Shipyard site key
to redevelopment
in Lower Lonsdale

By Deana Lancaster
Contributing Writer

LOWER Lonsdale residents
are living in a construction
zone.

In the six or so square blocks that
are part of the Lower Lonsdale
Planning Study, three developments
are under construction, and rwo
sites are currently in the planning
stages. .

The building frenzy shows no
sign of slowing down. In fact, all
indications are that the pace will be

~ picking up.

“-’ Many more development oppor-
tunities lie with the city’s tax sale

“land, which it acquired during the
Depression when landowners were
unable to pay their property taxes.
_-- Money earned from the land’s
sale. will be invested and the interest

: -used as capital for the city and its
residents’ needs. .

“<* City planners are also consolidat-

“P oposed Amenities
Propased Developments

Sunday, February 23, 1997 - North Shore News — 3

issues

ae Ca

| Millions
for city
amenities

By Deana Lancaster
Contributing Writer

FROM the window of his
JIth-floor apartment on
West 2nd Street, Donald
Currie can see much of
what goes on in Low
Lonsdale. .

“The city will tell you some-
times I see too damn much,” said
Currie, who at 75 has a better
attendance record at council in the

three years than some of the
city’s councillors.

He regularly sends off intelli-
gent, well-researched letters to
both city hall and the News.

Last April, council decided to
set up a citizen-based Public
Involvement Team to decide what
“community amenity facilities”
should be supported by the sale of
its non-tax sale lands in Lower
Lonsdale. Currie was appointed to
that committee.

Twenty-five requests (at a total

rice tag of more than $30 mil-
ion) had to be considered. It’s

“+, ing lots, closing lanes, and narrow-
-ing wide streets. The bits and pieces
of leftover land make up the city’s
non-tax sale land. Money earned
from its sale has already been ear- ,
-marked for community amenities.
. ‘The key t0 how much and what kind of development occurs is the vacant
~ Versatile shipyard lands, said Jeremy Leevers, a sales associate with Westreal.
-.., The real estate firm is responsible for marketing the Syndicate Block, a
site at the northwest corner of Lonsdale and Esplanade that is now under-
- ” going construction. ;
” “You can liken it to what happened in Yaletown,” Leevers said. “Expo
.. created Yaletown.” - : :
'. He believes the old shipyard site could provide the same push for Lower
.. Lonsdale. The 16.88-hectare (42.2-acre) site is the current focus of a land-
_ use study by consultants hired by the city and the property’s owners, the
Vancouver Port Corporation and Shielding; Inc. :
i o- The first phase of the study, which was to come up with a number of
: options for the site, is now complete. The second phase, to present those
options to the public, is scheduled to begin in March,
“ . ° Eaily indications point to a proposal that includes both commercial and
retail sites, inclucting a hotel.
=.” One thing is certain, what happens on the site will have a profound influ-
" ence on the future shape of the area.
_ So will Bob Spencer.
“ "He ‘is the man behind the Lower Lonsdale Planning Study. The
Yorkshire, England, native has 53 years of experience in planning and strong
- “views on design. (He prefers modern buildings that are “sympathetic” to

submited

‘THIS computer-generated scenario for the fedevelopment of Lower Lonsdale meets Official
‘Community Pian guidetines for height and density but demonstrates little In the way of design. it
tg not the proposal favored by city planners. .

He works out of a small office under the Chamber of Commerce on East
2nd Street, surrounded by colorful plans and maps pinned on walls, stacked
on desks, and overflowing on to the floor; crammed bookshelves, and filing
cabinets.

Perhaps the most fascinating tools in the office are the computer pro- .

grams used by planning technician Neil Spicer.

In one, called Lightwave, the area’s current landscape of empty iots_
becomes the site of an instant building boom. Lowrises, highrises, and com- '

puter-generated trees sprout like the shoots on a Chia
Pet. View corridors are represented by streams of blue
light, blocked or allowed to fan south depending on
the configuration of the buildings in front of them.

The proposal favored by Spencer varies from the
height guidelines set by the OCP.

Sticking to the guidelines for both height and den-
sity, the square block west of Lonsdale between 3rd and
2nd streets could see the construction of at least seven
new 12-storey highrises.

pencer is suggesting that the same density can be
achieved by reducing the height of some of the towers
and raising one of them beyond the height restriction
to roughly 18 floors.

estimated that between $5 million
and $7 million will be available.
“We had to decide what is a
community amenity ... we had to
decide what was most important,”
said Currie. —- °
According to its réport, the
team came up with tvo priorities. -
The first is a coramuaity develop-
ment fund — used to “support or
enhance the operations of. local

See Youth page V2 2

~._ existing heritage buildings, not “just a Walt Disney imitation of what went

. before.”) -

a His job now is a tricky one. He must try to balance the needs and wants
of residents with those of developers, keeping in mind the guidelines of the

Official Community Plan (OCP).
Why is there an OCP anyway?

“People are moving here; you can’t build a wall around the city,” Spencer

said.
It’s his job to design a place for them.

NEWS ANALYSIS

“The magic in that is that we make the towers fat-
ter, and have them sitting on a base building. Then we
can line up the higher buildings with existing buildings
so the view disruption is minimized.”

Spencer has also created the plans for a “town
square,” actually a circle, surrounded by grassy banks
and pathways radiating up and away from it.

The West Ist street site could host outdoor exhibi-

tions, concerts, theatre and festivals.

“It is not enough to have roots. People
must know what their roots are.”

— Joan-Piere Wallot, National Archivist, Ottawa

Don’t bury historic city heart beneath concrete

By Andrew McCredie

. Community Editor

' NEXT time you're in North

© Vancouver’s Lower Lonsdale area,

_ pay close attention to its buildings,
) stores and street corners.

Chances are a sight seen. today will be just
a memory tomorrow.

Deana Lancaster’s North Shore Focus spe-
cial feature on the profound changes in store

+ for the area reveals the difficulr questions
North Vancouver City councillors will soon
be debating.

When the development dust has settled —
probably in about a decades time — whar
stands will be a concrete testimony to the
vision of today's council.

The name Lonsdale is synonymous with
development. Englishmea Heywood
Lonsdale and Tames lemberton Fell devel-
oped Lonsdale Estates in 1903 in an area
deep in the heart of what is today Lower
Lonsdale.

Back then land settlers were drawn to
North Vancouver by lumber companies that
worked the North Shore forest for cedar and

fir. That first decade of the century mired
what would be the North Shore’s firsi-ever
reai estate boom.

The next boom came in the wake of
Lower Lonsdale’s industrial revofution: ship-
building.

And now Lower Lonsdale is poised to say
goodbye to the last decade of the century
with yet another developmenz frenzy.

But unlike previous booms, this one isn’t
driven by one industry.

Fuelling Lower Lonsdale’s last develop-
ment boom of the 20th century is the same
force that will pressure all Lower Mainland
municipalities in the 21st century: urbaniza-

tion.

With the Fraser Valley vision clouded by
exhaust emissions and glaring infrastructure
problems, Lower Mainland urban planners
are sharpening, their focus inward to the area’s
core,

The villain of course in all city plans these
days is the automobile. “Cars bad; transit
good” is the fashionable mantra when talking
urban development.

The NDP government has spent millions
on tain and bus route development over the
past five years and by all accounts will contin-

ue to do so.

But the chances of a light-rapid-transit rail
connecting the north and south sides of
Burrard Inlet are as likely as Robin Blencoe’s
appointment as Women’s Equality Minister. -

Just this past week, B.C. Transit success-
fully convinced a B.C. Supreme Court that
the SeaBus should be allowed to increase its
top speed from 11.5 knots (21 km/h) to
13.5 knots (25 km/h), enabling six trips an
hour instead of the current four.

Apart trom tourists getting a faster ride,

increased crossings further enhance the attrac-

tion of Lower Lonsdale in the eyes of those
searching for that ideal bedroom community.
. And with the smart money on the NDP

government narrowing a choice on the Lions
Gare Bridge issue down to a no-toll three-
lane upgrade or a rolled four-lane span, it’s
clear that Lower Lonsdale nas dodged what
would have been a fatal blow to the commu-
nity’s heart: a gaping six-lane wound absorly-
ing and expelling cars in equal measure.

Several tunnel engineers who surfaced
duriag the inert First Narrows Crossing
debate saw Lower Lonsdale as the perfect
spot to realize their visions.

Witnessing a 5 p.m. rush hour on

Lonsdale Avenuc today, adding commuter
traffic from Vancouver defies logic. (Then
again, this a Victoria-based decision we’re
talking about.)

So fate seems to be smiling on Lower
Lonsdale. Or is it?

Since the area’s cool-down following the
Second World War’s shipbuilding boom,
Lower Lonsdale has been home to hundreds
of small business owners and apartment-
dwellers attracted by relatively cheap rents.
That could change fast as developers lick their
lips at the thought of erecting 18-storey tow-
ers on every Lower Lonsdale corner:
“Watertront lifestyle, just 10 minutes from
downtown Vancouver” their ads will scream.

But what shouldn't be forgotten in this
rush to remake Lower Lonsdale are these
same shop owners and residents who have
defined the character of the historic area.

{In addition, the North Shore Harvest. a
place of hope for hundreds over the past five
years, will soon be without a home. City
councillors must assure the vital elements of
the neighborhood — and there are many oth-
ers — don’t get buried when the concrete
starts pouring.

— andrew@nsnews.com