The City of North Vancouver is moving forward with updates to its planning tools, following extensive public feedback on its “Growing Livable Neighbourhoods” project, according to a City press release. More than 670 instances of participation were recorded throughout July 2025 which will be crucial in updating the Official Community Plan (OCP) and Zoning Bylaw to improve housing availability over the next 20 years, a requirement recently imposed by the British Columbia Provincial Government.
The City’s engagement process focused on gathering community feedback on two key strategies to accommodate mandated growth while maintaining livability.
The first strategy, termed “Gentle Infill,” aims to add more low-density housing by increasing the availability of homes while preserving the existing look and feel of residential neighbourhoods. This strategy includes low-density housing types such as duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, townhomes, and row houses.
According to the City, this approach will explore allowing up to four units per lot in lower-density areas and up to six units in the Regional City Centre and Frequent Transit Development Areas. This strategy is projected to yield approximately 6,000 new units.
The second strategy involves increasing density on five City-owned lands located near the city centre and frequent transit areas. These sites include City Hall, the Fire Hall, Harry Jerome Neighbourhood Lands, East First Lands, and Alder St Lands.
Focusing growth on City-owned properties gives Council a higher degree of control over the pace and rate of development, helps optimize City asset value, and facilitates the funding of public amenities. This approach is estimated to add approximately 950 new units.
Feedback on Low-Density Housing
Community input was collected across surveys, pop-ups, a Community Workshop, and a Town Hall meeting. For low-density housing, participants emphasized the importance of design characteristics that contribute to a welcoming and vibrant neighbourhood.
The most highly-rated characteristic was landscaping and trees. Of the 370 survey respondents, 90% indicated that landscaping or trees were “very important” or “important.”
“Trees, shrubs and other forms of landscaping around a building or neighbourhood improves mental health, has positive environmental effects, and allows residents to let their kids play on the building grounds,” one survey quote highlighted.
Feedback also showed explicit support for generating more low-density housing options, while there was general opposition to high-rises, which are not part of this specific strategy.
Parking considerations were prominent, with responses split between increasing and decreasing parking. Many participants expressed the need for more onsite, off-street parking, especially for multi-unit complexes.
However, some suggested that parking should be removed from the front of properties, with the front space reserved for yards, gardens, and attractive entranceways.
Feedback on City-Owned Lands
Regarding Strategy 2, redeveloping City-owned lands, workshop attendees voted for the creation of more diverse housing types, including mixed-use, rental, workforce, and homes suitable for aging in place. There was interest in including affordable, co-op, and below-market housing options in City-owned developments.
Participants emphasized that redevelopment must ensure the preservation of community character, including views, heritage, and the overall look and feel of neighbourhoods.
They also noted that development should enhance livability by providing improved public spaces, expanded community amenities like daycares, and maintaining or expanding parks and green spaces.
A major challenge heard across the Town Hall and Community Workshop was the impact of growth on infrastructure, including water, sewer, and transportation networks. While attendees saw opportunities for better access to transit and active transportation, they were concerned that transit alone would not be sufficient to accommodate a growing population, emphasizing the need to improve road infrastructure.
The City of North Vancouver plans to use this input to refine its strategies, with staff recommendations scheduled for presentation to City Council in Fall 2025.
Well I’ll tell you what I think…….OCP, why bother, why engage the citizens? Past OCP’s have only ended up in the trash, replaced by density, density.
Housing at the City’s fire hall, City hall, really, does the community really need towers so bad that such silliness is actually being considered?
As for the Harry Jerome lands, being that the new Rec Centre was built on a combination of community space (something in ever decreasing supply), and parks space, park lands robbed from the central Lonsdale neighbourhood, should not the density commandos take a break and have the old H.J. community centre lands returned to that of green space and a new running track? I say, just say no to thirty storey towers at 23rd and Lonsdale!!!
Is it not time for the City to admit that it is full, that existing affordable housing (that included gardens and natural drainage), were targeted for redevelopment, replaced with over sized boxes with tiny living area’s, expensive sham housing.
Should not the City admit that it’s design, it’s pursuit of density, means it’s citizens often must travel to the District of North Vancouver for some green space, some “Real Parkland”!
How about a place to park one’s car? how about it…NOOOO, not in the City, the social engineers have decided that the car is evil and should not be accommodated.
Negative comment, yes. Has the City earned it?, I believe so.