Blin rb ge £ Patsy ‘elementary and dents. Auto... cece 24 Classified Ads..........28 Doug Collins........... 9- Editorial Page.......... 6 Home.& Garden.........13 Mailbox............... 7 What's Going On........23 Friday, mainly sunny with a few cloudy periods. Saturday, mainly sunny. Highs near Second Class Registratloa Number 3885 HIGHLANDS SCHOOL got into the Canada Fitness Week act recently by organizing a school-wide bunny hop. Hundreds of pupils participated in the event st the North Vancouver school. 3 - Friday, June 9, 1989 — North Shore News NEWS photo Terry Peters City Council will not delay suite evictions NORTH VANCOUVER City Council has again backed down from delaying secondary suite evictions after express- ing concerns about a possible legal tangle in the provincial courts. Ald. Rod Clark, who previously supported a motion to delay tenant evictions until the city policy is reviewed on June 19, reconsidered his position after hearing the city solicitor’s legal opinion. “Ic would be legally imprudent for the city to take a stance,"’ said Clark. “1 respect above all other things the legal implications to the city.” If the motion had passed, the ci- ty would have suspended action on By CORINNE BIORGE Contribiuting Writer the roughly 50 suites under active investigation. But the motion was complicated because one of the suites is currently being prosecuted by provincial Crown counsel, ac- cording to city administrative co- ordinator Francis Caouctte. He added that the number of ac- tive complaint files did not reflect the total number of secondary Fourth Collingwood court case launched WITH construction now under way at Wes: Vancouver’s Collingwood private school, Glenmore area residents are taking the controversial issue of the school’s expansion back to the B.C. Supreme Court. A citizens’ appeal on Madam Justice Carol Huddart’s decision upholding the enabling municipal bylaw for the expansion is being launched, resident Lorne Rettie confirmed Thursday. “It was bad legislation. The judge made an error,’’ Rettie said. Not expected to be heard until the fall, Rettie’s appeal will be the fourth court case involving the stubbornly fought debate over the rezoning of Collingwood, a private facility that is leasing and purchas- ing the former Glenmore Elemen- tary School building in the British Properties. The first enabling bylaw was challenged successfully by a number of residents, and that decision was appealed unsuc- cessfully by the municipality. But in the meantime a second bylaw permitting a scaled down expansion propusal was passed by council. The residents’ challenge of that bylaw, led by Rettie, was turned down by Justice Huddart in April, and Coilingwood school began construction to provide better ac- commodation for up to secondary stu- Now that an appeal of Hud- dart’s decision has been jaunched, Rettie believes the school is runn- ing the risk of having to change its facility back to what it used to be — an elementary school. “If we win this case, they might have to reduce their student popu- lation,’’ said Rettie. Residents have contended that the Collingwood schoo! site is in- adequate for an elementary-secon- dary school, and poses a threat to their neighborhood, while con- travening the Official Community Plan. “The combined use of the school (for elementary and sec- ondary grades) has always been our main objection, ’’ said Rettie. The OCP calls for the maintenance of current densities in established neighborhoods, but it was Justice Huddart’s ruling that density requirements for residential properties cannot be applied to schools. The current expansion project at Collingwood is due to be com- suites within North Vancouver Ci- y. City solicitor Bob Bauman said while North Vancouver could ask Crown counsel to enter a stay of proceedings in the illegal suite prosecution, the end result would probably be that the case would be dropped permanently. “It would be in the rarest situa- tion that it would be revived,"* said Bauman, adding it would probably require evidence of a new violation {o restart prosecution. Other council members argued that the city should take a stand against tenant eviction and delay action for two weeks. Ald. Barbara Sharp, who origi- nally forwarded the motion, urged other council members to support the delays because she said the current city policy was causing te- nants undue hardship. “We're close to a debate on this subject. By waiting this short time we will be saving some of our resi- dents some hardship,"' said Sharp. Ald. Bill Bell said the city should take into account the difficulty of tenting low-cost housing in North Vancouver at this time. _ NEWS phote Cindy Goodman UPSET OVER current federal government levies on de-alcoholized wines are Malinda Distributors Inc. principals Malcolm and Linda Gillis. The North Vancouver-based company is facing tariff and excise duties of close to 37 per cent on the de-alcoholized products they plan to import pleted, by. March: 3990.-46. --uc. we from. Australit.. 2 ent cn men tee “The vacancy rate,’’ he said, ‘‘is so low, and the available amount of housing is so low.” But Ald. Frank Morris said te- nant evictions were not the city’s responsibility. “Edo not subscribe to the theory that (a secondary suite eviction) is ultimately the city's fault,’’ said Morris. In a related motion, council agreed that owners whose premises are forced to comply with local bylaws should provide tenants with a minimum eviction notice of two months, Importers rail against taxes From page 1 de-alcoholized riesting and semilltion wines from Australia on June 14 and 15. The product, which will retail for around $5.50 per 750 ml bottle, will be distributed in major grocery stores around the Lower Mainland. Linda Gillis said she and her husband spent 15 months laying the groundwork for their company on the expectations that the equitability of the federal levies on the de-atcoholized products would be improved. She said the products provide a good alternative for people who prefer non-alcoholic beverages, people who are allergic to alcohol, pregnant women and people with high blood pressure. “Ie really bugs me when we have all these. alcohol awareness pro- grams and government urging everyone not to drink and warning of the dangers of consuming alcohol,”’ she said, ‘“‘but then they make it extremely expensive for importers to bring in an_ alter- native.”’ Malinda is the second North Shore company to question the logic behind the government’s de- alcoholized wine and champagne levies. In January, Crocodile Market- ing Ltd., which was also importing de-alcoholized products from. Australia, moved its business to the United States to avoid the comparatively high Canadian levies on those products. rere +