City of North Vancouver building temporary park with off-leash dog area, community garden

The City of North Vancouver is building a temporary park space at 1600 Eastern Avenue with a new community garden, an off-leash dog area and a gathering space for everyone to enjoy. The community garden will be managed by North Shore Community Garden Society. The new temporary park space is expected to be completed later this summer.

Work on a new permanent park is also expected to begin this year. At a meeting on Feb 12, councillors are expected to give a third reading to a plan to borrow approximately $1.9 million for the new park.

City of North Vancouver acquired 0.2 hectares of available land due to a rezoning in 2018. Essentially a ‘blank slate,’ this space allowed the City to start from scratch and create a new park.  City of North Vancouver’s Parks Master Plan aims to have all residents within 400 metres—or a 5-minute walk— to a park or public open space. Central Lonsdale was seen as a park-deficient neighbourhood, and CNV has identified a new neighbourhood park in East Central Lonsdale as a priority.

“The delivery of a park in this densely populated area can provide valuable enjoyment and recreational opportunities near where people in this neighbourhood live,” the City of North Vancouver says. A permanent new park will include a circular trellis and central lawn, pollinator gardens, a playful water feature, an in-ground trampoline, porch swings and hammocks.

At an upcoming council meeting on Feb 12, the council will approve borrowing $55,700,000, with up to $49,500,000 being allocated to the North Shore Neighbourhood House, up to $4,300,000 being allocated to Kings Mill Walk Park and up to $1,900,000 being allocated to 1600 Eastern Park.

Kings Mill Walk Park

Construction is also expected to begin this year at the King Mill Walk Park, which is located near the North Shore Auto Mall. A waterfront park connecting to the multi-use North Shore Spirit Trail, King Mill Walk Park is between Mackay and Mosquito creeks and offers stunning views across Burrard Inlet.

In March 2022, the Council endorsed a new Kings Mill Walk Park plan. Detailed design work is underway, and construction on the new park is expected to begin this summer. “Our goal is to renew and improve the park to support the changes coming to the Harbourside neighbourhood, enhance connections to nature and to meet the community’s needs,” says the City of North Vancouver.

Kings Mill Walk Park was created in 2000 as part of the initial commercial development at Harbourside.  In 2013, the City approved an application from Concert Properties to rezone their lands at 801, 889 and 925 Harbourside Drive and 18 Fell Avenue to create a new, mixed-use waterfront neighbourhood.  Creating and implementing a new master plan for Kings Mill Walk Park was also a rezoning requirement to respond to the significant scale of the proposed development.