6 ~ Friday, October 2, 1987 ~ North Shore News oad block T WOULD be easy to brand as short-sighted bleating the routine public outrage over Squamish Highway repair if it were not for the obvious myopia of the provincial government in the whole af- fair. Closures to improve a highway that is treachercus at best and life-threatening at worst should have been expected and begrudgingly welcomed by those whe chose to live along its banks and who depend on it for access to the outside world. But the provincial government failed to gauge the magnitude of what at last estimates will be a $137 mil- Nion, 10-year project and failed to establish a proper contingency plan for commuters stranded at either end of the highway during the project. Instead, alternatives have been meade cn the run, and what-ifs tossed out to cool the growing public anger and frustration. Highways Minister Cliff Michael suggested a novel temporary ferry link between Horseshoe. Bay and communities along the Howe Sound coast. Squamish Mayor Egon ‘Tobus wants the watershed | road from Cleveland’ Dam to Fury Creek Hill opened to the public. Both plans have good and. bad points, but ‘both should / have been iavestigated at length before Squamish Highway reconstruction began. The; ‘government, hearing the moan of skiers fearing disruption of the.coming ski season, has decided to re- consider the logistics of the project and seek public in- put. ; Maybe this time it will be done right. THE VOICE OF NORTH AND WEST VANCOUVER SUNDAY - WEONESDAY + FRIDAY 1139 Lonsdale Ave. North Vancouver, B.C. v7M 2H4 58,489 (average. Wednesday Friday & Sunday) iss Display Advertising 980-0511 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom 985-2131 Distribution 986-1337 Subscriptions 986-1337 Publisher Managing Editor Associate Editor Advertising Director. . . Peter Speck Barrett Fisher . Noel Wright . Linda Stewart North Shore News, founced in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualitied under Scheduie.tit, Paragsapt lll of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday, Friday and Sunday by Norin Shore Free Press Lid and distebuted to every door on ihe Norin Shore. Second Class Mail Registration Number 3885. Subscriptions North and West Vancouver, $25 per year. Maiting rates avaitatle on request. Submissions ate welcome but we: canndl accept responsibility for unsolicited materia! including Manuscripts 29d pictures which should be accompanicy by a stamped. addressed envel lope < = a SD4 DIVISION WiLL Yo) RONSTATE 1 HET O) CUT FRM WOARE PAMENIS HAT ABOUT INCREASING HENTH- ORE FINDKG?, AND YOUR 3% PAY INCREASE? Back to square one THE NO-WIN SITUATION into which Mayor Marilyn Baker and her North Van District council, full of the best intentions, have landed ‘themselves on the ‘‘iegal Suites’’’ issue goes from bad to worse. vy by permitting suites to be'used by “relatives of the owner—instead of ‘the original plan to phase out ALL suites—District has now been told by the B.C. Supreme Court that it GOOD INFENTIONS ruled challenger Peter Faminow. © iflegal... Mayor suites can do no such thing. [n upholding former alderman Peter Faminow’s action against council, Judge Mary. Soathin ruled that the law allows municipalities to say only HOW land can be used, not WHO can "use it. After bowing to public opinion . Even if council hadn’t fost- the case, it would hardly have made any practical difference.. When homeowner John ' claimed blood ties with Jim-or his girlfriend jin the basement,: just how far would photos submitted Marilyn Baker and NEWS photo Yreil iucenta "MAKING iT OFFICIAL...City ‘Mayor Jack Loucks (centre), flanked by property owner Anne Dan and operations. vice-president George Michel, snips ribbon at the grand epesing ef Nerth Van’s new A&W restaurant on Marine. issue the District gumshoes have been entitled to invade personal privacy in order to check up? Would they have scoured Canada for vital statistics? Bugged the house with hidden mikes? Demanded blood tests? Why on earth does it matter anyhow? Two extra bodies in a home are two extra bodies, regardless of blood. What’s this strange new math that says a house with two parents and four teenagers is “lower density’’ than the one next door with a childless couple and two adult tenants? Which makes the bigger demand on municipal _ services? So now poor Mayor Marilyn and her colleagues—who sought to do the right:thing by trying to en- force a basically unenforceable zoning regulation—are back to Square Oxe. They'll still be there even if they win their appeal, because the gut question remains suites or no suites, period, and they’ve already discarded the latter option. Rather than waste any more taxpayers’ money on court battles, they’d -do far better to legalize ALL suites whose owners are ready to obey tough health, safety, numbers, noise and r-uisance regu- lations—then thruw the book at undercover opcrators, as soon as they’re found, by closing them down for good. ake BARGAIN TREASURES galore ‘are promised this Sunday, Oct. 4, at the giant annual flea market sponsored by the West Van Seniors Centre. Adventurous shoppers (last year they numbered over 2,000) will be able to browse and buy at more than 70 tables laden with everything from clothing and books to household wares and electrical appliances. Because of the space needed, the sale will be held in the adjoining Rec Centre complex, says Sylvia Chee, with refreshments served in the Seniors Centre. itself. A major fundraising event to help with the year-round operation. of the Centre, the flea Entire contents © 1987 North Shore Free Press Lid. All rights reserved. “wave 15 SREIGHED OTHE LIMIT! BUT. HE FROUINCE 15 BRO. Sa A sa! AD CAEN LSTY ROGEM _ogp Noel Wright @ friday focus market takes place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.—with the early birds, as usual, enjoying the pick of the goodies! * ses HISTORY LESSONS: North Van’s past came alive last Sunday when a rare gathering of pioneer families joined in honoring Fred and Beatrice Carr at the celebra- tion of their Diamond 60th an- niversary in North Van Communi- ty.Centre. Among the guests were Tat Lerson whose father Pete built North Van’s first hotel on Esplanade; Mel Bryan whose dad founded the North Shore Review newspaper in 1924 and eventually sold out to Hal Straight, former publisher of the defunct North Shore Citizen; the daughters of John and Carrie Cates, he a former cabinet minister and she a former Nerth Van District mayor; May Perry who still lives in the. house her husband built in 1909 at 324 East 10th; Ernie and. Li} “nurses Emberly who settied in North Van ; in 1922; Danny Newton who came here in 1915 ‘and wife Babs who * followed in’ 1927; native daughter Eileen McMullen; and George Scholes who established North Van’s first driving school. Fred and Bea themselves, who | were married in North. Van United Church, have been residents since the early 1920s ... And speaking of living history, whom do we meet while visiting in LGH ‘last Monday but West Van’s Ivan Ackery— pacing the corridors, courting the and appearing in remarkably good shape. The spry 87-year-old ‘‘Mr.’ Theatre Row’’, who’s been hosptialized since August, says he’s now looking out for a vacancy in an affordable retirement home. : “2 , WRIGHT OR ‘WRONG: The world is changing so fast these days that you can’t stay wrong all the time even if you try. photo aubmitted PIONEERS PARTY...Fred and Bea ‘Carr's “Diamond” brings North Van history alive.