Skip to content

Planning for North Lougheed begins

No construction for two more years, OCP must be changed

The first step towards developing the North Lougheed commercial corridor is underway as the City of Pitt Meadows begins a lengthy process this week to amend its official community plan.

Although the provincial Agricultural Land Commission removed protection for 33.1 hectares (81 acres) of undeveloped land, bulldozers won’t tear up the strip for at least another two years.

In a report to council Tuesday, director of operations Kim Grout explained the process will involve two phases.

The first entails changing the land use designation of the property from agricultural and highway commercial to mixed employment.

Grout expects council to consider the OCP amendment bylaw sometime in November, with a public hearing set for December.

Once the council gives third reading to the official community plan amendment, it will ask Metro Vancouver to amend its regional growth plan, a decision that could take up to three months.

In the second phase, the city will craft a comprehensive development plan for the property, setting out the financing and construction considerations of the North Lougheed Connector road, as well as standards for developing amenities, such as pathways, public spaces and buffering.

Public consultation during the first phase will be limited to online commenting and a public hearing, but staff anticipates that the community will take an active role in discussions surrounding the details of the development, such as buffering, public spaces and other amenities.

The Agricultural Land Commission granted the North Lougheed exclusion with four caveats, including further protection of farmland in other parts of the city, a required change in Metro Vancouver’s Regional Growth Strategy, and beginning construction of the North Lougheed Connector within three years of the ALC’s acceptance of a traffic-calming plan for Old Dewdney Trunk Road.