urban expansion and traffic jams
The Choice is yours!
On October 11, 1995, the residents of North Vancouver have a choice. The North Vancouver District Council is holding a public hearing. The question: should the forest lands adjacent to Mt. Seymour Park be designated PRO (Park, Recreation and Open space) or should they be developed for housing?
Special to WCWC - Tony Eberts
The quality of life of the people of North Vancouver District is seriously threatened.
The tranquil forested mountain slopes east of the Seymour River have long represented the soul of the community—a treasure natural asset envied by people living in over-crowded cities elsewhere in the world.
Many people wrongly assume that the forested lands above the existing housing in North Vancouver are part of Mount Seymour Provincial Park. Not true. They are part of North Vancouver District lands zoned "Urban Reserve".
These low-level woodlands, called the Mountain and Cove Forests by those who want to save them, have been used extensively as a park by many people for many years. Because of the gentle terrain, the area is ideal for everyday use by families for exercise, unwinding and a wide assortment of outdoor hobbies and activities.
But, despite overwhelming public support for preservation, there remains a threat that these wild yet accessible woodlands will be destroyed to make way for urban sprawl.
Most North Vancouver citizens enjoy living where they do because the residential and commercial areas are nicely balanced by green space—the unique, wildlife-rich forests with their networks of trails literally in their back yard.
But these values clash with pro-development world views. "In wilderness is the preservation of the world," said Henry David Thoreau. "People don't necessarily want wilderness," says North Vancouver District Mayor Murray Dykeman, who voted against even considering rezoning these lands to PRO.
Not many people of Mayor Dykeman's generation still cling to the old myths and slogans from the days when it was thought that our forests and wildlands were unlimited and inexhaustible. In the 1950s and 60s the cry was "develop or die".
Today, most have seen the horrors of out-of-control urban development and the timber industry's rampant destruction of forests, and recognize the need to save the few quiet, green places that luckily still survive near large population centres.
Citizens of North Vancouver have a history of battling to keep their green spaces. In 1991 they fought hard to successfully quash a housing plan that would have taken over the green space adjacent to Lynn Canyon Park.
Similarly this spring, more than 10,000 North Vancouver District residents signed a petition calling for a halt to proposed housing developments that threaten the Mountain and Cove Forests and for designation of these lands as PRO.
Because of this outcry, the North Vancouver District Council ruled (with only the mayor opposed) that park status for the forest should at least be considered. But since then, developers and land speculators have been putting on pressure propagating the belief that urban growth is inevitable and that North Vancouver has to shoulder its share. PRO zoning, despite the strong support shown so far, is not assured.
But where is it written that North Vancouver's readily accessible and irreplaceable forest lands MUST be sacrificed in order to crowd in 10,000 more people into North Vancouver?
You can't put a dollar value on what will be lost if the green heart of North Vancouver is bulldozed away to be replaced with an estimated 2,150 housing units.
The Greater Vancouver Regional District planners forecast a growth rate for the whole Lower Mainland area of about two percent per year up to the year 2021. This growth can be met without destroying anybody's forests!
Famous Knee Knackering North Shore Trail Race
Already 295 acres of forest land adjacent to Mount Seymour Provincial Park are being destroyed to make way for 750 housing units. The rest of the adjacent forests—the Mountain and Cove Forestland—cover nearly 1,000 acres, an areas about the size of Stanley Park. They are more important to North Vancouver residents and the rest of the people living in the Lower Mainland as a place for peaceful outdoor recreation than as another bedroom community.
The pro-development clique claims that sale of municipally owned forest land to developers will bring a bonanza of as much as $300 million into municipal coffers.
However $300 million doesn't go very far when you consider the long term cost of providing the schools, roads, sewers and other basic services for another 10,000 residents.
A recent survey by the real estate industry found that new home buyers rated proximity to hiking and biking trails third on a list of 39 features they would pay extra to have. Quality of life is important.
There is currently a very high ratio of motor vehicles per household in North Vancouver District. Already this contributes to lower air quality and causes commuting problems. What happens if the population suddenly increases by 10,000 more people?
No doubt the development-minded will claim that Seymour and Deep Cove residents are showing the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) syndrome when they oppose this proposed urban development.
Remember, real estate developers and promoters come and go, but today's residents will be left to live with added congestion and lower quality of life. If you don't look after your own neighburhood, who will?
