Out, damned spot rezoning!
That was the reaction from a host of neighbours June 11 as City of North Vancouver council narrowly approved what may be a precedent-setting subdivision, cutting the 50-foot lot at 523 East 5th St. into a pair of 25-foot lots.
The change is “totally wrong” for the street according to neighbour Bill Mason, who said he was astonished to see the application proceed without wider analysis.
“Nowhere in any of the reports or literature presented by (the city planning department) is there any support for the status quo,” Mason said.
The status quo isn’t a viable option to live on the North Shore, responded project proponent Shabnam Antikchi.
“It’s truly a shame that we can’t afford to live there unless we go through a process like this,” she said.
Antikchi bought the property along with her sister, Shaghayagh, in the hopes they could live next door to each other.
“We’ve invested everything and put out lives on hold for this project,” Antikchi said. “We are really hoping to get this approved because I don’t know what our other options would be.”
Council approved the subdivision in a 4-3 vote with Mayor Darrell Mussatto casting the deciding vote.
“If we can allow more people to live here, in smaller lots more sustainably, I think that’s going to be part of our future,” he said.
Coun. Pam Bookham disagreed, noting the ramifications of the rezoning.
“We are already losing a great deal of affordable housing through the Moodyville transition . . . through the three- and four-storey walk-ups that are being developed. I think we ought not unleash this particular change at this time.”
Noting that he couldn’t recall: “a finer example of spot rezoning,” Coun. Rod Clark also expressed concerns about future applications.
“It will indeed set a precedent,” he said.
Neighbour Corry Lazaravich noted that his children will “never in a lifetime” afford a home in the neighbourhood just north of Moodyville.
“If we want to do this and split the lot into two, I’m all for it, but do it for the whole street,” he said.
Couns. Craig Keating and Holly Back both said every city homeowner can submit an application for subdivision, each to be judged on its own merits.
“I think it would be far scarier were we to say, ‘We’re going to take the whole neighbourhood and we’re going to give them a new zoning plan,’” Keating said.
While noting the need to use land more efficiently, Coun. Don Bell voted against the subdivision after praising the positive relationship of the Antikchi sisters.
“It’s not often that sisters or brothers in my family would want to live beside each other,” he said. However, it’s crucial to take a “broader approach” to zoning, Bell decided.
In explaining her support for the subdivision, Coun. Linda Buchanan also noted that home ownership is “never going to be in reach” for many young people.
“This is a solution to the reality, of the pressing needs as they struggle to stay in their communities,” she said.
A city staff report noted the average number of people per household in the city has dipped from 2.7 in 1996 to 2.0 in 2016.
