Pitt Meadows residents opposed to the Golden Ears Business Park development are having their say.
Tuesday, Pitt Meadows council is holding a public hearing about official community plan amendments related to the Onni project. The city received 58 written letters about the changes. Of those, 42 were opposed to the changes, while 16 were deemed “comments.”
Patricia Gordon, one of the leading voices against the development, wrote that citizens have been asking for the OCP to be reopened, arguing the nine-year-old document is out of date. It was written before the Golden Ears Bridge was constructed and before residential development of South Bonson neighbourhoods, such as Osprey Village and Bonson Landing, were completed.
But calls for a new OCP have been rebuffed.
“When a council resolution on Feb. 16, 2016 to reopen the OCP for a full review was deferred until 2018, that implied that the current OCP, with its South Harris Business Park guidelines would continue to be enforced,” wrote Gordon. “That means 20m buffers and 12m high buildings, period.”
She said the OCP could now be amended to reduce buffers and heighten buildings.
“Did Onni provide input into the drafting of the new OCP?” Gordon asked. “Sure looks like they did.”
On May 29, Onni wrote council asking that allowable building heights be 13.5m, rather than the 15m they had requested. So the OCP amendment would be from 12m to 13.5m. Where the light industrial buildings border residential neighbourhoods, the maximum will remain 12m.
The amendments would also lower building setbacks from 20m to limits ranging from 5m where they border other industrial properties to 15m where bordering residences.
The changes would update design guidelines for the developments near the corner of Airport Way and Harris Road, addressing issues such as landscaping, parking, lighting and modulating facades.
On June 13 at 6:30 p.m., at the Pitt Meadows Recreation Centre gymnasium, a public hearing is scheduled for the proposed development’s rezoning to industrial.
On May 27, four councillors visited the site, and discussed buffers, trail design, gateways and other issues with staff.
“It’s always enlightening to get boots on the ground,” said Coun. Mike Stark, one of the councillors on the tour.
He said councillors paid attention to the distances between Onni buildings and residences.
He is committed to ensuring the new phases, three and four, of the business park do not look like the first two.
“You’re interfacing with residential, and it’s got to look good,” he said, adding the issue of building heights has not yet been decided by council.
“We’re far from done with Onni.”
As part of the next phases, Onni has offered to give the city 10.88 acres of land for sports fields and a track, but attached conditions – including that its industrial buildings be allowed to be built to a height greater than that allowed in the current OCP.
As part of the next phases, Onni has offered to give the city 10.88 acres of land for sports fields and a track, but attached conditions – including that its industrial buildings be allowed to be built to a height greater than that allowed in the current OCP. The city will receive only the land, and Onni is not offering to build the facilities and fields.