Ambleside LAP ‘stuck in limbo’
Artistic rendering of how Ambleside may look in the future (District of West Vancouver)
On May 26th West Van councillors stalled voting on Ambleside’s long-running local area plan citing an order to build more housing from the BC Housing Minister and a letter from a local residents’ group.
Perhaps the positive spin would be - pace George Bernard Shaw - West Vancouver Council never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
A quick recap: in late 2021 West Van launched the process to agree a Local Area Plan (LAP) for Ambleside Town Centre, with the aim of completing it by mid-2024. Over the last few years the plan has been debated, modified, and repackaged into three ‘streams’. Part one - apartment areas - was adopted in July 2024.
On Monday (May 26th) council reconvened to consider sending part two - the commercial area plan - to a public hearing, having deferred making a decision when it was presented two weeks ago.
Now, with the LAP roughly two years behind schedule, councillors discussed a motion to postpone the vote again, and then promptly defeated it, leaving the process suspended or in the words of Jim Bailey, West Van’s Director of Planning, “stuck…a little bit in limbo”.
Ironically perhaps Acting Mayor Linda Watt said the BC government’s recent order that West Van build more housing meant that she was “not comfortable” with proceeding to a public hearing.
Undeterred
Positive Voices would like to thank all those who wrote to council urging them to move forward, and also those who addressed councillors expressing frustration at the glacial pace of decision-making.
It’s clear that some voices are still more powerful than others in guiding the majority on council when it comes to development issues.
We will speak up again and continue to promote progress - moving on with plans for our commercial centre in Ambleside - and indeed all that makes our community vibrant, sustainable, and resilient.
Background: Read more about Ambleside LAP here
Keep writing to the council here:
ngambioli@westvancouver.ca, sthompson@westvancover.ca, mark@westvancouver.ca, plambur@westvancouver.ca, ccassidy@westvancouver.ca, lwatt@westvancouver.ca, ssnider@westvancouver.ca, correspondence@westvancouver.ca
Thank you for actively participating in our civic life,
- West Van Positive Voices.