"Disappointing" would be a kind description for the draft official community plan presented at last week's Port Moody council meeting.
After years of town hall meetings, design charrettes and open houses, we are little further ahead with a bold vision for Port Moody's future with rapid transit than we were at the outset.
The conversation is centred far too much on limiting building heights and not enough on the quality of life. Newport Village and Suter Brook are the results of allowing private visioning in the past, so why are some still so preoccupied with foolishly imposing limited building heights?
At this stage, I was really hoping to see a brave vision for Port Moody and not listening to what a certain proportion of those responding to OCP questionnaires wanted. Comments from some of our elected officials referring to these questionnaires would lead me to believe that in the run-up to next year's election, the real goal is a compromised outcome to maximize the number of votes.
If this community is to make the most of the opportunities that the Evergreen Line offers - and that seems to be the main focus, which continues to neglect any economic revitalization for the west of Port Moody - then mayor and council need to encourage exciting, high-quality urban design with more flexible development guidelines.
Let's challenge and allow the developers and architects to submit daring schemes that will accommodate future growth in compact, sustainable neighbourhoods where we can walk instead of drive to shop, work and play.
John Grasty, Port Moody
