Port Moody adopts its 2050 plan as towers rise at Moody Centre

Council has formally adopted Port Moody 2050, the city’s new Official Community Plan — the document that will guide decisions on housing, transportation and growth for the next 25 years. The adoption lands the same week the city’s most ambitious towers yet are taking shape near the Moody Centre SkyTrain station.

Council recently approved the tallest buildings in Port Moody’s history at Moody Centre: towers reaching 39 storeys with a combined 865 homes, only a small share of them below-market rentals. A resident survey commissioned to gauge reaction found a majority — 57 percent of respondents — disagreed with the vision for the neighbourhood, a sign of how divided opinion remains on the pace of change.

It’s a tension playing out across the region: SkyTrain-adjacent land like this is exactly where planners want density to reduce car dependence, but for residents who chose Port Moody for its smaller-town feel, it also means a fast-changing skyline. With a municipal election ahead this fall, growth has become one of the city’s most contested local issues.

What to watch next: how council weighs further Moody Centre applications against the newly adopted OCP, and whether the debate over height and pace shapes this year’s election.