At City of North Vancouver, an unethical bylaw raises its ugly head again

Last year, the City of North Vancouver found a way to shut up its citizens. In April last year, the councillors shamelessly voted to ban the public from speaking about specific developments.

This wasn’t the first time, though. In 2017, the

https://www.nsnews.com/opinion/editorial-gag-reflex-3010997

That unethical bylaw reared its ugly head last week when three citizens appeared before the council to raise concerns about TransLink’s project for a 16-storey tower in Moodyville.

Seeing that all three citizens wanted to speak about the same issue, Mayor Linda Buchannan was eager to preempt their 2-minute talk with a warning: They could only speak about the project in general terms. She repeated herself three times as if she knew the bylaw would be violated.

“I just need to be clear about the process. This application is still in process. It is not yet come in front of Council, and nor has Council received any information on it,” she said.

“So according to our bylaws, the place to actually provide public input on that matter would be at the public hearing.  You’re more than welcome to come up and address the Council, but you need to speak in very general terms about your concerns and not specifics about this particular project.”

She continued: “Input that we received has to come at the time of the public hearing. It can be put in writing, but it goes to the clerk, and all that information is put together within the package in which Council receives at the time of the public hearing. So if you can speak in general.”

She invited the first speaker but couldn’t help repeat her warning: “I’m going to call you. I’m going to call you down. Laurie, have a seat. You cannot speak specifically, just generally.”

Lorie Parkinson had barely uttered a few words when the Mayor interrupted her with the reminder of the bylaw.

“I’m very disturbed by TransLink’s request to what our OCP allow here….I’ll be vague, so many stories. Okay, how about that? Gets me off the hook?” she asked, laughing.

Mayor Buchanan was in no mood for a joke.

“Well, not really, but just so things are clear, the public hearing is like a legislative process,” the Mayor retorted. “If it comes to us (in writing), it actually goes to the corporate officer and council doesn’t receive it until the time that we get the entire package that comes to council.”

Still Laurie soldiered on, getting a few words in until the mere mention of the word TransLink was enough for the Mayor to stop her.

“Okay, let me just say a little bit there. I’m not against density. I’m against the dramatic density that we’re seeing me being overwhelmed by a tall structure suddenly appearing near me. You guys have worked hard redesigning Moodyville for town homes and condos. People have bought units there, believing that the area’s character will not change. Now we’re all scared of being betrayed by an OCP amendment.  I want to thank you, Mayor for your statement in a March 2024, North Shore News article about the Trail Landings development. You said, “we’re not going crazy on height. We’re not having having tower forms.” If Trail Lands can’t have towers, the old bus depot can’t have towers either. As far as I can see, 16 would be a betrayal.”

Moodyville resident John Parkinson managed to speak without interruption, largely because his comments focused on the public engagement process. A lifelong North Vancouver resident, Parkinson criticized the city’s approach to public consultation, calling it inadequate and misleading. He and his wife have attended multiple developer information sessions, and as a professional in the mining industry with public relations training, he said he was disappointed by the process. Citing a recent example, he pointed to a brochure circulated about the project that, in his view, had not been properly vetted by the city.

“The brochure that was published was entirely misleading,” Parkinson said. “It showed one tower, only a small part of a tower, in faded pencil, and it didn’t even show the second tower. So those people that received that were misled.” He urged the city to take responsibility for reviewing materials distributed under its name and to ensure developers provide accurate information. “That was dishonest,” he said. “It was an example of something that we should not have in our community.”

Vancouver News >>