Coquitlam boosts commercial space on Barnet, but councillor worries city is behind the times

A rezoning by Coquitlam council will allow new business uses – but not enough for one councillor.

Following an application from PC Urban, two buildings zoned for industrial at 2660 Barnet Highway can now be used for office space, a commercial kitchen, or retail.

However, that retail use doesn’t allow businesses to fulfill orders on Barnet that were made online – a decision that rankled Coun. Dennis Marsden during a council meeting earlier this month.

“We’ve got a good current Coquitlam business looking to own their own place . . . we need to find a way to make that happen,” he said.

The prohibition on online fulfilment doesn’t send the message that Coquitlam is open for business, Marsden said, adding that he’d talked to other companies who decided the site wasn’t viable.

As the retail industry changes, Coquitlam needs to adapt, he said, calling for city staff to fast-track changes to make the business enterprise zone less restrictive.

While acknowledging the plan was good in theory, Marsden referred to the city’s zoning as: “a pilot that couldn’t get the plane off the ground.”

Describing the zoning as, “a little bit grey,” Coquitlam’s chief administrative officer Raul Allueva said he was aware of the business trying to set up on shop on 2660 Barnet.

“From our perspective, if it’s a retail use, it is not permitted on the site,” he said, referring to parking challenges that could come with allowing online fulfilment.

However, Allueva also noted that online fulfilment tends to be beyond what a municipality can control or regulate.

The change in zoning followed council’s decision to approve a pair of light industrial buildings consisting of 33 units and more than 100,000 square feet in 2023.

However, after opening the doors in the spring of 2025, developer PC Urban found the market conditions weren’t quite what they expected and came to city hall about allowing more commercial uses on site.

Initially, Mayor Richard Stewart said he dismissed the request as a non-starter.

“We have never in my 22 years before, allowed the building to be built and then changed its zoning,” he said. “This just doesn’t happen.”

The request is unorthodox, acknowledged PC Urban chief operating officer Steve Forrest during previous discussions.

“We spent $60 million between land and building on this project,” he said. “If the market hadn’t changed . . . we wouldn’t be doing this.”

Between early 2022 and late 2025, the industrial vacancy rate rose from 0.2 to 4.7 percent.

Coun. Brent Asmundson, who cast the lone vote against giving the rezoning final approval, said he was “very concerned” about the change during a previous meeting.

While the city only requires one parking spot for every 100 square metres of industrial floor space, Coquitlam mandates one parking spot for every 40 square metres of commercial space. That parking requirement likely would have resulted in an approximately 40 percent smaller building, according to city staff.

The applicant seems to be looking for the “best of both worlds,” Asmundson added.

Coun. Teri Towner noted all 13 owner operators supported the change.

“To me, that’s really important,” she said. “I want to see a thriving business happening in that area.”

Coun. Craig Hodge concurred.

“There is no benefit to having a built building that nobody’s able to use,” he said.