Latest news with #Anmore
CTV News
24-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Large-scale development plan for Vancouver-area village dropped
A housing project in Anmore that would have seen 1,750 homes added to the small village has been pulled by the developer. A housing project in Anmore that would have seen 1,750 homes added to the small village has been pulled by the developer. A major housing development planned for the Vancouver village of Anmore has been pulled. The withdrawal came Monday evening, an hour before the village was set to host a public hearing on the controversial development plan. Led by developer Icona Properties, the Anmore South project was expected to triple the size of the small village with 1,750 units of housing – comprising condo buildings, townhomes and duplexes – planned for a large plot of forested land in its centre. In a statement late Monday night, Greg Moore, CEO of Icona Properties, said it had become clear as the project unfolded that the proposal 'though supported by many, has also caused division' among the community. 'This was never our intent. In fact, it's the opposite of what we set out to do,' said Moore. Continuing down the planned path would not bring the community together, but would 'only deepen the divide, and that's not how strong, resilient communities are built,' he said. Moore said pulling the project will allow developers to 'explore a path forward that brings more unity than discord.' 'Our sincere hope is that this step will help ease tensions and create the space for a collaborative, community-driven solution,' he said. The decision comes after weeks of residents voicing their fierce opposition to the development plans, with residents calling on council to scrap it entirely. Signs erected within the village bearing messages like 'You don't have my support' and 'Anmore Council don't betray us' litter lawns throughout. Anmore local Ryan Peterson said the residents of the village aren't opposed to development within the area, but that a better executed, and cheaper plan should be sought. 'To be very candid, the development proposed here would have probably been the most expensive, unaffordable housing in existence,' said Peterson. Peterson said those involved have come to some 'fiscal sanity,' and the withdrawal from the developer provides the room to pivot to a different approach. 'We'll come up with a plan that makes sense and ensures there is growth for families to come to Anmore,' he said.
CTV News
24-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Major housing development dropped in Anmore
Vancouver Watch A housing project in Anmore that would have seen 1,750 homes added to the small village has been pulled by the developer.
CBC
24-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
Application for development that would have tripled Anmore, B.C.'s population withdrawn
Social Sharing A controversial housing proposal that would have tripled the population of Anmore in Metro Vancouver has been withdrawn by its developer. The development proposal known as Anmore South was to be built on a 61-hectare plot of land owned by Icona Properties, currently zoned for one-acre (0.4-hectare) lots with single detached homes. Anmore council was to debate amending its Official Community Plan in order to let Icona build 2,200 units of housing, in forms ranging from single-family homes to apartments up to six storeys high. But on Monday, hours before the council meeting was to begin, Icona announced on social media that it would withdraw its development application amid fierce community protests and calls for a referendum. "We believe that continuing down the current path will not bring the community together," read Icona's statement, attributed to CEO Greg Moore, on social media. "It will only deepen the divide, and that's not how strong, resilient communities are built." WATCH | Proposed development caused community division: Anger in Anmore over proposed development 2 months ago Duration 2:54 The village of Anmore is located inside the boundaries of Metro Vancouver, but has maintained a small town feel thanks to its relative isolation. Now, as Justin McElroy reports, a proposed development could triple the community's population — and is causing division over the future of the village. Some residents of Anmore — a village in Metro Vancouver just north of the Tri-Cities — were vocally displeased at the Anmore South proposal, arguing it would turn the rural area into an urban one overnight. They were pushing for a referendum on the proposal, even as the developer and Anmore's mayor said the development was a natural step in the community's evolution. "Completely shocked. You know, this has been in the works for over three years ... and yeah, very, very shocking," Anmore Mayor John McEwen said Monday night. McEwen noted that the "very passionate" Anmore community had been deeply polarized by the proposal, with vocal supporters both for and against the project. Anmore currently largely consists of large single-family homes and mansions, where the median listing price for any property is $2.8 million. "I was looking forward to explaining some of the the mistruths that were being mentioned in regards to, you know, like even something simple as all of Anmore becoming an urban designation, and that was never the case," McEwen said. Resident Leslie Hannigan, however, said she was unhappy at how council treated the proposal, and that a referendum would have best settled the issue. "I'm absolutely thrilled and thankful to Icona for hearing us out and deciding to put a pause on this," she said. Icona's proposal would have brought commercial developments and sports fields, along with linking up Metro Vancouver's wastewater system to the entire municipality, which currently runs on septic. Moore's statement mentions exploring another path forward for the privately-held land, but did not mention specifics. "Our sincere hope is that this step will help ease tensions and create the space for a collaborative, community-driven solution," the developer's statement said.
CTV News
21-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Tensions high in Village of Anmore as controversial development heads to public hearing
On Monday, mayor and council in the Village of Anmore will hold a public hearing on a large-scale, multi-family development that could more than double the population of the tiny enclave on the shores of Indian Arm over the next 20 years. The development called Anmore South would add 1,750 units of housing– comprised of condo buildings, townhomes and duplexes – on a large plot of forested land in the centre of the village that is owned by Icona Properties. 'Right now, Anmore is all single-family homes with a couple of duplexes, but basically single-family homes and one corner store, so not really commercial,' said Greg Moore, the former mayor of Port Coquitlam, who is now CEO of Icona Properties. 'This helps to bring jobs and create that complete community for the Village of Anmore.' There is fierce opposition to the project, evidenced by signs on public spaces all over Anmore calling on mayor and council to scrap the development. 'It's too dense for a rural area,' said longtime Anmore resident Leslie Hannigan. 'The reason we moved here is because it's quiet. We aren't part of the urban containment boundary, so we're not in those rules of having to make everything really, really dense.' She argues the village's infrastructure is not meant for a large population, and bristles at the suggestion homeowners in Anmore are NIMBYs opposed to any new development. 'We could have done a really nice thing within our rural designation with townhomes, with cluster homes for seniors, there's laneway homes. There's all kinds of things without having to be this thick, dense area that developers seem to be pushing into all these municipalities,' Hannigan said. Anmore Mayor John McEwen says some in his community are opposed to any kind of change to the largely single-family home village, where the average assessed value is a little over $2,500,000. 'So, (it's) tough for young families to get in when you have such a high assessment,' said McEwen. 'And it's starting to show in our elementary school. Enrolment is a little over 100, where it used to be well over 200.' The mayor says the debate over adding condos and townhomes in Anmore has gotten nasty, with many signs targeting mayor and council, and online discourse that he calls disturbing. 'The word that has troubled me the most to my core is when I hear, 'We don't want that type of people here.' And that really, really bothers me,' said McEwen. 'I look at a diverse municipality that I want, I want it to be welcome to everybody.' Hannigan says she has never heard comments like that among Anmore residents. 'We welcome everyone,' she said. 'Nobody says we don't want these people in here. It's all about preserve the trees, keep us rural, small homes that are connected. I mean, this is again just a frustrating spin when they say that we're NIMBYs and we don't want this. That's wrong.' If mayor and council vote in favour of Anmore South on Monday, the developer still has to get Metro Vancouver to change the village's rural zoning designation in order to start construction on the project. 'If everything went yes votes all the way along the path, we probably wouldn't see a shovel in the ground for at least two years. And then at that point, it's going to be another 20 years as this community comes together,' said Moore. 'So there is lots of opportunity to continue to engage the community.' Right now, it's a community divided: remain a small village, or open the door to big-city density.
CTV News
28-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Woman injured in black bear attack near Vancouver
A black bear is seen near Lake Louise, Alberta, June, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward Provincial conservation officers are investigating after a woman was attacked by a black bear near Vancouver on Tuesday. The B.C. Conservation Officer Service says the woman was walking near her home in the village of Anmore shortly before noon when a black bear came around the corner of her house and confronted her. The bear kept advancing towards the woman 'despite (her) attempts to scare the bear away,' and then bit her, the agency said in a social media post. 'She managed to get away by spraying the bear with a garden hose,' the statement said. The woman was treated for injuries that were described as not life-threatening. Conservation officers responded to the scene but could not locate the bear Tuesday. The agency says a bear trap has been placed in the area and officers continue to investigate the encounter. Residents are urged to get acquainted with wildlife safety precautions, including keeping pets on leashes and being aware of one's surroundings, the conservation officer service said.
