NEWS photos: above, Cindy Goodman: atzight, Brad Ledwidge REDEVELOPMENT of the Hillside schoo! site (above) remains a Sore spot for some in West Vancouver. Using the existing zoning in place, the schvol district is raising cash to pay for Rockridge school. School chairman David Stevenson (right) at a HillSide Estates home. Michael Becker News Editor -snichacl@usnews.com WEST Vancouver School District chairman David Stevenson looked a little panch drunk after fast Monday’s council. meeting. He and fellow school trustees had just appeared before West Vancouver | council to state their case against the | rezoning of school property from sine : gle-fanily and qwo-family residential | zones to new public assembly zones. | “Things did not go very well. I AWhen the dust had settled after the: public hearing, council took the zon ‘ine amendment bylaw to third read? ing. Ins scheduled to be adopted on Monday. “. 4 The present struggle over control of land has its roars in the past. | Said Laura. Lae Richard, zoning -and development planner tor West Vancouver, “The (evisting) zoning was based on the concept that schools and churches were placed in residen- tial neighborhoods so that they could be within walking distance for: s dents and congregations, It was ah torical situation where schools; were “allowed in residential zones.” = The zoning, dates back to /1968, but it in turn is patterned after’ earlier applicable bylaws. ' It appears, however, that the zon- "ing, status of West Vancouver school lands today is an anomaly. Most school | districts | throughout © the province work with land zoned for public assembly.Proposals involving uses other than schools have to go before municipal councils for zoning approval. Community input is. inher- “ent in the process, : . SUND : i WEST. Vancouver Trustee Erica Bell-Lowther told council rezoning will take away “ability to plan.”; The. school district had proposed to council alternatives such as placing a covenant on ail school board prap- erty to require design review through a process similar to a development permit. Although the school district maintains it has no present plans. to use school properties for single-family housing, council clearly saw. the. issue as a Joss of planning control. Possible land-use options outlined in a 1997. school district. report, Facilities for the New Millennium, attracted the atrention of council. . Among the proposals: that “the board through a private/public part- nership build a seniors’ or open mar- ket apartment block with an clemen- tary school adjacent (to Hollyburn school).” According to a. West Vancouver. planner, a letter from Stevenson earli- * er this month * suggested that the nerth shore ne i LY NEWS photo dutle Iverson board would consider developing an intermediate care facility on the site of the existing school board office, In his presentation on Monday Stevenson remarked upon the long, history of cooperation between the school district and the : municipality and confirming couneil’s own long list of shared and integrated services, He told council that since 1990, $500,000 to $1 million a year has , been cut from the school’s budger by: Victorias West Vancouver now ranks 54th of 60 school districts fiinded in the province. 4 ! “Don’t close. the door on land value,” he pleaded. - i According to Stevenson, a zoning change to public assembly would reduce the land (approximately 108 acres) toa fraction of its‘current esti- mated value of $165 million and cause potential hardship tor the school dis-: WES FOCUS : NEWS photo Jufia fverson COUN. Ron Wood responds to Trustee Erica Bell-Lowther.at Monday's hearing. trict.’ Stevenson asked council for a “stand-still” on the municipality's rezoning, process and a return to “face-to-face meetings and a win-win solution.” “ He said the school district was pre- pared to seek a legal solution if the bylaw passed. “This board has no: desire to litigate,” he said, but added ‘thar the board would look for “cost” for compensation. a Coun. Allan Williams later lashed back: “Private public partnerships are an illusion, All it does is deliver to a private party the control of their (school) property. Council does nor stand in the way of development. It never has. We plan land use in: this community.” : ; He> charged ‘the: school’ board “went about it on its own” when it demolished Hillside school to. make way for’ residential development. CAwronit way,” he said. ccrth Vancouver, a financially pressed “¢hool board made headlines a few dats ago by coming up with a $6.55 million land-sale pian to erase a major accumulated deticit. North Vancouver School District has approximately 100 acres of land. The land is zoned for public assembly use. Said Doug MacKay-Dunn, chair- man of North Vancouver School.’ _ District, “Ir’s'a low-use zoning.” 7 The school district's facilities review released in, November recom: mends that a portion of the Braemar school site be redeveloped; thatthe Keith Lynn alternate program be relo- cated to the Lucas Centre and thatthe Keith Lynn school site be, redevel- + oped and that the school board office and Queen Mary school sites be rede- veloped. ‘Developments entailing uses other that public assembly would require “a significant process,” said) MacKay- Duna. “We have done a complete facilities review, looking, at what we have. It’s laid out and we're now in the process of doing some consulta- tion. To say we have surplus — Pm not prepared to say thar ac this point. We'll see what happens.” MacKay-Dunn - understands the plight’ of -his counterpart. in’ West Vancouver. “I don’t think it’s fair for me to comment on this whole issue of fand sales, but [ think what's happen- ing is thar school districts are grasping for any straw right now to balance the, books so that they can put money into the classrooms ... Irs a struggle for West Vancouver, it’s a struggle for us. The challenge of being creative is something that we face every day, It’s like squeezing, the last’ drop out of stone. Pretty’ soon vou’re going to end up with gravel.” :