Delays from Anmore South Neighbourhood Plan put ‘entire project in jeopardy,’ says developer

Anmore’s council has greenlit the framework for the Anmore South Neighbourhood Plan, which could lead to the small municipality’s population being tripled over the next 25 years.

Its terms of reference were approved by council on March 19, and requires a raft of inventories, technical studies, and a communication strategy to be completed by the Icona Properties before their project can move forward.

But the associated delays – estimated at over a year by staff – puts Icona Properties’ “entire project in jeopardy,” CEO Greg Moore wrote in a letter to council dated Feb. 2

The letter states that without an expressed commitment by council to advance the OCP amendment, all community engagement would be: “held captive to the perennial Urban vs. Rural debate.”

Icona Properties’ Anmore South project has proposed building 3,300 homes on 152 acres on the southwestern border of Anmore. It submitted an official community plan (OCP) amendment to change the land use designation from rural to urban, which passed first reading on Dec. 5.

In his letter, Moore requested council make clear commitments to advance the OCP, and that the neighbourhood plan be developed simultaneously to ensure a reasonable timeline.

He noted they had already submitted their own terms of reference in January, which was aligned with best practices throughout Metro Vancouver cities, including Port Moody and Coquitlam.

Regardless, council unanimously voted for for a detailed neighbourhood plan to be developed on Feb. 20.

The new terms of reference were developed through a collaboration between staff and Icona Properties, according to a staff report.

Coun. Paul Weverink said he hoped the work could be completed in a reasonable timeframe.

“I hope this is going to satisfy everybody. This is the kind of stuff that people have been asking me about – the detailed questions,” Weverink said. “We’ve been kicking this around for a long time. I want to get a decision this term.”

The new terms of reference approved by council were developed through a collaboration between staff and Icona Properties, according to a staff report. Village staff said it will allow for a clear and structured approach for Anmore South development to move forward.

It comes with a checklist for the developer to complete that ensures details around infrastructure servicing and community amenities are well defined.

The scope of work includes biophysical, planning and infrastructure inventories; technical due diligence studies involving environmental, archaeological, geotechnical, and transportation assessments; a detailed land use plan and transportation plan; along with an engagement plan encouraging community involvement.

These submissions would then be vetted independently by third-party consultants, according to Chris Boit, Anmore’s manager of development services.

“It isn’t that we get a report and be like, ‘Oh, that’s nice. We’ll accept that,’” Boit said. “(We) go through the plans and review them and say ‘How did you get to this number? What was the justification?’”

The sole vote against approving the terms came from Coun. Doug Richardson, who said the neighbourhood plan came across like a “sales document.”

Richardson took issue with some of the language used in the document, stating it is filled with positive “spin” relating to Anmore becoming a “complete community.”

It also states the project is consistent with the OCP, but Richardson noted the OCP amendments have yet to pass.

“Buzzwords drive me nuts,” he said. “It should be absolutely factual.”

Richardson voiced concern over council committing to anything before traffic and financial analyses are completed. He said he doubts the project can be built at the location at any affordable price point, or that Ioco Road could handle the traffic influx.

Coun. Kim Trowbridge, on the other hand, said all arguments opposing the development have been rife with “conjecture” without any factual basis.

“I think the concept of moving through these elements are going to give us our facts, and they’ll give us the things that we sit in judgment on,” Trowbridge said.

Trowbridge said that affordability is defined by the free market, which is typically defined by unit size. He added he sees the additional tax base potentially subsidizing Anmore’s more well-off property owners.

“One of our handicaps to becoming, quote ‘a complete community,’ is that we have barriers to entry for young families, given that our houses are typically very large,” Trowbridge said.

Mayor John McEwen said there may be alternative solutions to the traffic issues, stating most major developments have to address traffic concerns.

He noted that new provincial housing legislation, allowing single-family lots to construct multi-unit housing forms, will lead to more traffic along Ioco Road regardless.

“People shouldn’t fool themselves. The northside of Port Moody is going to … turn a lot of those lots into fourplexes pretty quickly,” he said. “The key thing is getting people out of their cars and using transit.”

McEwen said the Fraser Mills development in Coquitlam provided a shuttle services for its residents to the SkyTrain station, suggesting something similar could be done for the Anmore South site.