JULY 1, 1998 Bright Lights Classifieds Crossword Feod Knight Nerth Shore Alert Sports Wright Noth Shore Free Press Lit Pubisnar Peter Sze 1139 Lonsdale Avenue Honh Vancouver 2-44 o . — Publcatons Mad Sales Proguct Agreement No 0067238 44 Pages Business booming p15 Commercial Avenues visits 100-block Lonsdale Ave. 7 The Voice of North and West Vancouver since 1969 Soccer seholar p33 Argyle grad Rosalyn Hicks wins scholarship Travel back in time at West \an’s Tasos Restaurant Table Hopping 124 $1.00 WV pub scrap brews Dundarave residents iim raise noise, hs traffic issues Robert Gaister News reer vobert@nsnews.com YET another North Shore pub proposal has started drawing fire from residents dead. set against it. Joha Wicchold, owner of West Vancouver’s Dundarave Cale, embarked on the often ueacher- ous road of securing positive pub- lic’ opinion for a neighborhood pub last vear. Wiechold said he was driven to seck a pub licence by the proliferation of .staurants in the municipality. While he received preliminary site and applicant approval tor a ub at his restaurant site trom the .C. ‘Liquor Control and Licensing Board last year, the greatest challenge to his plans is yet to come. Convincing nearby residents that a pub in their neigh- borhood is a good idea is already proving to be an uphill battle. A group calling itself Friends of Dundarave has organized since Wicchold started his application process, anid in the last two months has collected 800 signatures from people opposing the pub application. The group boasts about 15 active members, most of whom live in developments directly behind the Dundarave Cafe build. ing. Sundarave resident: Erwen Smith has been spearheading its efforts. “Neighborhood pub is a nice name but it’s really a beer par- lor,” he said. Smith said chicfamong, the group’s concerns are issues such as noise, parking and the pub’s proximity to a school and p ground. “} don’t think people coming out of a pub want to be noisy ... but when they come out they stand around and talk,” said Smith. “And they don’t have te talk very loud}y but the sound carries.” Earlier this year Wiechold sent out mailers seeking: support from nearby residents. He said he has received 1,100 responses to date, 99.9% of which are positi “If I said I’m trying to satisfy every one of their conzerns | Yr : caching,” said Wiechold. “I've told them Fil address all of their noise concerns.” Wiechold added that his restaurant currenily serves 6,000 peo- ple a month and as far as he can tell no on: is bothered by noise from his patrons. “There’s not such a big stretch in what [’m doing now to a pub,” said Wiechold. But Smith doesn’t buy Wiechald’s artempts to placate the res- idents. “We're very concerned (because) we live in the area,” satd Smith. “If guess the old saying is not in my back yard but this is more like not in my back bedroom.” In response to the Wiechold application, West Vancouver council has struck a pub committee to stedy the proposal. Later this weck, the committee, chaired by Coun. Bill Soprovich, will mect to finalize a report it will present to council, likely at its July 6 mecting. “We've ed a lot of mail for and against,” said Suprovich, adding that he cannot divulge what the contents of the commit- Ezy! ~~” "7600 Marine Brive North Vancouver 960-343 cd * ‘ 2 _ “Veep i ia ferras a L NEWS photo Paul McGrath ERWEN Smith (right) holds a petition he and other members of the Friends of Dundarave have been circulating around the West Vancouver neighborhood. Smith opposes the opening of a pub in Dundarave because he fears it will denigrate the quality of life for the its residents. tee’s report are going to be, Meanwhile, Nick Vavaris who has been trying to secure a pub licence for his North Vancouver Great Greck restaurant’s Waris’ appeal of a B.C. Liquor Contrul and Licens sion was again turned down, eftectively shut- ting the door on his latest attempt. Vavaris didn’t give up and again approached North Vancouver City about securing a motion from the councillors approving his location as a suitable locale for a pub, However councillors voted against the request because they did not feel a majority of residents in the area supported the proposal. The city conducted a survey of the area’s residents in 1994, bur its results were deemed invalid because it missed a substantial number of residents. Vavaris continues to weigh his options and is considering start- ing a new pub application process. “Pm not going to give up on a pub,” said