Frequently Asked Questions

An Official Community Plan (OCP) is a long-term vision document for the City. It outlines the future directions for the City of North Vancouver – as a livable, sustainable City that welcomes newcomers and it aligns with Council’s Strategic Plan.

The OCP is also a growth management tool that directs where new growth should be focused within the City. The OCP amendment and review process is an integral part of keeping the OCP closely aligned with current Council priorities and addressing emerging issues. 

A site-specific OCP amendment can be considered when there is a significant public benefit, however, amendments are usually very rare. The redevelopment of the North Shore Neighborhood House site presents a very unique opportunity to maximize the community serving hub model with co-located community services as well as affordable housing to address Council’s housing priorities. 

The current OCP land uses onsite are: School & Institutional and Parks, Recreation & Open Space. These uses will be retained in the proposed development, and an OCP Amendment will be required to allow for the proposed residential use.

The proposal includes an 18 storey tower in order to provide a significant number of affordable rental units in a form that's comparable to other residential buildings in the immediate vicinity. The current OCP land use designations of this site do not limit height, so the proposed 18 storeys is in alignment with the OCP.

The 18 storeys represents three floors of North Shore Neighbourhood House programming, and 15 floors of residential use that may provide approximately 180 units of affordable housing. Preliminary design indicates that each storey is expected to accommodate 12 units, or 6.6% of the building’s units. Each floor that is removed has a tangible impact on the number of units that can be provided. For example, if the building is reduced from 18 to say 15 storeys, 20% of the affordable units are lost.

The tower is proposed at the bottom of the site in the southwest corner to minimize and mitigate view and shade effects to neighbours. This will mean the first two storeys of the building will be below the grade of East 2nd Street.

Urban agriculture and community gardens are an important part of the City’s environmental and social network. The two community gardens on site – the Lower Lonsdale Community Gardens and Charros Gardens – will be relocated as a part of this project. 

City staff have engaged with the leadership of both gardens to start the process of finding a suitable replacement location. The City is committed to maintaining the existing size of the gardens and to relocate the gardens as close as possible to the current site. Due to the proposed timing of the phases, most of the effort to date has been focused on the Lower Lonsdale Community Garden site at the corner of East 2nd Street and St. Georges Avenue. The City is currently working with the Gardens to find a site that works for their membership, and are expecting to finalize a plan for relocation as part of the next project steps. 

In addition to finding new space for these existing gardens, the City has launched a strategy to identify new sites for community gardens and urban agriculture across the City. Right now staff are working to identify potential new locations, with community engagement starting in the fall to gather feedback on possible sites.

Two housing partners are engaged to support the delivery of affordable housing as a part of the project: Catalyst Community Developments Society (Catalyst) and Hollyburn Family Services Society (Hollyburn).

Catalyst is a non-profit society with the mission of developing, owning and operating below market rental homes that offer stable housing that is affordable to people based on their income. Responsible for the development of the first phase of the project, Catalyst is targeting the proposed housing to households that have an annual gross income of between about $30,000 and $80,000 and will be made up of singles, families, couples, seniors and people with disabilities. Also, the housing will be prioritized for people living and or working on the North Shore.

Hollyburn has a robust social mission to end social issues in our community including the provision of sustainable and affordable housing for youth, seniors, and families. Hollyburn is responsible for the development of the residential component of the 2nd phase – approximately 180 units within a tower form.

The units – mostly 1-3 bedrooms, though some studios or 4 bedrooms may be included – will fall into three categories of affordability:

• 50% of the units will be “rent geared to income”, meaning no one would pay more than a third of their combined family income towards rent;
• 30% of the units will be “Housing Income Limits” whereby the province sets a below market rent and only those who earn below a maximum household income (between approximately $50,000-$80,000 depending on the size of the unit) are eligible for those units; and
• 20% of the units would be established for individuals or families on income assistance or disability benefits.

The units are intended for tenants who are seniors, families, people with disabilities, and young adults. Hollyburn will prioritize City residents, then North Shore residents, and then people who work in the City and on the North Shore before opening the units to any eligible candidate.