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Burnaby’s director of planning and building sees an opportunity to create a “true downtown” in the city.

In a report to council’s planning and development committee, Lou Pelletier stated that “an exciting, inclusive, and sustainable downtown for Burnaby” could be established in Metrotown.

Bordered by Boundary Road and Central Park to the west, Royal Oak Avenue to the east, Imperial Street to the south, and Bond and Dover streets to the north, Metrotown is Burnaby’s primary town centre. The three other town centres are Edmonds, Brentwood, and Lougheed.

Pelletier wants council’s endorsement of a framework to update the 1977 development plan for Metrotown to institute its “role as the City’s ‘downtown’ ”.

According to the planner’s report, the future downtown will have three areas. One is a downtown core with office and residential buildings of 12 storeys or higher along Kingsway, Central Boulevard, and Beresford and Grange streets. The second is a “core residential area” with residential buildings of four to 12 storeys. The third is a “town centre residential area” with multifamily homes of one to four storeys.

Pelletier suggested seeking public input for a new Metrotown development plan that will be presented to council by the end of 2016.

Councillor Nick Volkow needs some convincing about the idea of a “true downtown” in Burnaby.

“Does it make a city any less of a city if you can’t point to a proper downtown?” Volkow asked in a phone interview with the Straight. “I don’t think so.”