There’s a price to be paid for improved traffic infrastructure, and the District of North Vancouver will be paying in park – unless the electorate objects.
Council voted to give up 34,848 square feet of Lynn Canyon Park above the highway between Lynn Creek and Mountain Highway as part of the district’s contribution to the $198-million Lower Lynn Interchange Project during Monday’s meeting. The project aims to ease traffic via a new east-west connecter, a new Highway 1 bridge and an off-ramp at Mountain Highway.
District policy is to remove dedicated parkland only through a referendum, Coun. Megan Curren noted. However, the highway project is too far ahead to reverse course, she said.
“The ship has sailed,” said Curren.
Council cannot transfer dedicated parkland without the approval of district voters, according to B.C.’s Community Charter. That approval can come from a referendum or the alternative approval process, in which the transfer is scrapped if 10 per cent of electors dissent.
Given the “considerable cost and time of a referendum,” the alternative approval process is recommended, according to a district staff report. While the district’s corporate policy indicates a preference for the referendum route, that policy is “self-imposed and is not binding,” according to the staff report.
The alternative approval process is a “complete failure of policy,” according to council watcher Lyle Craver.
The entire project would be delayed for a year if not for the removal of the parkland through the alternative approval process, responded district chief administrative officer David Stuart.
The project is the most significant piece of road work in years and offers the hope of improved transportation, according to Coun. Jim Hanson, who defended the use of the alternative process.
The alternative approval process is intended to be employed by council when a project benefits the wider community, Coun. Lisa Muri said.
“We certainly do not want to delay this project,” Muri said.
Approximately 6,250 voters would need to submit electoral response forms by May 15 to stop the transfer. Electoral forms are scheduled to be available April 5.
Noting the ongoing climate crisis, Coun. Mathew Bond said he would reserve judgment on the benefits of the highway project. Bond also asked if there were plans to offset the lost park in the future.
Lynn Canyon Park was dedicated parkland in 1991 through a referendum.
The park land is included in the district’s $54-million contribution to the highway project.
Mayor Mike Little did not attend the meeting.
