Imperial Oil Company owns about 650 acres of land on the North Shore of Burrard Inlet, about 200 in Anmore and 450 in Port Moody.

 

The lands in Port Moody are zoned primarily Industrial, with the former 'Townsite' (Heritage conservation area) zoned as RS1 and ~70 acres to the east of first avenue zoned as A-2 Acreage reserve.

 

The IOCO refinery shut down several years ago and the facility now is operating as a storage / transload facility, with product arriving via railcar and shipping out via barge/marine or also railcar.

 

The pipeline that was used to bring product from 'Alberta' into the refinery site from the 'South Shore', near Reed Point, is still in place but does not currently carry any product (it is 'turned off')

 

In March 2013, Imperial Oil , through a real estate company (Cushman Wakefield) issued an information package to potential developers interested in acquiring 230 acres of land (150 in Anmore and 80 in Port Moody). The Port Moody lands include the eastern half of the heritage townsite and the A-2 lands to the east of 1st Avenue. The eastern lands are adjacent to Mossom Creek hatchery (hatchery is in Port Moody Park), and much of Mossom Creek and the access road go through this property. Hatchery operators, volunteers, and advocates are concerned about the potential for development in or around the Mossom Creek ecosystem.

 

There has been much attention, media and commentary around the potential development of these properties, most of which is untrue or lacking appropriate context.

What we know as the city right now:

 

- Imperial oil has put the property out for 'expression of interest' to developers.

- the current zoning would need to go through a full city process before any substantial development could ever take place, but the RS1 and A-2 zoning does allow some single family low density form development

- Imperial Oil has no plan to develop the land - but obviously if they sell it to devleopers, someone would want to develop

- Port Moody's draft OCP includes a REQUIREMENT for the David Avenue extension before any zoning changes would be considered in Ioco

- Port Moody's existing, and draft OCP, include a number of environmental policies that would also protect the sensitive ecosystems on this site , whcih is identified as an environmentally sensitive area.

- Port Moody council highly values and is concerned about any impact of the Mossom Creek ecosystem, traffic impacts on Ioco Road and conversion of industrial lands - no change in land use will EVER happen on these lands without a full public process

- Council is currently reviewing our policies to ensure that the proper environmental protections are in place for these properties

 

 

Statements such as adding 15,000 residents to this area are completely unfounded.

 

 

On May 9,2013, in response to media coverage and comments, Imperial Oil sent this letter to the City, and arranged a meeting with the hatchery. Again, they are re-iterating that there is no plan for tree removal or development of these lands at this time.

 

Zoning map below

 

 

 

ESA Map: