Fil

ay

LOWER MAINLAND hikers are vowing to turn up tie
heat in their fight to conyince Lions Bay Village Council to
approve expanded parking facilities at the head of the trail
that provides access to the Lions mountain peaks and the

Howe Sound Crest Trail.

The village’s council maintains
that more parking would have an
adverse effect on Lions Ba; drink-
ing water because it would increase
public use of an area that is in the
municipality’s Harvey Creek and
Alberta Creek watersheds.

But Jim Rutter, executive direc-
tor for the Federation of Mountain
Clubs of B.C. (FMCBC), said ac-
cess to the trail is ‘‘absolutely
vital.””

The trail, he said, provides im-
portant access to the Lions peaks,

ete Met ee

oe

he people of Lions
Bay do not have the right
to clase this down, It’s a
matier of principle ... a
matter of access for the
public to an existing
trail,”’

— mountain club director
Jim Rutter

both for hikers and for Lions Bay
and North Shore rescue teams.

He added that while the Lions
can be reached from trails that
start at Cypress Bowl, the trail
from Lions Bay is less difficult,
less exposed, more direct and of a
better quality.

Ruiter said the trail, which also
provides access to Jrunswick
Mountain, Unnecessary l.iuuntain,
Mount Harvey and other hiking
areas, was 1 existence at least 30
years before the Village of Lions
Bay.

‘*The people of Lions Bay,"" he
said, ‘‘do not have the right to
close this down. It’s a matter of
principle...a matter of access for
the public to an existing trail."’

The trail foilows a Ministry of
Forests service road that starts at
the north end of Mountain Drive
just west of Harvey Creek in Lions
Bay. But the gate at its entrance is
on Lions Bay Village property.

Parking for about 12 vehicles is
currently available near the gate,
but Rutter said the hike is estreme-
ly popular and the facility for

Gea eacane eee

By TIMOTHY RENSHAW
News Reporter

parking should provide for about
five times that number.

In addition to the limited park-
ing, hikers have complained that
non-resident cars parked on public
roads nearby are regularly towed
away by the village.

Rutter said the FMCBC
recognized the problem two years
ago and began working to find a
solution.

The result was a proposed park-
ing lot that would be built approx-
imately 200 metres north of the
trail gate and provide parking for
about 50 vehicles.

Rutter said the FMCBC initially
had the support of Lions Bay
Village Council for the project.

The organization also had the
support of the provincial forests
ministry, which agreed to provide
machinery time for the !ot’s con-
struction, and had raised $5,000
toward the project.

But in October 1988 residents in
the Village’s Sunset Drive area
raised heated opposition to the
parking lot proposal, saying it
would result in increased noise
from hikers and increased van-
dalism from teenagers and others
using the secluded lot.

Lions Bay Mayor Gordon
Prescott said he was initially in
favor of a parking lot at the
trailhead, but he said the concerns
of area residents caused council to
reconsider the proposal.

Prescott said council now op-
poses the parking lot because it
wants to discourage the
unregulated use of the municipali-
ty’s watershed.

Lions Bay water quality, he said,
should not be jeopardized just
because people want to hike in the
area: *‘There are a lot of moun-
tains in B.C. Hike in one that is
not in our watershed.”’

Lions Bay’s water, which is
drawn primarily from Harvey and
Alberta creeks, has been chlori-
nated and filtered since the mid-
"80s after coliform counts in the
water increased,

See Water
Page 5

YAR

Sculptor

VER Carol. Driver

4

NORTH: SHORE
"NOW: PAGE 15

December 27, 1989 News 985-2131 Classified 986-6222 Distribution 986-1337 48 pages 25¢

LIONS BAY VILLAGE COUNCIL REFUSES TO EXPAND PARKING FACILITIES

kers bj

ttle for
| access

NEWS photo Mike Wakefield

WEST VANCOUVER Police dog Kye retired from the police department’s dog squad
earlier this month. Kye served an amazing eight years, outlasting ail of his canine
counterparts by years. Const. Jim Almas, Kye’s handler and owner, will keep Kye at

home as the family pet. See story page 7.