THE possibility of "total gridlock" on Marine Drive was one of the chief concerns raised by North Vancouverites who attended an open house to discuss redeveloping the Harbourside lands.
Concert Properties and Knightsbridge Properties own the waterfront lots directly south of the Automall once known as the Fullerton Fill. The land has sat vacant for many years, except for Lions Gate Christian Academy, which has recently put up temporary buildings there while it searches for a permanent home.
In 2009, the development firms asked the city to process an amendment to the official community plan that would allow 800 new homes to be built on the site in addition to the 370,000 square feet of commercial space already possible. Knightsbridge's end of the area is already zoned for a hotel but no work has gone forward.
"The challenge we have from a development perspective," Concert president Brian McCauley told more than 100 audience members in Lions Gate's gymnasium April 12, "is that the status quo for Harbourside hasn't been acceptable. For the last 10 years we have tried to attract tenants for the office uses that are permitted under the current zoning and, from Knightbridge's perspective, tried to attract enough interest to build the hotel that is also permitted. Unfortunately none of that has prevailed to date."
Maybe, said McCauley, there is "a higher and better use" for the land.
The revenue from a residential component would help pay for underground parking, said McCauley, freeing up space for various community amenities. A Knightsbridge representative added that it was "absolutely impossible" to find financing for a hotel without some attached residences, and he listed a string of successful hotel ventures in the Lower Mainland which included private homes.
"We think we can create a highly connected and unique neighbourhood," said McCauley, as well as adding $2.3 million to the city's tax rolls and generating roughly 2,100 new jobs.
Calum Srigley, a member of Concert's design team, picked up on the neighbourhood character theme and told the audience that as a Steveston resident with an office in Yaletown, he was a big believer in mixed-use communities.
"I see people I know when I go out for a walk," he said. "There are schools and children, places to shop. It is a great way to live. Mixed-use communities are indeed the wave of the future."
Srigley said he has watched Yaletown change from a predominately warehouse precinct over the past three decades, and as a result, his quality of life improved.
Peter Joyce, a traffic consultant with Bunt and Associates, said he had heard residents' concerns over traffic at previous events over the past two years.
"We certainly understand that traffic and parking are concerns for both employees in the (business) park and for residents beyond. We fully understand. We get it," he said.
What Bunt's studies indicated, Joyce said, was that the current traffic pattern at Harbourside is "unbalanced" and "employee-dominated." Workers and students arrive in the morning rush hour and leave in the afternoon. Joyce said both transit buses and opposite traffic lanes are largely empty headed the other way. The more than 1,000 residents contemplated would commute via this largely unused capacity, he said, as they would be leaving in the morning and returning at night - if they weren't fortunate enough to find work within Harbourside.
The presenters said the Spirit Trail would create a viable walking and cycling route for commuters, and Concert's presentation materials also raised the possibility of subsidizing increased transit service into the neighbourhood, particularly to connect it with Lonsdale Quay, No details were available on what that deal with TransLink might look like, and Coun. Pam Bookham later cautioned that the North Shore has "a long history" of waiting for TransLink to deliver on its promises.
Concert is also willing to provide a floating dock to allow for a ferry or water taxi service. Resident Ivan Leonard pointed out that several companies have tried to operate ferries in Burrard Inlet without success.
Several residents still felt that Fell and Bewicke avenues, Harbourside's only two traffic access points, would be overburdened, particularly when trains are crossing. What's more, they said, drivers would head north towards a section of Marine Drive which is already congested and will face more traffic when a 375-unit housing development at 720 West Second Street is completed.
Members of City of North Vancouver council have expressed worries over building condominiums, rental apartments and potentially seniors' housing so close to noisy waterfront activities. In his comments, Leonard asked if the land might be needed as a staging area for Seaspan Shipyards as it ramps up to build a series of new ships for the federal government over the coming decades.
"There's a reality here," Leonard said. "This is part of a harbour."
At the city's invitation, Seaspan will address council April 23.
A representative of the Burrard Yacht Club said that while his group is "generally supportive" of the development, "major reservations remain." Many loud marine tasks such as grinding and pressure washing are governed by the tides, he said, and that wouldn't mesh well with residential neighbours' schedules.
In the display materials, Concert said new owners would sign a covenant acknowledging their proximity to industry.
There will be another open house session April 30, 5: 30 p.m., in Westview elementary's gym, 641 West 17th St., and city council will debate the OCP amendment following a public hearing in June. If successful in changing the allowable land uses, Concert and Knightsbridge would need to go through at least one more public hearing process for building-specific rezoning.
