The District of North Vancouver will soon be considering a six-storey mixed use tower in the Maplewood neighbourhood, although the project could be headed for a rough landing at council.
Council voted 5-2 Monday night to give first reading to a rezoning bylaw that would allow developer Maplewood Partnership Ltd. to build 144 condos, 28 rental apartment suites, 21 townhouses and just under 10,500 square feet of commercial space at 229 Seymour River Pl. and 2015 Old Dollarton Rd. The midrise would replace an existing Maplewood Plaza and 28 rental suites. Of the new rental units, 10 would be offered at below-market rates.
Although the majority on council were in favour of sending the project to a public hearing, they did so with some deep concerns.
For Coun. Roger Bassam, it was the relatively small amount of commercial space in an area council is hoping to see become a new centre for jobs on the North Shore.
“I’m not interested in residential development. I’m interested in economic development,” he said.
The sentiment provoked rare agreement from Coun. Lisa Muri, who sits opposite Bassam at the council table and opposite him on most issues.
“This area is our job centre, we need to project that. This is just more of the same, expensive townhouses, expensive condos and I just think that we are too early moving forward with this given that we have not signed off on what is happening in Maplewood as a whole,” she said.
With an eye to the foreseeable “demovictions” that would happen to the existing 28 tenants, Coun. Doug MacKay-Dunn said he would be looking to see what “exactly is the proponent going to do for those who are going to lose their homes?”
Coun. Jim Hanson said he could not vote to advance the project any further until the district had completed its official community plan implementation review, which is now under way.
Hanson and Muri voted against sending the project to a public hearing.
Council split along similar lines for a later vote on 88 townhouses at 1886-1956 Belle Isle Pl. and 2046 Curling Rd. in Lower Capilano. That project will go to public hearing as well.
