Georgia Straight article

North Vancouver amalgamation would solve a regional problem

by CHARLIE SMITH on MAY 24, 2009 at 3:44 PM

The District of North Vancouver has gotten a raw deal because of the way municipal boundaries were drawn many years ago.

The nearby City of North Vancouver includes the Lonsdale  business strip as well as Lonsdale Quay.  The city  can rely on businesses to cover part of its tax base, which means homeowners aren't the only geese being plucked at tax time.

The district, on the other hand, doesn't have a central business district. There are shopping areas in Deep Cove, Edgemont Village, and Lynn Valley. But for municipal tax collectors, none of these compare with Metrotown in Burnaby or the Number 3 Road strip in Richmond or even Kerrisdale in Vancouver.

The District of North Vancouver  has a strategy to address this. The Lower Lynn Concept Plan could turn this part of the district into a North Shore equivalent of Kerrisdale--a neighbourhood with lots of residents, lots of jobs, and yes, some office development.

But Metro Vancouver's draft regional growth strategy could undermine these objectives, according to a staff report going to the district council tomorrow (May 25)  night. Metro Vancouver wants to encourage office development in urban centres, and not in quaint Lynn Valley.

Lynn Valley is close to a regional bus hub, Phibbs Exchange, but it's nowhere near any rapid-transit lines.

It's going to be interesting to see how this situation develops. In the past, the City of Surrey and the City of Richmond sometimes played the role of regional rogues, going against the wishes of regional district planners.

Will the District of North Van under its suave and ecologically inclined mayor, Richard Walton, take over this role in the future by pushing ahead with incentives for office development in Lynn Valley?

When he was first elected mayor, Walton spoke favourably about amalgamating the District of North Vancouver and the City of North Vancouver. Perhaps if Metro Vancouver put pressure on the provincial government to force amalgamation, district politicians wouldn't have such a big financial incentive to turn Lynn Valley into a major commercial centre.

Of course, Premier Gordon Campbell could easily force an amalgamation through provincial legislation. The two municipal governments already share the cost of arts and cultural grants, recreation, the fire department, and the RCMP.

It's far too early to suggest that  amalgamation will ever occur. But  it could address the  regional district's  potential concerns about two municipal governments in North Vancouver each trying to boost their tax bases by stimulating office and retail development in separate areas.

3. The 1960 initiative

What usually happen when someone wants to start the City and District walking down the path of amalgamation is that opponents will deflect momentum by talking about studies, reports and other process issues.

You see this in 1960 when the process of commissioning a study was enough to torpedo the issue.

June 1960             Seven Management Consultants solicited for study proposals on amalgamation of City and District.

July 27/60              Meeting of City and District Councils to consider the seven bids, ranging from $4,300 to $29,600.  However, Mayor Angus and Reeve Frazer were authorized to ascertain whether Mr. C.A.P. Murison (former Reeve of North Cowichan and former President of U.B.C.M.) would undertake the study and report back.

Sept. 20/60           Mr. Murison’s proposal for two-part study at a cost of $5,000 (Part I) and $2,000 (Part II). 

                                The question of joint services was raised intermittently during the next few years but no action appears to have been taken with respect to the commissioning of a study or the holding of a referendum.

2. The 1957 Committee

In 1957, when we still elected Reeves, a committee was founded to study amalgamation.  I will go going through the archives and old issues of the North Shore News to see if this achieved anything.

Oct. 23/57              Amalgamation Study Committee appointed by CDNV (Reeve S.E.F. MCCrea, Comptroller F.G. Saunders and Cr. M. M. Frazer).

1. The Division

In 1907, North Van was divided, as the story goes because the people in the City core wanted fancy big city  items like streetlights and those in the towns around the core did not.

Now Mayor Mussatto states that he would never approve of amalgamation as the District is not "progressive" enough.  In other words, he does not think they would vote for him as a NDP mayor.