6 - Sunday, January 3, 1988 - North Shore News Te a WORTH ANO WEST VANCOUVER north shore Publisher Managing Editor Associate Editor Advertising Director Peter Speck Barrett Fisher Noel Wright Linda Stewart ORTONGETT SULA Ae wsDate! 373 Quaiitesd Under Sunedute til Paragrath “tot the baciye Tas Art os 780 CaCN Wednesday Frédag and Suecay by North Snore Free Press (itt and arstrtasted to matey One on in Ghee Secord Cass Mad Ragstraton Numoer 3885 Subecrotions Monn and West Vancousnt, $95 fart year Wairg tates avarlistie On reouest Sudenismons are welcome bul we FATE EK ACER CLIT ER NES NE UN EIE RE MALOU AL OCI IING SHARUSCOEKS, ANd DClUr ns ‘each shoud be accompanied try 4 samen acest enenicae Display Advertising 980.0511 Classitied Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom 985-2131 Distribution 986-1337 Subscriptions 986-1337 North Shove Mews, tousued 149 a5 News Viewpoint Development need Nite on VANCOUVER City is doing itself and 1139 Lonsdale Ave. North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 a & Entire ‘contents © the public more harm than good by delaying a plan to invite development proposals for city lands in Lower Lonsdale. In a purely political move, the new council rescinded ene of the final acts of the last council: approval of national advertising to attract interest in the develop- ment paradise of Lower Lonsdale. It was a hasty deci- sion, made with little ‘consideration of the realities of securing the best development for the available pro- perties. Council members loudly trutipeted their election buzzwords of public participation, saying residents must be heard before information can be sent to potential developers. It’s a nice idea, but it won't work. Asking the public to conceptualize 2 grand development, perfect in every way, is impossible. What is wanted, the public will say, is something not too big, not too small and not too high that will benefit the area commercially and aesthetically. That, unfortu- nately, is not much heip to developers, who should in- stead be asked to come up with the best design they can, then have the project perused by the public. City council, staff and residents — no matter how: good thelr intentions — cannot hope to foresee all possible developments on the sites. By adding guidelines atop those that already exist, council will stifle ar- chitectural creativity and development Ingenuity. - Such short-sightedness could result in a development ’ that falls far short of what could truly make the area the jewel of North Vancouver. 1988 North Shore Free Press Lid. Ali nghts reserved. $8,604 ,average. Wednesday Friday & Sunday) a SON is the moment of truth looming in Tiddlycove? CHANGE is a fact of life—all life— and it demands radical new thinking. That's the message from, Tom Wardell and colleagues to’ Mayor : Don Lanskail and West Van coun- cil, as the latter begin their task of updating Tiddiycove’s six-year-old community plan in circumstances quite different from those of their more youthful, . family-oriented _ North Van neighbors. ‘Tom is the local director of the ' Real Estate Board of Greater Van- ‘ couver- who liaises with council~a . fact which may immediately set loud. alarm bells about ‘‘developers” ring- _ ing in'many of West Van's proud. . ‘single-family fortresses. But whether . or-not, you agree with the Board’s ' detailed: recommendations for: the “ _ community plan, the logic behind “them is at least worth pondering. : UT ee cot ‘THE, PHILOSOPHY, based on hard facts and figures, is simple. “West Van—with more than a quarter”. of its population already aged 00 and over—isa steadily aging communi- ty. At the same time, its housing prices, among the highest in Canada, keep out many young families who would love to live there if only they could handle even the $140,000 price tag of the rare ‘handyman’ s special"’. In this picture of an emerging geriatric ghetto the realtors sce a bleak long-term prospect ahead. An ever higher proportion of seniors needing to buy less and less from local businesses, while making more and more demands on public ser- vices. Meanwhile, a continuing dearth of younger income-earning people who are heavy consumers and would also significantly ‘widen the ‘ tax base. The suggestion is that such a com- munity, like an individual, could itself eventually die of old age. This may, for the moment, seem to be ‘over-dramatizing slightly. -But lack of the: right kind of population is, NEWS S photo cindy 6 amy . STUFFED ‘BEAR. “THEODORE” (bottom right) - brought welcome cheque from Sears’ lan Mitchell te Angela Muller of the LGH children’s ward, pictured here with nine-year-old twins Regan and Brie Burns. Sears nationwide donated $1 to children’s: wards for every $9. 99 Christmas “Theodore” sold. 0 CRANE RARER ‘most sacred cow, after all, the common history shared by B.C.'s numerous ghost towns! IF “BALDERDASH!" is your rep- ly to all this, read no further, Other- wise, however, you may be interested . in some of the Keal Estate Board’s proposed revisions to the communi- ty plan. Basically, they concentrate on the only possible solution to West Van's aging problem—smaller lots or she equivalent to reduce housing costs for both young families and more than a few seniors themselves. Specific proposals include: eRezoning of numerous single- family areas to a moderately higher density, thereby providing a growing pool of affordable homes. Ex- amples: cluster housing above the Upper Levels; duplex zoning in much _of Ambleside, Hollyburn and Dundarave. *Alternative housing for ‘‘non- wealthy’’ seniors in the new duplex . zones, in order to free up their pre- sent single-family homes for young “families, Enhancement of all the services required by young families— including quality schooling, recrea- tion facilities and parkland, traffic flow improvements (e.g., widen 15th Street) and the encouragement of commercial development. se _AND WHAT ABOUT West Van's “preserving the character of existing residential com- munities’’? The Board believes it is an-aging beast, overdue for the slaughterhouse. ‘‘We must respect change as both inevitable and healthy,"’ says the Board’s brief, “tand encourage good redevelopment through improved bylaws and zon- ing.’ Could such wicked thoughts herald Tiddlycove’s [988 moment of truth? oe WRIGHT OR WRONG: If at first you don’t succeed, try doing it the _., way .the boss. suggested..- Noel Wright ‘ @ Sunday brunch © ; NEWS photo Nell Lucente KEEPING IN: SHAPE...(1-t) Bette Kerr, Mel Kerr, Joyce. Turner. and Doug Jewett roll by during their weekly cycling ‘session ‘Sponsored. by West Van Seniors’ Centre. The group, which welcomes all interested seniors, takes (o its wheels Wednesdays at 10 a.m. from the Centre.