Port Moody council wants revision of 6-storey rental development on St. Johns Street; most suggest building higher

Port Moody council unanimously voted to send a six-storey rental project back to the drawing board.

First reading of Anthem Properties’ 191 unit development along St. Johns Street was at council on Tuesday, Feb. 27, seeking an advancement to a public hearing.

Council unanimously voted against staff’s recommendation, citing the issues relating to the U-shaped building’s form and massing. Many suggested the solution is an eight-storey revision of the project.

“Now is the time for us to make the changes if we don’t like the building,” said Mayor Meghan Lahti. “A taller building will provide more ground, more green space.”

Several councillors made similar recommendations when the project was last before council for early input in December 2022.

The nearly 50,000 square foot development site sits just east of the Moody Middle School on the corner of St. Johns and James Road, and is within 800 metres of the Moody Centre Skytrain station

While zoning in Port Moody’s current official community plan only allows six-storey buildings at the site, new provincial legislation around transit oriented development (TOD) areas have allowed for higher densities, according to staff.

The proposal included nearly 6,000 sq. ft. of commercial space on the ground floor, an approximately 5,700 sq. ft. outdoor courtyard, and 249 underground parking spaces.

Nearly 70 percent of the units were studio and one-bedroom apartments, while just over 20 percent were two-bedroom units, and  just over 10 percent were three-bedroom units.

Staff said that the project exceeds the city’s policy pertaining to the number of family sized units, and generally met its minimum unit floor area policy.

Some of the amenities offered in the proposal included a signalized intersection to be completed in conjunction with a neighboring development, and a multi-use path connecting Moray Street to James Road.

The bulky design of the building was the largest concern for most councillors, who touched on cramped pedestrian friendly spaces, blocked natural lighting, energy efficiencies, a lack of stepped back upper floors, and general appearance.

Several said deficiencies in these design areas were the result of the building height being confined to six-storeys.

Coun. Kyla Knowles said she thought if the application were to come forward today, the design would be more attractive.

“We need to be open to the idea that six-storey buildings aren’t necessarily the right fit for the pedestrian experience,” Knowles said. “Now we’ve got this form that nobody seems particularly happy with.”

Couns. Samantha Agtarap, Knowles and Lahti all voiced concerns over the shadows the building would cast in its courtyard, echoing issues noted by the city’s advisory design panel.

The lack of setback from St. Johns Street was raised by Coun. Callan Morrison, who said it would diminish the city’s ability to build more active forms of transportation.

During early input, Anthem originally submitted the building would adhere to a higher level of energy efficiencies, but has since walked back that aspect of the proposal.

A majority of council suggested many of these issues could be fixed if the project were reimagined as an eight-storey development.

“We did have an opportunity to build a square, energy efficient, taller building with more outdoor space,” Agtarap said. “But here we are. We’re at six-storeys and in a U-shape.”

Another concern over unit sizes was raised by Coun. Haven Lurbiecki, who noted the average studio unit was 449 sq. ft., while the average one-bedroom-plus-den unit was 603 sq. ft.

Several other councillors made comments suggesting Lurbiecki was being inconsiderate to people who live multi-family housing forms. Staff noted bedroom sizes were in line with the city’s current recommendations and BC Housing’s guidelines.

Lurbiecki countered by stating studies that show very small units negatively impact quality of life.

“I’m against buildings that aren’t livable,” Lurbiecki said. “You could live in 100 sq. ft. if you wanted to. It’s possible. I don’t know if it would be good for you or enjoyable.”

Coun. Diana Dilworth was the only councillor to voice caution over stalling the project any further.

Although she voted to send the application back for revisions, she also said would have been in favour of advancing to a public hearing.

Dilworth said the developer had made improvements to the building’s frontage onto St. Johns Street, its streetscape, and had offered the city a multi-use pathway to make it more pedestrian friendly.

While she admitted the design is not perfect, she said the developer could make changes or consider other opportunities as the project moves forward.

“I can’t believe we’re sitting here arguing about pretty buildings when we’re in a housing crisis,” Dilworth said. “The longer it takes to build buildings, the more expensive we make it.

“We have a provincial government breathing down our necks to build housing as quick as we can.”