CLOSING DATE MOVED: BACK Park Royal sale delayed THE CLOSING date for the sale of the Park Royal Shopp- ing Centre to an affiliate of the Vancouver-based Larco In- vestments Ltd. group of companies has been delayed until at least the middie of February. Originally the deal! to sell the 870,000 square-foot West Van- couver shopping centre for an estimated $160 million was sched- uled to close at the end of January. But a spokesman for British Pacific Properties Ltd. (BPPL), the Guinness family company that owns Park Royal, said Wednesday the sale would not be officially closed until mid or late Feburary. Peter Finch said both parties had agreed to the postponement. He said the delay resulted from various “‘aspects of the proposal.’’ But he declined to elaborate on what the stumbling blocks were, saying only that they were tax- related. ‘It’s purely technical,’ Finch said. He added that both parties were still intent on completing the sale and that the deal ‘‘would almost certainly be completed”’ later this month, In the Nov. 15, 1989 News story outlining the sale of Park Royal, BPPL chairman of the board Gerald McGavin said documents had been finalized to sell the shopping centre to a subsidiary of Jaffsons Properties Inc., which is an affiliate company of Larco, but By TIMOTHY RENSHAW Managing Editor that the deal wo:ild not be official- ly closed until January. Initially 13 companies had tendered purchase bids for the multi-million dollar West Van- couver property. The Park Royal site, the southern portion of which sits on land leased from the Squamish [n- dian Band, includes the shopping centre, the Lions Gate Lanes bow!l- ing alley, a Famous Players twin theatre and the Kapilano 100 building. it also includes the potential for one million square feet of devel- opment on the site’s southern por- tion. Through its family of com- panies, Larco owns such properties as the Courthouse West racquet sport club and the Lions Gate ten- nis club on the North Shore, and the Arbutus Village Shopping Cen- tre and the Delta Place Hotel in Vancouver. A representative of the Larco group said Wednesday the com- pany would prefer not to comment on the delay in closing the Park Royal deal. City council commissions suite survey A RANDOM survey of 20 per cent of North Vancouver Ci- ty residents is necessary to determine community feelings on the secondary suite issue, city council decided Monday night. The report, costing the city roughly $30,000, will attempt to determine what percentage of sec- ondary suites are in owner-oc- cupied buildings, the feelings of suite neighbors, and whether suite owners would be willing to upgrade their residences to comply with city codes. Ald. John Braithwaite said a community review was necessary in order for the city to come up with a specific policy on secondary suites. . “Without that consultation, I don’t think this council could come up with an intelligent deci- sion,’’ said Braithwaite. Ald. Bill Bell said the review would help council get feedback from all parts of the city. “‘We have different needs and different neighborhoods,”’ he said. But Ald. Stella Jo Dean said she didn’t support the plan. ““We need immediate action. We must stop pussyfooting around spending taxpayers” money,”’ said Dean. Dean said the city’s character had changed and required a mat- ching change in its attitude toward zoning. “‘There’s no way we can go back and see single-family residences as we did 10 or 20 years ago,"’ she said. Dean said she didn’t need a fur- ther report on secondary suites. “(Secondary suites are) a very quick way of meeting the needs of By CORINNE BJORGE Contributing Writer all those people who will be clamoring for affordable hous- ing,’’ said Dean. Ald. Rod Clark agreed that sec- ondary suites provide low-cost housing, but he said spending money on a review would be ‘‘well worth it.’” Clark said he supported a “‘neighborhood-by-neighborhood poll’’ to get ‘‘some sort of com- munity consultation.” “There (are) many areas where illegal suites are not warranted,” said Clark. Other council members agreed on consulting the community. Ald. Barbara Sharp said a neighborhood review might pro- vide some ‘‘education enlighten- ment”? for community members. “This is a way we might resolve some of the problems,’’ said Sharp. Ald. Frank Morris said he sup- ported the community consultation aspect of the review, but said council! support of the review would be ‘‘directly in conflict’’ with previous statements by the council. Morris said council was back- tracking on its promise to preserve the single-family neighborhoods, and argued that there was no guarantee of affordability once the legality of the suites was estab- lished. fa E NEWS photo Mike Waketield MAKING A snowman is fun, but it can be practical, too. These North Shore children — Sheri Green, 6, her sister Pamela, 8, and friend David Brett, 11 — placed peanuts, sunflower seeds and corn on the snowman so tne neighborhood squirrels would have food during the cold spell. Automotives............15 Editorial Page.......... 6 Home & Garden.........11 Mailbox............... 7 What's Going On WEATHER Friday, periods of rain. Saturday, rain. Highs near 6. Second Class Registration Number 3885 Right turns forbidden THE FRONT page photo caption in the Wednesday, Jan. 31 issue of the Mews contained some incorrect information. The photo shows West Van- couver Police Const. lan Craib with one of the new traffic signs erected at the south-east corner of Marine Drive and Taylor Way. The signs forbid drivers to turn right weekdays between 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Move to Nanaimo ‘speculation’, says Versatile CEO From page 1 He added that Versatile chief ex- ecutive officer Peter Quinn told him this week that the shipbuilding company ‘‘was in trouble in North Vancouver,’’ although Quinn would not confirm or deny the reports that the company will close its North Vancouver operations and move to Nanaimo. “T think it’s very disconcerting when the CEO won’t completely confirm or deny it,’’ Bell said. “Quinn said the move to Nanaimo was ‘speculation at the moment’ but that they’re always planning and always thinking,’’ said Bell. “That statement frightens me.’’ Bell added that Quinn told him the city would be consulted if the company was going to move to Nanaimo. The North Vancouver City alderman is calling on the North Shore shipbuilding coalition of Versatile’s union and management, along with the mayors of North Vancouver City and District, to put pressure on Versatile and the provincial government to keep the shipyard in North Vancouver. Bell also criticized the North Shore’s three Social Credit MLAs for failing to become involved in the issue. “We have three government members on the North Shore and I have not heard a squeak from them on the issue,’’ said Bell, who added that he has sent letters to all three. But North Vancouver-Capilano MLA Angus Ree said Bell has never contacted him on the issue, and denied that Versatile is in danger of closing down in North Vancouver. “*Mr. Bell has not called me at my office or at my home and I an- ticipate he has not called Mr. Davis at his office or his home,’ Ree said Thursday. ‘I’m not aware of the particulars of this but I think he (Bell) is making a lot of noise for nothing, as usual.’’ He added that the provincial government has been giving Ver- satile all the business it can, and said all but one of the B.C. Ferries now operating were either built at Versatile or the North Shore’s Vancouver Shipyards. ‘*The only one that wasn't was the Queen of the North which goes to Prince Rupert. That was built by the NDP, Mr. Bell’s friends,’’ said Ree. Quinn did not return News phone calls by press-time Thurs- day.