PoCo making a move from townhouse to rowhouse

With townhouse development in decline, Port Coquitlam is looking to make it easier to get rowhouses built.

Rowhouses tend to be smaller houses separated by a bit of yard with short backyard and a garage accessed off a lane. Like townhouses, rowhouses are generally seen as relatively affordable for young families.

City staff are recommending council tweak the official community plan, allowing for rowhouses to be built on approximately 289 lots currently designated for townhouses, potentially spurring new rowhouse construction.

“I hope it does,” said Mayor Brad West on Tuesday. “If it doesn’t, we may need to make further adjustments.”

Overall, West said the plan seemed like a good first step.

“There’s a lot of macro conditions that we can’t control so it’s important we focus on what we can control,” he said.

The 289 lots in question don’t have the depth for townhouses but could fit rowhouses, according to a city staff report.

Coun. Paige Petriw was enthusiastic about the change.

“I think this form of housing is super important for Port Coquitlam,” she said. “I hope the rowhomes pick up.”

The proposed change is partly in response to a lack of townhouse projects in the pipeline.

Besides the challenge of assembling land, provincial housing policy allowing between four and six dwellings on one parcel have further narrowed the: “cost-benefit margin for townhouse redevelopment,” according to the report.

The new policy would increase allowable lot coverage from 40 to 45 percent.

Townhouses have functioned as a transition area between single-family neighbourhoods and high-density zones.