If you’re planning on attending a council meeting on the North Shore tonight, there’s a good chance you’ll be home by the time The Bachelor is on.
Only the City of North Vancouver and District of North Vancouver councils are meeting this week and both have perplexingly short agendas.
- The city is voting on whether to adopt a new rule book for use of The Shipyards. The city-owned waterfront space is increasingly popular for events and the new rules, which are mostly housekeeping, are intended to provide better clarity for organizations looking to book the space. New, however, are provisions for booking the new plaza at the foot of Lonsdale.
- Also on the dock(et): Changes in the fees charge for mooring your yacht, commercial ship or navy destroyer at the Burrard Pier. Under the proposed fee schedule: cheaper mooring in shoulder season, a new fee for longer term commercial stays and navy ships stay free.
- District council members will vote on a proposal that would make it easier for owners of large (66-foot) lots in the Upper Capilano area to subdivide them into smaller (33-foot) ones. The impetus is to encourage the creation of smaller single-family homes, which are cheaper and less obtrusive than so-called “monster homes.” At a public hearing on Jan. 16, the vast majority of speakers were in favour of the proposal.
- Council is set to approve the district’s 2018 budget including a three per cent tax increase over last year. Two per cent of the increase goes to inflation in operating costs and one per cent is set aside for renewal of aging infrastructure.
- The district will also develop an action plan to make North Vancouver more dementia friendly.
- Council is considering a plan to remove an 822-square metre strip of Kirkstone Park to build a new road and sidewalks linking Emery Place to Mountain Gate. The public consultation period includes an “alternate approval process” – a sort-of reverse referendum whereby the project will be stopped if 10 per cent of the population register their opposition with the district.
The District of West Vancouver does not meet again until Feb. 5
