Two West Vancouver councillors, Peter Lambur and Linda Watt, want the council to review the Ambleside Centre Local Area Plan with an aim to remove designations for high-density development in the area.
Their proposal will be discussed at the October 20, 2025, regular Council meeting. It aims to preserve low-rise, mixed-use character for the commercial heart of Ambleside.
Proposal Seeks to Preserve ‘Village Character’
The motion initiates a significant shift from any high-rise development concepts in the Ambleside core. The amendment aims to realign the Future Land Use guidelines and reinforce the seaside village image envisioned by community stakeholders, according to the two councillors.
It specifically revises the land use framework by removing lands identified as Waterfront D, Waterfront E, and Upslope H from their respective character areas, and adding them to a Low-Rise designation.
According to the councillors, the proposed action follows the poor reception of previous suggestions to add density via “high-rise towers above a retail podium.” They say the Ambleside Centre LAP is designed to manage incremental change and “strengthen the low-rise heart of the community.”
Rationale Behind Low-Rise Developments
The decision to eliminate high-rise concepts is based on several concerns detailed in the supporting memo. Specific concerns by two councillors include “years-long construction timeframes that disrupt access and parking” for existing businesses and customers. New tower forms would visually disrupt the vistas connecting the village centre to the waterfront, they note. The memo also notes that high retail rental rates associated with new construction are often not affordable for existing local businesses.
The primary goal, they say, remains the revitalization of Marine Drive, which has served as the retail commercial heart of the community for over a century. The focus is on the “enhancement and diversification of the existing neighbourhood-serving retail commercial centre.”
The councillors do, however, include the introduction of additional housing as a secondary use. This housing would predominantly be on upper floors, as the street-front space is reserved for retail. They note that this mixed-use model has already been successfully applied to several sites in Ambleside and along Marine Drive.
The Council will discuss the proposal by Councillor Lambur and Watt at the October 20 meeting.
Too late. Previous Council led by Mayor Booth completely screwed up that ‘village feel’ by approving the view killing goliath Grosvenor. Probably THE worst decision in the history of West Van.
Why dont any of these politicians realize we only have 410 beds at Lions Gate Hospital with no plans to build another hospital which I think should be in West Van. How about all the many more First Responders we would need with the massive increase in population for the whole North Shore.
This is clearly totally a money grab
Well… nothing can happen until the underlying problem of Ambleside is addressed.
Infrastructure.
And I don’t mean libraries or galleries.
I mean sewage. Drainage. Parking. Preservation of underlying streams that were paved over.
Grosvenor may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it did all the infrastructure it needed. And it was expensive.
WV won’t get any more of those. As Pierwell is finding out.