A new development is set to bring 66 units of market rental to the bustling town centre in Lynn Valley.
At North Vancouver District chambers on Oct. 19, council unanimously approved a plan to build a six-storey building at 1149-1155 Lynn Valley Rd.
While elected officials mentioned some cons with the proposal, those were ultimately outweighed by the need to have more rental housing in the area.
The successful proposal includes 53 one-bedroom units, 11 two-bedroom units and two studios. Five of the units will be enhanced for accessibility needs.
The units will be rented at market rates, which the developer has told council are projected to be around $1,800 per month for studio, $2,300 for one bedroom and $3,350 for two bedrooms.
At a public hearing Sept. 24, several members of the public spoke in favour of the project, while others expressed concerns about the driveway on the busy main street, the building’s height and some existing trees on the property.
Adding rental makes up for potential cons, council says
Coun. Betty Forbes, who originally opposed the plan going to a public hearing, said she still had mixed feelings about it.
Forbes lives a few blocks away and said she’s concerned about cars backing out onto Lynn Valley Road.
“It wouldn’t be my first choice, but after listening to staff … it appears that no matter what development went in here, we are pretty much left with one access and exit,” she said.
Something that people in Lynn Valley don’t like is the height of the project, Forbes said.
“I do think that just it could have been five storeys, but it’s six. I don’t think six is going to make a difference,” she said. “The trade off there, for me, is that this is rental housing.”
Forbes said her previous concerns about trees were allayed by an arborist who spoke at the public hearing.
“After he explained, that was helpful to me to understand that some of those trees weren’t natural trees for our area, and they weren’t necessarily in good health,” she said.
Regarding traffic, Mayor Mike Little said the major intersection at Lynn Valley Road and Mountain Highway clears for the time being, but that could change.
“As we get more density in and around that intersection, though, that’s something we need to keep an eye on,” he said.
