This week we bring you a continuation of last week’s post. Below you will find additional samples of feedback we received via comment cards at various community engagement events on Harbourside.
“Proposal is too uniform and boring - provide more height variation….”
The artistic renderings which have been released to date are intended to give an overall sense of building scale and placement. Considerably more time will be spent refining the look of individual buildings to ensure there is enough variation to be visually interesting and avoid monotony. With the help of several architectural firms, each building will undergo separate Design Panel reviews by the City before development permits are issued. Building heights have been prescribed in the Official Community Plan (OCP), and will range from a maximum of eight or nine stories, to a low of just two stories.
“I like the idea. As presented, this would be an attractive, usable addition to the City waterfront.”
Our sentiments exactly! The whole Concert team is excited for the opportunity to create something truly special and unique for North Vancouver.
“A good mix of all is fine, providing everyone has access to the waterfront.”
We can assure you that the waterfront will remain fully accessible to everyone. Through a separate, City-led “parks process”, the exact look and feel of the waterfront and adjacent park space will be defined.
“Would need better pedestrian and vehicle access. The traffic has increased greatly on the North Shore over the years with no increase in public transportation and our main street, i.e. Marine Drive, cannot handle the increasing numbers. The existing bridges are unsafe for pedestrians.”
In conjunction with transportation consultants Bunt & Associates, the issue of traffic flow has been considered holistically within a broader examination of transportation planning. For more information on plans to address the issue from all angles, see the post entitled “Traffic concerns at Harbourside”. To read about plans to expand the Spirit Trail, an important element for pedestrian connectivity at Harbourside, see “The Spirit Trail - Connecting the North Shore Communities”. Regarding bridge safety, there have actually been recent upgrades to the Bewicke Bridge. The bridge now includes a separated pedestrian walkway, and in future safety upgrades are planned for Bewicke Avenue to make this route a viable and safe option for pedestrians and cyclists.
Watch for future blog posts where we will share and address further feedback we have received from the community.
A summary of what’s happening in the Harbourside planning process.
Transportation planning
Our transportation consultants, Bunt & Associates, have recently conducted further on-site analysis of existing traffic flow at Harbourside. Specifically, they were observing and documenting traffic flow with an eye towards how the City of North Vancouver can best optimize the evening traffic outflow from Harbourside.
In addition to the work Bunt is doing, a dedicated transportation planner from the City will review their recommendations and ultimately oversee the holistic transportation plan at Harbourside which will include traffic, parking and transit service.
Reporting to Council
Concert is preparing to go to City Council on July 22 as a “delegation”. For those not familiar, the term delegation is used to define the formal process whereby an organization or individual appears before the Council; in our case it will be to check in and provide an update on our rezoning efforts.
Development Permit Area Guidelines
The Development Permit Area (DPA) guidelines document has now been finalized and is with the City for their review before the Public Hearing, which is anticipated for Fall 2013. This document, which contains high-level guiding principles and goals for the development, has been created in collaboration with City staff, advisory bodies and Concert.
Temporary use permit for additional parking
Concert’s application for a “temporary use permit” to allow for the development of 50 on-site parking stalls at the northwest portion of 925 Harbourside Drive has been approved.
Harbourside on-site parking assessment - open house
The City will be holding an open house on Thursday, July 18 to gather input that will help them in their investigation into options for improving on-street parking within the Harbourside area. The event is being held at Bodwell High School from 4:00pm to 7:00pm, for more information click here.
For the past three years now Concert has been engaging nearby residents and businesses in order to gather important feedback which has helped shape our vision for what Harbourside could become. This week we wanted to share a sample of the feedback we received via comment cards at various community engagement events that Concert either hosted or participated in.
“What will be at this site that will make it a destination one day? What will make this a gem for the City?”
Great question! There has been considerable thought put into all the ways in which Harbourside would become a truly unique place that attracts people from across the North Shore and beyond. To learn more you should check out several of our past blog posts; “Building upon Harbourside as a destination”, “Enhancing parks & open spaces”, “Creating a sense of place” and “How public art will foster a sense of place”.
“I believe this mixed-use community complex is exactly what the North Shore needs. I am very excited about the whole concept and would like to see it developed ASAP. Can’t wait to see it evolve.”
Thank you for your support, we share your excitement about what Harbourside could become! To learn more about how Concert will contribute to the evolution of this community, check out our post on “Community phasing”.
“We need more free permanent (whole day) parking”
Parking management has been a key consideration our team has worked on in conjunction with Bunt & Associates, the transportation consultants we have retained. To learn more about the strategies which would be employed you can read “Addressing parking at Harbourside”. In addition, temporary measures are currently in place to make more parking available, see “Harbourside progress update: April 23 – May 7” for more details.
“A very valuable waterfront site should be reflected in uses that take advantage of waterfront and others should not be included (e.g. warehouses, car dealers, many offices).”
An excellent point, a world-class waterfront setting such as Harbourside is a scarce resource which should be reserved for the “highest and best use” so it can provide maximum benefit to the community. To learn more about what is being envisioned at a high level, check out our post on “Guiding principles at Harbourside”.
Watch for future blog posts where we will pick up where we have left off here and share further feedback we have received from the community.
