THEVOICE | 2 N. Van policy in question Councillor says ‘locals first’ housing plan op- poses Canadian values = By JASON GILDER A proposed ‘locals first’ pre- sales policy for homebuyers has one District of North Vancouver councillor questioning whether it offends “core Canadian values” in a municipality with a high immigrant population. Coun. Mathew Bond, one of three councillors to vote against Coun. Lisa Muri's Oct. 30 motion to develop a policy, said the idea goes against one of the country's core values, which is inclusion. “For someone new to this country to come here and then not be able to buy a place because of this policy, I just don't think that’s right,” Bond said. “Tjust don't think that's right.” — MATHEW BOND, DISTRICT OF NORTH VANCOUVER COUNCILLOR Coun. Roger Bassam and Coun. Robin Hicks also voted against the motion, which passed 4-3. Mayor Richard Walton, Coun. Doug MacKay-Dunn and Coun. Jim Hanson voted in favour. If the new policy gets approved, developers of new condos and apartments would give North Shore residents first crack at buying new homes for the first 60 days of the sales period. A ‘locals first’ policy has been tested in West Vancouver. Intro- duced two years ago, it had a posi- tive impact on the local housing market, according to Muri. “I think it did produce opportu- nities for those that live in the area, or live on the North Shore, to buy into a property,” Muri said. The Urban Development Insti- tute has been a critic of such policy and their concern was highlighted in an Oct. 17 letter to Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. Anne McMullin, the institute's president and CEO, wrote the let- ter to Robertson after he proposed a locals first policy for Vancouver. “We have been working con- structively with the city on a num- ber of policies to address the hous- ing affordability crisis and we don't believe this motion advances those affordability objectives,” said Mc- Mullin in the letter. ‘LOCALS FIRST' IN B.C. CHANGES IN 2017 o Jan. 23 District of West Vancouver tests ‘locals first’ plan for the Sewell's Marina. Oct. 17 Proposal by Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson is approved. Oct. 30 District of North Vancouver council approves drawing up of ’ ‘locals first policy. SOURCE: NEWS OUTLETS THURSDAY, NOV. 9, 2017 | EDITOR SASHA ZEIDLER Atlarge nNRTEDATTONE TAN EES japessEsSze2 3 ares Hanne : + ie he bh Development of Memorial Park is redirecting access to the White Rock Pier until summer 2018. syoNey WoRTON PHOTO Seaside city gets facelift White Rock council looks to 2045 with new community plan = By SYDNEY MORTON hite Rock council has unanimously approved a new Of- ficial Community Plan that envisions what the sea- side municipality will look like by 2045. Council's adoption Oct. 23 of the wide-ranging plan comes after more than two years of meetings in which feedback from the public helped shape what is considered "a living document." “We made sure to consult with the community a lot, which was really good, but the community thinks this is set in stone which is where the mistake is made,” said Coun. Helen Fathers. “There is no legal requirement to follow this and anyone can come asking to have it changed. The focus needs to be on steady growth.” ‘The plan calls for resi- dents to have better ac- cess to the waterfront, the expansion and diversifica- tion of the town centre, create more housing op- portunities for different age groups and demo- graphics, and add public green spaces. ‘The plan replaces what many considered an out- of-date document to guide a mu- nicipality's future growth, which is expected to increase by 23,000 to 27,000 people by 2045. White Rock's current population is 93,729. Cliff Annable, executive direc- tor of the White Rock Chamber of Commerce and a former councillor who worked on the previous com- munity plan, said he favours more highrises to accommodate the pop- “Why hide the most Jes a Bese je sy of ae oF ulation growth. “Why hide the most beautiful view in the world?” Annable told The Voice. Coun. Grant Meyer believes the plan should have called for more densification of some neighbourhoods. That way, he added, more families * * * could be accommodated beautiful view 1 in smaller neighbourhoods o” such as near Peace Arch the world: Hospital and along North EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE WHITE ROCK Blutt Road. : CHAMBER OF COMMERCE The OCP is supposed to be a living document, and it can always be amended to reflect the current time,” Meyer said. “We especially needed an up- date, it had been almost 15 years.” River District tra Fraserview resi- dents call for transportation plan = By ROBERTO TEIXEIRA raserview residents are wor- F ried the development of the massive River District water- front community in southeast Van- couver will bring even more heavy traffic to their neighbourhood. Barbara Borchardt, a Fraserview resident, said the 130-acre devel- opment is already creating traffic problems, with SE Marine Drive "becoming a parking lot during many days.” Fraserview is adjacent to the River District, which is located on the lands between Kerr Street and Boundary Road, south of Marine Way. When completed, the new community could have a popula- tion bigger than 10,000 and employ thousands of people, according to the developer, Wesgroup Proper- ties. Such an increase in population is what worries Borchardt, who was ffic over Transit upgrade requested in South Vancouver's River District. wesGroup PHOTO invited to meet with Wesgroup to discuss concerns about transporta- tion and other issues with the proj- ect. She called it "a positive sign." "My take is that this issue of transportation and transit squarely lands on the shoulders of the city lowing and TransLink," Borchardt said. Andrew Dennis, who lives in the E Kent Avenue neighbourhood, said there appears to be a lack of communication between the city, TransLink and residents, including discussion about the use of a rail line. “There is very limited informa- tion on this and what’s personally interesting is there has been no in- put sought to date by the city or ‘TransLink from existing residents who live directly on this rail line," Dennis said. Wesgroup's original development plan of 2006 identified three new bus stops in the community. The plan also called for a water taxi on the river. A passenger train on the existing Canadian Pacific rail line was to connect the Marine Drive Canada Line station with the Sky- Train station in New Westminster. “[We] continue to work with the city and TransLink to initially make sure that the busses are com- ing through the neighbourhood,” said Brad Jones, Wesgroup's direc- tor of development.