WEST VANCOUVER—When Mary-Ann Booth was elected mayor by just 21 votes last October, it was clear a sizable number of residents weren’t yet sold on her platform.

Her agenda didn’t seem all that controversial: better transit and gentle development to create the “complete community” Booth thought West Vancouver could become.

Eight months later, the head of one of Canada’s wealthiest communities is facing a veritable mutiny, including calls for her resignation and those of the entire council.

At first the strife was over transit. Now it’s stormwater. But it’s becoming clear that the discontent runs deeper than any single issue.

The 42,000-person district of West Vancouver, with its gargantuan mansions and stunning Pacific shoreline, has been shrinking in population over the past decade. Rising property values have priced out workers and young families — the “missing middle” Booth vowed to woo back with better transit and more affordable development.

Yet according to Nigel Malkin, “the missing middle don’t want to live in West Van.”

The loudest response to Booth’s agenda has been a highly organized grassroots movement born in opposition to the north shore B-Line coming through the seaside West Vancouver communities of Ambleside and Dundarave. Malkin, a more than 40-year resident of West Vancouver, became the de-facto leader of the resistance.

His group, which styled itself “Stop the Road Closures,” has since claimed victory in that fight. Now the same people have taken up the moniker West Van Community Stakeholders and are hell-bent on blocking other changes Booth sees as necessary.

“The people that live here, they just want their little world the way it is,” said Malkin. “They paid five, seven million dollars to buy a house in the community. Do you think they should have to have it changed because our mayor wants to have the missing middle show up?”

Since returning from a one-month holiday last month, Malkin has joined the new fight dominating West Vancouver’s district hall: the conflict over the Five Creeks stormwater works project.

The plan was developed by engineering consultants in 2013, who determined the district’s creeks weren’t sufficient to drain stormwater during “significant storm events,” leaving at least 800 homes susceptible to flooding and erosion. These hazards are being exacerbated by climate change in multiple regions of B.C., including the north shore.

The Five Creeks plan will run large pipes underground from the Upper Levels Highway to the Burrard Inlet and is a key part of the municipality’s legally required Integrated Stormwater Management Plan.

West Van Community Stakeholders dislikes the noise and temporary road closures brought on by the project since construction began in April. The residents of 31st St., where the pipe will spill into the Burrard Inlet, don’t want to see a large tree removed from the city land beside their properties and don’t want part of the ocean access to be overtaken by a great pipe.

They also consider the five creeks in question to be at low risk for overflow compared to other creeks, like one that caused a flood five years ago that almost put the West Vancouver branch of the Royal Canadian Legion out of business.

The district’s focus on the “Five Creeks” located south of Cypress Bowl Rd., combined with the fact that the project is being funded largely by the developer of that area, makes the dissidents see the project as a vehicle for development rather than an environmental initiative.

Tens of residents showed up to West Vancouver’s council meeting Monday and admonished councillors for a lack of consultation. They insisted the council could have found a less disruptive solution to the problems with its watershed. Many said Mayor Booth and the district’s six councillors should resign.

The district has maintained its stormwater management plan is required by the region of Metro Vancouver because of the significant safety hazards posed by floods. The engineering consultants who developed the plan looked into the other options the residents suggested and determined that the Five Creeks plan must go forward, with or without the development of lands above the Upper Levels Highway.

“Council must always ensure the safety and well-being of the community above all else and they are committed to completing this project,” reads part of a statement sent to Star Vancouver by West Vancouver spokesperson Donna Powers. Mayor Booth declined to be interviewed on this topic.

Opposition to the Five Creeks project can’t be understood completely as backlash against temporary neighbourhood disruption. It’s also a revolt against the perception that West Vancouver, under Booth’s leadership, is changing.

“Council never did these kinds of things (before),” Malkin said. “All of a sudden this new mayor has come in and there are a couple of toxic councillors and they’re trying to ram through a bunch of stuff that is not what West Vancouver wants.”

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Asked whether the mentality he and his group espoused could be described as not-in-my-backyard, he said: “This is my backyard.”

The West Vancouver resistance escalated quickly, starting with the B-Line debate. After Malkin looked into the plan for the bus and decided he didn’t like the removal of parking spots along the Ambleside and Dundarave business areas, he attended public meetings on the project and handed out leaflets to like-minded community members. That’s how he started collecting email addresses and mobilizing people to come out to protest on the streets and in council meetings.

Now Malkin claims to be able to reach thousands of people over email. When residents at 31st St. thought to protest the start of Five Creeks construction last month, they already had a pool of people available.

The district ended up filing for a court order to stop residents protesting at the foot of 31st St.; according to court documents, the protesters numbered between two and 20 for two weeks. The court order was granted, but the protests didn’t stop, and the district filed for the court to authorize West Vancouver police to enforce the order on Tuesday.

One of the councillors that has been most vocal about the need for the Five Creeks project is Craig Cameron, a lawyer and third-term councillor.

Reached by phone Wednesday, Cameron recalled being in high school in the 1980s when a friend from nearby Lion’s Bay lost two brothers to a bad flood. To him, that proves that the stakes can’t be higher.

“I’m not going to let a disaster happen on my watch if I can help it,” he said. “There’s absolutely no doubt that it’s inconveniencing — but we just can’t build infrastructure without disruption.”

Cameron said council is determined to continue working to the best of its ability but he sees the opposition has taken a toll.

“I’m certainly concerned about the impact of these activities on the morale of staff,” Cameron said.

In some cases, the city has been fielding thousands of emails.

“The community isn’t hostile, but certain members of the community are hostile. It doesn’t take very many people to make life difficult.”

Life may well continue to be difficult for the city, as Malkin expects the dissent will continue. Now, he says, it’s grown well beyond him.

“My intention was never ever to stop the B-Line from going to Dundarave. The only reason that happened was the people who came on board to assist me,” he said. “It wasn’t me anymore. I was speaking for thousands of people. I was just the guy at the front.”

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