Wednesday, June 3, 1998 ~ North Shore News - 3 NEWS photo Terry Peters THE driver of this car feans on its roof after a train did some body work on the vehicle on May 29 at 15th Street and Bellevue Avenue in West Vancouver. No one was injured during the rail-crossing mishap. anOxy rez Martin Millerchip Contributing Writer miller@nsnews.cont THE speeches were more organized if no less passionate, but nothing changed in a week. North Vancouver District Council introduced Monday another bylaw to rezone a portion of the lands adjacent to a: Maplewood chlorine plant owned by Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd. (CanOxy). - The vote saw the same 4-3 alignmert of coun- cil that split last week over the proposal to abandon a previous attempt ar the zoning and start again. ~ This will be the third time a bylaw has gone to public hearing over a proposal to realign the Dollarton Highway closer to CanOxy and develop an industrial business park alongside its length. Councillors Ernie Crist, Pat Munroe and Lisa ‘Muri continued to argue that public involvement in land-use planning tor Seymour was bcing pre- empted by the CanOxy rezoning while Mayor Don Bell and councillors Trevor Carolan, Glenys - Deering-Rob and Janice Harris supported the new bylaw for its refinement of previous public debate. > “The question we must answer tonight Mayor Bell is are we prepared to advance a bylaw that fine-tunes all the work that has gone into this pro- posed rezoning so far, or are we to surrender to a handful of zealots who advocate doing nothing for another 10 or 15 years,” said Carolan. Carolan argued that the economic rcdevelop- ment that would take place as a result of the rezon- ing had been tacitly accepted by the bulk of Seymour residents by their choice “to stay home in cnormous numbers” during the last round of pub- lic hearings. ’ “This is not Cates Landing. It is not Cove and Hollyburn one Fractious debate heats up council chamber of North Vancouver Disirict Mountain Forest. And because cf this people have been willing to entrust this council with decision- making power on this issue. “And that, Mayor Bell, is what is so embitter- ing to the small, self-appointed ctite in Seymour who seem to believe they’ve been conterred with a kind of divine right to speak as the only voice of the people of that large community. “On behalf of the 25,000 or so people of my home area who have scen fit not to support sever- al councillors and others here in opposition to this employment-generating rezoning proposal, | reject the schoolyard bullying tactics, name calling, vulgar theatrics and crocodile tears we've been obliged ro endure from these self-righteous snobs,” said Carolan in a prepared speech that he read standing up until he realized he was out of the TV camera’s range by doing so. Muri responded by listing and quoting from a number of adopred council policies that commit to various long-range planning strategies. She pointed out that council had asked its Waterfront Task Force to prepare a draft plan of the district's entire watertront: with Maplewood included in the first of three stages. She quoted from the district’s Corporate Business Plan and the introduction to the Seymour Local Plan Review process which states thar Maplewood is being merged with Deep Cove and East Seymour into one local plan. Muri noted rhat the Maplewood Community Association was one of seven community associations who asked for Sevmour to be planned as one area te encourage greater public participation. When Bell later said it was always in his mind that Maplewood would be held out of such a plan- ning process, Muri responded, “I’m sorry Mayor Bell, P'm unable to read your mind.” Muri also noted Harris and Hudema, the dis- trict-paid consultant company, was in the middle of an econontic development plan scheduled to be complered this summer. “All of this gets chucked out the window because CXY (CanOxy) is getting impatient and nobody wants to sit back and look at the big pic- ture,” said Mur. District planner {rwin Torry noted that a por- tion of the land slated for redevelopment (the northwest quadrant, closest to Maplewood’s resi- dential area) had been held out of this bylaw for further discussion. : Land uses for the areas closest to CanOxy have been reduced to 17 categories from 29, while land uses in the northeast quadrant have been reduced to 15 from 19. Torry also noted that site coverage has been reduced to 80% with the intention of using much of the landscaped 20% alongside the Dollarton. A 60-foot height limir will be allowed north of the highway. There will be a public meeting to discuss the byfaw June 10 at North Vancouver District Hall. The public hearing will convene June 16. In a related motion, council unanimously endorsed Crist’s motion instructing staff to draft a bylaw that would outlaw the production and stor- age of chlorine on all properties throughout the district. : Such a bylaw, if passed, would nor affect CanOxy unless its present plant was abandoned for a period of six months. Country Club spends to upgrade Robert Galster News Reporter robert@nsnews.com WEST Vancouver’s Hollyburn Country Club will be receiving $1.5 mil- lion worth of upgrades.’ The project will focus on reorga- nizing the club's indoor tennis facil- ities and will be complete in time for the upcoming indoor tennis season starting in September. “We had two tennis bubbles ap there,” said Hollyburn’s administra- tien manager Cheryle Newland. “And one was quite old and we had concerns whether it would make it through the next winter or two.” Hollyburn currently has four courts under a permanent metal structure, cight courts under sea- sonable bubbles and 11 outdoor courts. When finished, the facility will have eight indoor tennis courts under a2 permanent structure, four seasonal indoor courts and 11 out- door courts. A’ refurbished lobby area with a new pro shop is also part of the upgrade. The private clud’s plans stand in stark contrast to neighboring North Vancouver District's attempts to erect a public indoor tennis facility. While Holivburn’s plans were two years in the making, the district has been working on its version con- siderably longer. The need for such a facility in the district, was first identified in’ the 1991 Parks and Recreation master plan. Financing, approval came via referendum during the last munici- See Membership page § District locks at green fee hike Martin Miflerchip News Reporter miller@nsnews.com ANOTHER round in the continuing debate over the operation of Northlands Golf Course went pretty much par for the course, May 25. North Vancouver District Council listened to a request from its golf course. manager for 2 summertime ercen fee hike, while the-North Shore Public Golf Course — Society (NSPGCS) continued to drive for foan repayment relief. Tie upshot: Northlands manager Laurie Craddock will meet with the Northlands advisory committee and a municipal finance officer to debate operating casts ard philosophy. A report is due back to council in approximately one month. Craddock’s proposal of S47 for this year and next summer’s peak rate would still not approach the $65 charged for the most expensive regional public course. Bur it is sub- stantially higher than lower-end municipal courses ($28-$32). Craddock supports a peak Northland rate of. $49.87 and savs S47 may not cover the course operat- ing costs this year, His report notes that original Northlands revenue projections were based on over $1.5 million in earn- ings tom a deviag range and a sports retail shop that ws:e aever built. Until the report on costs and phi- losophy comes back to council, fees will remain at a $40 maximum, with some discounted rates available. NSPGCS president Brent Mitchell told council the largest single impact on green fees is the schedule of repav- ment to the district's heritage fund. The course was funded with an $11.8 million repayabfe oan from the Heritage Reserve (a fund created from municipal land sales). But the NSPGCS have repeatedly requested thar the principal to be repaid should be lowered to reflect increased land profits realized trom sale of lots around the course. They suggest a figure of S10 mil- lion and that the term of repayment be lengthened to 35 years so that a future generation of golfers pay its share of the course start-up costs. They also suggest an interest rate on the repayment of 3.5%, the lowest of five options outlined by staff. Municipal finance statf say that while a 3.5% return is supportable based onthe Current average return on invested heritage fund money, that rate will likely increase substantially. Staff suggest repayment rates based on Government of Canada bond returns, ranging from 5.61% to 6.89%, Mitchell also proposed a mainte- nance budget for Northlands of $850,000. That amount is some $260,000 less ‘than Craddock’s cur- rent budget, bur Mitchell says it is in line with what is spent at Capilano, Seymour and Furry Creek courses. Such a reduction, said Mitchell, could cut $3.50 trom green fees. Couns. Pat Munroe picked up on the point, asking for a comparison of labor and material costs berween other golf courses. Munroe said Northlands “was for our recreation” and that he did nor support the concept of a “premium” course. But Munroe took issue with the NSPGCS proposal for repaying the district's heritage fund. “find it disturbing, appalling thar they would want to restructure a loan,” said Munroe,