A group of North Vancouver residents including more than a dozen people who live in the Emery Village rental complex have filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court challenging the district’s approval of Mosaic’s redevelopment plans for the property.
The petition was filed Aug. 21 in an effort to get the court to overturn municipal approvals for the redevelopment project, on the grounds that the public hearing didn’t meet standards of “procedural fairness.”
Both the District of North Vancouver and Mosaic Emery Properties Ltd. have filed responses to the petition, denying the claims and opposing the requests in the court petition.
Among other things, the residents allege in their petition that the municipality “advanced the development timetable” for the project to help the developer financially.
They also allege the public hearing wasn’t properly held because not all councillors were present for all three nights of the hearing, that Mayor Richard Walton incorrectly characterized the numbers of people who signed up to speak for and against the project, and appeared to control the speakers’ list to favour those in favour of the project.
They also allege that Coun. Mathew Bond has a conflict of interest because he is a member of the same mountain biking association as a senior executive of Mosaic.
In its response to the petition the district states that the public hearing was procedurally fair and “conducted in an open and fair manner…”
In its response, the municipality added that many statements in the petition are misleading, adding, “the chairperson of the hearing may make reasonable procedural rules for the holding of the meeting; no standard of perfection is required.”
The municipality stated Bond is not in a conflict of interest.
The district also characterized the claims in the petition as “frivolous and vexatious.”
Mosaic also filed a response to the petition, opposing it on many of the same grounds as the municipality, adding the petitioners “have made very serious and unfounded allegations against Mosaic” and asking that the company be awarded special costs.
