District of West Vancouver staff are urging council to reject a preliminary development proposal for a 12-unit townhouse project at 3033 and 3055 Marine Drive, citing non-compliance with the Official Community Plan (OCP) and concerns about site planning and design.
The proposal, submitted by an applicant seeking rezoning, aims to develop two adjoining properties on the north side of Marine Drive into a townhouse complex. The project would consist of 12 units across two buildings, with a total floor area of approximately 2,564 square metres (27,600 square feet). Each unit would have a two-car garage, and the site plan includes 11 visitor parking spaces, bicycle storage, and outdoor amenities.
However, district staff have raised multiple concerns, primarily regarding the project’s failure to align with the OCP’s policy direction. Under Policy 2.1.4, townhouse developments are encouraged near “neighbourhood hubs” such as schools, parks, commercial areas, or other multi-family developments. Staff argue that the proposed site does not meet these locational criteria, as the nearest school, West Bay Elementary, is approximately 860 metres away, and the surrounding area is predominantly single-family homes.
Additionally, staff noted that the design and layout of the proposal do not adequately respond to the character of the Altamont neighbourhood. The larger of the two buildings features a block of nine units arranged in an arc, with a continuous third-floor balcony that, according to staff, adds visual bulk and overlooks neighboring properties. Further concerns include environmental impacts, as portions of patios and a bridge encroach upon the 15-metre setback from Pipe Creek, which runs through part of the site.
Staff have advised council against allowing the proposal to advance to public consultation, citing the need for significant revisions to the design, scale, and overall site planning. West Vancouver council is set to review the recommendation and decide on the proposal at a meeting on January 10.
We are forgetting that the reason originally for abandoning dense townhomes was that they created dark, sunless, and unhealthy communities. As Coleridge says eloquently of this sort of building in his poem Frost at Midnight: I was raised in cloisters dim and saw naught lovely but the stars and the sky…”. Do we want to only have a view upwards of the sky? With enforced densities skyrocketing by decree that’s where we’re heading!
high density is the death for our quality of life. Our Marxist socialists on all levels of government want the obedient citizen to be happy in a glorified living-container, shuttling with a bicycle in a 15 minute city. We have seen it over 40 years ago in the East Block collapsing under the ideology of communism as well as China.
Did we get a chance to vote on the OCP? Once every 4 years we get ONE vote!!! With all the software and blockchain technology, we should be able to have a secure referendum on issues every week for less than a dollar per voter. That is for sure NOT the democracy the politicians want!
I welcome West Van’s council to reject the development, but there will always be Eby, the almighty chairman of the peoples republic of BC overruling all voters’ wishes with a stroke of a pen.
Democracy is just a propaganda word for our ruling BC government