City surprisingly harmonious
despite clear political divisions

Lower Lonsdale revitalization tests council’s limitations

THE FOLLOWING § summary
analysis of North Vancouver City
Council's record over the past
term was compiled and written by
North Shore News city council
reporter Stephen Wisenthal.

IL PAI TE

NORTH VANCOUVER
CITY COUNCIL

by Stephen Wisenthal

(1817 - 1892)

“Know assuredly that God's creation hath
existed from eternity, and will continue to
exist forever. Its beginning hath had no
beginning, and its end knoweth no end.
His name, the Creator, presupposeth a
creation, even as His title, the Lord of
Men, must involve the existence of a
servant.”

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NV Dist. 929-4708
West Van 921-3334°
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Baha'i
Faith

Based on the political leanings
of its current personnel, North
Vancouver City Council should be
deadlocked and combative.

On one side are the councillors
accused of being in the pockets of
the developers, Stella Jo Dean and
Rod Clark;.on the other are the

_lions of the left, councillors Bill

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Bell and Barbara Sharp.

Filling the grey area in between:
councillors Barbara Perrault and
John Braithwaite.

Mayor Jack Loucks is hard to
categorize — he is probably best
placed asa ‘‘small-c’’ conser-
-yative, believing in upholding
traditional values and not putting
up with any nonsense. :

But he has a soft.side on en-
vironmental and social issues and
is willing’ to give anyone a fair
hearing. ; ‘

‘A big word of warning, though: .

none. of the councillors. is’ really
consistently in the pockets of any-
one. wf

Coun. Clark and to a lesser ex-
tent..Coun.. Dean often take. a
tight-wing «line, and’ councillors
Bell and Sharp lean ‘to the other
end of the spectrum; but plenty of
developments .areonposed : by. the
first two, often on the grounds of
neighborhood _ preservation,’ and
the. latter’ two,don’t exactly pro-
pose throwing money around in a

* ‘tax-and-spend fashion. .

The councillor most consistently
opposed to almost all major new
developments has probably been
Braithwaite. :

All the councillors take strong
“green” stands in favor of preser-
ving the environment, and the city
has: a. good record of keeping its
. budget’ balanced and holding

- down tax increases. :
” The tensions and strengths, ac-
‘complishments and failings of city
council can best be illustrated by
its members’ work in attempting
to sort out the sorry state of the
city’s original core.

ISSUES: :

Lower Lonsdale, bounded
roughly: by Burrard Inlet, Third
Street, and Mahon and St.
Patricks avenues, has. been the
subject of countless recent studies
and meetings.

Talks about revitalizing the area
have no‘doubt been at the top of
council; agendas ever since last
century when Lower Lonsdale was
little more than a few sawmills
and a, ferry dock,

The current council, however,
resolved to do something about
the’ area, particularly with the
former Versatile Pacific Ship-

- yards fands along the waterfront
east of Lonsdale becoming avail-
able for redevelopment.

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Graphic Cameron Bird

NVC MAYOR Jack Loucks: difficult to categorize, probably best
placed as a ‘‘small-c’’ conservative.

So they commissioned a lot of
reports. They are still consulting
and asking questions.

The council wants to act quickly
to. improve Lower Lonsdale,
where the city owns 37% of the
developable land.

But they don’t want to get it
wrong. ‘
TENSIONS:

A typical debate came up in
November 1991, a year into the
current council’s mandate, when

‘Coun. Rod Clark said spending

$20,000 on another study of the
area — this time on how to
revitalize the shopping streets —
would be a waste of money.

Eight months later, Clark voted
against another $20,000 study — a
‘community services and needs
assessment’? — saying the city’s
existing staff should do the work.

Coun. Barbara Sharp said the
area was ‘‘overburdened with
people and lacking in facilities,’’
while Stella Jo Dean spoke of the
number of single-parent families
in Lower Lonsdale.

By May 1993, council was
reviewing the results of one of its
Lower Lonsdale studies.

Clark said it had been a year
since the city decided to market its
lands in Lower Lonsdale and
something should be done ‘‘as
quickly as possible.”

Council is now finishing its
mandate with a lot more informa-
tion on the area and a view that
action will be taken some time in

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The exchange was typical in that
Clark was often taking on the rest
of council, sometimes with the
support of Dean on the issue.

The city’s slow progress in
reaching a verdict on Lower
Lonsdale — and the whole Lons-
dale ‘corridor — is partially a
symptom of conflicting goals.

Councillors all want to enhance
the city’s position as the North
Shore’s ‘‘downtown core,’ but
they also want to preserve ele-
ments of the past such as the ci-
ty’s residential neighborhoods.
ISSUES:

The same concerns came up as
the Official Community Plan was
debated during the first two years
of the council’s mandate. Council
fought it out neighborhood by
neighborhood, public hearing after
public hearing.

Even now, some of the “special
study’’ areas, left open to change
after the plan was completed, are
creating tension.

TENSIONS:

Some people in places such as
the East Keith Road special study
area want to see density increased,
while others want their single-
family neighborhood preserved.

See Clark page 44

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