Dear Editor:
The March 24 edition of the North Shore News reported on the unanimous vote by the District of North Vancouver council to cease the consideration of applications for development in the Seymour area due to concerns about traffic congestion and resultant gridlock.
Coun. Doug MacKay-Dunn was reported to be "happy to stymie development in Seymour."
Coun. Roger Bassam was reported to note "traffic problems, emphasizing the need to alleviate the nightmare faced by commuters.
"Coun. Alan Nixon was quoted as saying "I'm not eager to see too much more development happen at Seymour until infrastructure and the transportation network can tolerate it."
I am puzzled. There appears to be great concern regarding traffic congestion secondary to development in the Seymour area, while this issue appears not to be seen as a significant concern for the Lynn Valley and Seylynn areas.
Proposed redevelopment of the Lynn Valley shopping centre includes the construction of two 12-storey buildings, and one each of eight, seven, six and four-storey buildings, for a total of 399 residential units.At the April 15 public hearing regarding this redevelopment, the attendees were made aware that further development has either been approved or is being considered for Lynn Valley. At the Lynn Valley United Church site, north of Lynn Valley Road, the construction of 75 units has been approved.New applications being considered include 35 units on Draycott Road, 196 units at the Safeway site, and 236 units at Mountain Court.At present, 108 residential units are under construction at the corner of Mountain Highway and 27th Street.In the Seylynn area, there are three towers of 24-, 28-and 32-storeys being constructed, which will include 790 residential units.
This equates to 1,839 residential units either under construction or being considered in the Lynn Valley and Seylynn areas.Travelling on and off the North Shore has become extremely challenging, especially during the rush hours.I fear that the addition of this large number of residential units to our community will produce gridlock on our roads, in addition to air and noise pollution.
These developments will not only affect those individuals living in the Lynn Valley and Seylynn areas, but will affect all citizens of the North Shore.
To ensure sensible growth, a traffic impact study assessing travel on and off of the North Shore and an assessment of the air and noise pollution that increased traffic will produce for the entire DNV must be undertaken before the consideration of approval of further developments throughout the DNV.The creation of a Los Angeles of the north is undesirable.
The mayor, councillors and planning department of the DNV must consider and ensure the future livability of our wonderful community.
Karen Wlock
North Vancouver
