Anmore South Community Engagement

The Village has not defined “tower”; however, the National Fire Protection Association, NFPA 1710: Standard for the Organization and Deployment of Fire Suppression Operations, Emergency Medical Operations, and Special Operations to the Public by Career Fire Departments (2020 ed.), outlines operational requirements for fire departments for high rise buildings (more than 6 storeys). Buildings higher than 6 storeys would require 42-43 fire department staff compared to 21-28, a factor that has been considered by the Village. Additionally, the Applicant has advised that it will not consider a design option that includes any buildings greater than 6 storeys as part of the Neighbourhood Planning process.

We submitted your question to icona and received the following response:

Icona Properties has no affiliation or connection with Gillic Development. Our focus is solely on the planning and development of the Anmore South project as an independent entity.

Currently, our primary goal is to develop a comprehensive Neighbourhood Plan for the community, while actively engaging with local residents and stakeholders to ensure that it aligns with community values and needs. The construction phase is still several years away, and as we move closer to that stage, we will assess the most suitable approach to proceed with the build-out. Whether that involves self-managing the construction or partnering with other developers will be determined based on what best serves the project and the Anmore community at that time.

As the Village, we would also like to note that future development of Anmore South would need to adhere to the Official Community Plan, Anmore South Neighbourhood Plan and other Village policies, regardless of the developer involved. 

We submitted your question to icona and received the following response:

Icona Properties is a recently established company comprising professionals with decades of experience spanning urban planning, design, and construction. Our team includes experts who have been instrumental in the development of various master-planned communities across British Columbia.

To enhance our capabilities, we have engaged leading Vancouver-based firms to collaborate on our projects. Notably, we have partnered with Placemark Design + Development, a design firm with over four decades of experience in planning master-planned communities throughout the province. Their extensive portfolio and expertise significantly contribute to the quality and vision of our developments.

While Ortus is our inaugural project under the Icona Properties banner, the collective experience of our team and partners ensures a high standard of planning and execution for all our developments. We are committed to delivering thoughtfully designed communities that align with regional goals and meet the needs of residents.

We submitted your question to icona and received the following response:

Icona Properties owns 100% of the Anmore South lands located in Anmore. Gillic Development owns the Ioco townsite in the City of Port Moody. These are separate and distinct properties, each under its own ownership structure.

Thank you for your interest in this OCP amendment application and Neighbourhood Plan. We are now in Phase 2 of this planning process, which involves reviewing several possible land scenarios. This means we will have more specific details about the options being considered. We look forward to connecting with your organization as part of the next round of engagement. We will be posting the engagement opportunities and reaching out to local organizations in the coming weeks. 

The task force you are referencing was initiated by icona as part of its OCP Amendment Application, which noted the need for a a more coordinated approach to address transportation concerns as they go beyond Anmore’s borders. The task force is being led by a professional transportation expert, Geoff Cross, former VP of Planning for TransLink. The task force includes representatives from Icona and Gillic Development (property owners of Anmore South and the IOCO lands in Port Moody), Esso (the property owner of the Imperial Oil industrial lands in Port Moody that border Anmore) and several organizations, including the TriCity Chamber of Commerce, TransLink and the Port of Vancouver. Representatives from affected local governments in the area and Metro Vancouver have also participated in some of the meetings.

We have been advised by icona that a perspective paper summarizing the task force's discussions and findings will be released soon and will be shared with the community. It is anticipated that this document will include information on overall land use planning and strategies for the larger area - not just what is being considered in Anmore. This includes factors such as the provincial government's plans to decommission Burrard Thermal and the Port of Vancouver's requirement for additional port-enabling industrial land. 

Thank you for your interest in the Anmore South OCP Amendment Application and Neighbourhood Plan development process. As you noted, the Technical Open House studies being presented are part of Phase 1 of this process, which means the studies reflect baseline information related to the application submitted to the Village. As more information is confirmed, including the preferred land use scenarios that are being developed as part of Phase 2 and the Neighbourhood Plan in Phase 3, there will be more details about what is being proposed. This more detailed information is needed for the assessments you are requesting, such as financial implications. We recognize that our residents are interested in more details such as the projected costs for policing, and this will be part of the Phase 3 studies, which will be shared with the community.

We have responded to your questions about the infill/CD zone previously, and we have noted your preferences as part of this community engagement process. If you would like to discuss your preferences further, we encourage you to participate in the community engagement discussions or submit a written response with what you would like to see in terms of future development of Anmore South. Village staff members involved in this planning process are also available to meet with you by phone or in person if you prefer to share your input that way.

As we have advised previously, Council is considering the OCP amendment application as submitted by icona as the property owner. As the property owner, icona has the right to apply for the type of development it wants to pursue.  The Village is not doing an assessment of infill/CD zones as the property owner has not submitted an application for that type of zoning. We have noted your input that you would like Council to consider an infill/CD zone instead, and this will be added to the consideration of community input. 

We have already shared the information about when Public Hearing fits into this process (between 2nd and 3rd reading of the bylaw), and it will follow standard Public Hearing regulatory requirements. No date is set as a significant amount of work - including additional community engagement - is taking place before 2nd reading is considered by Council. We have noted that you want a Public Hearing and would prefer to see it sooner in the process. 

We have noted that you want more information shared with the community, and we will be continuing to do so through the community engagement process. 

The Technical Open House will include some studies that were completed previously and a couple new studies, such as the Archeological Impact Assessment and Environmental Baseline Assessment. The other studies are largely the same as previously presented. The Technical Open House is being offered to provide community members with the opportunity to review the studies if they have not previously done so, and to come and meet with the subject matter experts in person to ask questions. 

The more detailed Transportation Impact Assessment (TIA) is being completed in the fall as part of the Phase 3 of the Neighbourhood Planning process. This study will be based on the land use scenarios being developed in the coming months, which are being informed by the current community engagement and Phase 1 technical studies. The TIA will determine the impacts and infrastructure requirements of the Neighbourhood Plan at full build-out on the existing road network.