Friday, February 28, 1992 — North Shore News - 7 Lament WHAT’S GOING on in Deep Cove? Perhaps someone out there knows, because most of us who live here no fonger have a sense of what’s happening to our beautiful com- munity — and because we live here, and care, we want to ‘know why. This past fall a fine, new school opened, paving the way for demo- lition of the old Burrard View school site. This site is desirable real estate, and it was expected that the land would be sold for single-family homes. Therefore, Cove residents were genuinely surprised to hear of a co-op housing proposal, because no one we knew was lob- bying for co-op housing around here, Yet, that’s what North Van- couver District was hustling. You've read the news: another cheapo housing scheme was ramrodded through against enor- mous local, public opposition. This followed what has by now become a familiar pattern in Deep Cove — and most everywhere in the world these days. Overpaid lawyers and public -selations flacks for developers and special interest groups wear down dedicated local opposition through repeated evening meetings, hear- ings, etc. The opposition groups are always unpaid volunteers — out- manned and outgunned. By Trevor Carolan Contributing Writer But Cove people feel different about our chances at these ‘‘zon- ing process"’ meetings; we live ina democracy, not some Third World backwater where money, influence and nepotism win the day. The politically correct may find it sentimental, but democracy, as we've been taught to cherish it, represents the just rights of the many over the few. So, we're growing bitter. After endless community meetings where large turnouts of honorable citi- zens tell district officials that we don’t want certain types of devel- opment in our area, these same “public servants” overrule the wishes of the people of Deep Cove and permit further offensive de- velopment in our community. It happened with the Badger Road extension, and now it’s happened with the Burrard View site. Lamentably, it’s our beautiful community that will pay, and we're getting angry. Deep Cove doesn’t want or Crist clarifies co-op decision Dear Editor: Mrs. Marian Wilson from Deep Cove has complained bitterly in the North Shore News about the proposed co-op on the Burrard View school site. ‘How can council,” she said, ‘put in'a de- velopment when. people are op- posed to it. What kind of ‘democracy is that?’’ It is now almost 15 years since North Vancouver District Council - gave approval’ in principle to a development plan for Seymour accommodating up to 120,000 people. The anchor of that second west end development was to be a .town centre on the. Maplewood Mudflats laid out very nicely with at least a square mile of concrete slabs interspersed with the odd flower pot here and there. . A handful of us challenged district. council, organized the people of Seymour and forced council to put a moratorium on development. much to the chagrin of Grosvenor Laing and many private landowners who had hoped to improve their cash flow in a hurry. The moratorium tasted for sev- eral years while we worked out a new and comprehensive plan call- ed the ‘Villages of Seymour,’’ -which includes Deep Cove, with all the desired amenities including Tecre- - shopping, service, social, ational and cultural. According to this plan, which was approved by the people of Seymour, the population of that area would have to be 35,000 by the year 2000, : Why 35,000? Because that is the minimum number required to justify the investment and to make it economically viable. Safeway and the little shops at Parkgate would never have agreed to invest their money unless there would be the necessary population to sup- port them. . As it is, the population of Seymour is far behind target. We have not even reached 20,000 — hot much more than the 15,000 of 10 years ago, although you could not tell by the number of cars, J agree, Interspersed co-op housing de- velopments such as Burrard View, with their healthy mix of people with different ages and income, also fit into this plan. This was our rationale. As far as the overcrowding of. schools is concerned, we are caught between a rock and a hard place. We want and we need children in our community and that leaves only one solution and that is to put some pressure on the provin- cial government to build the schools we need. After all, we told them more than 10 years ago where schools were needed and for how many kids. And one more thing, in the last .three years we have spent or are in the process of spending in the neighborhood of $25 million for various amenities in Seymour, It is too bad that we will have to sell more land to complete these pro- jects, but unfortunately that is the world we live in. We are trying, believe me, we are trying. Ernie Crist Alderman North Vancouver District INSIGHTS need any more cheapo housing. There’s plenty here already — courtesy of disgraceful district decision-making in the past that allowed the worst of inner city housing design to mar an other- wise idyllic location. We needn’t get into particulars, but three-storey walk-ups, trendy clapboard co-op townhomes, and the rest of it don’t belong here and should be left downtown where they belong. Their shabby construction is designed for little more short-term consumption, planned obsoles- cence, demolition, and eventual rebuilding. They are make-work projects for bureaucrats, do-gooders, bankers, and builders, and are called ‘‘cooperative develop-~ ments"’ for a very good reason — the entire community ends up paying dearly for them. It’s any ugly fact that during the co-op fracas, extremely offen- sive remarks were made by a few Cove residents against stereotypical ‘‘co-op single mothers’’ and the like. Those remarks shamed all of us, the vast number of whom have no bone to pick with any co-op dweller, but who do stand in cighteous opposition to the prin- ciple of high-density residential zoning in our community. MAILBOX EST COLUMNIST My neighbors and I live here for the best of reasons. We happily tolerate exigencies of inconvenient transportation, and we tolerate bears, coyotes, cougars, and critters of every kind as neighbors. To us, ‘‘Green and Clean’”’ is no mere slogan: it means freedom from the stresses of an over-built urban environment. “*Inner city development"’ does not accord with our sense of community values. High-density ““community planning’’ may be politically correct, but it is an ig- nominiously failed social experi- ment wherever it has foolishly been allowed. And there’s a new rub: we've finally learned what the new rais- ed terrace in Panorama Park is all about. A postal ‘‘superstation”’ is being erected on our public park land without any consultation whatsoever with the local residents whose lives will be affected by its imposition upon us. Canada Post and a local self- serving ‘‘safety committee’ have the idea that a postal superbox, presently located at the entrance to Seycove Marina where Indian Arm commuters tie up, will de an even better idea when located in a well-used public parking lot in Panorama Park. They get the mail, we get the for Deep Cove soggy litter and trash in front of our homes. But that’s not it either. See, the parking lot’s also the local road- hockey rink, and believe it — somebody’s kid will get hit, and God forbid it be mine. : We get lots of unnecessary housing and postal boxes in Deep Cove, but we can’t get much common sense from local of- . ficials. Isn’t it an official’s job to inquire into possible conflicts when planning new developments? Who's making the decisions for Deep Cove? Is anyone in control any more? We need more responsible municipal action to the legitimate wishes of the citizens of Deep Cove. What's it gonna take, direct action? I propose sending the district engineering staff and the four elected officials who rubber- stamped the Burrard co-op to Romania right away. They can check out further af- fordable housing ideas, and learn how folks there deal with arro- gant, unresponsive officials, It’s the Ceausescu Method — messy, but effective. Of course, they could always just try doing what the people clect and hire them to do: they could change their ways and begin listening and serving. News item: $5,000 bounty offered for moth eggs a ME ?.... UM A BOUNTY Xmas campaign experienced great success Dear Editor: Thank you for your Feb. 23 ar- ticle on the Save the Children Fund (SCF) of B.C.’s new execu- tive director, Liz Bannister. We would also like to take the time to thank Nosth Shore resi- dents for their support in this year’s Christmas card campaign. Sales in B.C. were $263,000, our best year ever, with $17,665 of that total coming from the North Shore. We wish to thank all our loyal customers, volunteers and par- ticipating retailers for helping us reach this goal. Money raised by SCF is match- ed by the Canadian International Development Agency. it works overseas to give children in the Third World a brighter future. Currently SCF funds 72 projects in 18 countires. SCF sells a local product to fund our work overseas. The Christmas cards are all the work of B.C. artists and are packaged by the mentally handicapped. This year the line included a student design chosen after a province- wide search. Again, thank you, North Shore residents, for your generous sup- port. Leslie Howard Christmas Card Campaign Chairman Save the Chiidren Fund of B.C.