32 - Friday, March 27, 1998 — North Shore News Zoning firms up for watertront Jesanda Waskito Contributing Writer NORTH Shore resi- dents may be taking leisurely strolls along a waterfront park on the old Fullerton Fill by spring 1999, and buy- ing cars from a new auto mall there soon after. North Vancouver City council passed third reading of” zoning bylaws March 16 to alow Greystone Properties ftd. to develop an auto mall, some light industry, a hotel, offices, a neig thborhoad pub, restaurant, 2 marina and retail stores on 68.5 acres overlook- ing Burrard Inlet. The development proposal also includes the creation of a 6.9-acre waterfront public park — an_aspect of the. proposal _ Specifically requested by city council. Coun. Barbara Perrault said she supported the’ proposal for many reasons. “The land has sat fallow for . @ over’ 20 years,” Perrauit said. “This proposal will provide 4,000 new jobs for North Shore people. Instead of going over to Richmond to shop (at its auto mall) they will come here. We will have our own o- seawalk.” The developers were glad to hear their project approved. “We're very happy with the outcome and we believe it’s a win both for the city and tor ourselves,” Greystonce’s Industrial’ and Commercial manager Peter Martin said. “Our ambition is to start ser- vicing the site at the end of this year and have the sites . . . and the park... available in the spring of 1999.” March 16 saw the final pub- lic hearing on the issue. About 90 people packed city hall to air concerns on this and three other develepments listed on the agenda at the public hear- ing. Eleven people stood before council to. speak~ on the Greystone project. Three who spoke praised the development, another five wanted a public boat ramp built on. the site.and the rest had “environmental and_ cco- nomic concerns about the pro- ject. The most zealous speaker to favor the development was Tony Raybould, president of the Jim Pattison Automotive Group. “Our business has grown, we need to move from our pre- sent half-acre site (on Marine Drive) to. this new site which will encompass one-and-a-half cres,” Raybould said. “We tant to update and upgrade feilities which are no longer adequate.” - “Six other vehicle franchise holders have intent to move with us (to the site),” he Graphic illustration North Vancouver City THE Greystone property on the North Vancouver City waterfront will see big changes soon now that zoning is in place. The bulk of the site will be turned into an auto mali. added. Greystone’s Peter Martin confirmed that the Pattison Group has a conditional agree- ment with Greystone to pur- chase about 25 acres, of the 68-acre site, to create an auto mall. The Pattison Group will in turn sell some of its proper- ty to other auto dealers. Raybould declined to name who the other dealers were, but did say his company is “committed to our part of the Projeci.” Another speaker, North Shore Historical Society presi- dent Roy Pallant, told council the society supports the devel- opment. “We're fully supporting this Greystone project because of the public park and access to waterfront we haven’t had since First Street was an Indian trail,” Pallant said. The socicty would also like to see the for- mation of a trail from the Lions Gate Bridge to the Second Narrows Bridge, he added. Judy Ainsworth of the North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce told council that its members support the rezoning *ia principle.” But Ainsworth also voiced some concerns, including the loss of the water- front lot to industry not marine related, the lack of pro- vision for public transit and the number of new jobs being yen- erated, “How many are new jobs and how many are just being shifted,” Ainsworth asked. In his presentation, Greystone CEO David Podmore told the audience that the development will cre- ate 4,000 permanent full-time and part-time jobs and gener- ate More than $72 million per year in employment carnings tor the Harbourside Business Park. Members of the Burrard Yachr Club and Lions Gate Anglers — Rob Newcomb, Kai Creighton, Norm Green, Don Davis, Brian Coldwell — requested that a boat ramp be built on the site. They said there is a need for another public boat launch on the North Shore. Right now there are only two. The Ambleside boat launch is sus- ceptible co westerly winds which make a vessel hard to mancuver. The other boat launch is located at Cates Park. Greystone’s Martin said that the development will not include a boat ramp. “We can’t solve every- body's wish list on our piece of property,” Martin said after the meeting. “The reality with a boat ramp is ic does require several acres of Jand to accom- modate the parking require- ments and the parking itself. We took direction from coun- cil (and) they chose to use half the park land in a more land- scaped continuous waterfront park as opposed to a paid park- ing lot.” Karen Milne of North Vancouver told council at the public hearing that she is con- cermed about waste-water and liquid discarded by the auto mall's repair shops which may contain chemicals harmful to the environment. The city’s Environmental Protection Program Committee also reported to council that it has cnvironmen- tal concerns as well. The com- mittee recommended there be: alternate methods of storm water management; car-wash- ing facilities that route water to the sanitary sewer; use of per- meable paving materials, water cling practices that mini- mize discharge of soapy water to the marine environment; and natural fandscaping to help preserve habitat. Martin = said concerns regarding run-off are “legiti- mate” and “one we are going to address.” One concern councillors Bob Fearnley and Stella Jo Dean want to see addressed is their request for more park dedication. They both think the city got a raw deal when it traded’ a strip of city-owned land, running from Fell Avenue to the waterfront, fora strip of park beside the McKay slough. “We're giving (city) land which is very valuable to Greystone — and will make them an awful Jot of money — for land right beside the slough which they are not allowed to build on and is absolutely worthless to Greystone,” Fearnley said. Greystone has already agreed to pay othe city $200,000 to acquire an off-site playing field, and to develop the waterfront park and walk- way at its own expense. Fearnley said he thinks the city could get more out of the deal. “They are selling (iand) tor over one million dollars an acre,” he said. “We're getting ripped of” Fearnicy thinks the city is also being shorted on the view. “What (Greystone) is say- ing is there’s natural view and natural habitar," he said. “Really, you've got an industri- af junk yard on the other side.” Fearnley showed the audi- ence at the public hearing photos he took of views from the property. There were pic- tures of huge rusting steel structures and drums, wooded areas beside the slough strewn with old tires and garbage and the neighboring — Seaspan barges. Fearnley said he intends to keep fighting for more park land. “Greystone has invested an awful lot of money on this,” he said. “(Coun.) Darrell (Mussatto) and some of the others say we can’t turn this (proposal) down because they're going to walk away. “IFwe turn it down because we think they owe us a litle more park, they're going to give us that extra bit of park. Thev're not walking away at this point. “Atter spending all chat money, do you think they will walk away?” Fearnley and Dean voted against the bylaw to rezone the development into park. The rest of council scemed eager to get on with the project. “This property has sat vacant for 20-plus years,” Mussatto said. “The city can start having rax revenue and the public can have watertrant access.” “Do we want another sulfur plant or sawdust storage facili ty? I'm sure the publte is say- ing, ‘Let's have waterfronr access.” The city stands to collect about $1.3 milion worth of tares annually oace the devel- opment is complete. The municipality presently receives bernween = $300,000 and $400,000 in taxes yearly tor the undeveloped property. The land was once the site of the Fullerton Lumber Company. _ Final reading of the bylaw to approve the Harbourside Business Park won't be for another avo to three months. Meanwhile, Greystone is negotiating with the city on final plans for the site, includ- ing services and amenities for the development, a four-lane, overpass ar Fell Avenue and remediation of soil contami- ‘nated by a gas station which previously occupied part of the site. The estimated $2 million price-tag for the overpass will | be borne by the developer, _ Greystone also requires approval of its plans from the Burrard Environmental Review Committee (BERC), 2 standing committee of repre- sentatives of organizations which have environmental interests in Burrard Inlet. Members include Environment Canada, Vancouver Port Corporation, B.C. Environment, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and Canadian Coast Guard. BERC — communications coordinator Karen Kelm said .. Greystone has yet to make an official application, which usu- ally takes about a month to process. “We've had discussions with BERC and we will contin- ue to have discussions with them,” said Martin. =. : “They have provided" us © with certain design guidelines. thar we feel we can live with. It’s a matter now of working them through.” Martin said che company originally projected comple- tion of the entire development — in about cight years. “Now we're more optimistic, given the level of interest, we think it’s a shorter time frame than that,” he said. “We haven't gone out and marketed this property. At this point, we wanted to make sure we had appropriate zoning asa first step.” Martin said Greystone — who are also developing a multi-million dollar conference centre ands hotel oon Vancouver's watertront —- has appointed Colliers as its com- mercial agent. “We're excited, it’s an absolutely fantastic picee of property,” Martin said. “It’s been a neglected gem.” 24/7 Snowboards FESS Emeapereenenrang 6. iiscice 2 F-Series Super ca Your Choice all Second Wave 127 Lonsdale Avenue N.Van. 986-Wave open 7 days LAR AL en Rote