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Upper Lands plan goes up for public review

What say you to a mountainside village somewhere on the 6,000 acres of public and private land above the highway in West Vancouver? Residents will soon be able to have their say now that the recommendations from the Upper Lands study review working g

What say you to a mountainside village somewhere on the 6,000 acres of public and private land above the highway in West Vancouver?

Residents will soon be able to have their say now that the recommendations from the Upper Lands study review working group, which has been developing the high-level plan with stakeholders for the last three years, is going out for public consultation.

Generally, the plan foresees a dense, mixed-use village off Cypress Bowl Road occupying less than 10 per cent of the Upper Lands, with protection in place for the environmental and recreational values over the rest of the land.

Notably the group is recommending that there be no development above the 1,200-foot line and that the district should purchase the patchwork of private land above that point, something Coun. Bill Soprovich has long advocated for.

“If I remember correctly, in two votes in the last 18 years, Coun. Soprovich was the only one who supported not going above the 1,200-foot line for residential development,” he said, referring to himself in the third person. “As it comes to pass, that wisdom is found here.”

The council gallery responded with laughter and applause and Soprovich stood up to take a bow.

While council has given its stamp of approval on the fruits of the working group’s labour, it’s now up to the public to vet the high-level plan. The district has launched an online survey at WestVancouver.ca and will be holding open houses on April 11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m and April 16 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the West

Vancouver Community Centre as well as April 14 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Gleneagles Golf Club.

Coun. Craig Cameron, council’s liaison to the working group, said he’s hoping for a robust response from the community.

“I would like to urge the community to make your voices heard on the recommendations. Fill out the questionnaire online, send in emails, phone people, come to the open houses.

“Now is the time to have your opinion heard on the Upper Lands,” he said.