The future of the City of North Vancouver's "midblock" area continues to be debated at council.

At the July 20 council meeting, one 300-block redevelopment was approved and another turned away.

The first proposal, at 367 East 11th St., is to subdivide a 60-foot corner lot into two equal parcels and build a house on each new lot. Each house would also have a secondary suite. The homeowners plan to raise a young family in one home and relocate an older parent into the other, they said. Only one neighbour came to speak at the public hearing, and she spoke in support of the plan.

City councillors approved the application 5-2, with Couns. Rod Clark and Pam Bookham dissenting.

Most of the nearly two dozen people in council chambers were there to comment on the second proposal, at 302 East 12th St.

In this application, the owner wanted to build a 3,600-square-foot duplex infill next to an existing 92-year-old house. The house will be retained and have a secondary suite installed, creating a total of four units on the lot which would then be stratified.

"He does not have the personal experience of living in our neighbourhood," Wendy Morrison said of the developer, John Lopez. "He has not seen the rush hour traffic jam on St. Andrews, the difficulty of getting into the traffic circle, the smashed curbstones, the car that took out the power pole in front of my front yard or the high-speed police chase through the traffic circle. We are over-densifying this neighbourhood to our vast detriment."

"My children today are 20 years old," said lifelong resident Enza Eppich. "If they choose to live in the City of North Vancouver they have to live in something like this." Eppich said Lopez's efforts to retain and restore the character house were enough for her to support the duplex.

City councillors rehashed a debate that has come up several times this year: whether or not the 2005 decision to permit duplexes in the area constitutes a city guarantee against further densification.

Bookham and Clark joined Coun. Bob Fearnley in insisting it does, while Mayor Darrell Mussatto and Couns. Craig Keating and Mary Trentadue countered that this was never enshrined in any city policy documents. While Lopez's project required a rezoning, it is within the requirements of the official community plan.

Coun. Guy Heywood, who was not on council during the 2005 debate, said he liked the design but felt a single unit home would be more appropriate. He joined Bookham, Clark and Fearnley to vote down the project.