CANCELLED - Environmentally Sensitive Areas Management Strategy Update

Project update (May 2021)

At their regular meeting on May 11, 2021, Council decided to cancel work on the proposed update to the ESA Management Strategy and asked staff to report back in the future with recommendations for a revised direction and scope of work. We have received valuable input from the community during the engagement process. All feedback collected will be retained and will inform our future work.

City staff and the SFU Centre for Dialogue have prepared the following community feedback reports and shared them with Council:

• Community Feedback Summary from City staff, which summarizes the feedback received since fall 2020 including the most common concerns and topics requiring clarification; and
• What We Heard Report from the SFU Centre for Dialogue, which summarizes comments and discussions from the two online engagement sessions held in early 2021 (a list of questions from these sessions is compiled in this report, with answers from City staff).

It has not been determined when a revised direction and scope will be presented to City Council, or when staff will resume work on an update of the ESA Management Strategy. If work on the update is restarted, all affected property owners will be notified by lettermail and we will share with the community via Engage Port Moody and/or the City’s website.

We thank you for your participation in the public engagement process for this project.

Our Environmentally Sensitive Areas Management Strategy helps us balance urban development with the protection of Port Moody’s natural areas: our forests, streams, wetlands, and marine shoreline.

The Strategy outlines specific things the City and private property owners can do to protect and manage environmentally sensitive areas (ESAs) during the development process. We put this Strategy into practice through the designation of a development permit area (DPA) for environmentally sensitive areas and associated DPA guidelines. For property owners, this means you may need an environmental development permit (DP) if you are planning to develop within the designated area.

Please note that definitions for words in bold blue type can be found in our list of key terms.

This Strategy was adopted by Council 20 years ago and it’s time for an update. Take a look at a historical timeline of the City’s efforts to protect ESAs during the development process.

Development of the initial strategy involved mapping and creating an inventory of watercourses, wetlands, forests, and marine areas. Mapping technology has improved tremendously in recent years and so has our knowledge of how to protect, restore, and connect our natural areas during the development process. We must also ensure that all development in Port Moody adheres to current federal, provincial, and municipal regulations such as the federal Fisheries Act, provincial Riparian Areas Protection Regulation, and Port Moody’s Zoning Bylaw.

What’s changing?

The proposed update includes:

• accurate mapping, including improved mapping of watercourses (including ditches), forest areas and marine high water;
• a revised development permit area, with a name change from “DPA 4: Environmentally Sensitive Areas” to “Environmental Development Permit Area” (EDPA);
• the addition of assessment areas, which are portions of land around ESAs (15 metres around forest ESAs and 30 metres upland from the marine high water mark) where the potential impact of development activities on nearby natural areas would need to be considered and assessed (assessment areas are not setbacks; they are areas where you may need a permit if you are planning to develop); and
• updated DPA guidelines that incorporate best practices for the protection and restoration of ESAs, reduce negative impacts related to nearby urban development, and ensure requirements of senior governments are met.

We are proposing assessment areas in recognition of the ecological value and sensitivity of our forests and the marine shoreline. This change would bring these areas in line with other parts of the city where development activities are already reviewed to determine if environmental permits are required.

To find out how the proposed update would affect the boundaries of the existing development permit area for ESAs, take a look at Map 1 and Table 1. They show what’s included within the boundaries of the existing permit area and the proposed permit area.

Map 1

Table 1

Find out more

Read the full proposed ESA Management Strategy update (66mb) (PDF), view our info sheet titled "How would the proposed changes affect property owners?", take a look at the resources in the right hand column, or ask a question below.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our general information session on January 28, 2021 or our targeted workshop for residents and property owners along the marine shoreline on February 4, 2021.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us! 

Thank you to everyone who filled out a feedback form by February 21, 2021. City Council will consider a public engagement summary and the proposed ESA Management Strategy update at a council meeting in spring 2021. We'll share the engagement summary on this page.