The City of North Vancouver is ready to lend support to the commercial area on Queensbury Avenue as the neighbourhood around it adapts to a growth spurt.
A report put together by the North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce and Economic Partnership North Vancouver that aimed to get a sense of the business pulse on Queensbury was recently delivered to council and discussed at a meeting July 10.
Last year, informal conversations were carried out with owners or managers representing nine of the 16 businesses in the commercial area, which is located between Sixth and Seventh streets on Queensbury Avenue about a block away from Keith Road.
Three common themes from the report on those conversations were identified, including a low awareness of the retail area, challenges when it came to accessing the area – largely due to a lack of parking and the high volume of traffic – and a need for neighbourhood beautification.
Nicole Robins, who owns Sprout Organic Market on Queensbury, said she loves the commercial area’s neighbourly feel, but admitted that awareness of the area could be improved.
“It’s really great because it’s really quaint, but for people driving by on Keith they don’t know what’s here,” Robins said.
A solution proposed in the report would be to designate Queensbury with an official business area name, similar to the name branding in places such as Lower Lonsdale or Edgemont Village.
“It’s great that the city has now been presented with this because it might get the ball rolling and really get some traction,” she said. “It would allow us as a group to market ourselves as whatever we name ourselves and it might just start to creep into the consciousness of consumers on the North Shore and they’ll say, ‘Oh, I know where that is.’”
Queensbury business owners also identified the North Shore’s traffic woes and a lack of area parking as challenges.
Kathryn Davenport, who owns Queensbury’s longstanding British Butcher Shoppe, said the number one concern was increased traffic, often due to a constant stream of development and construction along Keith Road.
“When there is the tiniest problem on the Ironworkers (bridge) we are impacted, as Keith Road can quickly become impassable right up to and past Queensbury. Even regular afternoon rush hour now impacts us,” Davenport said. “We are hearing complaints from our customers regularly. Many now avoid visiting us in late afternoon.”
During the council meeting, Coun. Linda Buchanan said she knew the Queensbury area well and that in the wake of the Moodyville expansion and other developments the report’s recommendations would help the city support the business area.
“Despite the fact that they don’t get a lot of traffic per se, other than perhaps local, they have really done a really good job,” Buchanan added.
According to the report, some respondents also noted that the area could benefit from a municipal investment in beautification, such as general streetscape improvements, like banners, planters, and greenery. Among the report’s recommendations, two of the easiest to accomplish short-term fixes council was encouraged to look into were supporting Queensbury with a business area name rebrand and erecting signs on Keith Road and East Third Street to identify the area.
“Given what’s happening along our networks and along Moodyville, this is an excellent opportunity to support them and look at some of the things we can do from a low-hanging fruit perspective,” Buchanan said.
