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NEWS photo Cindy Goodmen

AMBULANCE ATTENDANTS and firefighters tend to a cyclist injured ir a collision on
Tuesday afterzioon. Riding southbound down Mountain Highway he was hit by an cncoming
car at the Keith Rd. intersection while attempting to make a left hand turn. The cyclist was

taken to Lions Gate Hospital with an apparent broken leg.

Upper Lonsdale residents upset
over creek-side construction plans

A PUBLIC hearing for a bylaw that would extend en-
vironmental protection to a creek bank in the Upper
Lonsdale area left neighbor shouting at neighbor outside
North Vancouver District Hall on Tuesday night.

While many of the residents in
the neighborheod adjacent to the
north end of St. Andrews Avenue
and East Braemar Road agreed
tha1 any plans to restrict damage
to the environment were wor-
thwhile and that council's aims
were laudable, others argued that
it was a case of too little, too late.

“It is not just shutting the door
after the horse has gone, the barn

By Martin Millerchip
Contributing Writer

has burned down,’” charged Bill
Sievewright, past-president of the
North Lonsdale Ratepavers
Association and a close neighbor
to a property that has been the
subject of much debate by two
successive district councils,

issue is the proposal by
owner Tom Wilkinson to build a
house adjacent to the bank of St.
Martin's creek which runs through
his recently subdivided property at
303/305 Wellington Dr.

Several immediate neighbors
have opposed the subdivision vo-
ciferously for almost two years on
the grounds of tree loss and ero-
sion in an area that longtime resi-
dents view as greenbelt,

“The proposed building site is
extremely steep with a smatl flac
area at the top where the road is.
Regardless of how far from the
creek Mr, Wilkinson proposes the

construction take place, the bulk
of the home would be constructed
on a cliff area that would end
near the creek,’’ said Karen
Gardner in an earlier letter to
council.

Gardner, whose property backs
on to Wilkinson's, said at the
hearing that she no longer knows
what to do to save the creek.

She told council that she watch-
ed chainsaws cut 100-foot trees on
Witkinson’s property on June 27
and asked, *'Do [ call the RCMP,
the church, my mom? - cannot
tell you how distressing this has
been."”

Wilkinson later told the News,
“Ive been made out to be the bad
guy here, but J agreed to a restric-
tive covenant! chat would preclude
any development in the natural
area west of the creek and will
allow a seven-mnetre right-of-way

along the west creek bank."’

Wilkinson said that he owns
40,000 sq. ft. of land in an area
of RS3 zoning that only requires
7,200 sq. ft. per lot and was will-
ing to rezone to RS2 (approsi-
mately 12,000 sq. ft. per fot) in
order to limit any future devel-
opment.

He said his neighbors have ex-
aggerated the potential for en-
vironmental damage and = added
that the geotechnical report he
was asked to provide for council
shows that the proposed house
will be built on bedrock.

Neighbors charge that Wilkin-
son has dumped fill, girdled trees
(removed strips of bark with the
result that trees die), and left slash
in the creek bed without any
agreement on development —per-

See Restrictive pase §