The District of North Vancouver (DNV) is a beautiful place to live, offers a diverse range of activities and provides a high quality of life, but the cost of living has climbed beyond the reach of many young adults. People aged between 18 and 35 have been leaving, and with them a proportionate representation of children. The consequences of this trend are causing changes in the District's composition and operations. Four North Vancouver schools and five alternate education programs have recently closed or will be soon closing, affecting families in those catchments. This has caused DNV Council take notice, moving it to take positive action.
On June 16th, the District released a preliminary draft policy for a new Official Community Plan (OCP), which identified several issues to improve; including diminishing numbers of young families, housing for an aging population, unemployment, traffic congestion and air pollution. To address these challenges, the District has proposed a four point strategy:

Balanced and Diverse Population

The District's proposed plan includes creating approximately 10,000 new homes by 2030. This means considering a more comprehensive mix of apartments, duplexes, multiplexes, townhomes, houses and coach houses. The District's recent move to allow detached secondary suites is a step in the right direction, but land-use policy, which currently allows only rentals, could be taken further, so that the land coach houses stand on could be subdivided and stratified. This would put home ownership within reach of more people.

Comprehensive, Densified and Connected Communities

The OCP proposes a well-planned array of mixed-use community hubs. These would include major centres, town centres, urban villages and neighbourhood nodes, each centre planned with consideration to the size of its specific community. The hubs will be designed to be easily accessed by pedestrian and bicycle traffic, and will be interconnected by bike paths.

Ecological Impact

The DNV will require new buildings and retrofits to meet the requirements of Metro Vancouver's Green Building Strategy (GBS). The GBS calls for the North Vancouver to achieve the goal of being carbon neutral in its operations by 2012.
The GSB also requires the protection of shoreline areas, natural habitats and ecological features. As part of the OCP proposal, the District will increase access to foreshore marine areas and forested areas.

Economically Dynamic and Sustainable

In order to achieve a stable and dynamic economic environment, the OCP plans to create more high quality jobs in the District. Job creation provision of more diversified housing options is intended to keep local businesses profitable and stable by supporting a steady client base, and alleviating the difficulty North Shore employers have in attracting a young workforce.

Public Input Needed

While the OCP is currently in its preliminary draft stage, North Van District is seeking public participation in the planning. To solicit the public's ideas, an interactive display has been installed at the District Hall, 355 W Queens Rd. Remote access to site details can be obtained on the District's community planning page at http://identity.dnv.org/ .
You can help shape the future North Vancouver by emailing District Hall or by phoning 604.990.2421. An online feedback form has been made available until August 31st.