FRIDAY

November 24, 1995

GG Until now —
‘Marine Drive has.
been remarkably
preserved. 9F

_ Roy Bartholemew, ;
“Gleneagles Ratepayers
upset. over the proposed
“widening of'a section of
Marine Drive. See budget:
“story page 4.

a a All. Staten 20
a) Christmas calendar..25
7] Crossword... BB

‘s insights... sesssseueesoyereese

“Bo CE a
GN. Shore UT

‘a Talking | Personals...36

@ Sport-utility hybrid
X-90 introduced: 30
. Licensing program

—» affects all crivers: 32,

“On the news front: .
~ Reaction io schoo! dis: =
- trict amalgamation move.

mtw |

NEWS photo Mike Wakefialit

Weather

Saturday: Cloudy with showers
High 11°C, low 5°C.

Residents switched
back to Cap water

MOST NORTH Shore residents
are again receiving water: from
the Capilano reservoir, even
though its water is more prone to
turbidity than the Seymour reser-
veoir’s.

By lan Noble
and Michael Becker

On Tuesday. the Greater Vancouver
Regional District (GVRD) reopened the
., Capilano reservoir. It had been closed in
* October after a massive landslide on the
west side of the reservoir muddied the, “
water:
North Shore customers were switched
to the Seymour system at that ime, but a
landslide: fouled” that reservoir's water |
Nov. 8 or 9. |
As of Thursday morning. the turbidity
in the Seymour watershed measured, 14
NTUs (Nephlemetric Turbidity Units); in
the Capilano reservoir turbidity measured
7.4NTUs: and in the Coquitlam reservoir, |
which cannot serve the North Shore, the
turbidity reading was less than 1 NTU.
Five NTUs is the federal standard for
water consumption. Local drinking .water
is chlorinated to make it safe to drink.
Initially, the water district decided to
keep the Capilano closed until the spring, *.
“when repairs to the slidc’area were to be
finished, said GVRD communications
director Mairi Welman.
However, with a large volume of turbid ~

COASTAL MOUNTAIN Water supervisor Kevin Torgerson | loads water in North VanCOUVER.

Since tap water turned turbid, the company’s number of new customers has risen five-fold.

BYLAWS PASSED by popular
demand to preserve forested Seymour
lands are being challenged by. the
Canada Mortgage and Housing
Corporation (CMHC), a major iand-
~ holder in newly protected Mountain
Forest.

” By fan Noble
News Reporter .-

But at least. one district councillor says the
district has grounds to beat back the Crown cor-
poration’s desire to overtum the bylaws.

On Wednesday, CMHC, which owns 206

“hectares: 4310 aeres) in Mountain Forest, filed a

petidion in Vancouver Supreme Court Registry.
The petition challenges three bylaws that the
CMHC says were adopted by the district under
pressure from “a vocal citizens’ group and spe-
- cial interest groups.”

Crown corporation
wants housing at
Mountain Forest

In adepting the bylaws, CMHC’s developable
land, which the CMHC says is worth approxi-
mately $146 million, became Parks, Recreation
and Open Space.

As a result, CMHC says its Jands will have
litte. or no value cand its mandate to provide
housing to Canadians has been quashed,

“We certainly have no quarrel with the dis-
trict preserving all of its lind as park, but we
cannot allow oor lands 1 be expropriated with-
out compensation,” said CMHC senior project
maniuger Tony. Tse.

The disputed land is situated nordrand east of
Blueridge, above
being developed by the district.

Mountain Forest and Cove Forest ta the east

oof the preservationist bylaws, takes

the Northlands golf course

See Capilano page 3

were the subjects of a high-profile drive by ares
residents wanting to retain: trails and recreation
space. Residents were concerned housing devel-
opments would place too heavy a burden on
local infrastructure. Their efforts were rewarded
when district council voted to preserve the areas
as parkland Oct. 23.

However, the CMHC said its proposal for i ils
Mountain Forest lands is a “fair compromise.”
The CMHC calls for 80% of its lands to remain’
parkland and wilderness, with the other 20%
earmarked = for residential development.
Construction, said Tse, would be atleast a few
years down the road. i

CMHC said the proposal preserved signifi-
cant (rtils. including the Baden Powell trail.

But Coun. Jim Cuthbert, a strong proponent
issue with
that CMHC statement aod others contained ina
three-page CMHC press release.

A. popular trail called the Bridal trail runs

See Cuthbert page 3