Ble am a Theat aA csaueene LARA 34 Classified 986-6222 Distribution 986-1 COLLINGWOOD SCHOOL trikes THE ZONING bylaw permitting the proposed expansion of West Vancouver’s Collingwood private school has been quashed by the B.C. Supreme Court. Mr. Justice J.J. Gow upheld a petition Wednesday from a group of West Vancouver residents call- ing for invalidation of the bylaw because it was technically Mawed and therefore illegal. The petition, originally filed June 30, stated that the bylaw was illegal on three grounds: the notice of public hearing published Feb. 28 was defective because the dates between which copies of the bylaw could be inspected were not disclosed; West Vancouver District Council altered the use originally specified in the bylaw subsequent to the public hearing and prior to adoption of the bylaw contrary to WEST Vancouver Mayor Don Lanskail ...‘‘bent over backwards" on the Collingwood issue. the Municipal Act; and the bylaw improperly reserved for council the discretion to permit or not permit development on the site. Justice Gow struck down the bylaw on the first of the petition’s three grounds. The published notice had stated the bylaw could be inspected on normal business days, but had failed to specify which days. Petitioner David Blair said the petition was inititated ‘ton the concept that the way council does business is not as sound as it should be.”’ Blair added that the intensity of controversy over such issues as Collingwood and the recent twin towers proposal for Marine Drive and Taylor Way could be reduced if council played by the established rules and followed more than just the minimal legal requirements. “People should be able to rely on the zoning bylaws and the of- ficial community plan...the way the rules are laid out,’’ Blair said, “but what has been happening has been a slipping away from it (those rules). “This (defeat of the bylaw) will be good for West Vancouver,”’ Blair said, ‘‘but it shouldn't be necessary for neighborhoods to point out the rules (to the municipality)."’ But West Vancouver Mayor Don Lanskail said to connect the twin towers issue with Collingwood was ‘absolute nonsense’’, and denied that there was anything wrong with the way West Vancouver conducts business. The district, he said, had ‘‘bent over backwards’? on the Coll- ingwood issue. Lanskail added that lawyers for the district had advised the mun- cipality that the bylaw had been defeated on a very narrow techni- cality. . West Vancouver, he said, will therefore appeal the decision. Collingwood headmaster Graham Baldwin said defeat of the bylaw would not significantly delay the planned expansion of the school. He said the school will pursue the three options open to it: go through the whole expansion pro- posal procedure with the municipality again; appeal the B.C. Supreme Court decision; and re-examine whether the school needs the rezoning bylaw to ex- pand, The school, which now services Grades 1 through 12, has leased the former Glenmore Elementary School from West Vancouver School Board since 1984. Its planned expansion, scheduled to begin in February, would add approximately 31,000 square feet to the 46,000 square-foot struc- ture, Though school enrolment will rise from the current 546 to 600 by the !991-92 school year, Baldwin said Collingwood’s expansion will be one of facilities, not capacity. Residents in the Collingwood area have argued that the expan- sion will increase traffic and park- ing congestion problems in the area, and reduce property values. ee “Od Sheen saey.s coarcirg EMU A koe NEWS photo Torry Peters & TWO-YEAR-OLD Elysse Gilbertson takes a break from puiling a turkey home in her wagon to play with H the leaves in Victoria Park. Families al! over the North Shore will be sitting down to traditional dinners of B turkey aud pumpkin pie this weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving.