Residents angry over changes to club tower plan Council criticized for allowing stratification of development A BYLAW that will allow the conversion of two guest suites into a resident man- ager’s suite in the North Shore Winter Club’s resi- dential tower was used as an opportunity by two con- cerned residents to criticize North Vancouver District Council at an April 14 meeting for council’s ac- tions in allowing the tower’s suites to be stratified. By Martin Millerchip Contributing Writer “‘My feeling is that this byiaw cannot be seen in isolation. This is the first and perhaps the only chance for the public to get in on the process,’ said Baroara Mce- Clelland. McClelland said a recent in- camera council decision to allow the stratification of suites in the tower changed the purpose of the 18-storey building. On April 13, council approved a development permit that wil! allow the residential tower to be resub- divided into individual strata Sots by the project's developers, Marksearch Properties Ltd. and 44 Anybody trying to create a NORTH VANCOUVER DISTRICT COUNCIL generate more than one car per suite on average. Municipal planner Kai Kreuchen took the unusual position of recommending the project not go forward until the completion of the Lynnmour Official Communi- ty Plan, but that recommendation went unheeded by the majority of council. At the October 1988 public hearing, which stretched over two weeks because of the interest aroused, the NSWC project was described as consisting of 209 suites with the number of residen- tial parking stalls increasing from 220 to 252. Rental fees were projected as “middle of the road, ranging from $550 to $1,200,°’ while resi- dents would pay an additional fee to use the NSWC facilities and “opt to purchase’’ a number of meals with no provision for care of any sort. Mayor ftaurray Dykeman, then an aldermzn, said the develop- ment ‘‘wou's add to the desirabil- ity and viability of the NSWC as a community service.”’ The number of apartment units had decreased again, to 182, by the time the :ezoning bylaw pass- ed third readii¢ on Nov. 21, A restrictive covenant was regis- tered against :itle at that time to ensure that thy apartments were to be rented. The interior -iyout of the tower was changed ayain in February 1990 when the number of one- NEWS photo Mike Wakefield NORTH AND West Vancouver Emergency Program coordinator Ross Peterson (left) and North Vancouver unit chief of the B.C. Ambulance Service Tim Jones display disaster response packs stored at the Lions Gate Hospital ambulance base. Donated by local service clubs, the kits are precedent in (NVD) bedroom suites was reduced from 72 to 39, and 6! one-bedroom plus den units were ciiminated. had better reckon on the process. 99 — Graham Crockart, architect Co-Operators General Insurance Co. McClelland said the original purpose of the tower was to ‘‘get the North Shore Winter Club (NSWC) out of (financial) dif- ficulties and to provide affordable seniors’ housing. **} am really mystified and op- posed to why council has gone this route.” The district’s advisory planning commission considered the rezon- ing bylaw at its last meeting and concluded that it could not recommend against it, but the commission told council that it “‘wishes to go on record as not supporting the basic changes’’ council has made. The history of the tower that dominates adjacent Bridgman Park has been one of change. Conceived as a ‘‘congregate care facility’”’ for ‘‘active’’ seniors, the original proposal contained plans for 216 suites in four dif- ferent configurations, with ac- commodation entitling residents to the use of all club facilities and about 20 meals per month. NSWC general manager Bernie. Asbell acknowledged in May 1988 that there were some traffic con- cerns, but he offered ‘tan in- depth traffic study’’ and the opi- nion that seniors were unlikely to The number of two-bedroom units consequently increased from 46 to 127. Then-alderman Biil Rodgers suggested that the new proposal constituted a ‘‘revised vision away from affordable housing for seniors to standard highrise rent- als.” But in a letter to councii at the time, Marksearch Properties Ltd. and Co-Operators General In- surance Co. spokesman Pever Malek stated, ‘‘At no time has there been a shift in our philose- phy with regards to the fun- damentals of the already existing restrictions.” Then in December 1991, with the tower almost ready for mar- ket, Marksearch requested that council approve stratification and remove the age restrictions from the restrictive covenant. Council approved stratification in-camera, with only Ald. Janice Harris voting against the devel- opment variance permit, but ref- used to alter the age restriction. A subsequent letter from Marksearch asking for reconsid- eration of the age restriction stated that ‘‘council has been clear in noting that the principal reason the development was approved in the first place was to assist the Winter Club to be self-sufficient and to operate on a sound finan- cial basis. The club is designed for ail ages, but is particularly suited to families and active adults.” Said resident Judith Brooks at the April 14 public hearing, ‘‘The tower was planned and built for seniors’ housing, and I don’t think we should change the rules for which it was built.’’ filled with first-aid supplies and medical equipment. Emergency plans tested in Seymour-area neighborhood Block medics to be activated in major local disaster A SEYMOUR-area neighborhood will be the testing ground for a mew emergency response program designed to take the pressure off hospital and emergency services resources in the event of a disaster such as a major earthquake. Tim Jones, North Vanconver unit chief of the B.C. Am- bulance Service, is developing the block medic program. The pilot version is the first step toward an eventual province- wide program. Based on the block parent concept, the program is designed to identify members of the public who are trained in first aid and who could be activated to provide neighborhood support should disaster strike. The program would dovetail with the North Shore Emergency Preparedness Pro- gram coordinated by the North and West Vancouver Emergen- cy Program (NWVEP). Said Jones, “The primary goal of a block medic is to provide austere first wid to the minor walking wounded. The By Michael Becker News Reporter goal is to keep these people away from the hospital. Emergency services will be overloaded for the first 72 hours.”’ Block medics wiil be trained in triage. People judged to be suffering from serious injuries following a major disaster would be transferred to local emergency reception centres where medical aid would be available. The block medic program encompasses support from and coordination with North Van- couver’ RCMP, St. John Am- bulance, the North and West Vancouver Emergency Program and the North Shore Lifeboat Society. Local emergency preparedness will take a major step forward in May when a 200-bed emergency field hospi- tal will be based in North Van- couver City. “Through the hard work of (NWVEP ccosdinator) Ross Peterson and (North Van- couver City administrator) Gerry Brewer, who embraced the concept of this hospital, we will now have the hospital stored over here,’’ Jones said. The emergency field hospital can be set up in a surviving structure following an earth- quake. For example, if Lions Gate Hospital is damaged, the field hospital could be set up at the hospital to augment avail- able resources. The field hospital could also be used to handle an overflow of injuries caused in a severe disaster. Jones said that both LGH president Bob Smith and the hospital’s emergency staff have been very supportive of the program.