10 - Friday, January 15, FO8R - North Strare News

NORTH VAN DISTRICT

Eagle nest land development put on hol

NORTH VANCOUVER

District

Council has placed a

moratorium on development around an cagle nesting site
until at least August of this year.

At the same time, council will
re-evaluate the overall develop-
ment plan for the Roche Point
Land Development housing project
to see if a way can be found to
protect the cagle nest without
stopping the housing development.

Council defeated a motion that
would have eapanded the buffer
zone around the nest to a full 100
metres from the 40 metres that
council has already set aside.

In voting against the 100-metre
zone, Mayor Marilyn Baker said,
“EF don't think we should just ar-
bitrarily say 100 metres and let's
wait and not do anything because |
think the issue is just going to
come back to us again.”

Baker suggested a number of
alternatives that could be looked at
during the moratorium. One would
be to relocate Roche Point Road to
the east to provide a greater buffer
for the nest. Another would be to
change the present plans that call
for two cul-de-sacs to back onto
the nesting site.

Mary Huntington, the lsader of
the Second Seymour Girl Guide
Company, responded to council's
action, saying: ‘‘I'm hopeful. (i'm)
naturally disappointed that they're

By PAUL HOULE
Contrituting Writer

still not ready to that
100-metre buffer."

Huntington, who has fed the
fight to save the cagle nesting trec,
said council's action still left open
the possibility of a 100-metre buf-
fer.

Baker disagreed with Ald. Bill
Rodgers who said the district could
afford to set aside more land ta
protect the site.

Said Baker: ‘1 don't buy the
fact that) this district. is land
rich...this council was elected ta
come in with some good planning
proposals and to turn the assets
that are owned by all of the
members of the community into a
reasonable devclopment.”*

Ald. Ernie Crist made the mo-
tion to set aside 100 metres for the
nest. In speaking against it, Ald.
Murray Dykeman said the motion
“is not any guarantee Chat the nest
would be a viable, operating nest
for the cagles. I cant support the
motion to just arbitrarily say that a
100 metres would fead to the
preservation that we're looking
for."*

support

Capilano River
park tops in use

CAPILANO RIVER Regional
Park is sdf the most heavily used
park in the Greater Vancouver
Regional District (GVRD), though
the number of visits last year
dropped to an estimated 708,000.
Overall, GVRD parks recorded
an estimated 2,600,000 visits in
1987, an increase of 13 per cent
over the previous year and nearly
300 per cent over four years ago.
The GVRD owns and maintains
1§ major Lower Mainland parks
with a total area exceeding 7,000
hectares. :
Biggest increase in use was at
Belcarra Regional park, near Port
Moody, where the number of 1987
visitors is estimated at 600,000, up
from 415,000 the year before,

The increase results from = the

opening of White Pine Beach fast
sunimer, He attracted an estimated
400,000 people.

Deas Island Regional Park ja
Delta recorded a significant in-
cre with an estimated 188,000
visits lust) year compared to
142,200 in 1986.

Other estimates for last year ine
eluded Derby Reach Regional Park
(Langley Township), 200,000;
Campbell Valley Regional Park
(Langley Township), 216,000;
Aldergrove Lake Regional Park
(Langley/Matsqui), 111,000.

Officials attribute the increase in
visits to a number of factors, in-
cluding the special events held last
year to mark the 20th anniversary
of GVRD parks. The events drew
record crowds, .

Ald. Mary Segal spoke against
Ald. Crist's motion as well. She
satd the motion ‘fis passing the
decision onto some future council
and that's not what we're hers for.
I think we have to make a decision
based on our planned development
of the whole municipality."

Huntington feels that) North
Vancouver could be setting a
precedent by the way it deals with
the issue. ‘TP think it is going to be
a very precedent-setting situation
for any municipality that's going
to find itself in this situation...i's
new ground that’s being covered
here."

Huntington said she and other
volunteers will be doing an ‘‘cagle
count’’ for the B.C Environment
Ministry this month. She maintains
this count could establish North
Vancouver as an important ecagic
spot in the province.

Volunteers will
various locations

be posted in
to assess the

number of cagles in the district.
The huge cagle nest, which is
about 12 feet in diameter and six
feet deep, has been the subject of
much-heated debate in district
council for the past few months.
The nest is set in a 400-year-old
Douglas fir which is clearly visible
from the Second Narrows Bridge.

cf

In response to criticism that she
has been too emotional in’ her
defence of the nest, Huntington
says: “I've been told that we
haven't been very emotional and
that we could be a lot more. I’ve
tried to be as factual as I can to
pull out strong positive informa-
tion to support our arguments.""

DR. LOUIS A. HAGUE
wishes to announce his retirement
effective January 4, 1988

DR. RICHARE

ROSTON

will continue his dental practice
at #2181940 Lonsdale Ave
North Vancouver, BC.
Phone 985-7325

LIGHTOLIER

ON SPECIAL! —

MOVING PROJECTORS ON TRACK

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