~ Strachan,

May &, 1988 News 985- 2131

Chassified 986-0222

Te) WEST VANMOG

‘weather approaches, North "Shore’ ‘residents a
left, does some serious digging at Ambleside Beach whik

A SEYMOUR Mountain cabin owner is fuming over
notification from the provincial government that the annual

reiiewal - fee per

it for his recreational cabin in Mount

Seymour Provincial Park wilt skyrocket by. over 1 600 per

cent this year... «
Dr. ; Norman Hamilton, who
purchased his cabin in’ the late

1970s, - said Monday. his fee will.

jump from $12 to $200.as of May
12,

“I's just. too: big. a bite,’’ he
said. *This (the cabin) i ig our bit of
paradise.”" i

dn a letter to: Minister of En-
vironment) and Parks. Bruce
the. North’ ‘Vancouver
the increase ‘‘un-

doctor called
_conscionable”.

_ with

Hamilton said he could see
doubling or tripting the fee, **but
1,600 per. cent just by sending. Out
a notice?’

The permit fee hike, coupled
‘the, annual costs of
maintenance and, repairing *, van-
dalism. damage, will severely
reduce the practicality of owning

Distribution 986-1337 44 pages

aah

se

25¢

and, providing upkeep for his
cabin, Hamilton said.

He added that, because the
buildings are in @ provincial park,
owners are not permitted to in-
crease the resale value of their
cabins: by making improvements to
them, Cabin owners do not have
title to property in the park, but
own the buildings on their cabin
sites.

The province also has first right
of refusal on the sale of private-
ly-owned cabins in the park,

Hamilton: said the. cabins
therefore have virtually no resale
value.

But parks ministry spokesman
John Block said the ministry is

ie three-year-old brother Jesse looks on.

cover

(

merely increasing park permit fees,

to the level of those charged by
other provincial ministries for sim-
ilar services. ; .

The Ministry of Forests and
Lands, for example, charges
‘Yessees inits jursisdiction a lease
fee of two per cent of the land
value leased. The. -annual fee,
which was instituted in 1982,
ranges from a minimum of $200 to
a maximum of $400.

“What we did was take the min-
imum,’’ Block said. ‘Our fees
haven't increased since the (50s. So
this is the first in 30 years.”’

The permit fee, he said.
administrative costs and
provides’ the cabin owner with ex-

helps |

re hitting the beach in increasing numbers. Sixteen-month-old §

clusive rights to use the cabin’s site
within the park.

There are 20 privately-owned
cabins in Mount Scymour park
and a total of 58 privately-owned
cabins in provincial parks around
B.C.

Most were built on land that was
subsequently. designated provincial
park.

The province does not authorize

“new cabin sites on provincial park

property and: usually removes ex-
isting cabins when they become
available.
, Ly
Block said the ministry ‘‘is try-
ing to minimize exclusive uses in
provincial parks.’’