Friday, September 15, 2006

OCP Review - Sep 19.2006


OCP REVIEW - SEPT 19

Last night was the cities opening public input meeting for the OCP review.

Click here for OCP review process details.

The meeting was relatively well attended with about 200+ people coming to share their outlook on the cities future. The OCP review is an important process that sets the 'tone' for the city for the coming months, years and even decades.

The session was seperated into three parts, the first being a graffiti session where residents were invited to write their comments on various topics - such as environment, parks, development, economic development, etc - on large sheets of paper hanging on the walls. This stimulated much discussion between those in attendance, and led to the second portion of the evening which was smaller 'focus groups' discussing what they liked, diskliked and wanted to see in the future for Port Moody. It then wrapped up with a spokesperson for each group presenting their focus groups items in the theatre.

The city has taken a 'blank slate' approach to the OCP review, meaning they haven't put any parameters on the discussions - other than trying to organize into some areas of focus. There was no references to the current OCP , or any information presented in terms of preferences or other pre-conceived direction for conversation.

Many common themes emerged in the written comments and the focus groups, most of which were consistent with what has been said many times before.

People like the small town charm of Port Moody, Heritage, Parks and trails, greenspaces, Cultural diversity, and the family environment.

Dislikes included traffic congestion, lack of cycling lanes on roads, crime and the perception of organized crime in the area.

Notably, there were also several comments made that people felt that the cities infrastructure - primarily for transporation - has lagged behind development, and also that the St Johns corridor is becoming less vibrant, or run down. Several people also spoke of concerns around the city communicating with residents in regards to process and development.

For the future, recurring comments included maintaining the diversity of zoning and development in the city (live, work, play), heritage preservation, affordable housing, local employment opportunities, and emphasis on the PORT in Port Moody.

I was pleased to hear many people say they wanted to see the city make better use of the internet for communication - If you are reading this, you know that I have been working very hard to make information available to people online through this blog and my information website at www.mikeclay.ca , including the opportunities for comments and feedback

HCA STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING - Sep 15,2006



After a VERY long 'break', the HCA Steering committee / work group / task force was reconvened last night at Kyle Centre.

With the guidance from Leslie Gilbert from the planning department, the working group members discussed the HCA designation, the physical location/boundaries and the implications.

It has been generally agreed that the HCA area will be developed in a two (or maybe more ?) phase approach, starting with a smaller area around Clarke St (St Johns to Queens) and eventually increasing to a larger area, based on the outcome of the process in the smaller area.

Conversations continued around what the HCA designation means, what can be done to encourage heritage revitalization and protection, and the impact on property owners, both negative and positive.

The HCA is an important process for Moody Centre and the city as a whole - we repeatedly hear about the charm and unique character of Port Moody, and without some efforts to preserve this, Port Moody could become 'just another city' !

Wednesday, September 6, 2006

LRT Pac Meeting with PMSS - Sep 6,2006


LRT PAC MEETING PMSS

Tonight I attended the PMSS Pac meeting with Translink on LRT. Translink brought their diagrams and maps showing their routing and responded to many questions from the group in attendance. Many of the questions, of course, centred around the safety of the students crossing St Johns. Also, the capacity of the station to accomodate a flood of 200+ kids heading onto the platform at one time, the changes to the existing local bus service and some scheduling questions.

The translink staff continue to do an excellent job in my opinion of presenting the information on this project and communicating with the community. While Im not a supporter of the line as it is currently planned, I do believe we need to have the best plan for whatever we end up with, and I think the translink staff are doing their best to ensure that happens