Scrapped North Vancouver condo project to go ahead

A controversial condo development is going ahead in North Vancouver, just months after North Vancouver City Council first voted to block the proposal.

The council voted four to three in favour of Onni Development's Lonsdale Avenue proposal following a public hearing on Tuesday night.

Onni had yanked the proposal off the table in December after a fiery first public hearing, and a close vote by city council to deny the rezoning application for the development at 13th Street and Lonsdale Avenue.

North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto says the developer made significant revisions to its plans in the time between the two public hearings.

"I had a long talk with the applicants after they decided to pull out, and said that the will of council was for them to come back for a second public hearing," Mussatto said.

"They decided to do that. We went through that over the last couple of nights, and I am pretty confident now that they are going to deliver on what they said and there is a certainly a lot of benefits to the city — over $17 million worth."

Mussatto said one of the major changes that will lessen the impact of the project on local residents is a change in the traffic plan, which moves truck loading zones and vehicle access from 14th Street to a new 13th Street entrance.

Mussatto acknowledges that the development has drawn a lot of criticism, but he feels the city is now moving ahead in a positive direction.

"We're glad we've made a decision. People want to move forward. They don't want to dwell on having this over their heads. They wanted us to make a decision one way or the other, and we've done that," he said.

The rezoning approval two towers will contain 344 condos. It will also bring 40,000 square feet of office space, a grocery store, a childcare facility, and a small number of social housing units.