A revised rezoning application has been submitted for a two-lot land assembly (17,427 SF) at 2805–2811 St. Johns Street in Port Moody.

A previous application from 2023 had anticipated a 6-storey commercial building.

While the site falls within the province’s Transit-Oriented Area (TOA) policy—permitting up to 12 storeys and 4.0 FAR—the applicant aims to achieve 3.84 FAR within only 6-storeys, leading to design challenges due to the site’s limited size and frontage. The proposal does not meet current zoning (CRM-2) requirements for lot size, frontage, or canopy coverage and has not yet fulfilled the City’s Inclusionary Zoning policy for affordable housing.

Development Proposal Summary:

• Residential Units: 52 total units
  • 6 proposed as below-market rentals (subject to viability review)
  • 100% adaptable units
• Retail: 15,317 SF
• Parking: 71 vehicle spaces
  • 33 residential, 10 visitor, 28 commercial
  • 98 bicycle spaces (80 long-term, 18 short-term)
• Building Height: 6 storeys + rooftop patio

Despite some alignment with broader planning goals, concerns were raised by the Land Use Committee regarding the project’s non-compliance with CRM-2 zoning parameters, limited lot area, lack of sufficient tree canopy coverage, potential traffic impacts on St. Andrews Street, and the bulky building form. Staff also flagged that the proposal would likely require further amendments or acquisition of adjacent parcels to meet design, environmental, and livability expectations. The developer has also requested flexibility on delivering affordable housing, which is under review and subject to third-party verification.

The architect for the project is Mara + Natha Architecture.

The formal rezoning application for PCI‘s Spring Street application has been released. The preliminary application for the 2.9 acre site was submitted in 2023 and has now been revised for full submission following the TOA legislation.

The site is located east of the Moody Centre SkyTrain Station north of Spring Street and east of Williams Street and consists of four lots, three of which are owned by PCI and the fourth by the Ministry of the Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI). MoTI intends to retain ownership of this lot, with a long-term lease to PCI for use as a plaza along with four levels of below-grade parking connected to the below grade parking on the PCI owned properties.

The overall plan for the site includes:

• 865 rental units including 44 below market units;
• 67,000 SF of commercial space including a 41,000 SF grocery store;
• a total density of 6.96 FSR;
• 4,000 SF as ground level ‘artist space’;
• a new pedestrian overpass;
• a minimum of 400 parking stalls.

The architect for the project is Perkins + Will.

A rezoning and OCP amendment application have been submitted by Benedet Properties for a site at 2331-2335 St. Johns Street for a new 6-storey building including rental apartment units above retail.

The site consists of two lots at the southwest corner of St. Johns Street and Queens Street plus a portion of City land within the Queens Street right-of-way.

The proposal is to construct a 6-storey mixed-use commercial and residential building and a rooftop garden. The first two levels of the building would contain a Bosa Foods and a parkade for commercial use on the same ground level with a mezzanine and portion of residential parking stalls at the rear on the next floor. Due to the sloping nature of the site, the lowest commercial level
facing St. Johns Street is considered to be a “basement”.

Additional details include:

• 48 market rental units;
  • 8 studios, 21 one-bedrooms, 12 two-bedrooms & 7 three-bedrooms;
• 6,900 SF Bosa Foods Store;
• a total density of 2.63 FSR;
• a CAC payment of $161,627 ($2.88 per SF)

The architect for the project is Cornerstone Architecture.

A rezoning application has been submitted to the City of Port Moody for a new stacked townhouse development on a land assembly consisting of five single-family lots totaling 43,555 SF

The site, located at 2213-2229 Clarke Street, has an OCP designation of ‘Multi-Family Residential and Mixed Use – Moody Centre’.

The proposal is for five 3-storey stacked townhouse buildings, and includes:

• 40 units;
• 30 two-bedrooms & 10 two-bedrooms;
• a total density of 1.30 FAR;
• 90 underground parking spaces.

Port Moody’s Inclusionary Zoning – Affordable Rental Units Policy does not apply to projects
proposing a residential density less than 2.0 FAR. As this application proposes a FAR of 1.3,
no rental or below market rental units are required or provided.

The application requires an OCP amendment as two of the lots require commercial uses, but only residential is being proposed.

The architect for the project is Igel Architecture.

The City of Port Moody has released a staff report discussing the Province’s recent legislation and housing initiatives. Included in the report is an outline of the City’s proposed approach to the Transit Oriented Areas (TOAs), as well as proposed timing to create ACC’s, update DCC’s and update the OCP.

In Port Moody, the two TOAs that took effect immediately are:
– Inlet Centre Station
– Moody Centre Station

A map has now been generated by the City of Port Moody to show any parcel of land that is deemed to be within the catchment area of the TOA.

The above map can be viewed here.

The report notes that “the Province expects local governments to transition to new planning tools, such as the ACC Bylaw, by mid-2025. As such, staff will need to revisit and revise for Council’s consideration the policy to allow collection of density bonus funds above the new TOA FAR limits, while maintaining the 2.5 FAR threshold for the rest of the City in 2025.”

The report also references the City’s existing inclusionary zoning policy in the TOAs:

“Similarly, the new minimum densities in the TOAs will likely render the City’s Inclusionary Zoning –Affordable Housing Units Policy financially unfeasible. For cities that utilize a density bonus to achieve affordable units, they will no longer be able to do so, except on densities greater than the 3, 4, or 5 FARs allocated through the MD Framework within the TOAs. Port Moody’s Inclusionary Zoning Policy relies upon both the increased land value associated with a higher density and the density bonus itself. As the density bonus will begin at higher FARs within the TOAs, it is likely that inclusionary units will no longer be financially feasible for nearly all projects.

However, as part of the recent webinars, the Province has mentioned that future legislation will include the development of an inclusionary zoning program. The timeline for this legislation is likely Spring 2024 as referenced above.”

The report outlines the following proposed timeline for implementation of the new zoning bylaws to reflect the TOA policy:

Regarding DCC’s and ACC’s the City expects to develop bylaws for both beginning in late 2024, with an expectation to have bylaws adopted for both in late 2025.

Here is the proposed timeline for implementation of ACC’s:

Port Moody was in advanced stages of updating their OCP prior to the Province’s housing legislation. The OCP update has now been paused until next year as a result of the new TOA policy.

Multiple municipalities have now referenced forthcoming legislation from the Province regarding inclusionary zoning, expected in “Spring 2024”.

A full version of the Council report can be viewed here: https://pub-portmoody.escribemeetings.com/filestream.ashx?DocumentId=22270