Port Moody mayoral candidates differ on Moody Centre’s future

Port Moody Mayor Meghan Lahti and mayoral challenger Haven Lurbiecki set out their plans for the city at a recent question-and-answer session hosted by the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce. Both addressed housing and jobs, but they proposed different paths for Moody Centre.

Lahti said Port Moody must address housing affordability and supply by concentrating high-density development near transit and allowing gentle infill elsewhere in the city. She said one in five Port Moody residents spends more than 30 per cent of their income on housing. Many advocates, she added, argue that expanding supply, particularly near transit hubs, is vital to providing a broad mix of market, below-market and purpose-built rental housing.

Lurbiecki said there has been a significant imbalance between council’s attention to housing and employment. She said the focus on residential development had left jobs as an afterthought. She has criticized what she described as an excessive number of condos in the current vision for Moody Centre, saying she is concerned the city’s core could lose critical employment space. If elected mayor, she said, she would repeal the plan, advance a business and jobs district, and bring new businesses to the city.

Lahti said that work is already underway. The city will create a jobs centre in Moody Centre, she said, and strict parameters require major developments in the area to include a two-storey podium for retail or office space, which is intended to increase foot traffic. Lahti said this would serve local small businesses. She also said development in the area should create nearly 1,000 jobs.

Lurbiecki stressed that their visions are very different. She said a thriving business and jobs district could be created without tying it to high-density residential tower development.

On whether growth should pay for infrastructure, Lurbiecki said she was the only councillor to vote against delaying a decision on collecting development cost charges. Other councillors at the meeting expressed concern that a sharp increase in the charges could make development unviable. Lurbiecki said it was concerning that growth was not paying its fair share.

Asked how she would help local businesses, Lahti said property taxes are a financial tool the city controls. She said voters could hold her to keeping taxes low, as low as possible. She also said she would focus on core services, start an affordable commercial space study, and consider reduced rates for entrepreneurs who end up needing two small locations in one area to operate one business.

The election is scheduled for Oct. 17. The full debate is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4TS6PDLNWE&t=905s.