January 6 Council In Focus

First meeting of 2026 looks to the trees

Lions Bay Council's first meeting of 2026 got off to a bumpy start when three of four Councillors declined to participate in the usual 6 p.m. closure of the meeting to the public.

In the heavy silence that followed the failure of the motion to move into a closed session, Chief Administrative Officer Ross Blackwell made reference to  emails Councillors had received "regarding Battani", and suggested that if Councillors wished "some deeper conversation" about the topic that they could facilitate that later in the meeting.

Councillors are required to keep any material discussed in closed meetings confidential, which hampered further public discussion. Mayor Ken Berry said that the meeting topic was "an important matter that warrants a timely response," and said he was putting Council members "on notice" over declining to meet December 17 and again this evening.

While clearly hampered by the privileged nature of the subject matter, the three Councillors who voted against the motion expressed dissatisfaction with the short notice and insufficient background material presented prior to the calling of special meetings.

The open portion of the meeting resumed as planned at 7 p.m. with all present at the table, apart from Councillor Jaime Cunliffe, who attended online. About 20 residents took part in the meeting, both online and in person.

Before the meeting opened officially, Berry introduced Eric Villeneuve, the new Director of Operations. Villeneuve, who took over the role on January 5, noted that he comes to the position as a civil engineer who has worked for both the Districts of West Vancouver and North Vancouver over the past decade. "My focus for my career has been municipal infrastructure, so watermains, surveying, drainage, infrastructure, so Lions Bay is right up my alley."

Berry welcomed Villeneuve and thanked outgoing Director of Operations (and former mayor) Karl Buhr. "As previous mayor and Works Manager, Karl has done a fabulous job, and I'm sure all of us can join in and thank Karl for all his work and devotion to the community."

The adoption of the evening's agenda took a full thirty minutes, primarily due to the heated discussion that arose over the inclusion of minutes for the special council meeting called on December 17 that did not, in fact, take place, due to a lack of quorum. (Three Council members must be present for a meeting to go forward.)

After much discussion, Deputy Corporate Officer Kristal Kenna clarified that in the past, if a meeting did not make the required quorum, the minutes of the non-meeting were not brought back before Council. However, she noted that advice has been received from Village solicitors Lidstone and Company that best practices should acknowledge that an attempt at a meeting had been made, even though there can be no formal minutes taken.

After a few other subtractions, including a draft of the 2024 Annual General Report that appeared in the HTML version of the minutes, but not in the PDF version, the agenda was approved.

Public Participation

A number of residents appeared in person and online to speak to a tree-cutting application on Periwinkle Place, in Lower Kelvin Grove.

Long-time Sweetwater Place resident Paula McLaughlan spoke out against the removal or spiralling of the trees in question, noting that the trees provide a green screen and act to absorb highway noise to their home.

She was followed by her husband Bruce McLaughlan, who opened by saying that he had received a legal demand that he withdraw his letter of opposition to the tree application to Council. After a brief direction from Blackwell that he confine his remarks to the tree application, McLaughlan reiterated his opposition to the spiralling of the trees, and invited Council members to view the site. The McLaughlans' letter can be found on page 25 of the evening's agenda.

Periwinkle Place resident Liz Bell also spoke against the tree application, noting the trees "are mature public trees that perform an important and ongoing function for the surrounding neighbourhood." She said that while spiralling the trees would benefit the view of the applicant, "public function matters. Neighbourhood impact matters. Precedent matters. In this case, the benefit is narrow and private, while the cost is shared and permanent. That imbalance is exactly what the bylaw is intended to prevent."

Bell's letter can be found on page 27.

Applicant Rob Peebles spoke in support of his application, (page 15). He said the Douglas Firs in question are not significant according to the bylaw, "either by species or diameter." He noted that the trees block views and impact municipal infrastructure such as sewer and water lines, and that they overhang a trail, where "limb shedding is a recognized hazard of fir trees." He pointed out that the majority of neighbours are in agreement with his proposal, and asked that Council defer a decision until viewing the site themselves.

Online, long-time Sweetwater Place resident Janice Spencer spoke in favour of the tree committee's recommendation, and noted that six of the nine neighbours canvassed in the area are in support of the application.

Staff Reports

• Councillor Michael Broughton moved that Council accept a Noise Relaxation request from Stephanie Frankel for a wedding taking place on August 2 at 17 Brunswick Beach Road. The request to relax the noise bylaw until midnight was approved.

• In light of the evening's response to the tree cutting application from 45 Periwinkle Place (page 15), a decision was made to table the application until a meeting of Council members could take place on site.

• A second tree cutting application from 135 Oceanview Road (page 33) was considered. In this case there were no neighbours in opposition, and the motion carried.

• The final tree cutting application of the evening came from 220 Isleview Place (page 46), again with no neighbours in opposition. The motion to accept the application passed. Councillor Neville Abbott noted that the bylaw indicates the applicant address whether any of the trees in question are considered significant (defined in the bylaw as: any tree that is of particular significance to the Village, due to size, age, landmark value, cultural, ecological or social import, trees planted by the Village on boulevards, and any tree that is protected as wildlife habitat." Abbott said that in future, this question should be answered as a part of the application.

Correspondence

Public correspondence received December 5-18 (beginning on page 74) opened with a letter from Metro Vancouver Chair Mike Hurley regarding an update to the Regional Housing and Transportation Cost Burden Study. Abbott said the topic doesn't affect Lions Bay, and does not require addressing, as it is not relevant to the community.

Others included:

• Member of Parliament (Vancouver East) Jenny Kwan seeking support for her private members bill the "No-More-Loopholes Act", which seeks to it close the longstanding loophole that allows Canadian-made arms, components, and military technologies to be exported to the United States without permits, risk assessments, or transparency. Kwan notes that the bill is "essential to stop Canadian arms from being used to violate human rights abroad" (page 77). Broughton spoke in favour of Kwan's private member's bill, but other Council members agreed the scope was out of their purview, and declined a response.

• MP Patrick Weiler (West Van Sea To Sky) regarding strengthening federal leadership in emergency management. Weiler notes the public engagement period is now open and will remain open until February 28. (page 86). Abbott pointed out that this is a federal request, and noted that Council's concern has been that the province has been downloading responsibility onto municipalities when they are financially unable to cope. He identified this engagement period as an opportunity to offer a response. Blackwell noted that he had been in communication with a consultant who is preparing a report for Metro. Council agreed that Blackwell could create a draft with input from Emergency Program Coordinator Mary Brown, and that Council could address it at their Committee of the Whole meeting next week.

• Mayor Surinderpal Rathor of Williams Lake wrote to register his community's opposition to the Professional Reliance Act (page 87).

• Mayor Doug O'Brian of Parksville also wrote to register his community's opposition to the Professional Reliance Act (page 87).

• Marie-Terese Little, Mayor of the District of Metchosin, added her concerns to the Professional Reliance Act (page 91).

• Mayor Ron Paull of Quesnel wrote seeking support for his city's initiative to save the Prince George-North Vancouver railroad (page 93).

Resident Correspondence consisted of a letter from Teresa Medina on behalf of Lions Bay Fire Rescue thanking Council for their support of the pancake breakfast event. (page 95).

Other Matters

• Minutes from the regular Council meeting of December 9 (page 5) were approved.

• With regard to the proposed trail race, (Action Log item 339, page 14), Kenna noted that she had connected the race organizer with Search and Rescue (LBSAR) members for further discussion.

As there was no further public participation, the meeting adjourned.

The next regular meeting of Council is scheduled for January 20, with the open portion of the meeting beginning at 7 p.m. A Committee of the Whole meeting is set for January 12 at 6 p.m., however it is expected to be closed to the public.

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