1 vyeather: Wednesday, cloudy with rain and wind. Highs near 15°C. Thursday, mainly cloudy with a chance of rain. INDEX Classified Ads....... Doug Collins........ Comics ........... Editorial Page Bob Hunter.. &l........ Lifestyles Sports.............13 TV listiags.........35 What's Going On... .36 closure WEST VANCOUVER Council is looking into cir- cumstances surrounding the April 15 closure of 70 per cent of Horseshoe Bay’s Transport Canada dock. The Canadian Coast Guard decided to close the dock after ownership of Sewell’s Marina complained that boats mooring on the south side of its three easterly floats were encroaching on the water lot leased to Sewell’s. As reported in an April !2 News story, Sewell’s Marina acquired a 20-year lease to the water jo: en- croached upon by the Transport Canada dock last year when tlie company acquired Bay Boat Rent- als, which had gone into receiver- ship. Parks and Recreation director Frank Kurucz explained that the lease, which still had a few years left to go on it, was purchased by Sewell at a bankruptcy sale. The lease was acquired from ihe bankrupt Bay Boats Rentals com- pany, which had not previously complained through Transport Canada about the public’s en- croachment into its water lot. The Canadian Coast Guard, which is responsible for the federal dock, failed to take steps to ensure permanent moorage for the public. Sewell’s owner Dan Sewell said Tuesday his marina will now pro- vide 500 feet of transient moorage at 48 cents per metre, the same rate charged at the government dock, and 200 feet of drop off and pick up moorage free of charge. He added that he will ensure moorage be found for any com- mercial vessels that suffer hardship from the government dock closure. Sewell said complaints that the lease did not go out to public tender are unfounded, ‘‘It was advertised by the receivers in the paper and in brochures, but no bids were accepted by the trustee."’ Following confirmation that the dock was encroaching on his water lease, Sewell gave the Coast Guard the options of selling him the dock for $10, or paying him $889,084 for a sub-lease to allow the public to continue using the dock. But the marina owner said his company has. invested close to $100,000 in overhaul of the old Bay Boat dock and will sink close to $750,000 into a five-year im- provement plan that will see addi- tion of 2,000 fcer of moorage. PHASED-OUT WITHIN 5 YE V 3 - Wednesday, April 18, 1987 - North Shore News RS District to close door on itilegal suites NORTH VANCOUVER District Council instructed staff Monday to prepare the necessary bylaw amendments to slowly close the door on illegal suites within the municipali- ty. Key points of the proposed bylaw amendments include: « No second kitchens allowed in single-family homes; ¢The phase-out of existing suites within five years, including registry and initial inspection fees, additional parking and ongoing licensing and taxing to enforce- ment date of phase-out; e inlaw suites legalized by per- mit with bonding, annual inspec- tion and affidavit required. A proposed one-time inspection fee to ensure the existing suites meet building code standards could cost between $750 to $1,000. Council also moved to support the bylaw amendments agreed to by task force consensus, including definition for the first time of a housekeeping unit, a cooking facil- ity, and a change to the existing definition of a dwelling unit. Mayor Marilyn Baker, who sat as chairman of the committee task force, which reported back to AEL BECKER News Reporter council last week with a com- prehensive report outlining options for action on the issue, said the phase-out approach would give landlords and tenants the oppor- tunity ‘to get their house in order.”’ “} am not prepared to legalize existing suites or allow for open options regarding suite creation,’’ Baker said. ‘‘This municipality is not alone in addressing the pro- blem and for us to throw the doors wide open, as one of the only municipalities to do so in the Lower Mainland, would. be in- viting a total breakdown of our single-family areas. “The fact that a number of suites exist now, and are being constructed outside the law leads me to believe that legalization would simply result in a significant change and increase of suites in our single-family areas,’’ said Baker. Supporting the motion, Ald. Ernie Crist said the phase-out of il- legal suites was necessary to preserve the character of the community. ‘Jf we don’t put a stop to this we’re going to turn the district into a slum area. We'll be living in holes like in Hong Kong. Not everyone can live in North Vancouver — that’s the way it is.”” Baker said illegal suite owners currently facing action by the district, who have been in limbo since the beginning of the year due to’ the municipality’s freeze on bylaw enforcement, will not be forced to comply under the current bylaw, but instead will be dealt with under the new regulation and phase-out proposal. “If you’re changing the ground rules, you don’t play by the old rules,"’ she said. But council did instruct staff to continue | in- vestigating new complaints of il- legal suites reported to the district. Addressing the question of compulsion for an illegal suite owner to come forward to the district to register, given the cur- rent maximum fine possible facing an owner in the municipality stands at $500, Baker said a possi- ble stiffer $2,000 to $2,500 fine might be necessary to compel il- legal suite owners to come forward to register a suite. Voting against the proposed bylaw amendments, Ald. Mary Segal asked that the district look at limiting and regulating the suites. “We are not going to do away with them. We need to control, limit the size, regulate, and main- tain single-family quality in a single-family zone.”’ Ald. Bill Rogers argued for a longer phase-out period. ‘‘There will be a real dislocation to a lot of families who need this type of housing out of economic necessity. I’m thinking in terms of a 10 to 15-year phase out,’’ he said in re- jecting the bylaw proposals. The issue returns to council May 4. Baker expects a ‘‘clear policy statement’’ to be mailed out to district residents along with the tax statements at the end of May. NEWS pholo Mike Wakefield FEISAL SOMJI and other students from Windsor Secondary School are looking forward to the annual 3.5 kiiometre Milk Run April 29. As in previous years the students plan to split the money they raise threugh pledges to the Children’s Hospital, the Rick Hansen Man fn Motion Tour and African Relief (World Vision). Over the past two years, approximately $24,000 has been donated to these causes by the school. NVD Council refuses Park Plaza rezone A PIECE of the puzzle surrounding the fate of the troubled Park Plaza Country Club fell into place Monday with North Vancouver District Council voting, in a close decision, to refuse any rezoning of the land currently occupied by the club. United Properties Ltd., the court approved buyer of the 4.38- acre property located at 2035 Fullerton, had initially indicated to council an interest to develop the property for residential use. United Properties has an option to buy the property for $2.1 million. In an April 10 letter to council, United Properties president Victor Setton indicated development of the property could include a per- sonal care facility for seniors built on the existing tennis court area in conjunction with retention of the By MICHAEL BECKER News Reporter balance of the club as a member- ship-based recreation facility. The senior’s housing would “lower the club debt and assist in making it a more viable opera- tion.”’ Setton said that United Proper- ties was, “‘At this time...willing and ready to upgrade and reopen the existing club facility." But at a delegate appearance be- fore council Martin Eakins, senior: manager for Thorne, Ernst & Winney, the receiver-manager of the ciub in receivership since June 13, told council that without rezoning there wouldn’t be a deal. Eakins said the club had origi- nally been marketed to be ;un as such, rather than to be redeveloped, but that there were no takers to operate it as a club. Eakins offered 9 comment fol- lowing Monday’s -ouncil decision. Voting against the: motion to keep the zoning intact were aldermen Craig Clark, Bill Rogers and Murray Dykeman. But former club manager Az Ansari said in a_ pre-election survey, all of the aldermen had in- March 30, dicated opposition to rezoning the property. “I'm happy that our kids will have a place to go, but it’s a new ball game. The receiver will have to sell it as a club now and the price will be lower — it's probably worth $1 million to $1.2 million as a club,"” said Ansari. Voting against the motion, Ald. Craig Clark urged council to leave the door open on alternatives for the site. ‘‘Unless it's subsidized, on its own (the club), it won't work,” he argued, But Mayor Marilyn Baker said the location of a senior's develop- ment at Park Plaza would be an inappropriate usage. ‘Il don't feel in any way compelled to make a change,"’ Baker said.