Port Moody scraps advisory design panel after developer complaints

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When Port Moody’s advisory design panel (ADP) decided to defer review of a major development project in January, little did they know it could be their last meeting.

On Tuesday, Port Moody city council voted 5-2 to disband the panel for a year, shortly after Wesgroup Properties complained about delays.

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“Given some of the challenges we have had, we should be looking at a way that will better streamline this process,” said Mayor Meghan Lahti. “We (need) consistent professional feedback and reviews in a timely manner.”

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Council has opted to contract out design reviews for a 12-month period rather than relying on their volunteer committee. These services would be paid for by developers and the contractors would be selected by the city.

Port Moody’s ADP provides recommendations on various design elements related to development applications, and is made up of qualified design professionals recruited from the community.

Traditionally, municipalities have lacked certain technical expertise related to design elements, and the design panel is meant to help fill the gaps.

However, the city’s ADP has struggled with a range of issues in recent years, leading to slow review processes, according to a staff report. Staff said similar challenges have other municipalities relying more and more on contracted professionals.

Port Moody’s ADP had seven of nine seats filled, and has had trouble achieving quorum and recruiting new members amid high turnover rates.

Another issue is the broad focus of the meetings, which can lead to a lack of clarity regarding the order of importance of design elements.

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Some applications require an entire three-hour meeting to discuss one project, according to staff.

The lengthy review time is what led to protests from Wesgroup, who are building the largest development in Port Moody’s history.

The ADP was scheduled to review Beedie Living’s three-tower Moody Centre project and Wesgroup’s Coronation Park project on Jan. 25, but after spending over two hours on the former, they decided to defer the latter.

Wesgroup then pulled their application from the next meeting on Feb. 22, and submitted a letter to council requesting their project be exempt from the ADP process entirely.

They complained that considerations were not made regarding the deferral’s impact, nor was an attempt made to schedule a special meeting to mitigate those impacts.

“Every month delay costs upwards of $1 million and significantly impairs our ability to deliver the robust amenity package the project currently has,” the letter stated. “We cannot afford another month’s delay without revising what amenities are currently being proposed.”

Waiving the ADP review, however, proved to be a moot point.

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Kate Zanon, Port Moody’s general manager of community development, said staff’s recommendations were brought forward independently of Wesgroup’s complaint.

Staff had initially recommended reforming the ADP through adjusting its member composition, focus, referral criteria, and increasing the number of required professional reviews.

These options were not discussed, as Coun. Diana Dilworth immediately proposed completely scrapping the ADP.

She noted Langley, Delta, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Burnaby, and West Vancouver do not use ADPs, and argued contracting out the services would lead to a more focused and thorough review process, while also reducing staff time.

Dilworth added the province has granted Port Moody funds for exactly this type of streamlining.

“This is an evolution of our process,” Dilworth said. “In the last five or six years, we’ve continued to look and examine the development application review process and where we can make it more efficient.”

Coun. Callan Morrison, who served on the ADP for two years, agreed meetings would often drag on as members made comments outside of their professional expertise.

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He said ADP feedback is not necessarily community-based input, as it is supposed to provide technical recommendations without personal bias or opinion.

Morrison added the city’s review process has changed for the better before, referencing the now-defunct Community Planning Advisory Committee.

Zanon noted the city already has a fairly rigorous review system in place outside the ADP, complete with an in-house architect and landscape architect. She suggested expanding the scope of professional reviews required and adding contracted consultants who could provide specific inputs.

Mayor Lahti said she liked the idea, stating staff could curate the type of feedback required based on the individual applications.

While she was appreciative of the ADP’s contributions, Lahti said they are qualified professionals, and deserve to be paid for their work.

“We should be giving staff the flexibility to go out and get the consultants that they need and have the developer pay,” Lahti said. “We are not removing a step in the review process, we are simply changing how we get that information.”

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Although councillors Amy Lubik and Haven Lurbiecki agreed the ADP could be reworked, both were firmly against dissolving the panel.

Lubik said she thought it was an important part of the community review process, and while some cities lack an ADP, Port Moody should not be emulating their practices.

Lurbiecki said scrapping the ADP will only benefit developers, and questioned the timing of council’s decision, considering Wesgroup’s complaint.

She said the ADPs community-based composition helps ensure building designs align with the communities needs, and it should be strengthened, not replaced with “private interests or private contractors.”

Following the 12-month trial, staff will report back on the new review process, and council will decide whether to make the changes permanent.

Patrick Penner is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter with the Tri-Cities Dispatch. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.

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