The District of North Vancouver Council voted 4-3 in a council meeting on Oct. 20 to move forward with the staff recommendation on one of the two housing options proposed under the Official Community Plan (OCP) 2025 update.
The two housing options, Options A and B, were proposed to meet the provincial mandate to increase housing in the district.
Mayor Little and councillors Lisa Muri, Herman Mah, and Betty Forbes voted in favour of Option B, as recommended by city staff. Councillors Jordan Back, Catherine Pope, and Jim Hanson opposed the motion.
The motion was approved 4-3 in favour of Option B.
Option A proposed increasing housing near transit, expanding town centres along the Marine Drive Corridor. Option B proposed maintaining the current land use while proceeding with the minimum number of housing units required by the province, based on the existing rezoning process.
City staff recommended that the council approve Option B after the introduction of Bill 25, which sets out new rules for small-scale multi-unit housing. Mayor Little said the bill is a “big problem” and “seems like an intentional effort to create chaos in planning and housing development.”
“I’m very frustrated with the situation. I think Option B gives us the best opportunity for us to have a longer conversation and figure out how we’re going to implement this locally,” he said.
Councillor Muri said the NDP’s “dictatorial approach” is beyond what any provincial government had suggested in the province and called the housing rules egregious in her years of experience in local government. “We need our community to rise to prevent this government from forever changing the landscape of our community,” she said.
Councillor Back said the option offered a vision to guide development, providing a thoughtful framework for design. He added that the option allows the council to “plan our infrastructure in a smarter way with pre-zoning in the right places and a framework for funding through development cost charges.”
Councillor Hanson focused his comments on smart growth, advocating higher population density near transit and shops. He added that Option A is better than spreading growth away from town centres in the area, and that he opposes the province’s density mandates.
“I think option A is indeed the better choice (and) in my view identifies areas where growth can be better accommodated,” he said. “I’m quoting now (Option A), “Prioritizes housing growth near transit amenities, in growth centres and in corridors.”
Councillor Pope said 68 per cent of the residents support this kind of planned and distributed growth. She added that there has been fear around the province forcing municipalities to build more homes.
“Residents decisively said they want growth to be distributed throughout the community. In fact, 68 per cent preferred to build new homes across the district as a mix of multiplexes, townhouses and apartments and only 32 per cent preferred building in dense urban centers in predominantly high-rise apartments.”
“The district must plan for and provide for some growth. To do nothing, to keep the status quo and not change the official community plan is the equivalent of putting our heads in the sand,” she said.
She supported Option A and said it would enable growth throughout the district, in addition to supporting new housing within the town centres.
Councillor Mah called Option B a responsible approach and emphasized the importance of prudent growth and community input in this process.
“I want to be clear that I support housing, but it needs to be done prudently and implemented with the support of the community,” Mah said. “However I still believe that the provincial government should not direct how and where the district should accommodate future growth this council represents its residents and should take into account the feedback from those residents.”
He said that he doesn’t see any “clear justification” to provide 22,000 housing units in the absence of any commitment regarding funding for infrastructure, health care, parks, transit, etc. He added that Option B doesn’t “stop don’t do anything, put our head in the sand.”
Councillor Forbes opposed the provincial mandates for housing and said the pre-zoning involved in Option A would limit public input and voice. She supported Option B and expressed frustration with the province’s use of non-disclosure agreements with city staff.
“They have literally taped over the lips of any of our staff who went and consulted with them, so that when our staff came back here, they couldn’t even talk to us about what was going on. “We’re talking about a massive amount of land in the district getting pre-zoned and there will never be a public hearing as long as it’s consistent, so it cuts your voices off and you won’t be able to talk,” Forbes said.
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