October 10, 1993 56 pages

Office, Editorial 985-2131

Steep-slope development
restrictions overturned

A KEY Caulfeild Plateau developer has succeeded in
bypassing a West Vancouver bylaw enacted to safeguard
houses and prevent erosion on steep and hazardous slopes

in the municipality.

The B.C. Supreme Court ruled
Monday that the West Van-
couver-based Martin Corp. Ltd.,
and other Caulfeild Plateau devel-
opers, are not bound by the
municipality’s 1991 bylaw, but in-
stead by a 15-year-old land-use
contract.

West Vancouver Mayor Mark
Sager told the News the
municipality may appeal the court
decision or amend the bylaw.

“We want to prevent homes
from being placed on fess than
safe properties,"’ Sager said Tues-
day.

But countered Martin Corp.
president Howard Martin, ‘That's
a red herring — it’s the house size
they really want to control.’

At issue is a 1991 amendment
bylaw under the 1988 Official
Community Plan requiring devel-
opment permits to be obtained for
subdivision approval in areas of
“difficult terrain.”

“Difficult terrain is defined as a
fot site with a driveway grade of
over 20% or where more than
one-fifth of buildable space exists
on a grade of over 35%," Madam
Justice Wendy Baker summarized
in her judgment released Monday
in Vancouver.

The municipality entered into a
land use contract with Martin
Corp. and other developers in
1978, after several public hearings.

The company proceeded to de-
velop over 85 homes in 10-lot
“phases.

Madam Justice Baker notes the
1991 bylaw, which applies
throughout West Vancouver, re-
quires that developers ‘take steps
to alleviate any hazardous condi-
tions and to pratect the natural
environment on ‘difficult ter-
rain.”

The original land-use contract
specified the total number and
density of houses and designated
“green belt’? areas.

Martin Corp. agreed to comply

By Brent Mudry
Contributing Writer

with any general
wide tree-cutting bylaws, but only
if “the tree bylaw shall not have
the effect of prohibiting or
unreasonably restricting its ability
to develop the Caulfeild Plateau
lands in accordance with = the
land-use contract.”

In a one-day hearing on July
15, the court was told that 56% of
Martin’s existing 87 lots exceed
the 35% grade measure.

Martin told the News his com-
pany has a further 120
undeveloped Jots in the area, but
he was unsure of how many ex-
ceeded the 35% bylaw grade.

“We don’t have topographical
maps yet,”’ he said.

Madam Justice Baker ruled that
the new bylaw is too specific to be
of “general application,’ and thus
not immune to challenge by any
developers who aay be affected
by it.

Mayor Sager disagrees.

“Our position is that this bylaw
is of peneral application, and does
apply.

“We have areas on the Sea-
to-Sky Highway where ground
stability is a serious issue, and on
some sites, people will biast and
level out a 30% grade, which may
be unstable for the houses.

“Our concerns have obviously
changed over 15 years, and we've
just completed detailed
topographical mapping, so we're
in 2 better position to assess the
area now." Super told the News.

But Mattin dismissed stability
cancers in he municipality.

“How do you have instability in
rock?"’ he asked.

“We are reviewing our lezal
options, and expect to decide on a
response (to the court decision
within a week,"” Sager told the
News.

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