A stone gatepost marks the entrance to the 875 Wellington Dr. in North Vancouver. file photo Mike Wakefield, North Shore News
Staff at the District of North Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»will soon have to decide whether to subdivide a rare, estate-sized single-family lot in Upper Lynn Valley into a nine-house cul-de-sac.
The former Donovan estate at 875 Wellington Dr. sprawls 1.14 hectares (123,000 square feet), covered mostly in dense forest. Eden Pacific Developments is hoping to build nine strata homes on the lot.
But, unlike most decisions by a municipality, this is not council’s decision to make. Under provincial law, strata subdivisions are delegated to an appointed “approving officer.” In the district’s case, that officer is Dan Milburn, general manager of planning, properties and permits.
Milburn appeared before council Monday night to solicit individual members’ opinions on the proposal but stressed they could not tell him what to do. Council’s opinions on the matter are to be given the same weight as the more-than 100 members of the public from the surrounding neighbourhood already invited to give comment.
Coun. Jim Hanson said he personally wasn’t in favour, in large part, because of the type of development being proposed.
“I think at the moment we have enough single-family lots in the District of North Vancouver. That’s not what’s lacking. What’s lacking is affordable, family housing. Ground-level townhouses. The missing middle,” he said.
Coun. Lisa Muri said she too couldn’t see how it would be in the public interest to clear-cut a large lot of trees for more homes.
“I have never supported subdivision or densification on greenfields in 22 years as a councillor and 35 years as a community activist,” she said, saying council should stick with the guidelines in the official community plan and focus growth on the town centres.
Mayor Richard Walton, however, had a more nuanced approach.
“This property will have development on it. In my view, there’s no question,” he said. “I’m somewhat on the fence here. I think this is a very sensible approach to it, providing three green buffer zones all around it.”
The district already denied one attempt at subdividing the lot into 13 properties in 2015, shortly after a legal dispute between the district and the estate of the property’s original owner who had left the land to the District of North Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»in her will on the strict condition that it be used as a park and that the district forgive almost $75,000 in deferred taxes. The executrix of the estate, the owner’s daughter, had legal discretion over whether to carry out the bequest and declined. The district sued and lost in court.
The reasons given by the approving officer for rejecting 13 new single-family lots in 2015 was it would “create unacceptable service and infrastructure capacity issues, particularly in relation to downstream storm drainage and sanitary drainage” and that it would be inconsistent with the official community plan, which targets 75 to 95 per cent of new units to be built in the district’s four town centres – Lynn Valley, Maplewood, Lions Gate and Lynn Creek.
The land was sold in May 2016 for $5.5 million, just a shade more than its 2016 property assessment.
“Rare opportunity (perhaps the only opportunity) to purchase almost three acres of prime residential real estate in Vancouver,” marketing material for the property boasted at the time. “Potentially 13 lots if subdivided!! Please verify at the District of North Vancouver.”
The property owners could build a single home on the property to a maximum size of 4,359 square feet (not including the basement).
Milburn has two months to issue a decision once a detailed application has been filed by the developer.
