VOICE OIF NORTH AND WEST VANCOUVER @ Catch upcoming Varsity action: 19 A plea to the mas- ters of our game: 16 & Pamela McColl --A Cook’s Book: 21 Mamet's masterful Oleanna opens: 24 & Cuisine Scene gets ready for goblins: 42 Budget Seaters tries real food: 43 : weaves : wef REACHIN EV UP & DOWN ESL enrolment jurnps as French immersion classes see drop in numbers. y Advertising SDAY DEIFECTS CHECK Over half the commercial trucks examined at road check fail salety test, 4 ee NEWS photo Terry Peters LORI DALY (ieft) and her daughter Emma are just two of the tenants who will lose their West Vancouver rental accommodations as a result of the controversial conversion of the Ei Monte Apartments to The Bellevue condominium complex. Bellevue tenants bring concerns to WV council THE CONVERSION of 40 Bellevue Avenue rental units in West Vancouver to a controversial form of unit owner- ship could have serious repercussions for the already limited North Shore rental market, according to one of the renters who could be displaced by the conversion. WEST VANCOUVER DISTRICT COUNCIL By Maureen Curtis Tim Horton was one of the tenants at The Bellevue (formerly the El Monte Apartments), at 2150 Bellevue Ave.. who attended the Oct. 17 West Vancouver District Council meeting to complain about the threatened conversion. According to Horton, larger possible profits through the sale of the apartments, us opposed to rental iacome. puts all rental buildings “at risk.” “This could very rapidly deplete rental stock in the provinee,” Mayor Mark Sager agreed. Horton said that No, 85 Seabright Holdings. which bas an agreement to purchase the cight- storey building, is attempting to bypass council and its voning regulations by offering fractions v mas Peete a preach Sen Pirie =R of the property's title for sale to individual own- ers. Unlike conversion from rental to strata title or cooperative accommodation, the change to frac- tionalized ute does not come under the munici- pality’s jurisdiction. “Who's regulating the process thea?” Horton asked. Council members cautioned prospective own- ers to seck Jegal counsel to find out how safe their investment in part of a building’s Ue would be. Council's legal adviser Paul Wilson outlined a complex financing plan, with owners required to secure both a first mortgage with each other and a second mortgage for their financing. He said he knew of only one financial institution interested in providing such a second mortgage. Sager said that council has already sent a let- ter to local real estate agents advising of thent of council's concerns for buyers. Council has also Jodged a complaint of inac- curate and misleading advertising against the building’s owners over ads that suggest the suites, as opposed to fractions of the title, are being offered for sale. The current tenants are unsure of where they stand. Resident Mark Daly said he and the other renters received a letter under their doors on Get. 7 giving them five days to come up with part of the money if they wished to purchase their suites. The five days included the three-day Thanksgiving long weekend. The prices range from $125,000 for a bache- lor suite to more than $200,000 for a two-bed- room apartment. The building’s penthouse is $489.000. “We're not technically evicted, but they’re making it uncomfortable for us to live there,” said Duly. Seubright Holdings is in the process of buy- ing the apartment building, which is about 30 years old, from the long-time owners D. Shafran Investments Ltd. Renovation packages are being offered to buyers of the shared titles. Resident Andrew MacDonald complained that the eventual displacement of the current ten- ants will result in West Vancouver’s becoming the exclusive domain of the rich. Council voted to have Mayor Sager immedi- ately seek an audience with the appropriate provincial ministers. “We must seek the assistance of the provin- cial government to suspend this program and take steps to see that it doesn’t happen agaia.” said Coun. Allan Williams. 69