North Vancouver鈥檚 two mayors met at the intersection of traffic congestion and housing unaffordability Wednesday.
City Mayor Darrell Mussatto and District Mayor Richard Walton were on stage at the Seymour Golf & Country Club for the annual North 麻豆传媒映画Chamber of Commerce Mayors鈥� Luncheon.
Though the annual chin-wag with the business community is typically more about traffic and taxes, Mussatto quickly addressed the 鈥渆lephant in the room鈥� 鈥� an incident at council on December 15. When discussing elephant feet crossings for cyclists,
鈥淚 apologize for those (remarks). I apologize to the people I offended and it will not happen again,鈥� Mussatto told chamber members.
'Too expensive to live'
Down to business though, Mussatto spoke to the trouble businesses on the North Shore are now having. A survey by the chamber last month because of frustration over congestion or inability to hire and retain staff.
鈥淭hey all say we can鈥檛 get enough workers to come here because it鈥檚 too expensive to live here and if they鈥檙e going to work at a Starbucks, they might as well work at the one in Surrey where they live and not the one in North Vancouver,鈥� Mussatto said.
The city has been adding to its housing supply, Mussatto said, so that more people working here might have the chance to live here. 鈥淓very morning, there are more people coming onto the North Shore than leaving.鈥�
Walton agreed, and said the blame for traffic is often misplaced. 鈥淧eople see towers going up and they tend to light their hair on fire and they get caught in a traffic jam and link the two. It鈥檚 a lot more complicated than that,鈥� he said.
The high quality of life on the North Shore means its real estate will always be in high demand, regardless of how much supply we add, Walton said, but the district is now trying to include affordable housing in all new projects approved by council.
Similarly, the city has made progress with its new 鈥�10-10-10鈥� rule , Mussatto said.
Speeding up commutes
And there is help on the way for commuters, Mussatto said, with the North Shore Transportation Planning Project expected to produce their first report this June, which will likely include some big ideas for speeding up our commutes.
Mussatto praised Walton for his work in advocating for mobility pricing, which the province is now studying.
鈥淩oad tolling is the most effective. It鈥檚 the cheapest. It鈥檚 the fastest way to make major changes in your transportation network,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he challenge you have is it鈥檚 the least liked by the public.鈥�
Persuading just 10 to 15 per cent of drivers to carpool, take transit or avoid chokepoints at rush hour would make a drastic change, Walton said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been proven in cities all over the world. It鈥檚 tough medicine but it鈥檚 going to come whether it comes in our political lifetime or whether it comes 10 years from now. It鈥檚 coming,鈥� he said.
Things aren鈥檛 just getting harder for commuters though. Businesses themselves are bracing for a spike in their municipal taxes this year thanks to an explosion in land values for commercial and industrial properties. Walton said the district will try to set its industrial mill rate competitively with other municipalities. Mussatto said he favours shifting more of the tax burden off the industrial and onto the residential class.
For those waiting to hear whether this would be the last time the two would share the chamber鈥檚 stage, neither of the multi-term mayors were ready to say whether they鈥檇 run for office again in this fall鈥檚 municipal elections.
Mussatto said he will be making up his mind 鈥渧ery shortly,鈥� while Walton pledged he would make his plans known in the next six weeks.
