Myth #1:
"The Coronation Park proposal will bring an extra 6,000 to 10,000 people to the area."
Fact:
The population projection for the Coronation Park proposal is in the range of 4,800 to 5,860 people. This is based on 2,665 units and a range from 1.8 to 2.2 people per household.
Port Moody staff for planning purposes, generally, use an average household size of 2.2 persons per household. Based on this assumption, there would be about 5,860 people.
There is also Statistics Canada data (based on 2016 Census) that looks at movers to Port Moody and the average household size by structure (concrete versus wood-frame) and tenure (strata versus rental). For rental units in wood-frame buildings, the average household size is 2.1. For strata units in concrete buildings, the average household size is lower at 1.8. Based on the current proposal which includes, 105 rental units in wood-frame form (2.1 persons per household), and 2,550 strata units in concrete form (1.8 persons per household), we estimate the total population would be 4,811.
Myth #2:
"Low-rise buildings with heights of 3 – 4 storeys are the best building form and character for wellbeing."
Fact:
Happy City, a planning and design firm focused on the connections between happiness and the built environment has developed a wellbeing framework that is guiding the development of Coronation Park.
Happy City notes that there are wellbeing challenges that accompany high-rise development; however, these challenges can be mitigated through design strategies. The project team is working to incorporate these strategies into the design.
Our cities are growing, and housing costs are rapidly increasing. Access to secure housing is also important to human wellbeing. Transit-rich communities are well-suited to support wellbeing in this regard, as it enables people to reduce their living costs by eliminating dependence on private vehicles. The redevelopment of Coronation Park from 59 detached homes to around 2,600 homes will provide much needed housing and support wellbeing for Port Moody’s current and future residents.
Myth #3:
"The average commute time, at peak hours is a 30 – 40 minute delay."
Fact:
There is no data that supports this statement that commuters are experiencing a 30 – 40-minute delay during peak times due to additional traffic.
Statistics Canada data (2016 Census) shows that the average commute for the Metro Vancouver region, was 27.3 minutes by car. According to 2017 TransLink Trip Diary Data, most long commutes to municipalities outside of the Tri-Cities was by public transit. The average trip length for transit was 20.1 km, which is double that of the average person driving in their vehicle (10.5 km).
The data shows that vehicular trips tend to be shorter, more frequent and within the Tri-Cities area.
With mixed-use high-density developments occurring near transit, it is expected more local trips will shift to using transit, especially for residents close to rapid transit. This trend is occurring in other Metro Vancouver communities such as Downtown New Westminster, Metrotown and the Surrey Central area.
The transportation engineering firm (Creative Transportation Solutions (CTS)) has conducted a transportation study which used the PM peak hour in their assumptions about existing and future traffic. It is expected that increases to delay at signalized intersections in Port Moody would be significant lower during non-peak periods.
Myth #4:
"This development will add vehicles from 10,000 residents to the road network, which will add another 30 – 60 minutes of delay for every citizen of Port Moody."
Fact:
The current proposal is anticipated to add 907 vehicles to the morning peak period, and 987 vehicles to the afternoon peak period, not 10,000. These are upper estimates and could be lower.
It is anticipated that at full buildout the increased delay would be in the order of 90 seconds per vehicle at the Ioco Road/Barnet Highway intersection.
At this time, it is not possible to quantify the additional delay created by the development of the Polygon development, the Coronation Park proposal and the other parcels which do not have development applications in yet (i.e. the rest of Coronation Park).
There are four key intersections (Dewdney Trunk Road, Moray Street, Moody Street, Barnet Connector) that routinely experience delay, and extrapolating the delay anticipated at Ioco Road to these four intersections, it is reasonable to conclude that the net increase in delay along the St. Johns Street corridor could be in the range of 6 to 10 minutes during the PM peak hour.
For clarity, it should be noted that this is based on the current intersection conditions. Future intersection improvements throughout this corridor could ultimately decrease the estimated delay times experienced.
It should also be highlighted that 80% of the residential trips for the proposed development will use non-auto modes of travel (primarily SkyTrain) that will be unaffected by intersection congestion and delay.
Myth #5:
"The proposal is going to be larger than Newport, Klahanie and Suterbrook combined."
Fact:
Based on our research, these developments currently have the following number of units:
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Klahanie - 1,066 units.
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Newport Village - 900 units.
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SuterBrook Village - 1,472* units.
This totals 3,438 units. The proposal for Coronation Park includes 2,665 units and is not larger than all of these combined.
Note: unit counts have been updated as of January 11, 2022 with additional information provided by the City.
*Includes units currently under construction.
Myth #6:
"The development will cost the city millions of dollars to pay for infrastructure and civic services/facilities from the increased population and demand on city services. This cost be passed onto taxpayers."
Fact:
Local governments have mechanisms to fund growth resulting from development. They collect Community Amenity Contributions (CACs) and Development Cost Charges (DCCs).
CACs are voluntary in-kind or cash contributions provided by property developers for rezonings. Cities development CAC policies to identify public amenity needs such as:
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affordable and special needs housing
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streetscape and pedestrian improvements
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community facilities
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parks and recreation facilities
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environmental enhancements
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arts and cultural facilities
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public art
The Port Moody CAC policy includes $6/per square foot (to a maximum of $6,000 per unit) of new residential floor area (for rezonings only).
The estimated CAC cash contribution for Coronation Park is approximately $12 million.
DCCs are fees collected for all development. They help pay for growth-related infrastructure costs such as:
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transportation and road improvements
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parkland acquisition
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utilities such as water, sanitary and storm networks
DCCs are set based on the City’s review of capital projects that are defined through long-range planning. They are based on a flat rate, per square metre of new floor area.
The estimated total DCC for the Coronation Park proposal is approximately $25 million.
In addition to CACs and DCCs the city also collects property taxes from residents and businesses, which is used to pay for civic needs. The Coronation Park proposal would generate approximately +/-$6.5 million in property taxes every year that would be put toward paying for civic needs.
Myth #6:
"There has been no consideration of affordable housing."
Fact:
At the time when Wesgroup started engaging with council (2 years ago) and at the time of our application, there were no affordable housing requirements or policy in place. Following the submission of our application, Council initiated an interim housing policy - this was done without any public consultation, notice to landowners or any publicly available financial analysis to show the land value impact on properties across all of Port Moody.
While our application was grandparented, our initial application included about 6 - 7% below-market rental homes, however, Council provided feedback at First Reading that there was a stronger desire for the proposal to comply with the Official Community Plan (OCP) from a height and density perspective than to have affordable housing included in the project. Therefore, the revised proposal does not include below-market rental. We are, however, providing 105 units of market rental housing to be contained in a separate building. There will also be a rent-to-own program.
As part of council feedback at Second Reading, we are working with senior levels of government to determine if funding is available to provide affordable housing, as Council direction has been to not increase the density to pay for affordable housing.
The current application does not include affordable housing, which is a result of Council’s explicit direction
Fact:
Myth #7:
"The voluntary contribution for city-owned amenity space is too small at 190 square metres."
The proposal has been guided through additional conversations with City staff and includes a civic amenity space in the range of 2,000 - 4,000 square feet. The exact size will be determined through the rezoning and detailed design stage. The city will decide the programming and use for the space.
For context, below are some examples of various community spaces/rooms and their average size:
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Large multi-purpose room with capacity for up to 55 people: 1,200 square feet (City of Vancouver)
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Arts, Craft & Music Room with capacity for up to 15 people seated: 450 square feet (City of Vancouver)
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Multi-purpose activity room that can be used for dancing, a banquet or other large events: 3,000 square feet (City of West Vancouver)
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Lounge room for about 8 – 10 tables: 600 square feet (City of Vancouver)
Myth #8:
"The Inlet Centre SkyTrain Station is a Port Moody municipal asset."
Fact:
Public transportation is funded by federal, provincial, municipal funds and is an asset for all people who work live, work, and recreate within Metro Vancouver.