Storage facility may be built next to Cat and Fiddle

If you need to put a couch in storage and grab a pint on a patio, Brown Street may eventually be able to provide one-stop shopping.

On Tuesday night, Port Coquitlam council unanimously voted to advance a five-storey warehouse/storage facility beside the Cat and Fiddle Pub.

Parking had been a sticking point in previous discussions, with Coun. Steve Darling noting the crowds at the pub.

“I’ve been there many nights and it’s packed,” he said during a December 2025 meeting. “Right now, I think I’m probably against this.”

The parking reduction is minor, contended Mayor Brad West on Tuesday.

Combined, the warehouse and the pub would provide 93 parking spots – 15 fewer than the city’s requirement. However, there is a nearby row of parking stalls.

“The reality is that, because there is additional parking on site that is not owned by the applicant but is nonetheless available . . . the parking variance in fact is only one stall,” he said.

West previously noted that there would likely be little overlap between peak parking hours for the pub and the storage centre.

“I think it would be good to see this use available to people in the community,” West said, noting the demand for storage.

There were no other comments from council.

The project, which requires one more vote from council, would replace the home at the front of the lot with eight warehouse units beneath a four-storey indoor storage area.

Several emails of support for the project underscored the need for more storage space as the city grows.

“I’ve been slinging drinks in Port Coquitlam longer than some of our servers have been legal to drink them, and I can tell you this: space is tight around here. Just ask anyone who’s ever tried to find room in their garage for both hockey gear and Christmas decorations,” one project supporter wrote to council.

However, one neighbour described the project as a “visual blight” that will: “damage the quiet, family-oriented character of our neighborhood.”

Besides the scale of the approximately 81,000-square-foot structure, the loss of parking will exacerbate the parking problem.

“Our residential streets, specifically Taylor Street and the intersection at Taylor and McLean, are already consistently overburdened by patrons from nearby restaurants and shops using our free street parking,” according to the resident.

Names of the writers were redacted in the staff report.

Addressing concerns about neighbourhood character during the December discussion, Coun. Glenn Pollocked noted there are already industrial businesses in the neighbourhood.

“There’s industrial already on three sides of it,” he said. “I think that ship has sailed.”