City of North Van plans homes on City-owned lands, gentle infill in other areas

The City of North Vancouver will need to accommodate 6,556 more homes over the next 18 months to comply with new provincial housing rules. At a council meeting today, staff are proposing a blueprint to increase density.

The City hired Urban Systems to understand how much residential development could be accommodated under the current land use bylaws and whether there is sufficient capacity to address 20-year housing needs. According to the report, the analysis concluded that while the OCP has more than enough capacity, the Zoning Bylaw is short by 6,556 housing units.

The staff report outlines two ideas:

City-owned sites first. Five municipal properties—City Hall, the Fire Hall site, East First, Alder Street, and Harry Jerome lands—would be up-zoned for mid- to high-rise development, adding roughly 950 units under City control. The identified City Lands are situated within the Regional City Centre and the Frequent Transit Development Area, offering mid-rise and high-rise building forms.

Gentle density everywhere else. Most single-detached and duplex lots would be opened to as many as four dwellings (six within the Lonsdale Regional City Centre), creating an estimated 6,000 more “missing-middle” homes such as multiplexes, suites and coach houses.

“One option would be to allow up to four dwelling units on single-detached and duplex properties in the Residential Level 1, 2, and 3 land use designations, and up to six dwelling units within the Regional City Centre. These properties already allow up to 3 or 4 units of housing. The goal is to allow gentle infill density in a greater variety of forms that fit in with the existing look and feel of a neighbourhood,” the report says.

This ‘gentle infill-density’ could mean single-detached houses with suites and coach houses, duplexes with suites and/or coach houses or multiplexes.

“A benefit of this approach is spreading out the impacts of new development across the whole city, such as how fast neighbourhoods feel like they are changing or the amount of construction impact. This approach would add approximately 6,000 units of housing capacity,” the report notes.

The proposed direction also offers a variety of housing types, ranging from multiplexes to 6-storey apartments and high-rise buildings.

There are two areas where the proposed direction will need further study: heritage character and heritage conservation areas, townhouses and row houses. The proposed suggestions don’t include increasing the density in the Ottawa Gardens Heritage Conservation Area, the East 10th, Finlay’s Row, or Grand Boulevard Heritage Character Areas. The report recommends bringing forward incentives to protect heritage buildings and engage with residents of the heritage areas about how the City should move forward.

If Council supports the proposed direction at the meeting today, staff will prepare amendments to the OCP and Zoning Bylaw for Council’s consideration.