City Issues RFP for Community Consultation Services for Next Phase of Somass Lands Project

PORT ALBERNI, BC, July 21, 2026 – The City of Port Alberni has issued a Request for Proposals to retain a qualified planning and engagement consultant to design and deliver a community consultation program for the Somass Lands project.

This engagement will gather input from the community to identify a shared vision for the Somass Lands, with the public engagement taking place in late Fall, 2026.

This RFP follows the considerable body of work currently underway with Matthews West Development, the City of Port Alberni’s selected partner for the transformation of the 43-acre waterfront property known as the Somass Lands.

Three specialist and technical studies have been conducted in parallel: Coastal flood risk, environmental site conditions, and geotechnical soil conditions. Together, these studies establish a base understanding of the site's opportunities and constraints, and provide the information needed to support future planning and design decisions through a public engagement process.

These studies, undertaken by Matthews West, are nearing completion now and give shape to the possibilities and options for development planning and public consultation.

Coastal Flood Risk

Given the site's location at the mouth of the Alberni Inlet and the presence of Owatchet (Dry Creek), understanding flood exposure has been a key priority. Early findings have identified opportunities to balance shoreline design approaches (e.g., natural beach vs. armoured slope) against overall development objectives, while meeting flood safety requirements. A tsunami hazard assessment will be completed next to inform building design considerations and emergency preparedness planning.

Environmental Site Conditions

Given the site's long industrial history, environmental investigation and remediation have been essential to understanding and addressing site contamination. Targeted on-site excavation and remediation have already been carried out to remove the highest-risk conditions.

The site will be reviewed through a formal environmental risk assessment. This process will help confirm what is needed to safely redevelop the site and obtain regulatory approval from the Province.

Geotechnical Soil Conditions

A geotechnical site investigation was undertaken to provide prudent background information for site planning. The Somass Lands have been categorized into zones based on soil quality, ranging from favourable ground conditions (central and eastern portions) to softer, more sensitive soils (northern and western portions).

More sensitive soils will require ground-improvement techniques such as soil preloading or pile foundations to meet provincial earthquake standards. These methods are widely used for waterfront development.

Site planning will be informed by soil conditions to ensure building types are selected based on soil performance.

Building Investigations and Demolition

Development of the Somass Lands has taken a comprehensive approach, involving the careful stripping, repurposing, selling, and salvaging of materials from the land. The demolition of Building 12 is now substantially complete, with final removal of remaining materials and site clean-up underway.

Environmental assessments and structural investigations of the former wood chip silos found that adapting the silos for future reuse was impractical, and demolition is scheduled for a future phase of site preparation

These early findings from the specialist studies provide a solid foundation for future planning. They help define the engineering approaches, environmental management strategies, and design considerations needed to support a safe, resilient, and sustainable waterfront community.

Next Steps

Community engagement to gather public input as planning progresses (starting Q4 2026).
Preparation of a master plan integrating community engagement findings and technical site studies.
Infrastructure and servicing studies to support future development scenarios.
Phase 2 coastal flood modelling based on future shoreline designs.
Continued environmental site investigation and risk assessment, working toward an Approval in Principle with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.
Detailed geotechnical design to support building and infrastructure planning.
Detailed market studies identifying absorption potential by use type (residential, commercial, light industrial, and apartment).