A warning from The Lonsdale Community Assn on Harbourside

ONLY CITIZENS PARTICIPATION WILL STOP THE RUSH TO BUILD.


Citizens need to fill City Hall and let the Council
understand that Taxpayers want to stop this density and development frenzy and take a breath.
Today the Government has announced a new policy on mortgages that should slow down the Growth.


On June 25 at 7 pm Concert properties is applying for an OCP amendment to change the current zoning of Light industrial and Commercial to also include Residential.


They are applying to build 880 suites in 7 and 9 storey towers along the last vestiges of waterfront property the City has remaining.


We believe that no one should claim ownership of Waterfront property especially as the present narrow strip is designated park, half of which is a dog park and the Spirit Trail. Ownership of waterfront property should remain in the realm of the City’s taxpayers as a whole, in perpetuity.


It’s rather a stretch of the imagination to pack 2000 people and more with their cars in this stand-alone community, all trying to share one humpback bridge over the railway tracks at Fell Ave, with all the present office people and Auto Mall people. We have also been informed that wheelchairs find it too difficult to traverse this bridge. Hmm! Considering that within a 2 short block radius of this humpback bridge there are 7 traffic lights which include 2 on Marine Drive; the pending grid lock staggers the imagination.


That said, the added traffic from the $8 Billion Seaspan shipbuilding project, plus the nine 5 and 6 storey buildings all in various stages of completion over the next 6 months to 2 years, and all within 3 blocks of the Fell Ave. bridge, suggests to me that our Planning Dept has given up and left town.


Would not this amount of people demand some amenities such as a recreation centre, a school, daycare etc.? But who will pay for that; the City of course, we Taxpayers.
Concert Properties has said they have no intention of building another bridge, meaning it’s up to the City, or better still the taxpayers, to pay for a bridge for them. But they did say they will build a ferry pier to ferry people to the SeaBus? Why do I get the impression that developers think Citizens are just dumb? Translink has done studies for years on ferries back and forth all along the Northshore and downtown. It doesn’t work, Period. West Van’s effort last year went bankrupt.


CN rail intends to close the grade rail crossing on Bewicke in 2-3 years when the new humongous long Phosphorous trains begin to arrive; that is also the reason for the new LOW ROAD Project. CN needs the added tracking for faster turnaround for the longer trains. That means there will only be one bridge in and out of Harbourside. CN has already agreed with the District to build a bridge over the tracks at Phillips Ave two blocks West of Pemberton.


The Pemberton rail crossing will then be closed. Don’t forget in 7 years time the new SEWAGE plant will be built at that junction where the rail station is located.


So the City will be stuck trying to find the money to build a Bridge, somewhere. That is not possible, unless it's built to span the Rail tracks and Mosquito Creek for about $100 Million. And do all this, just to satisfy a developer, who will make $100 Million in property value just by having Council approve Residential construction on our Waterfront. There certainly seems to be something wrong with this picture. It doesn’t appear that we’ll be getting the new Harry Jerome Community Centre for a while yet.


But that is only a part of the problem. Look at all the DENSITY already planned and already happening, such as the Credit union Tower at 13th (ONNI - 2 towers at 13th), the Extra Foods tower at 17th and the enormous tower at West 15th. There are 8 new projects of 5 and 7 storeys from 3rd St down to 1st St and along 2nd and along 1st in the Lower Lonsdale area. Also, we must not ignore the dozens of duplexes and Coach Houses that are approved by Council every month.


As Councillor Keating continues to say, and repeated last week at Council, Manhattan is the finest example of a Sustainable Community. What he will never say is that it’s because it has the finest and most extensive subway system in America supporting it. Councillor Keating and our Mayor still insist that the City is only growing by 1% annually. With all this growth we are presently far ahead of the designated growth rate determined by Metro Vancouver’s Regional Growth Plan 2040. It’s been calculated that if we continue this rate until 2040 we will have the same density as Downtown Athens and Tokyo. That is our little City of North Vancouver!!


Our Hospital has only 335 beds and is the main Hospital for the Regional Area that stretches as far as Powell River. How can we afford all the necessary infrastructure? We are not building any more roads; in fact we are making them smaller and replacing them with bicycle lanes. So why this Development frenzy, this Density madness? Well I guess we now know the answer.


The Parks Master plan was passed a couple of years ago which establishes a ratio of Green space to developed space. A present as the Density increases the Green space declines, and it’s way down. The City actually has $16 million in the Parks Acquisition Fund so, in fact, could but back land from Harbourside for Park use.


In a major announcement today by the Government, it has now said “Whoa, slow down.” Mortgage terms have been shortened to 25-30 years from 45 years. The sad thing about that is it will only hurt the young people. How can our younger generation afford to live in these 1,2,3 bedroom suites along Harbourside? Will Concert Properties then have to sell their suites to offshore buyers who will then then leave them empty like Pinnacle and half of all the Condos in the Lower Mainland?


The City MUST start thinking creatively and ensure that the young CAN afford to live here. We need to have discussions with new thinkers and innovators. Not simply GIVE the CITY away because Planners and Councillors have no ideas. Council, if they had the balls, should be searching for creative ways to house the young and rent to the young.


With projects like this Harbourside, our younger generation will be shaking their heads and wondering what kind of legacy their parents and grandparent have left them. What were they thinking? WHY DID they BUY up all the Waterfront and Build, Build, Build and Sell, Sell, Sell to offshore buyers.


OUR Council should step in and shrink the project down to half this size, and then build only on the road one block north. They should include small bachelor suites for younger single people. Change the purpose of the project from the Banks and Major Developers reaping in the goodies, to the Citizens of the North Shore and no one else. 


After all, this project is financed by UNION PENSION FUNDS, and what are unions for if not for people? They certainly fork out a great deal of money to fund half our Council at Election time. THE REST OF THE COUNCILLOR’S SLATE MONEY, OF COURSE, COMES FROM DEVELOPERS.


So what does that say for the morals and ethics of our democratic and judicial system? No wonder only 17% bother to vote!


Well I believe in finding and fighting for solutions and fixing what is broken, this is the era of RECYCLING after all.


Gee what a thought. That should be OUR legacy to our young Citizens. Leave them our Waterfront AND a Place to Live and a Recycled moral and ethical Council that use their own money at election times as some of our Councillors have done. Can you imagine how that would upset the applecart? Can you imagine how our Councillors would respond to that idea?


Please attend Council Monday at 7 pm. and bring a friend or neighbour. It’s our City we’re trying to save.
Ivan Leonard

House of Cards

One day some guys named Darryl, Craig and Richard were sitting around in their clubhouse with a few packs of cards but somehow they didn't have a full deck.  So Richard pipes up "why don't we build a house of cards, I bet we can build the tallest one in the whole wide world!"


Soon they ran out of cards and the house was not large enough for them. Alas, the trio didn't have any money. Craig chipped in, "Why don't we just buy more cards? I'm sure we can get some provincial and federal government money."


Unfortunately, the governments were broke having spent their all money and all the money they could borrow.


Darryl came the rescue with an idea, "I've got lots of friends with money, maybe they donate to us so we can buy some more cards."


So Darryl called his buddy Chuck who was instantly on board with the concept but said, "You guys are pikers, you don't think big enough.  I'll donate money, the construction unions will toss some in and we'll hire lots of staff to write reports on the proper way to build our house.  It will be a landmark! 


Of course Chuck had a plan he didn't tell the boys, once done he would sell the house to Donald Trump and make gazzillions of dollars and just start up a new unique landmark and another and another....

18 June Council Meeting

Link to Agenda

11 June Council Meeting

Link to AGENDA


Link to Video Minutes