Question 1

Where are you in the planning process / What is the project schedule?

Accepted Answer

The initial application was submitted in July 2020.  In January 2021 (at First Reading of the bylaw amendment), Mayor and Council provided feedback on the application which resulted in several changes to the application.  The revised application went to Council for Second Reading of the Official Community Amendment Bylaw in December 2021 and received approval to move forward to a Public Hearing and Third Reading. We anticipate the project will go to Public Hearing sometime in winter or early spring 2022.  Following Public Hearing, and if Third Reading is successful, the project team will submit a rezoning application for the site. This process takes about 12 months to complete. We anticipate at least a couple of years until any construction would begin, if all goes well.

Question 2

What heights are proposed at Coronation Park?

Accepted Answer

The current proposal includes heights from 31-26 storeys stepping down to 8 - 4 storey buildings.

Question 3

How many units are proposed?

Accepted Answer

Approximately 2,655 strata homes and 105 market rental homes, however this subject to change, and will depend on how many 1/2/3 bedrooms there are. This will get detailed out further in the process. Of the 105 rental homes,  at least 10% will be dedicated to seniors rental housing. This will include a range of family-oriented units ranging from studios to 3-bedrooms Note: all numbers are estimates, and subject to change.

Question 4

What is your plan for the rental units?

Accepted Answer

As a family owned company, our plan is to own and operate the rental housing. At least 10% of the rental housing will be dedicated to seniors rental housing.

Question 5

Why aren’t you providing 15% affordable housing?

Accepted Answer

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 our application, Council initiated an interim housing policy. While our application was grandfathered, 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) than to have affordable housing. 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 is 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.

Question 6

You are seeking OCP Amendments. Why should those be approved? Shouldn’t you have considered the OCP when you were creating your design and purchasing your properties?

Accepted Answer

We did consider the OCP when we were developing the proposal and purchasing the land. However, the Coronation Park policies have not been updated for a number of years now, and the market conditions have changed. There are a number of elements in the proposal that meet the objectives of the OCP such as space for childcare, seniors housing, outdoor amenity space, and more. Our proposal also includes a significant amount of amenities including a city owned building space, a 2.53 acres park (the OCP contemplates a 1 acre park), a grocery store, a drug store, office space, daycare, and other retail suitable for a restaurant and more neighbourhood servicing retail. In order to provide for these amenities, Wesgroup is proposing a transit-oriented community with buildings up to 31 storeys. The density proposed will make the proposal feasible from a financial point of view.

Question 7

What is the total number of new residents planned for this site?

Accepted Answer

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 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.

Question 8

What does your traffic study say? How will traffic impact the area?

Accepted Answer

A comprehensive traffic study has been completed by a transportation engineering firm called Creative Transportation Solutions (CTS) The traffic study provides recommendations to ensure that the area can support new trips to and from the neighbourhood by all modes (i.e transit, walking, cycling, and vehicle).  The study looks at the surrounding area context including the existing context and anticipated (future development) context up to the year 2035 and makes recommendations for how any future impacts can be mitigated Some of the recommendations include some area improvements, such as new turning lanes and intersection upgrades, and other transportation demand management measures.  The development is located within a 5-minute walk to the Inlet Skytrain Station, so it is anticipated that many people will use transit. More detailed transportation and traffic study will be conducted during the rezoning stage.

Question 9

Are you proposing the pedestrian/cycling overpass to Inlet Centre SkyTrain Station?

Accepted Answer

We are exploring options to improve pedestrian access to the SkyTrain station. During the rezoning process, further analysis will explore the possibility of a pedestrian overpass.