Port Coquitlam sets for OCP ‘refresh’ as council bashes province

Port Coquitlam is growing and Port Coquitlam council is growing impatient with the province.

During a discussion Tuesday about updating the city’s Official Community Plan later this year, several councillors took the opportunity to criticize provincial housing legislation as both heavy-handed and ineffective.

“They’ve taken 50 years of urban planning and flushed it down the toilet,” said Coun. Dean Washington.

Port Coquitlam council is slated to update the city’s Official Community Plan later this year to ensure the OCP, the 20-year housing needs report and the regional growth strategy are all in accord. Those updates must be in place by Dec. 31 to meet provincial requirements.

According to the most recent report, the city needs to add 15,249 housing units over the next 20 years while putting a broad emphasis on affordable housing and specific support for seniors, families, and shelter for homeless people.

While emphasizing the need for hospitals and schools to match that population growth, Coun. Darrell Penner suggested the province was guilty of overreach.

“At the very core of it all, who really is in charge of determining what your community is supposed to look like?” he asked.

It’s critical municipalities work together to assuage the housing crisis, stated Port Moody-Coquitlam MLA Rick Glumac responded after facing similar criticism from Port Moody council.

Having solid rules around costs and responsibilities is more effective than negotiating through rezonings, Glumac contended.

“Homebuilders will know upfront what is required to support existing renters, how much affordable housing is required to be built in larger projects and what contributions they need to make towards amenities like childcare spaces, community centers and libraries to support our growing community,” he stated in a letter to the Dispatch.

There is also nothing in the provincial legislation that takes away a city’s ability to protect trees and ecologically sensitive areas, Glumac stated.

Council will make decisions in the best interests of residents, even if that means failing to comply with provincial legislation, said Mayor Brad West on Tuesday.

“If we were to follow the province’s housing target order to the letter the only thing that would be built here one-bedroom condos basically which, guess what? People don’t want.”

Provincial legislation included scrapping public hearings for OCP-compliant projects, mandating a minimum level of density around transit hubs, and allowing small-scale housing – generally between four and six units – on lots formerly earmarked for single-family homes.

Those four- and six-plexes could result in sprawl while the municipal tree bylaw “goes right out the door,” Penner said.

Noting similar displeasure on other municipal councils, Penner referenced the Tracy Chapman song, “Talkin’ ‘Bout a Revolution.”

Following the passage of provincial legislation, the city is set to embark on an OCP “refresh” in 2026.

That refresh is meant to: “Determine the ‘big moves’ and define priorities,” according to a city staff report.