West Vancouver Mayor Mark Sager says new provincial housing directives take away local decision-making power and ignore the North Shore’s transportation problems.
In a September 15 letter to Housing and Municipal Affairs Minister Christine Boyle, Sager said the directives are “an unprecedented and unacceptable intrusion” into municipal responsibilities. He argued that local councils have traditionally made land use decisions and that removing this authority would weaken local democracy.
Sager said West Vancouver is not blocking new housing. He noted that the council has approved zoning for thousands of future homes and has not rejected a single housing application this term. “We have sufficient zoned capacity to meet and exceed provincial targets,” Sager wrote. He added that market conditions, not just zoning, control how quickly new homes are built.
The mayor said the main challenge for West Vancouver is transportation. Traffic congestion from Sea to Sky growth and heavy use of the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal already clogs the North Shore. He warned that adding density without major transit upgrades will make the problem worse. “Without urgent investment in public transit, additional density only worsens congestion,” he said.
Sager also said the directives could set a precedent across B.C., allowing the Province to override any community’s planning process. He called for a partnership that respects local governments while also addressing transit. “We ask only that the Province respect the role of local government in doing so – and that it acknowledges the urgent need for transit solutions if new housing is to succeed,” Sager wrote.
Read Mayor Sager’s entire letter here.
Mayor Sager and Council are not acting ethically and only pursuing what profits their pocket.
The council unjustly ordered my home that I live at for 25 years to be demolished. This demolition order is inconsistent with the structural and other professional engineers reports that I obtained after it was confirmed that less than 30% damage to my garage and bedroom above it.
Mayor Sager has not allowed any inspection by the building inspector of the condition of my home by the District and has denied all my repair permit applications. I spoke with Terry Yee, the inspector of my area to come and inspect my home. Terry Yee says he considers the demolition decision is wrong but he will lose his job if he inspects my home because it will be on record that demolition decision is wrong.
My home is a perfectly good home as assessed and reported by various registered professionals; unfortunately Mayor Sager is not sincere when he states in his letter that they have “not rejected a single housing application this term”. That is a self serving false statement. There are hundreds of other home owners that feel this way.
If mayor Sager wants to drive the municipality according to maximizing his own financial benefits, then we need replacement of decision makers here in West Vancouver to stop corruption.
Mayor Sager is correct. If the NDP decision makers could visit Highway 1 through North and West Van, or the Lions Gate at rush hour, instead of pandering to developers, the real estate cabal, and offshore foreign real estate speculators, perhaps they “woke” up.
How about more education on using the bus
I do not drive and am more than able to get around d using transit
May take a little more planning, but well worth it
Thank you mayor Sager for bringing the traffic issue to the attention of our provincial Govt.
It was refreshing to dee a push back by the Mayor of West Vancouver directed towards
the major concerns of residents trying to commute back and
forth to Vancouver for a variety of of reasons.
That’s true. Traffic issue is created by corrupt spending of the Mayor buying Boathouse for over $2.5 million when we do not have roads yet!
Also the are many other of Mayor’s self serving decisions that wasted our tax dollars!!!
Traffic is a poor excuse to hamper housing units and refusing building permits when there is a need and justification for it.
It’s sad we have to deal with this corrupt council and mayor.
Pardon me for not being educated in local government as much as I should be but is this not the same government who is turning down money from BC transit to improve intersections?
https://www.nsnews.com/local-news/west-vancouver-council-shuts-down-staff-recommended-bus-efficiency-changes-11195043
The same west vancouver that should be PROUD of its oldest continually-operated municipal transit system in North America and could get ahead of the problem better than most…
https://www.nsnews.com/local-news/west-van-gives-257-blue-bus-run-to-translink-3076962
But has a history of capitulating to a vocal minority against the interests of average commuters and worse traffic for everyone.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/west-vancouver-residents-block-traffic-to-protest-proposed-bus-lane-1.4938451
The evidence is in, good transit is the only solution /mitigation for traffic so facilitate it wherever possible. Mark Sager, you need to self-start this and address the dissenters within your own council, not blame the province.
Naked corruption at a local level, I’ll be happy when you get overuled by the province and sit in a quagmire of traffic for 5-10 years.
Maybe West Vancouver should stop preventing Translink from adding b-line rapid transit to their municipality.