District Council. Highway. tion growth. 6 - Wednesday, May 2, 1990 - North Shore News made it clear that they want their wilderness areas preserved. That message is once again being bammered home to North Vancouver But this time, the message is not being delivered over anything as sacrosanct as the Lynn Canyon area. It instead con- cerns two wooded lots in the Keith-Lynn area just south of the Upper Levels For environmental as well as esthetic reasons, it is important to maintain our forests whenever possible. But it is also important that the North Shore be able to respond adequately to future popula- If, then, we are not willing to give up High cost of parks Nome SHORE residents have be sacrificed. Plans for velopers and our forests, something else will have to that the traditional concept of single- family dwellings, each situated on their own quarter-acre lot, are no longer ap- propriate where more people must be fit into an ever-shrinking area. take such factors into considei:iion. De- vesting their energies in designing multi- family residences that combine beauty, privacy and practicality. And homebuyers who want to save the wilderness areas surrounding the North Shore will have to adjust to the idea that shared residences are the way of the future, or they should be prepared to pay high premiums fer the remaining single- family building lots. ; People will have to realize future developments must architects show's be in--. LETTER OF THE DAY... Mill should have nothing to hide Dear Editor: On April 2, Capilano College hosted a forum on the en- vironmental impacts of industrial and residential development on Howe Sound. Those who accepted the invita- tion to appear as panel speakers included representatives from: Western Canada Wilderness Committee; West Coast En- vironmental Law Association; the Save Howe Sound Society; Green Publisher Press Lid and distnbuted to every uoor on tf Snore Second Class Mai Registraton Numi Subscaptions North ang West Vancouver, $25 p Mating tates avaiable on request Subs welcome but we Peter Speck Managing Editor Timothy Renshaw suburban newspaper and quabtied uncer Schedule T1t Paragraph: tt of the Excise Tax Act. ts punished eacn Weanesday. Friday ang Sunday by Nort Snore Free tor unsohcited matenat mcluaing manuscnpts and prc tutes 8 vehich should be accompanied by 4 stamped addressed envelope cannot accept responsininty Party; the B.C. Ministry of the Environment; and the B.C. Liberal Party. Unforiunately, one crucial party declined the invitation — Howe Sound Pulp and Paper. It seems ironic that this group would decline an opportunity to speak, firstly because its recently distributed newspaper had _ all “good news for the future’’ en- vironment of Howe Sound, and, secondly, because at the end of their newspaper, Howe Sound THE VOICE OF MUiel Ht ate we yt VANCOUVER Associate Editor Noel Wright Newsioor one aay Advertising Director Linda Stewart Maule Subscriptions 986-1337 North Shore News, founded in 199 as an muepengent T MRDNESDAY + FHIDAY Fax 985-3227 1139 Lonsdate Avenue. North Vancouver. BC. V7M 2H& 59,170 (average. Wednesday Friday & Sunday) SOA DIVISION Display Advertising Classified Advertising Pulp and Paper invited the general public to request a spokesperson to address meetings and/or groups. When declining the college’s in- vitation to join a public forum, the company’s excuse was that there was too much of an environmental bias on the panel. If Howe Sound Pulp and Paper are truly cleaning up our common waters they should have nothing to hide. - Alison Davis North Vancouver 980-0511 986-6222 MEMBER North Shore owned and managed Entire contents ©) 1990 North Shore Free Press Lid. Ali rights reserved W. VAN BY 2012? — PART 2 Will Sleepy Hollow doze on — or awaken? “A COMMUNITY going nowhere’’ in terms of people — its lifeblood — is the big challenge facing West Van’s new jong range planning committee headed by retired architect Bilt Leithead. Their task is to map the road to West Van’s 100th birthday, 22 years hence. Demographically, their raw material is a communtiy generating almost no internal eco- nomic wealth (the school district is its biggest employer) and depen- dent for most of its income on jobs elsewhere. Add to this an aging population sustained largely by West Van’s only tangible material asset: in- flated real estate values. In turn, these excessive housing costs reduce the ongoing intake of new, productive young families who automatically rejuvenate most other communities. True, the birth rate is now rising somewhat, but this won’t solve the long term problems. Today’s younger parents will themselves be nearing retirement by 2012. Unless real estate prices moderate, their young adult children — like so many present 20 to 30-year-old sons and daughters of West Van — will again be unable to afford a home in their birthplace. What are the options for a community with no reason to exist except that so many want to share its scenic beauty? One, of course, is simply to leave it alone. West Van's geogra- phy prevents unlimited residential expansion. There will always be sufficient upper-income buyers — either middle-aged, already retired or among the growing number of wealthy immigrants — to use up the available housing stock. So what’s wrong about life in lovely Sleepy Hollow-by-the-Sea just the way it is, as long as enough newcomers of whatever ilk keep buying in and help pay the bills? Then, all the planners need worry about are bus services, rest home developments and ESL classes. The alternative option is to aim at reviving the younger, more stimulating and forward-looking atmosphere which characterized West Van during its growth period from 1950 to the mid-!970s — an atmosphere still very evident in it» sister community of North Van. Such an attempt would require, over the next couple of decades, a planning blueprint with two main components — both of them con- troversial. First, a reasonable proportion of affordable family housing, achievable only through fresh, in- novative and creative zoning policies. Second, many more local jobs. And since the community adamantly opposes industry — for which it has no space, anyhow — increased employment could come only from a major expansion of the commercial and service sectors. On Sunday, for those interested in seeing West Van become a somewhat more vibrant ‘‘place of excellence”’ as it heads towards it centennial, we'll examine the nuts and bolts of change. tht WRAP-UP: It was again the two solitudes rather than any blood on the floor at MP Chuck Cook’s Great Debate on Meech Lake last Saturday. In the end the likeable. “‘sign-Meech-as-is’”’ team from Ot- tawa (MPs Vincent Della Noce, Felix Holtmann and Dr. Jean- Pierre Hogue) and their western opponents demanding Senate reform first (Reform Party strate- gist Steve Harper, B.C. Report publisher Ted Byfield and yours humbly) simply argued their cases to a polite 0-0 tie ... Kick up your heels Saturday, May 5, at the “Sw- ingtime 90°’ community dance in West Van Senior Citizens Centre, with the Miller Aires and floor shows by Razzmatazz and Dance City. Call 926-4375 for tickets ($15) ... And if you're a 1965 grad of old North Van High who hasn’t yet registered for the 25th reunion bash July 6 to 8, please call Tom Bell, 980-2244, ASAP! wank WRIGHT OR WRONG: The young and the old have all the an- swers. It’s those in between who are stuck with the questions. WEST VAN YOUNGSTERS celebrate Community Day — but will they be able to afford a home there when they become tomorrow's young parents?