Thursday, January 01, 2015

Contest offered by developer for name

BOSA has launched a contest for the "Zellers/old Library' re-development on East 27th. in Lynn Valley. They are offering $2500 to the person whose entry they choose. To learn more visit http://www.lynnvalleylegacy.com/

42 comments:

John Sharpe said...

Barry R., I have received two mentions from you that the captcha is taking too many attempts. I apologize, but I am not finding the same problem at my end. Also at least one 'anon' has brought this up. If it continues please let me know and I will look in to it further. I don't want anyone frustrated with their participation on the blog.
Thank you.
~John

Barry Rueger said...

Hi John - maybe Bosa can call the new complex "Captcha."

I'm not alone in this. On other sites there has been considerable complaints that Google's latest iteration of the system is often illegible on multiple attempts.

What's particularly galling is that I'm actually logging in with my Google account.

Barry Rueger said...

Well! It seems that despite the "Please prove you're not a robot" box appearing right under the comment box, I can ignore it and just hit "Publish.

Anonymous said...

This is a pretty good contest. One prize of $2500 for the name picked, and one prize of $2500 drawn from all entrants.

The odds are pretty good. You may enter as many times as you want.

L Leeman said...

Thanks Anonymous...I hadn't realized about the 'drawn from all entrants' part.

That's encouraging since my leading name candidate so far(
'Vibrant, Walkable, Glass Canyon') doesn't stand a chance of a snowball in a district heating plant.

How about 'Thousand Soles' though?.. kinda catchy with a nod to the transportation thing. ( you know, where Bosa plants 1000 new people, most having cars, while our planners assure us the new residents will eschew their use in favour of walking to work.

I know, I know, there will actually be TWO thousand soles...
I call poetic license!

ARGH!! Back to the drawing board.


JOhn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

How about 'doesn't fit in with the neighborhood at all but thanks for not really listening to us again'

Anonymous said...

And a sprawling parking lot and mall does?!

Barry Rueger said...

And a sprawling parking lot and mall does?!

Excuse me! It's not a "And a sprawling parking lot and mall," it's a quaint village atmosphere!

Anonymous said...

I don't think it's been a "quaint village atmosphere" for at least the last 30 years.

Anonymous said...

Uh excuse me there's still going to be a "sprawling parking lot" as you call it" even when the village" is built.

Anonymous said...

Developers will let anything turn into a rundown relic, in order to build. The Zellers closed down far too prematurely is an empty eyesore. What a shame.

Target could have moved in, and then left when nobody came to shop there. But at least there would be a store rather than a shell. I think I am kidding. ;)

L Leeman said...

ok how 'bout ..

"Nouveau Whistler"

"Haid's Heaven"

"Mountain Village Bus Depot"

"Park 'n' Pay Mews"

"High Street Pharmaceutical Zone"

"New Metrotown"

"SkyBauxz"

"Bent Bylaw Court"


Phew.

Anonymous said...

Can’t trust city hall

Re: Robert Thompson’s letter , Stick to city plans.

North Vancouver deceives you, saying there is a height restriction when you are planning to buy a property, so you then pay yearly property taxes.

The developer that you buy from promotes a non-obstructive view to get the big bucks. A few years later a new developer comes in to try to change the official community plan and proposes a tower.

Therefore the city doesn’t really value the word “restriction” and doesn’t stick with the OCP and basically is on the developers’ side and the sacrifice is that views/equity will be lost. I wonder why people still voted for this current council.

We might as well say goodbye to Vancouver and North Vancouver, for the atmosphere is changing year by year and they become a concrete jungle.

Do I regret my purchase? Yes I do. I feel deceived and have had nothing but stress since I bought my place. I was reassured at the time when I did my homework that there was a height restriction on a parcel of land I was concerned about.

So folks, when you plan to buy something and it’s not right on the water, don’t believe it when the city says there is a height restriction. They have no integrity. Don’t be fooled like I was.

Sharon White, North Vancouver

L Leeman said...

Yes Sharon. Yet another cautionary tale.

In Lynn Valley, where the circus is coming to town again (January 25 and 28), there was a VERY significant backlash against the OCP driven plans to build hirises in the middle of what is basically a mountainside village neighbourhood.

The council then altered the (never publicly approved) Official Community Plan (OCP) to make it LOOK like they listened and that they wouldn't allow big towers higher than 5 stories.

Here is how it was (deceptively) worded:
" The first
option was to enshrine in policy an absolute height limit of five storeys across the town centre. The
second option, recommended by staff and adopted by Council,
was a „flexible planning framework‟
that allows heights of predominantly five storeys, increasing to eight storeys at strategic locations.
The framework also provides the flexibility to receive community input on and review, on a case by
case basis, applications for developments that exceed eight stories.
In adopting the framework, Council set a height limit of 12 storeys for those specific locations."

This comes from DNV.org ( District website) and was adopted by council on Oct 8/2013.

It was pretty sneaky and quite clever. On the one hand they made the anti hirise crowd feel listened to,5 stories only, yet the VERY FIRST THING council did after adopting the 'Flexible Framework', was in fact to approve the overheight towers proposed by BOSA DEVELOPMENTS and that was done using the 'case by case basis' dodge.

As a citizen, if you don't like hirises, or think they are the wrong form for redevelopment, your only choice is to spend an inordinate amount of time assessing all new developments on a 'case by case' basis, which is what we hire councillors for.

The OTHER thing you could do is organize a petition demanding a public referendum or plebiscite on the growth levels that drive this kind of housing form along with a halt to further development approvals until such referendum has been held.

I think that is what ought to occur.

Sorry you were deceived Sharon. Lynn Valley has also been deceived and will also regret voting for this council in the years to come as the first thousand new residents appear, battling their way down Mountain Highway or the approach to Second Narrows every morning only to encounter thousands more new resident commuters streaming out of the new towers at Seylynn.

Oh never mind that, cuz I forgot ... they'll mostly be biking in the rain just like they do now, we promise. Right?

Barry Rueger said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Barry Rueger said...

Damn autocorrect typos!

"mountainside village neighbourhood"

OK, the mall isn't anywhere near a mountain. It's not a village, and arguably a "neighbourhood" is somewhere that you navigate on foot, and where you have strong connections with your neighbours.

We're losing a run down old Zellers, a boarded up old library building, an intensely ugly parking structure.

Anonymous said...

When was Lynn Valley ever a "mountain village"?!?!

Anonymous said...

oh yes.. I forgot again.

You are right Barry.. and Anonymous too....

OF course. Lynn Valley is not a mountain village. It is a glass and steel towered, vibrant, walkable, urban paradise, with diesel buses plying all the streets near my home every 15 minutes. Mount Fromme isn't a mountain and neither is Seymour. It's just a holographic image projected from the 'Village' next to Save-On.
Mountain Highway was just named for political reasons way back when and has no connection to traversing a MOUNTAIN. no.


That's why I moved here from East Van in 1082. Yea I forgot again.



L Leeman said...

1982

Anonymous said...

I moved here from East Van in the mid 90s. Since then the traffic congestion, sirens at all hours of the day and night, and outrageous construction noise happens regularly in Lynn Valley.

Anonymous said...

It's a city. What do you expect? You guys need to wake up and realize you're no longer living in a 60's suburb. You want a mountain village? Move to a mountain village.

L Leeman said...

Thanks Anon. 11:47. You make my ACTUAL point, which has nothing to do with mountain semantics. You see, you are right and the real problem, as I see it, is how MUCH MORE of all that do you want to create or endure or maybe CAN you create and still feel like it's still the place you moved to.

As for me, I am content with the conclusion that my answer to that is 'as little as possible'.

The OCP lays a 'vision' upon us which counts Lynn Valley as a Town Centre and a Municipal Centre.

That means it is the preferred target for further DENSIFICATION . Read the definition of Town Centre in the OCP if you think I'm off base here.

I only have to drive over to the CITY of NOrth Vancouver where densification has gone wild to know they are not building any urban paradise over there.

BOSA and othere have had their $$DENSITY$$ plans approved. No further approvals should be forthcoming until the growth and densification targets laid out in the OCP are approved by PUBLIC REFERENDUM or PLEBISCITE.

Period.

Anonymous said...

Remember that election we all participated in not too long ago? That was your referendum! The people have made their decision. You may not like it, but you don't get to demand expensive referenda just because you don't like how things have turned out. Period.

L Leeman said...

Now what you're saying, if I read between the lines, is that because we had an election, and the public chose some councillors, that everything they and previous councillors have done or planned was therefore given a mandate. That's kind of like saying nobody should object to Kinder Morgan's pipeline because we elected Christy Clark's Liberals in the election and that constitutes a mandate to do whatever they want.
By your logic we should have had single family residences abutting the Lynn River from the suspension bridge to the mouth of the creek by now rather than parkland, as that was exactly the plan of a previous ELECTED council until there was a public outcry. Presumably the election that brought that council into being was a mandate to destroy the riverfront in our most popular park and that should have been ok with everyone? Clearly it wasn't given the outcry that ensued once the plan became better known.

So yes. I DO get to demand a referendum because I think the idea that we jam many thousands of new residents into Lynn Valley and that we turn it into a Town/Municipal Centre specifically designated for densification, similar to what has happened in the City of North Vancouver, is a flawed idea that will irretrievably alter the area we live in and not for the better.

I DONT agree that because the public elected councillors, it therefore rubber stamped all of their agendas in perpetuity. God help us if that were true.

Anonymous said...

What bluster. The decisions being discussed happened prior to the last election. If people were really as upset as you seem to think they are, do you think the current council would be elected? Just admit that you're a sore loser and be done with it. Better luck next election.

Anonymous said...

Remember that only 25% of the eligible voters got out on November 19th last year and voted in the DNV.

Anonymous said...

So you don't think those 25% were a reasonable representation of 100% of eligible voters? Would the outcome be significantly different had 100% turned up at the polls?

Anonymous said...

Yes.

Anonymous said...

How so?

Anonymous said...

How not so?

Anonymous said...

Here is the deal. I moved to LV in 1966. It was a quiet little green community that still had wooden sidewalks left over from the early 1900's. LV Road was a 2 lane roller coaster of bumps and potholes. You could hike in LV Park without running into another person. I hiked the old logging roads in upper forest above the Mountain Hwy watertanks and it was absolutely silent. Frequently came upon deer in the forest never saw another soul. Certainly no bicycles or dirt bike motorcycles. It was so quiet and peaceful I would often take bedding and sleep on the fir needles in a little niche on the mountainside in the deep forest facing Seymour. In the morning I would lay in the peace and watch the sun rise over Seymour and listen to the forest wake up.

As time passed the little LV strip mall with it's SuperValu, Marshall Wells and Mountaineer restaurant turned into an enclosed mall. The original logger's homes were torn down and the big lots were subdivided into more and more housing some of it multifamily. (The only multifamily housing in LV was above Barker's Hardware and the LV Market at the corner of LV Road and Mountain Hwy.) Probably around a dozen units.

Dewhurst's on Lonsdale disappeared, the Stardust Roller Rink went away, Stedman's 5 and dime with it's 1940's soda fountain vanished and more people came. And more people came. And more people came and with them came development.

I used to know every other person on Lonsdale. No more as they have arrived from around the world.

So here's the deal. Our kids can't live in our neighbourhooods as the world has discovered our little gem and the prices are not affordable for them.

We have traffic congestion and intense use of our amenities due to population pressure - not all of which live in N. Van but many of whom come here for recreation. The tour buses in L C park tell the tale. I used to walk across that bridge alone, now I queue up to cross.

You would have to be King Canute to think that this momentum can be reversed. It will only increase.

Lots of folks have left here as our old community no longer exists - just remnants of it and those shreds are lost bit by bit every year.

After a lifetime here I'm looking too.

Sad news but reality.

Anonymous said...

Terribly sad that you have given up and are scurrying away because of big $$. We do have a democracy in place, and if you join our small but effective group, we can fight against the "development" of our community. The word development does not actually correctly define what is happening in Lynn Valley, it is more like a sell-out to developers and their cronies.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the encouragement. I understand that you are fighting for less or slower development. That presupposes the status quo as an acceptable starting place. Good luck to you.

As I tried to illustrate in my post my starting place was 50 years ago. That place doesn't exist now and given our new populations it never will again. I accept reality but that doesn't mean that I prefer it.

I'm not so much scurrying as thoughtfully exploring alternatives that will permit me to enjoy my years in a less crowded place with more lightly used open space that is closer to the one that I remember and greatly enjoyed.

I suppose it's just what one gets used to. For some of our new residents who come from highly populated areas I'm sure that they would see L V as hardly busy.

For an old time L Valleyite I recognize the landmarks but the density, pace, crowds in parks, malls, parking lots, streets cannot be rolled back and just isn't what I prefer.

I don't begrudge the change as we've been discovered by the world and I count myself lucky to have enjoyed the wonderful lifestyle while it lasted and encourage others to make the most of a great place to live.

l leeman said...

Anomymous 1:39 ......you said....

'Join our small but effective group' . Which group? How does one join?

John Sharpe said...

Anon 9:26 AM/5:35 PM,

That is indeed a heartfelt story.

I was born in North Van and did most of my growing up here. I've seen the drastic change from a community that seemed far away from things and perhaps a little disconnected from the rest of the bigger city. People didn't even have that much interest in the North Shore because the perception was there wasn't much over here. There was also a sense of a smaller community. I guess I was too young to appreciate it and by the time I did well, everyone one else had discovered it.

I was talking to a stranger at a Christmas party last month who lived most of their lives in Lynn Valley, but finally got fed up with all the development, sold their house, and moved to the Sunshine coast. They are much happier there, it's more like the old North Van.

Anonymous said...

Nostalgia for the old days doesn't do anything to address today's problems. People need housing and are going to come here whether we like it or not.

Anonymous said...

I think that is exactly what the nostalgic author said.

Unknown said...

I'm a big non-fan of the Bosa proposal (my main objection is not so much height but that it is incredibly ugly and contributes to what I call the "Mordorization" of North Vancouver) but it is going ahead and if he wants to hold a naming contest - well it's a free country and you DON'T have the right not to be annoyed.

People - there are bigger fish to fry!

Unknown said...

For the record I was born in Vancouver, came to North Vancouver when I was 2 and other than 1981-87 when I was away at grad school and my first couple of jobs after graduation have lived here (mostly District but have also lived in the City and in West Vancouver) all my life.

I remember nearly everything our nostalgic friend has referred to.

For those of you on Facebook you may want to check out You Know You're from North Vancouver if..." which is one of my guilty pleasures...

Anonymous said...




"VALUE VILLAGE"

.???

Anonymous said...

Whoever won this contest? It was supposed to be announced at the end of January. And what is the new name?