Gleneagles 40-lot plan beats council deadline to remove preliminary approval allowance

-BC RAIL Properties outma-
nocuvred West Vancouver

District Council late Tuesday.

when it submitied an applica-
tion for preliminary approval
of a 40-lot subdivision in the
Gleneagles area.

By Maureen Curtis
Contributing Writer

The move came just hours
before council. approved a change
to its subdivision approval proccss

it would likely have sent BC Rail
“back to the drawing board with its
plans, .

: By beating Wednesday. morn-
uspecial council vote, BC
Rail’s application does not have to
comply with the conditions of the
new subdivision bylew
“: Round two may have gone lo

A council, however.

Council introduced its own pro-
posal ta rezone the BC Rail tand
from RS4 (9,000 to 20,000 square-
foot lots), to RS2 (more than 20,000
“Square feet per Jot),

he! zoning is more consistent
iy the. rest of the neighborhood,

id, West Vancouver Mayor Mark
Sager.”

“The public’ heating for’ the
“rezoning is scheduled for Feb; 28."

“Council’s “sudden move to
change its bylaw: procedure caused *

‘C: Rail-to speed up its, said BC -

il spokesman Barry Wall. ;
*m kind of disappointed that

er. said he i is : disappointed

Rail did not follow Shrough

ment to consult with council before
taking action.”

Talks with BC Rail representa-
tives had gone well on Monday
morning, according to Sager, until
the company said it intended to pro-
ceed with its application.

BC Rail’s application is now
before the municipality's director
of operations, Barry Lambert. As
subdivision approving officer, he
must consider it according to the
terms of provincial and municipal
laws, not council's wishes.

If the application is not
approved, B.C. Rail will have to re-
apply under the new procedure.
which does away with preliminary
_approval and requires developers to
present the detailed plans necessary
for final approval.

“We're doing our best to protect
the community’s interest,”
explained Sager.

The 27 acres (11 hectares) BC
Rail wants ‘to develop consist of a
long casement currently being
leased by the municipality as the
popular Seaview Walk, a playing
field and overflow parking for BC
Ferries.

The amenities have become inte-
gral to the community's recreation
system, said Sager.

Local residents, such as Dennis
Perry, believe the Seaview Walk
should be extended at one end to
Horseshoe Bay and at the other end

-to0. future development above the’

Upper Levels Highway.

Most. of the fand was acquired
‘by BC Rail or its predecessor, the
Pacific Great Eastern, at around the
turn of the century.

The land was purchased accord-
ing to Wall; but- BC Rail has never
had. to. pay taxes on it.

-Following a train derailment,

ular case,” * said MacPhail.
She-said the. government has. :
‘zero tolerance” ‘concerning wel-

fare: fraud:and she will bé account-

able for.the public’s concerns about,

fraud in the system.
But Dalton is standing by his

* claim that welfare fraud i is as high

2: 88 20%.

‘But: Jac ording § 10. the working:

papers. ‘the’ maximum fraud level is
tim: ted at between 5% and. 10%.

MacPhail ‘told the News’ Thursday |
lat, the: estimated percernage is,

pot.

areful about his = responsibility not:

to’ fan the’ flames of hysteria around /
2 issue or attack the poor either.

oT think he might be found

“The people, ‘on ‘the streets
cial workers) tell me it’s as high

as 20%. The RCMP say it is.as high

as 40%,” said Dalton. -

He said it doesn’t bother him
that whal he asserted about the
_ Working papers was inaccurate.

'. “Tam. sticking to the fact that
this is a very serious problem,” said

Dalton. - ok

Said: Dalton, “This | lady

(MacPhail) is out to lunch.” o
The. social-services ministry °
announced changes to tighten up -
: the welfare system on Thursday.

The changes include:

“8 the exchange: of computer lists
“cwith> Alberta, to=

claimants collecting welfare-in both

-provinces:

@ repeated lost and stolen welfare
cheques will no Jonger,be replaced
with cash. In the case of a second
reported lost cheque.‘the govern-

“ment will pay rent directly to land-

lords and issue vouchers.

-.@ single employable people and

‘Has the possibility of a major earthquake affected the: way you live?

tackle’ any |

BER GLENEAGLES

RIGHT OF WAY

POTENTIAL INFILL
SINGLE-FAMILY LOTS |
«minimal impact on seaview walk J
+ road access already existing

+ buildable larraln

+ contorms with axisting zoning

NEWS GRAPHIC Joann Pedersen

Ww

RESERVED FOR SALE

4 TO BC FERRIES

SINGLE-FAMILY
DETACHED HOUSING
scontorms with existing zoning
* common tear driveway accass
«golf course views -
«minimal Impact on neighbors
+no negative impact on views

PRESERVE
SEAWALI. WALK

* continuous walkway
* potential for enhancements
Inte

ery
+ recreation activitic:
link to otter park ai

BC RAIL applied Tuesday for a 40-lot subdivision of a 27-acre
(11-hectare) easement in the Gleneagies area of West

Vancouver.

BC Rail abandoned part ef its line
and built a tunnel, for which it has

' childless couples will have to com-

: plete mandatory job-search report
! cards; '
: the. government will recover
: security deposits on rental accom-

‘ modations directly from the land- ”
: lords of welfare recipients.The gov-

ernment noted that it pays $24 mil-

lion in annual security deposits and.
: recovers “very little.”

H] welfare payments received dur-

: ing the six-week waiting period for

: Unemployment Insurance claimants
will be reclaimed;
‘¥ single parents will be considered
‘employable when their youngest
child is 12 years old, rather than the
former age of 19.

MacPhail said her ministry is

‘aware of the family of panhandlers
who have frequented the North”

Shore several times. The mother
and usually two of her children

stand on the street: with a sign say- ”
. ing. “we need help.”

‘The family, from Alberta, were
featured in a recent television news
story which indicated the husband
had passed up work from at least
one local employer.

. Said MacPhail, “We are aware
of that family. We monitor. them
and any aspects of fraud are investi-
gated ... I can’t go into the details
of any particular case.”

received an indefinite lease from
the municipality.

66 The land was
purchased according
to Wall, but BC Rail
has never had to pay
faxes on it, 99

BC Rail leased the abandoned
casement to West Vancouver, but
on a limited basis.

The lease expires later this year:

Wall believes that the proposal
before the approving officer is a
“good compromise,” in that it deeds
14 acres (5.6 hectares) of the fand
to the municipality for park use.

By doing this and maintaining’
the residential character of the °
neighborhood, Wall believes BC
Rail has answered the demand for
“status quo” made in a recent 400-
signature petition presented by area. -
residents to council. j _

But Sager said that 12 of the:

- subdivision lots are placed across |

Seaview Walk, with the possibility =

of casements across them. :
“It won't be the Seaview Walk:

as ive, know it? _ Said Sager. a

a According to Wiill, council can

negotiate a land swap with the rail’
company or purchase some or all.of
the land “at foir market value.” ,

| Taxes eh in N ND
provisional budget

‘HOLDING THE line on munici-
pal taxes in the District of North

Vancouver! will still cost the *

‘average homeowner an addition-
al 3.3% on the tax bill in 1994.

By Martin Millerchip
Contributing Writer

fe

At least, that is the scenario ©
outlined in the provisional’ bud-

get adopted at Monday’ nigh’ s
council meeting. :
Both staff and Coun. Ernie

Crist, who moved acceptance of |

the provisional budget, empha-
sized that an increase of $1.8

million in the $57 million bud--

get represented 1993. service
levels converted to 1994 dollars.

B Business. ear? a
BB Cocktails & Caviar wee D>

, MACrossword.............39
R Horoscopes............30
§ Bob Hunter ............7

“If we: want additional ser- .
vices it will come,over and,
above that,” said Crist.

Major areas of cost increases ‘

“include:,

& full year cost of five RCMP:
officers approved in 1993: *
@ provision for CUPE wage

" tements; © ce

@ increased maintenance costs a
for the: new municipal hall; '
G- cpening, of. the: Parkgate...
dibrary; 5 .
fire department wage ‘settle-
ment; :
Ml additional health. board
staffing approved in 1993, S
Staff say that non- tax TeV=
enues have kept pace with the.

~ rate of expenditure increases: :

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