An open letter to District of North Vancouver mayor and council:
Re: Redevelopment of the site of the Black Bear Pub, 1177 Lynn Valley Rd.
I am writing in regards to the public notice that has gone up in my neighbourhood about the intention of Bosa Development to redevelop the site of the Black Bear Pub, and replace this community gem with a six-storey apartment building.
I cried when I read this notice.
The Black Bear Pub has been the home for years and years of birthday celebrations, Sunday brunches, dinners where we have sat on the patio and joyously welcomed summertime, and evenings where we are simply thankful to have survived (so far) this COVID-19 pandemic.
I am appalled that this proposal might be considered at all. Yet, when talking about it with local neighbours, we feel powerless to stop it – because “no one ever wins when fighting against these big developers.”
While Lynn Valley Centre has gone through many, many significant changes in the past few years – this is truly the most devastating one of all. In recent years, we have lost our local bookstore, our local toy shop, our local small store supporting local artists – as high rents have forced them to reconsider their options. These stores, which were so unique and so loved have been replaced with more phone kiosks, larger spaces for banks, a bigger liquor and grocery store. We have the requisite Starbucks and big box store (Winners) – but our community has lost much of its character.
To take away the Black Bear Pub from Lynn Valley is without heart.
It is a place where everyone gathers to share their week with each other – teachers at the end of the week, talking about their students; students celebrating their grads; construction workers coming in to share a laugh or two, everyone sharing funny stories – sad news, farewells and welcomes, too. It is a place that has not only survived two decades but has survived two years of the pandemic, giving us all a place to go when everything else has shut down.
It has helped in our survival, in my survival.
Most of the staff have worked there for many, many years. The food they serve is beyond good. But it is the personality of The Black Bear pub and the local community friends, neighbours, colleagues and families who gather there that will be lost, in favour of yet another big building.
Is it not enough to have built all the new towers just a few steps away, with yet another proposal to tear down Safeway and build four more towers up to 12 storeys high in this very same area?
This is Lynn Valley – home to Hunter and Princess parks, Lynn Canyon, the suspension bridge, Rice Lake. This is our community. Please do not replace it all with low- and highrises.
Find another untouched neighbourhood to build these homes in. We do not have the infrastructure to support this massive influx in human beings. While other areas of B.C. show a slow rate of growth, Lynn Valley’s population grew by 8.9 per cent (double the overall average of growth on the North Shore), with nearby Lynn Creek growing by 13.7 per cent. Seymour and Dollarton areas have seen their population sink. Perhaps these would be better suited for increased densification.
Do the three mayors and councils get together in approving new developments as construction goes up as fast as humanly possible around both bridges at the same time? Something has to give.
If you want to make life better for those who live in the district, please work together to give us a good hospital that is well staffed, and roadways and public transportation that will get us to and from work, instead of approving yet another building in Lynn Valley and taking away our beloved community pub.
Joy Fai
Lynn Valley
Editor’s note: According to the development application page on the District of North Vancouver’s website here, early input meetings with the community are taking place virtually, April 6 to May 4.
