Latest news with #NeilLyons
Hamilton Spectator
10-05-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Tensions flare at Anmore council meeting over Anmore South referendum demand
Competing delegations clashed at a contentious Anmore council meeting on Tuesday night over a call for a referendum to decide the future of the largest development in the village's history. On one side, representatives from the Anmore Neighbours Community Association (ARCA) and the Anmore Residents Association (ARA) accused Anmore South's public engagement process as being flawed, biased, and 'developer dominated.' However, Icona Properties' CEO Greg Moore argued the engagement has been extensive, community-led, and supported by a majority of residents. The level of support among Anmore residents has been a frequent point of debate as the project has advanced through council. 'Our council and city officials are conducting this process by putting the cart before the horse. They have forgotten to ask the primary questions: do we want it or not?' said Neil Lyons, an ARA director. 'Only a referendum can fix this tainted process.' The development on Anmore's southwest border, dubbed Anmore South, is a 151-acre plan to develop 2,200 units in a variety of forms such as single-family houses, duplexes, townhomes, and low-rise apartments up to six storeys. The plan also features commercial spaces, parks, a community centre, and an extensive trail network, and a connection to Metro Vancouver's wastewater system If approved, the project could nearly triple Anmore's current population over the next two decades. Icona submitted an application to amend the village's official community plan (OCP) in 2023, and council has since moved it past first reading, approved the neighbourhood plan's terms of reference, and endorsed a village-led community engagement plan . Anmore has received technical studies from Icona, and recently presented the findings to the public at an open house in April 2025. But despite a significant amount of public engagement to date, local groups claim the engagement plan and technical studies are designed to lend support to the development without an actual mandate from the community. Rod Rempel, a representative of the recently formed ARCA, called into question the credibility of the technical studies, calling them 'misleading.' ARCA has gone as far as commissioning its own technical experts to poke holes in the work. 'Technical studies were clearly done with a goal to provide positive feedback regarding the Icona's plan,' Rempel said. 'Issues of paramount importance like an evacuation plan, traffic, population growth, housing types, economic viability, ecology and our village lifestyle were oversimplified and overlooked.' Moore said when Icona first made submissions to council in 2021, the project was a key topic of discussion during the 2022 municipal election. He noted Mayor John McEwen clearly stated he did not want single-family homes developed on the property, while his challenger, Mario Piamonte, said he would only support one-acre lots. McEwen won with 67.8 percent of the votes. 'That seems like a pretty clear direction from this community,' Moore said. 'This isn't anything new – when a NIMBY group gets together and starts to tackle an issue.' Moore, who was once the mayor of Port Coquitlam, said it was 'disingenuous' for some residents to claim there has not been an opportunity to engage, noting there have been 28 different public engagements to date. He said there are people who don't want growth, and would rather see Icona's property remain a forest, but they are outnumbered by those who want closer commercial space, amenities, and a diversity of housing. 'It's just mind boggling,' Moore said. 'I cannot think of one process when I was a city planner or at Metro Vancouver that went through and engaged the community that many times.' A recent survey emailed to every household in Anmore as part of the village's communication plan should give council the 'conclusive' direction it needs, Moore added. Regarding criticism of the technical studies, Moore said it's up to the council to determine which party is more credible. During question period at the close of the meeting, council was hounded by residents who refused to refrain from speaking about the Anmore South application. Anmore recently updated its procedure bylaw , prohibiting residents from asking questions about items that could be subject to a public hearing due to legal concerns associated with Bill 44. Mayor McEwen ended up adjourning the meeting early due to the barrage of out-of-order questions. A previous meeting on April 15 ended in the same fashion.
CBC
08-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
A small Metro Vancouver municipality could triple in population — but not everyone's happy about it
Social Sharing In 1987, residents of the village of Anmore voted to become their own municipality within Metro Vancouver, with the stated intent of "maintaining the rural character," as the incoming mayor put it at the time, distinct from the quickly developing Tri-Cities to the south. Thirty-eight years later, the municipality is in a debate over whether that character can — or should — be preserved. "I always wanted to move up here because I like the rural ambiance and I like the quiet … feel of the community. And I believe everybody here feels that same way," said Neil Lyons, a director with the Anmore Residents Association. "Once we start going down that road of urbanization, it's just a matter of time before we're just like Port Moody." Lyons and his group are against the development proposal known as Anmore South. It's a 151-acre plot of land owned by Icona Properties, currently zoned for one-acre lots with single detached homes. But Icona wants Anmore to amend its Official Community Plan (OCP), and is proposing to build 2,200 units of housing, in forms ranging from single family homes to apartments up to six storeys high. It would also have some commercial developments and sports fields, along with linking up Metro Vancouver's wastewater system to the entire municipality, which currently runs on septic. It's an ambitious proposal that could triple Anmore's population if an OCP and subsequent rezoning submission were to be approved by council. And unsurprisingly, it's unleashed a fierce debate. WATCH | Proposed development causing community division: Anger in Anmore over proposed development 12 hours ago Duration 2:54 'They like their lifestyle' To the developer, the proposal is just part of the natural evolution for the Anmore region. "I think they like their lifestyle. And I'm sure when my parents moved to Port Coquitlam in 1970 and it was 19,000 people, they liked that sort of semi-rural character that it had," said Greg Moore, the CEO of Icona and former mayor of Port Coquitlam. "But we've all grown as a region, and anyone in this region I think has to expect to grow." Moore argues the possible commercial amenities and sports fields will let Anmore residents spend more time in the community instead of driving down to Port Moody — which has expressed concerns about current and past iterations of the plan given the additional traffic demands it could put on its roads. Meanwhile, Anmore Mayor John McEwen says the smaller home sizes would create a younger population in a village where the median listing price for any property is currently $2.8 million. "Young kids that went to school here, now they're in their early 20s, early 30s and want to buy a place they can afford," he said. "So there needs to be diversity here to make it a complete community." Rural, or just suburban? The Anmore Residents Association argues that the proposal is being fast-tracked, and has pushed for a referendum for any changes to the Official Community Plan. But council hasn't indicated an interest in that process, which traditionally is used for financing questions on big infrastructure projects, not land-use decisions. That means it will likely fall to council to vote on an OCP change, perhaps as early as next month. All four councillors ran in the 2022 election unopposed, while McEwen was handily re-elected against a candidate who campaigned on maintaining the status quo zoning. Most of council has indicated support for the broad strokes of the idea, but they admit the community is divided over the particular merits of the proposal. "It's split. There's no question it's split," said Coun. Kim Trowbridge. "The people who are opposing this development [are] opposing it for their own personal reasons. We as council members don't have that luxury. We have to think about what's good for the community … and the future." Outside Anmore's municipal hall, members of the Anmore Residents Association have been waving signs that say "Rural to Urban, go to Referendum." Trowbridge argues that's an inaccurate description of the proposal — and what Anmore is today. "We're not trying to urbanize Anmore. It's not rural now, it's suburban now. It's just big mansions on big properties that probably don't make a lot of sense to the rest of the world," he said, speaking at his house on Tuesday. He then paused to look around his palatial home, in a room next to his indoor pool. "I'm somewhat embarrassed about the house that you're sitting in, on property that just houses two people. It's not really very realistic these days." Everyone agrees Anmore is different from much of the rest of Metro Vancouver. The question is to what degree it should remain that way.
