Port Moody council ‘grills’ developer over proposed tower with fast food drive-thru

The City of Port Moody was designated by the provincial government as one of 10 municipalities given housing development targets, but one planned development along busy St. John’s Street is raising some questions.

A proposed six-storey mixed-use tower that includes rental and retail spaces is now before city council. It would help meet the city’s housing targets.

But council is balking at the owner’s insistence that the new complex include his A&W drive-thru franchise.

“I still feel the drive-thru is very essential,” property owner Roger Milad told Global News. “You know, I look (at) what happened in the pandemic. If there wasn’t for a drive-thru, I don’t know what people would have done.”

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Milad added that 25 per cent of the building would be below market rent, more than the City of Port Moody requires.

He said the building would also contain a youth mentoring centre to help young people get off the streets and into the workforce.

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“I don’t give up,” Milad added, as he has been trying to get this project off the ground for 2.5 years. “I am surprised because it’s already a drive-thru. I can see if I’m coming in and asking for a new drive-thru permit but I’m not.”

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Callan Morrison, a Port Moody city councillor said the biggest issue is the drive-thru, as the city is trying to meet its climate change goals.

“Overall, the project is very much something that’s positively seen by our council,” he said. “Bylaws have been changed in the past that do not permit drive-thrus in future developments.”

Morrison said no official application has come forward yet, but pre-input sessions have been held.

More meetings are scheduled in the coming weeks for the developer and council to discuss the project.