Three Dewdney Trunk Road properties in Port Moody will go from the site of single-family homes to the location of a 23-unit townhouse development.

At its meeting Tuesday, PoMo council approved a zoning bylaw amendment and development permit to pave the way for construction to start. The project doesn't fall under council's zero to minimal residential growth policy because first three readings of the zoning changes were approved in January 2008, before the policy came into effect.

The project is moving forward now that the developer has paid $120,000 to the city's affordable housing reserve fund and $50,000 to the traffic safety reserve fund, in case traffic improvements need to be made at the Dewdney Trunk and Viewmount Drive intersection.

The development will feature 22 three-storey units and one two-storey unit; 13 will face Dewdney Trunk Road, with a streetscape similar to that of the nearby Mosaic development.

SIGNING OFF

Port Moody will move forward with changes to its sign bylaw but only as they relate to insurance requirements for sandwich board signs.

Public consultation on adding a proximity clause for sandwich board signs, which would stipulate how close a sign must be to the business it's advertising, will go ahead in a separate process.

Clarification on liability insurance requirements needs to be in place by the end of the year and council was concerned that combining those changes with the public consultation on proximity would prevent that from happening.

CHEW ON THIS

Metro Vancouver should stay out of the food business, Port Moody council says.

The regional government is passing around its draft Regional Food System Strategy for comment. The plan is intended to "support the creation of a sustainable, resilient and healthy food system that enhances the economic prosperity of the region and conserves natural systems while improving the health of all residents."

But PoMo council says that's not Metro Vancouver's job.

"It's getting into the realm of the almost unbelievable," said Coun. Mike Clay, who later in the meeting presented a critique of Metro's ballooning budget. "It starts out with something that seems innocuous enough... but soon you have a committee and then you have a budget and then it's a $600-million budget and you wonder where all the money's going."

Council will respond with the message that the Regional Food System Strategy is not within Metro Vancouver's mandate.

TAKE A HIKE

PoMo council panned TransLink's latest plan for funding the Evergreen Line through a property tax hike.

Metro Vancouver mayors have already voted twice against using property taxes to fund TransLink's two supplemental plans, neither of which include the Murray-Clarke Connector, but TransLink's board said in a letter presented to the mayors this week that the tax hike is required to pay for Evergreen.

"Somehow, the northeast sector and the Murray-Clarke Connector went from being in the top three to not making the top 18 top priorities at TransLink, so it's obviously disheartening," said Clay.

spayne@tricitynews.com