Building on a steep hillside comes with challenges but new rules are needed now to prevent Burke Mountain from becoming dominated by retaining walls.
Under current rules, developers are allowed to exceed current height restrictions for retaining walls when they are planning a subdivision. The result is the creation of some very tall walls to enable new subdivisions to be built on flat land.
Is this the case of the city of Coquitlam being asleep at the switch and allowing developers to exploit a policy loophole?
The city already restricts development on sites with grades of 35% and more, and four years ago required developers to consider topography when designing their projects in one of the most challenging regions in Metro Vancouver.
But, clearly, some projects have been approved that require the installation of large retaining walls and council is now reviewing the matter.
Unless developers can show some restraint, they may be forced to adhere to much stricter rules, which could even include the prohibition of flat lots on steep Burke Mountain.
There are a number of reasons developers want to be able to create flat parcels of land for houses and townhomes — with a key issue being marketability.
Homeowners like the kind of amenities that a flat lot can create, and building decks, patios, lawns and driveways to accommodate a hill could be more expensive and require more complex infrastructure.
It may also be more expensive to build on a steep slope given engineering considerations.
But there are many examples where beautiful homes have been built into a hillside and in Europe, hillside communities have stood for centuries.
There are also environmental benefits in building with more sensitive design, and Burke Mountain could and should be developed in a way that is more in keeping with nature, taking advantage of the opportunity of hillside development rather than turning the area into a series of flat terraces upheld by huge, grey walls that become an eyesore.
Coquitlam can surely look at other cities that have developed on extreme hillsides for examples and implement rules quickly to prevent further great walls being built that seem out of keeping for a city that says it prides itself on coexisting with nature.
