A park created by referendum should only be removed by referendum.
That was the message Lynn Valley Community Association president Gillian Konst delivered to District of North Vancouver council Monday regarding the possible removal of park dedication from a Kirkstone Park path.
A 140-metre gravel path that extends east from the main portion of the park could be turned into a road, connecting Emery Place with Kirkstone before snaking north to Whiteley Court.
The removal of park dedication would be halted if approximately 6,000 district electors voice their objections to the district’s municipal clerk by mail or email by March 12.
The alternative approval process is faulty, according to Konst. In a Lynn Valley Community Association newsletter, Konst expressed the concern that other parks “could be dismantled piece by piece under the alternate approval process.”
“We are asking council to follow their policy and seek voter assent,” she said.
As the only councillor who voted against the rezoning, Coun. Doug MacKay-Dunn seemed receptive to Konst’s message, calling park dedicated by referendum: “sacrosanct.”
Following the alternative approval process, the rezoning would be contingent on council’s approval of Mosaic’s proposed five-building, 408-unit development at 1200-1250 Emery Place.
This article has been amended. The 140-metre strip of Kirkstone Park would not be rezoned, it would have its parkland dedication removed.
