Creative Concept
Filming of a special event hosted by icona Properties at Port Moody Inlet Theatre on May 30, 2022. Featuring Rasmus Astrup, design principle and partner at SLA, a globally renowned, landscape architecture studio headquartered in Copenhagen.
In our ongoing quest to transform communities and create places that matter, icona is exploring a new vision for the lands known as Anmore South. This 150-acre parcel of land is situated in the southwest corner of Anmore, a village community located to the north of Port Moody and touching the shores of the Indian Arm.
We are collaborating with Anmore residents to create a future the community can be proud of—a future that further enhances this already extraordinary place.
Despite its small size, Anmore South has the potential to transform the quality of life for village residents. Inspired by extensive community engagement, our team of experts are developing a detailed plan for a complete community—a plan that will gradually and sustainably unfold over a period of 20 years and enliven Anmore with new vitality, housing diversity, self-sufficiency and biodiversity.
icona Properties has been actively meeting with residents of Anmore to collaborate on a new vision for Anmore South lands, seek input and explore design ideas that align with the community’s needs and desires.
In the earliest phase of our community outreach, we engaged residents and stakeholder groups in informal conversations to collect initial input and ideas. In early summer, we shared the initial vision for Anmore South in a document titled “A Community in Nature,” which you can see here.
As a next step, icona engaged residents with a series of outreach events between June and October 2021. Activities included Q&A sessions, a series of six interactive, professionally facilitated co-design workshops, a community vision showcase and a series of stakeholder engagements to capture additional input from both residents and special interest groups. These events generated an unprecedented level of community participation, engaging 500+ Anmore residents—more than 31% of the population.
The consultative process revealed 10 themes that emerged most strongly across the greatest number of participants. Together, these themes tell a story—a story of a complete community in nature.
With the input collected during several months of intensive community engagement, icona is ready to develop a plan for Anmore South that reflects the needs and priorities of Anmore residents.
As part of this next phase in the process, we have informed the Village of Anmore that we are submitting an Official Community Plan (OCP) amendment and Rezoning Application. This change in land use and rezoning will support the vision of a complete community that introduces housing diversity and brings daily conveniences closer to home while preserving a semi-rural way of life that residents value deeply. It will also enable us to make a significant investment in water and wastewater infrastructure, create a more stable and diversified tax base for Anmore, and create one of the largest privately donated protected parklands in the Tri-City area.
The OCP Amendment and Rezoning application will detail the scope of the Anmore South plan and provide information about the phased approach we will take to realize it over a 20-year period. The plan will include in-depth studies on the financial, environmental and traffic impact of our community development activities along with a detailed visual design plan for Anmore South.
This plan will be shared with residents and stakeholders along with opportunities to provide additional input. Sign up to hear about exciting Anmore South updates and community engagement events.
As part of our plans for Anmore South, and to align icona values with the priorities of Anmore residents, we are committed to preserving as much of the area’s natural environment as possible while strengthening the biodiversity. icona will gift a protected park more than six times the size of Rocky Point Park—one of the largest bequests of stewarded forests and waterways ever made by a landowner within the Tri-City area in recent history. In addition to this bequest, we will establish an endowment to fund ongoing stewardship of these lands.
learn about our landscape architectIn November 2021, the Village of Anmore released a financial analysis of three potential scenarios for the future of Anmore South. Each scenario has different financial implications for the Village and its taxpayers. Each also has a different impact on the amount of natural land that can be preserved.
Scenario 1: Divide the land into one-acre lots. This will preserve only 8 acres of parkland while incurring Anmore infrastructure capital costs of $51M and a tax increase of $405 per parcel.
Scenario 2: Divide the land into quarter-acre lots. This will preserve 45 acres of parkland while incurring Anmore infrastructure capital costs of $68.5M and a tax increase of $215 per parcel.
Scenario 3: Rezone the land for multi-family and commercial use. This will preserve a full 76 acres of parkland while incurring the lowest Anmore infrastructure capital costs ($40M) and no tax increase.
As part of the rezoning application and Official Community Plan (OCP) amendment that icona plans to submit, we will also provide a financial analysis that supplies additional details on the positive financial impact that rezoning will have on the community.
Tony Cai, icona Founder
As we continue the process of meeting with and seeking input from Anmore residents about what the future may hold for the Anmore South lands, following are the most frequently asked questions:
A respectful, inclusive community engagement is integral to icona's placemaking process.
Over the coming months, we will be holding a series of open houses to gather valued input from the area's residents and stakeholders.
We cordially invite all Anmore residents to join the conversation and collaborate on a vision for the future of Anmore South.
Sign up to receive updates and information about future events and open houses.
