INTEGRATED LANDSLIDE RISK REDUCTION IN AN URBAN SETTING - DISTRICT OF NORTH VANCOUVER

The District of North Vancouver (DNV) is located on sloping terrain interspersed with many creeks. Sandwiched between the Coast Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, the DNV is prone to frequent and intense rainfall events. A fatal landslide in 2005 prompted the initiation of the Natural Hazards Management Program, allocating funding to risk assessment/mitigation, and providing greater public access to hazard and risk information. A risk-based approach to the management of natural hazards focuses on both the likelihood and consequence of natural hazard events such as landslides, debris flows, wildland-urban interface fires, severe storms, flooding, earthquakes.

As part of the new Official Community Plan, Council adopted a bylaw designating Natural Hazard Development Permit Areas (DPAs), intended to guide land use planning and redevelopment of existing structures in potential hazard areas. The Slope Hazard DPA guidelines provide an overview of the types of slope hazards that may be present and the process that should be followed in assessing hazard, risk and potential use of the property. This includes a requirement that the Engineer or Geoscientist retained by the developer follow the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC professional practice guidelines.

An important part of the risk evaluation phase is comparing assessed risks with the DNV’s risk tolerance criteria to make the statement “safe for intended use”. The DNV's process in establishing risk tolerance criteria considered a number of factors such as individual and societal values, engineering practices and assessment standards. A community-based volunteer task force received educational sessions, researched risk tolerance, consulted with the broader community and made recommendations to Council. The resulting policy is implemented when reviewing development proposals for new development, major renovations and subdivisions in slope and creek hazard areas.

The DNV is committed to open and transparent governance. The GeoWeb Hazards application visually indicates areas of the DNV that are prone to natural hazards, and the field study reports layer shows areas where hazard and risk assessments have been completed. Reports can be downloaded directly from the GeoWeb site and a report can be generated for each property.