From the garden of Lynn O’Malley, voice of the valley:
For the past two months, the LynnValleyLife team has been planning and promoting its scheme to blanket Lynn Valley in summertime sunflowers. We’ve talked sunflowers, mailed sunflowers, photo’d sunflowers and dreamt sunflowers. It occurred to me that amidst all the fuss, I might forget to actually plant the darn things!
There’s always something new to look forward to at Lynn Valley Days, and 2013 will be no exception!
For starters, we want to give a big community thank-you to William F. White International, which is sponsoring all of Lynn Valley Days’ cable and power needs. (And thank you to Lynn Valley’s Garin Josey, the William F. White VP who is making this happen for us!) Amongst other things, what this will mean is no more distressing generator failures, and a much better-balanced sound system at the sold-out Gala Dinner Dance. And if the weather cooperates, it will also mean some amazing light-up-the-sky special effects on Friday night!
It’s thanks to business sponsorships of all shapes and sizes that Lynn Valley Day has become the great event that it has. Please have a look at some of the other sponsors who stepped forward to support the community festival this year (list is not complete, we know more names are yet to be added!). But it’s not just businesses that make it happen – Lynn Valley Day is the result of months of hard work by host organizations Lynn Valley Lions and Lynn Valley Community Association, and many individual volunteers.
Shirin Ismail of the LVCA is once again coordinating volunteers, and would love people to step forward to offer just a couple of hours here or there. Whether you lean towards traffic control during parade time, staffing a ride on the midway or site clean-up, there is definitely a place for you to earn your karma points. The times and tasks, along with Shirin’s contact info, are listed here.
We’re definitely looking forward to watching people’s faces as they take in the new Euro-Bungee ride. Thrill-seekers will be strapped into this new attraction, then bounce on a trampoline that will shoot them 40 feet into the air – so hang onto your dentures!
People looking for more old-fashioned fun will once again be glad of the free games and races that the LynnValleyLife team will be organizing in its corner of the field. Egg-and-spoon, gunny sacks, three-legged races, ballon toss, the ever popular Hyak Rafting Super Soaker…. what more could you want for some good old family fun? (Well, if there IS something more, please tell us – it’s not too late to incorporate some other favourite races! Just email [email protected].)
Also new in our neck of the woods will be the chance to have your photo taken with our custom-painted Project Sunflower photo board (thank you, Julie Jay!) If you haven’t already picked up your free packet of seeds for Project Sunflower, please stop by and do so – we’re hoping to see hundreds of sunflowers blooming in the valley this summer!
Rain or shine, there will be something old and something new, something borrowed and …. oh, right, that’s weddings. But it holds true for Lynn Valley Days as well, and we know you’re not going to want to miss the Lions Cook Shack 7:30am Pancake Breakfast, the 10 a.m. parade, and all-day fun at the park. Keep our special Lynn Valley Days section handy so you’ll have access to all the entertainment schedules and other details as they are finalized!
Last fall, Canada Safeway and Bosa Development sent North Vancouver District some preliminary applications for a newly imagined Lynn Valley Mall area. Their plans called for high-rise towers that got the ‘thumbs-up’ from some residents, but also resulted in an immediate outcry from many people who were concerned about traffic, densification and a change in neighbourhood character.
There was enough concern, in fact, that North Vancouver District Council voted to re-engage the public in a discussion about redevelopment options for the Lynn Valley town centre area.
Now we’ve learned that Mark Sager, founding partner of Sager LLP and former mayor of West Vancouver, has been given the mandate to be the sounding board for the residents of Lynn Valley. He’ll gather feedback, engage in conversations, listen to questions and concerns, and help Bosa come up with a new proposal that is in line with what the neighbourhood wants while being economically feasible for the developer.
“I am really, really honoured to be given this opportunity,” he said over a coffee in Delany’s. “Bosa is one of the most respected builders in Western Canada. They’ve said to me ‘Go out, and then tell us what’s the right thing to do here.'”
Nat Bosa, he says, lives on the North Shore. While leasing the old Zellers space to Target might be an easy economic answer, Mark says that Nat wants to build something with more neighbourhood appeal.
Mark and a team of students are inviting local residents to visit them in the mall, where they will be setting up a storefront where the pet store used to be (across from CIBC). From Saturday, May 4 to 25, hours will be Monday to Wednesday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursday and Friday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
You’ll also find them at Lynn Valley Day on Saturday, May 25, and Mark is also hoping to snag some tickets for the virtually sold-out May 24 Gala Dinner.”At the end of the day, we have to do something that makes economic sense,” says Mark. “But Nat is completely open to hearing a range of ideas.”
Mark has introduced himself to the neighbourhood via this letter that was mailed out to 7,000 Lynn Valley homes this week. If you’re not able to pop into the mall, he invites you to email your comments to him at mark[at]sagerllp.com. (We’ll also be sure to post any of his team’s feedback forms or community information here on LynnValleyLife, so keep an eye on our Front Porch blog’s Town Planning section.)
Mark says that since his letter hit the streets, the response has been fantastic. “I’ve had many very thoughtful emails in just the first two days,” he said.
While Mark doesn’t want to give his own opinion regarding the best direction for Lynn Valley’s future development – he’s keeping an open mind as well – he does say that many residents seem to want more of a ‘village centre’ feel than a ‘town centre’ feel, one in keeping with our mountainside location. He’s very familiar with our community, he says, having lots of friends here and a penchant for our YYoga studio, and he knows it’s a place where a great many people choose to raise their families.
Mark himself was born and raised above the family shop in Dundarave, where he says his father planted flowers down the middle of the street. “I grew up always being aware of the things that make a community,” he says. He enjoys the challenge of consensus-building, loves listening, and has a reputation as someone who is patient and thoughtful – all qualities that stood him in good stead when he was the West Van mayor, and will no doubt play a major role in his new post as Lynn Valley town planning confidante!
This is the week that many of our LynnValleyLife Network members are receiving their Project Sunflower seed packets in the mail or on their doorstep (let’s hope those late-season snow flurries won’t be visiting the Upper Lynn area any more!)
Last fall, those of us at LynnValleyLife HQ had a great time reading the nominations for our first-annual Good Neighbour Award, which wrapped up at the end of December. In fact, we had such a good time, we realized we’d need another fun community initiative to keep us busy until the contest kicks off again in November!
So we put our heads together to plan a new neighbourhood undertaking – and we’re calling it Project Sunflower! We’re asking people to jump on board and plant one, two or a whole patch of sunflowers in their front gardens this spring. Wouldn’t it be great to drive (or walk, or bike) through the neighbourhood, and see hundreds of sunflowers brightening our yards and streets as summer progresses?
There’s a great new North Vancouver District program that can improve your life – and your community – all at the same time.
Whether you want to teach your kids responsibility, lose a few pounds, get your partner out walking with you more, meet your neighbours or help the environment, the new Adopt a Street Program may be just the motivation you’re looking for.
Courtenay Fraitzl, DNV Community Beautification Coordinator and (we’re proud to say) Lynn Valley native, says the Adopt a Street campaign is designed to strengthen ties not just within neighbourhoods, but between residents and their local government.
“It’s about making the District more accessible,” she says, noting that while the volunteer litter removal program does indeed help the District’s bottom line in times of tightened budgets, it’s also about residents having the opportunity to work more closely with people in the District, and have a conduit for reporting issues such as graffiti, blocked storm drains, etc.
Courtenay has been making the rounds of various community organizations to spread the word about the the Adopt a Street program. (She says she’s happy to come out to more, so keep her in mind for your next local meeting!) She encourages individuals, families, businesses, schools and other groups to consider getting on board with a street of their own. Courtenay is hoping people will aim for adopting a one-kilometre stretch of roadside, but will work to find a solution for individuals who might find that daunting
Once they have signed up for their area, volunteers are given safety instructions, reflective vests, litter-removal tongs, garbage bags and gloves. They are asked to clean up their street on a monthly basis, and to provide a brief report on how it went and any maintenance issues the District should be aware of. Teams will be recognized with an Adopt A Street sign posted on “their” street.
Courtenay, a mother of two, says she knows how busy life is for most people. That said, she’s confident the enjoyment people will get from meeting their neighbours and doing something positive in their community will be worth it.
Although Courtenay has only been at the Community Beautification post for six months or so, she is probably known to many North Vancouver families from her previous job; since 1996 and up until last summer, she was a district worker at Maplewood Farm. She obviously hasn’t cut all ties there; she gave us an enthusiastic report of all the pre-springtime farmyard activity under way at her old stomping grounds.
To contact Courtenay or learn more about the Adopt a Street program – and to get your pick of roadway! – click here or call the number on the graphic above. We had the honour of being this neighbourhood’s first street ‘adopters’, so if you see us LynnValleyLifers out patrolling our patch on the streets surrounding Lynn Valley Park, Lynn Valley Elementary School, and Pioneer Park, be sure to honk. We’ll be the ones in the uber-cool vests!
For a number of years, North Vancouver District planners worked on an Official Community Plan for the municipality, which was formally approved by council in June 2011. That OCP then became the foundation for the further planning of ‘town centre’ areas of the District, including Lynn Valley.
During both processes, the District offered a large number of workshops, open houses, surveys and other citizen engagement activities to solicit the views of as many residents as possible. However, you can’t please all the people all the time, and now that proposals for Lynn Valley’s town centre redevelopment are being announced, people have expressed their views, both positive and negative, in a variety of forums.
At the Jan. 7 NVD council meeting, staff recommended, and Council approved, a further period of public engagement before another town centre implementation plan is submitted in April. See our report of the meeting here.
Our goal at LynnValleyLife has been to communicate helpful information about the OCP implementation plans, offer explanations about re-zoning processes and the path of development applications, and ensure residents have the contact information they need to ask questions, learn more, and submit their own feedback. Those articles are being posted to the Development and Town Planning section of our Front Porch blog, so that’s a good place to start learning about some of these issues.
Now we would like to launch a forum for reasoned, thoughtful discussion about the proposed town centre development and its potential impact on the community. The quality of life in our neighbourhood is crucial to all of us, and the issues being raised are important. That said, we don’t intend to publish comments that are inflammatory or accusatory – we see no benefit to conversation that is divisive instead of productive.
We continue to support the work of the District in soliciting citizen feedback as preliminary applications and public hearings unroll over the next months, and we give a big tip of the hat to the many local residents who have given their time and attention to this process from the beginning, attending forums and submitting their views.
We welcome further feedback from citizens, and ask that they tell us their views on the proposed town centre plan by answering the questions below. Just cut-and-paste the questions into an email message or a Word document, add your responses, then send them our way at [email protected]. (Prior to possible publication, we reserve the right to edit for clarity, grammar and length.)
We look forward to hearing your thoughts, and sharing them with our readers. We’re soliciting creative ideas, a variety of viewpoints, open minds, and a collegial exchange of opinions. We know you have a lot of passion for this neighbourhood, Lynn Valleyites, so let’s see what we can do when we put our heads together!
LV Town Centre Feedback Form:
NAME:
ADDRESS (will not be published):1. What is your personal history here in Lynn Valley?
2. How familiar are you with the town planning process? Did you get involved in any workshops or open houses, etc?
3. What are some of your greatest hopes or specific wishes for the Lynn Valley of the future?
4. How well do you think the currently proposed town centre plan would fulfill those hopes?
5. What concerns might you have with the high rises, or other aspects of the town centre proposals?6. What do you see as potential benefits of the proposed higher density residences (high rises), or other aspects of the town centre proposals?
7. Any other comments you’d like to share?
Thanks very much! We’ll be interested to read your thoughts, and will put a selection of comments from a variety of residents in upcoming blog posts on LynnValleyLife.
It may be Halloween outside, but for Lynn Valley Community Association organizers, Christmas is just a hop, skip and jump away.
An enthusiastic working group is behind “A Lynn Valley Christmas,” a greatly expanded version of last year’s Christmas Tree Walk in Lynn Valley Village.
Sixty trees – twice last year’s number – will be adopted and decorated by local organizations and businesses, and festive entertainment will be provided from Dec. 12 to 23.
If you know of musical groups, children’s entertainers, or other performers who would like to be part of the fun, please contact Dave Bruynesteryn at 604-315-3283 or [email protected] as soon as possible – a schedule is being compiled right now.
There are just a few trees left, too, so if you’d like to sponsor one, please give Dave a call before it’s too late. Fifty dollars of the $200 sponsorship fee goes towards the Lions Christmas Hamper program.
Lynn Valley litter will be targeted once again after last year’s successful Neighbourhood Clean-Up around Argyle School.
The theme of the Nov. 3 grassroots gathering is “Our Community, Our Responsibility,” and it encourages families to get out with their children to put garbage in its place.
“When friends and neighbours get together and pick up litter it not only makes the streets cleaner, it demonstrates our commitment and responsibility to the environment,” says organizer Jody Labriola. Gloves, garbage bags and hand sanitizer will be provided, and there will be special rewards for the kids who come out to help.
Participants are invited to meet up at the Les Wilson Memorial Field (Argyle School’s gravel field) on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 1 p.m.; from there, teams will be dispatched to surrounding streets and green spaces. The event finishes up at 3 p.m.
All details are on this downloadable poster. Hope to see you there!
No, it is NOT too early to start thinking about Christmas – not if you’ve got some tree-trimming talent or carol-singing skills!
Last year’s launch of a Christmas Tree Walk in Lynn Valley Village was so successful, it is returning this year in even more festive form, with sixty trees up for adoption and 12 days of pre-Christmas entertainment on the menu.
There are a number of trees still up for adoption, so if your business or organization would like to take part in the fun, call Dave at the number below soon – over 65 per cent of them have already been spoken for!
And if you’re a part of a group that would like to perform sometime during the Dec. 12 to 23 period, Lynn Valley Village events coordinator Stephanie Perrins would love to hear from you. Interested musicians and performers can email [email protected] for more information.
Help spread the word so that everyone can pull together to make Lynn Valley a Winter Wonderland this Christmas. Here’s a downloadable version of the poster below, so print and post!
