On April 15th I attended a City Shaping Town Hall meeting at for the City of North Vancouver discussing the possibility of allowing coach houses in addition to basement suites in the central Lonsdale area. It was very interesting to hear all opinions and it was great to see such a big turnout. I think that getting involved in your own community is very important. Both voicing opinions and listening to others is detrimental to any plan's success.

The main points that were brought up in last month's meeting were that some residents were concerned about lack of infrastructure in North Vancouver to support the high density predicted, over-populated neighbourhoods, and lack of parking. On the other hand many residents found that a couch house and a basement suite would be beneficial as it could support a larger and extended family, save on child care and could also serve as a mortgage helper for those that need it. North Vancouver is a beautiful place to live and central Lonsdale is an up-and coming, highly sought-after neighbourhood. By adding more coach houses and basement suites it provides the option for a more diverse community as it provides several housing options.

The City Shaping City of North Vancouver Official Community Plan is in Stage 4: Draft OCP. This includes discussions and input on the OCP draft. They do this through open houses, focus groups, town hall meetings, and more. I thought at this meeting a lot of great points were brought up. If you would like to see a video of what happened at this meeting it is available on the City of North Vancouver's Website, or see below.

How you can get involved:

•Sign up for regular updates at CityShaping@cnv.org
• Attend an Open House
• Fill out a Feedback Form
• Review the latest Summary Reports
• Follow us on Facebook, Twitter
• Check our webpage regularly at www.cnv.org/CityShaping