Nearly four years after council granted its approval, the Grouse Inn highrises can finally be built, following District of North Vancouver council’s approval of a development permit April 16.
Council voted 5-2 to allow 23- and 19-storey towers at Capilano Road and Marine Drive in June 2014. However, developer Pacific Gate Investments waited until Larco’s nearby 460-unit project at 2035 Fullerton Ave. approached completion before applying for their development permit.
The permit allows Pacific Gate to begin construction and also mandates they pay the district $4,562,500 as a community amenity contribution. That money should be earmarked for affordable housing, according to Coun. Doug MacKay-Dunn, who called on council to: “start putting money where our mouth is.”
“This is a good place to start,” he said, emphasizing the need to top up the district’s affordable housing fund, which he said currently sits at slightly more than $100,000.
Both MacKay-Dunn and Coun. Lisa Muri voted against the project in 2014. While the development permit vote is essentially a legal formality, Muri renewed some of her objections, noting the plethora of high-end residential condos being built in Lower Capilano and just across the municipal border in West Vancouver, where council is set to consider a 26-storey, 133-unit project at 303 Marine Dr.
“There’s not one unit of affordable housing in any of these projects. Not one,” she said.
While Muri expressed concerns about construction phasing, Coun. Roger Bassam noted that Pacific Gate “managed to do phasing all by themselves.”
Bassam lauded the changes in the project, which he called: “a very important component” of the Lions Gate town centre.
The total number of units has been reduced from a maximum of 280 to 258, consisting of 140 two-bedroom units, 94 one-bedrooms, and 24 three-bedroom units.
The project is also slated to include a daycare and a grocery store. Pacific Gate is tasked with widening sidewalks and adding boulevards on Capilano and Curling roads.
The project also includes a woonerf. Translated from Dutch, the term means residential area but generally describes a pedestrian-oriented plaza in which cars trickle through. This woonerf is designed to extend from the Fullerton Avenue development to Marine Drive.
The project includes 464 parking spots, 15 fewer than the district generally requires. The development exceeds district requirements for bicycle parking, incorporating space for more than 300 bikes as well as a wash station.
The 2014 debate centred around traffic, with MacKay-Dunn suggesting Lions Gate Bridge gridlock was bad and getting worse.
Coun. Mike Little, who stepped away from district council after 2014, defended the project, arguing that putting density near the bridge would shorten commutes while easing the strain on municipal infrastructure.
Mayor Richard Walton also supported the project, suggesting traffic jams on the bridge have been a common occurrence since the 1950s.
“It’s a fact of life of living on the North Shore.”
Construction on the 2035 Fullerton Ave. project, which includes seven buildings ranging from an 18-storey tower to three-storey townhouses, is scheduled to wrap up in early 2019.
