Lara Ramsay was denied the opportunity to speak before the council because Councillor Craig Keating opposed the motion to allow more than five speakers
By Gagandeep Ghuman
On March 12, Lara Braithwaite Ramsay spent five hours at the City of North Vancouver just so she could speak to her elected representatives for just two minutes. She was denied that opportunity because Councillor Craig Keating opposed the motion to allow more than five speakers. Council needs a unanimous vote to allow more than five people to speak.
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Ramsay was seventh on the list, even though she had arrived earlier to speak about her concerns about an Upper Lonsdale development. Pezzente Holdings plans to rezone 2601 Lonsdale Avenue and the adjacent city owned road right of way to build a six-storey building with 27 rental apartments and 17 stratified apartment units with two levels of underground parking.
Parking and traffic, the height of building, loss of green space as well the sale of a part of a city-owned road has added to the worries of many local residents, including a plan to close 26th street permanently.
It’s those worries citizens like Ramsay wanted to articulate, but never really got a chance. In a letter that was published in the North Vancouver City Voices, Ramsay said a building can be built within existing property line.
“The community and people who want to join the community are better off with the road open, but council members may not be. Several council members said they need to look at the community benefits of the proposal. What community benefits? There are developer benefits and council benefits, but there are zero community benefits,” Ramsay wrote.
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She said Holy Trinity Elementary School sits at the intersection most effected by the closure, and the likelihood of crashes at that intersection will increase if everyone is forced to use an intersection already over-congested with cars and children.
“We don’t oppose development. We want the developer to build on his own property. Public roads should not be closed for personal gain. If this road is closed, there will be crashes that hurt or kill people. Closing the road is wrong for the community. Closing it for the personal gains of a select few is appalling and not a decision I will support with my vote this fall,” she stated. Other area residents, including the developer, has used the public input period to comment on the proposal.
Local resident Terri Broughton said she was very concerned about how the development would impact the road, traffic and parking situation. “There has been no assessment of how many people use 26th street to access Lonsdale. I haven’t seen any traffic counters to it and how it will add to the congestion,” she told the council at a February 5th council meeting.
Another resident Michelle Martan said loss of garden space close to the proposed development as well as parking are some key concerns she has. “It would decrease the quality of life as there is no park or green space. There is lack of parking and it may appear sufficient on paper but that is not the case,” she said.
Jane Campbell, Jodi Warring, Robert Weckel, Adele Finney, and Gina Dhein were other community members who voices their concerns about the redevelopment of 2601 Lonsdale.
Speaking before the council, developer Alfonso Pezzente said the company has done considerable outreach in the community, adapted all the changes the staff has proposed and is prepared to make changes to height or density once the community has given their feedback in the public hearing. A council vote on March 12 moved the Pezzente application the public heating stage.
The Public Hearing is tonight scheduled to start after another one at 7pm; be sure to be there by 5:30 to sign up, although you can still speak if you haven’t signed in advance